Developing Own Plugin - how to install it?

-- HikaSerial version -- : 1.8.3
-- Joomla version -- : 3.3.3

Hi,

was going in brutal force try to make one more plugin:

1) I have try copy folder extensions/plg_hikaserial_randomgen into extensions/plg_vserials
and did find replace of all randomgen to vserials in file names, in XML and in PHP files.

2) then I have copy this new folder to FTP folder to WEB server.
And ... this new plugin is not shown at all in the plugins list of HikaSerial.

* What is wrong?
* Should be used always on special install way?
* Does HikaSerial plugins is the same as Joomla plugins?
* Should I learn and follow to Joomla plugins docs also?

There is no any word in docs about this.

I have find in HikaSerial some install method, which installs own plugins, but what we must todo with our own?

Well, so far no big success on this direction.

Dear HikaShop developers,

You docs and examples about at least subjects are not enough.
You can may be in 5-10 minutes improve that in easy way.

Try to make 40-50 lines tutorial, which show step by step how to make AND INSTALL external third party plugin.

** how to make simplest generate_serial plugin which returns e.g. constant always, list of required files: html, xml, php..
** where to put this folder
** how to install it into Joompa+Shop
where files are installed - picture

And nobody will tease you by stupid questions

Thank you Jerome,

I did some progress, and going now spend few minutes to help your team with useful texts, which can be added to your docs. And which may help to future users of your product.

So you have 1 page about plugin development for HikaSerial:
www.hikashop.com/support/documentation/1...erial-developer.html

You can add here

=====================================================
HikaSerial Plugin
* Overview

HikaSerial plugin is a regular Joomla plugin, what you can see from hierarchy YourPlugin -> hikaserialPlugin -> JPlugin.

You can read more about JPlugin class here:
docs.joomla.org/Plugin_Developer_Overview

We have provide intermediate class hikaserialPlugin to ....
* simplify something?
* Implement something common for all hikaSerial plugins? what exactly?
* Add more events? Generate()? else?

When you develop own plugin for HikaSerial, you need to make a sub-class of hikaserialPlugin and override on your choice one of few methods from this list: ....
=====================================================

Skeleton Example

We, HikaShop team, provide you simplest possible Skeleton example, from which you can start develop your own plugin.

Download plg_hikaserial_skeleton.zip here

It contains 3 files:
index.html
skeleton.php
skeleton.xml

You can do simple Find/Replace in text of files and in their names to change 'skeleton' to e.g. 'myserials' to get own working copy.

And now you are ready to provide your own algorithm to generate your own serials/files for your product(s).


==== Installation ======

When you ready to test your plugin, make ZIP of folder with 3 files, to get plg_hikaserial_myserials.zip

Then go to your site Adminstration,
Choose menu Extensions -> Extension manager
Click button "Choose file" and choose that zip file, then click "Upload & Install"

If all right, you will see Success notification.

Files are installed into
/plugins/hikaserial/myserials

=================
TIP: Please notice that you can see Hikaserial plugins at path
/ administrator/components/com_hikaserial/extensions/

But this is place where __from__ they was installed.
These files are not used for job of HikaShop/HikaSerial.
Working files are in the above "/plugins/hikaserial/" location.
Exactly here you can manipulate with files during development tests and debugging.

=================
TIP: As any installed Joomla plugin, it is registered into Joomla db in the table jos_extensions.

By the way, One more question about HikaSerial, which is not explained good as for me... About your own algorithms.

Let somebody use your algorithm.
User get letter with a serial.
Serial is stored in DB of shop. okay.

How later some SoftwareApp.exe, must recognize if serial is valid?
I did not see any word about this on your site and in docs.

You do not give to developers algs to check serials.
So the only way I see it EXE must connect to site/shop and check from DB??

P.S. for us this is not important, because we have own lags for our product line.

Another by the way.

At first time I have try to make empty plugin, I think mistake was that I have used 'valentina_serials' everywhere except class name

class plgHikaserialValentina extends hikaserialPlugin {