Question

I’m looking to install vim-latex for mac, and in doing so, I’ve noticed that certain files need to be placed in ~/.vim, which does not exist on my computer.

Do I have to create that folder?

If vim and all the vim help files aren’t there, where are they?

Answer 1

Inside Vim, :echo $VIMRUNTIME will show you where the Vim stuff is. The help files are in $VIMRUNTIME/Doc. Excerpt from :he VIMRUNTIME:

The environment variable “$VIMRUNTIME” is used to locate various support
files, such as the on-line documentation and files used for syntax
highlighting. For example, the main help file is normally
“$VIMRUNTIME/doc/help.txt”.

If you install new packages, don’t put them into $VIMRUNTIME. Create the ~/.vim folder and place the plugins there. That way you keep the installation directory clear from your modifications and keep the plugins independent of Vim updates. If you update Vim and $VIMRUNTIME changes during installation, you would have to copy everything of your custom stuff from the old $VIMRUNTIME to the new one.

So, as I already wrote, create the ~/.vim folder and you’re off the hook.