Extensions

Introduction

Extensions are the foundation for adding new features to TastyIgniter by extending it. The core of TastyIgniter is designed to be lean and lightweight, to maximize flexibility and minimize code bloat. With extensions, you can add functionality to your site, instead of hacking the core code of TastyIgniter.

An extension can add to TastyIgniter specific set of features or services, such as: define components, defines staff permissions, add or extend menu items, lists and forms, create or alter database table structures and seed data, alter core or other extension functionality, provide services, admin controllers, views, assets and other files.

How TastyIgniter Loads Extensions

When TastyIgniter loads the list of extensions on the System -> Extensions page of the TastyIgniter Admin, it searches through the extensions folder (and its second level subdirectories) to find the Extension.php PHP Class file.

Directory structure

Extensions live in the /extensions subdirectory of the application directory. Below is an example of an extension directory structure.

extensions/
  igniter/           		<=== Author name (namespace)
    helloworld/         	<=== Extension name
      components/
      controllers/
      models/
      extension.json		<=== Extension manifest file
      Extension.php			<=== Extension registration file
      README.md				<=== Extension readme file
      routes.php			<=== Extension routes file

Creating an extension

This section of the article covers the steps you need to take – and some things you need to consider – when creating a well-structured TastyIgniter extension.

Naming your extension

The first step in creating an extension is to select a Namespace and Short Name for it. This extension name Namespace.ShortName is used to refer to your extension by core TastyIgnier. The namespace will be used as your author code when publishing your extensions on the TastyIgniter marketplace.

Both namespace and extension name must follow these important rules:

  • Only letters must be provided.
  • Folder names must be lowercase, as shown in the directory structure example.
  • Should not contain spaces.
  • Must be unique. The name of your extension should not be the same with any other extension or theme.

Here’s an example: Igniter.HelloWorld

Given the above example Igniter.HelloWorld, creating an extension is pretty simple and straightforward, simply call the following command from the application directory to generate a basic extension directory and files:

php artisan create:extension Igniter.HelloWorld

We strongly recommend that you follow the TastyIgniter coding standards when creating your own extensions. It is a requirement for any changes to the TastyIgniter core code.

Extension manifest file

An extension.json manifest file is an important part of the TastyIgniter extension for storing metadata about the extension. The manifest file can be used to define the extension dependencies.

{
  "code": "Igniter.Cart",
  "name": "Cart",
  "description": "Easily add a shopping cart to your site. The most powerful way to sell your menu items.",
  "version": "2.0.0-beta.2",
  "author": "SamPoyigi",
  "icon": "fa-shopping-cart",
  "homepage": "https://github.com/tastyigniter/ti-ext-cart",
  "require": {
    "igniter.local": "*"
  }
}

The require parameter of an extension manifest file defines the dependencies of the extension. In the example above, igniter.cart extension depends on the igniter.local extension.

Readme file

If you want to publish your extension on the TastyIgniter marketplace, you must create a readme.md file in a standardized format in your extension directory.

Routes file

Extensions can also provide a file named routes.php with custom routing logic as described in the routing article.

Registration

An Extension.php file (aka Extension registration file) is an essential part of the TastyIgniter extension for providing methods for extending the TastyIgniter core.

The registration script should define an extension name class which extends the class \System\Classes\BaseExtension. The following is an example Extension registration file.

namespace Igniter\HelloWord;

class Extension extends \System\Classes\BaseExtension
{
    public function extensionMeta()
    {
        return [
            'name' => 'The extension name',
            'author' => 'The extension author name',
            'description' => 'The extension description',
            'icon' => 'The extension icon. Any FontAwesome icon name, for example: `fa-puzzle-piece`',
            'version' => 'The extension version'
        ];
    }
    
    public function register()
    {
        
    }

    public function boot()
    {
        
    }
}

Its recommended to define the extension metadata using the manifest file instead of overriding the extensionMeta method.

Registration class methods

The following methods are supported in the extension registration class:

Method Description
register() register method, called when the plugin is first registered.
boot() boot method, called right before the request route.
extensionMeta() returns metadata about the extension, when an extension.json is not supplied.
registerComponents() registers any front-end components supplied by this extension.
registerNavigation() registers admin navigation menu items for this extension, see below for example.
registerPermissions() registers any staff permissions supplied by this extension.
registerSettings() registers any admin settings page supplied by this extension.
registerDashboardWidgets() registers any admin dashboard widgets, supplied by this extension.
registerFormWidgets() registers any admin form widgets supplied by this extension.
registerMailLayouts() registers any mail view layouts supplied by this extension.
registerMailTemplates() registers any mail view templates supplied by this extension, see below for example.
registerMailPartials() registers any mail view partials supplied by this extension.
registerPaymentGateways() registers any payment gateways supplied by this extension.

An example registering mail templates view file extensions/igniter/frontend/views/mail/contact:

    public function registerMailTemplates()
    {
        return [
            'igniter.frontend::mail.contact' => 'Contact form email to admin',
        ];
    }

An example registering a top-level and child menu navigation menu item:

public function registerNavigation()
{
    return [
        'messages' => [
            'priority' => 300,
            'title' => 'Messages',
            'href' => admin_url('igniter/helloworld/messages'),
            'permission' => ['Igniter.HelloWorld'],
            'child' => [
                'banners' => [
                    'priority' => 500,
                    'title' => 'Banners'
                    'href' => admin_url('igniter/helloworld/banners'),
                    'permission' => ['Igniter.HelloWorld.Banners'],
                ],
            ],
        ],
    ];
}

To register a custom middleware, you can call any of the following in your boot method.

public function boot()
{
    // Add a new middleware to a controller class.
   \Main\Classes\MainController::extend(function($controller) {
        $controller->middleware(\Path\To\CustomMiddleware::class);
    });
    
    // Alternatively, add a new middleware to beginning of the stack.
    $this->app[\Illuminate\Contracts\Http\Kernel::class]
         ->prependMiddleware(\Path\To\CustomMiddleware::class);

    // Alternatively, add a new middleware to end of the stack.
    $this->app[\Illuminate\Contracts\Http\Kernel::class]
         ->pushMiddleware(\Path\To\CustomMiddleware::class);
}

An example registering console commands supplied by Igniter.Api extension:

public function register()
{
    $this->registerConsoleCommand(
        'create.apiresource', \Igniter\Api\Console\CreateApiResource::class
    );
}

Using Composer

There are a number of scenarios that require the developer to add a composer.json file to their extension. Some of these scenarios depend on whether the extension will depend on third-party packages.

Here is a full example of how the Igniter.PayRegister extension uses composer.json to depend on the third-party package omnipay/stripe:

{
  "name": "igniter/payregister",
  "type": "igniter-extension",
  "keywords": ["tastyigniter", "paypal", "stripe", "payment", "gateway"],
  "license": "MIT",
  "authors": [
      {
          "name": "Sam Poyigi",
          "email": "[email protected]",
      }
  ],
  "require": {
    "php": ">=7.0",
    "omnipay/stripe": "~3.0"
  },
}

The name and the type are important properties used to tell the composer/installer package how to actually install the dependency.

Do not commit the /vendor directory, the composer.json file should be committed to the repository.

Dependencies install process

The marketplace takes the following extra few steps when preparing extensions that define third-party dependencies using composer.json.

  • Injects dependencies already included in the TastyIgniter core into the replace property of composer.json
  • Executes composer install in the extension directory
  • Deletes composer.json & composer.lock files to prevent duplicating dependencies with the core composer.json, since a /vendor folder already exists in the extension directory.
  • Lastly, the final result is packaged and ready to be consumed via Update API by the TastyIgniter Update Manager

Settings and Configuration

There are two ways to configure extensions – with admin settings (database settings) and configuration files.

Using the settings model

Settings models, like any other models, resides in the /models subdirectory of the extension directory.

extensions/
  igniter/
    helloworld/
      models/
        config/        			<=== Setting model config directory
          cartsettings.php    	<=== Setting model form fields
        CartSettings.php     	<=== Setting model class file

By implementing the SettingsModel action class and extending the base Model class in a model class, you can create models for storing settings in the database.

<?php namespace Igniter\Cart\Models;

use Model;

class CartSettings extends Model
{
    public $implement = [System\Actions\SettingsModel::class];

    // A unique code used for saving the settings to the database
    public $settingsCode = 'igniter_cart_settings';

    // Reference to form field model config file, without the .php extension. 
    // Should matach the model class name
    public $settingsFieldsConfig = 'cartsettings';
}

An example of writing to a settings model:

use Igniter\Cart\Models\CartSettings;

// Set a single value
CartSettings::set('cart_key', 'ABCD');

// Set an array of values
CartSettings::set(['cart_key' => 'ABCD']);

An example of reading from a settings model:

use Igniter\Cart\Models\CartSettings;

// Get a single value
$cartKey = CartSettings::get('cart_key');

// Get a value and return a default value if it doesn't exist
$abandonedCart = CartSettings::get('abandoned_cart', true);

Using the file-based configuration

Plugins can have a config.php configuration file in the extension directory config subdirectory. Configuration files are PHP scripts that define and return an array, e.g. /extensions/igniter/cart/config/config.php configuration file:

<?php

return [
    'destroyOnLogout' => true,
    'cartSessionTtl' => 120
];

Use the Config class to access the configuration values defined in the configuration file.

use Config;

// Get a value and return a default value if it doesn't exist
$cartSessionTtl = Config::get('cartSessionTtl', 120);

An example showing how to create an admin settings link to a settings model. Registered settings links will appear on the System > Settings Admin page.

public function registerSettings()
{
    return [
        'cartsettings' => [
            'label' => 'Cart Settings',
            'description' => 'Manage cart settings.',
            'icon' => 'fa fa-cart-plus',
            'model' => Igniter\Cart\Models\CartSettings::class,
            'permissions' => ['Module.Cart'],
        ],
    ];
}

Extending an extension

Why extend an extension with another extension? To keep the changes compatible, if the extension gets an update. Extensions are mainly extended to inject or modify the functionality of the core classes and other extensions using the event service.

The most common place to subscribe to an event is the extension registration file boot method.

Writing tests

If you want to start writing a new extension, remember that unit testing helps you deliver extensions of higher quality.

See a mistake? Edit this page