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Modules

Modules can be compared to WordPress plugins. We use modules to keep the code base clean and decoupled. Furthermore, this system allows for easy activation/deactivation of modules without the risk to break stuff.

Creating A Module

  • each module lives in a separate directory in /lib/modules
  • each module contains at least one file containing the main module class
  • each module class inherits from \Podlove\Modules\Base

Each module has a load() method. This will be called to load the module. Here hooks can be registered, files be loaded etc. The module must not change any behavior before load() being called!

There should be protected properties $module_name, $module_description. They can be accessed from the outside via getters. See Base module.

Naming Conventions

Directories, file names and class names are snake cased. Directories and file names are all lowercased, class names are Camel_Snake_Cased. The namespace is CamelCased. Example:

Plugin Name: Podlove Web Player
Directory: podlove_web_player
File Name: podlove_web_player.php
Class Name: Podlove_Web_Player
Namespace: \Podlove\Modules\PodloveWebPlayer

Example Module File

<?php
namespace Podlove\Modules\PodloveWebPlayer;

class Podlove_Web_Player extends \Podlove\Modules\Base {

protected $module_name = 'Podlove Web Player';
protected $module_description = 'An audio player for the web';

public function load() {
// register actions
add_action( 'podlove_dashboard_meta_boxes', array( $this, 'register_meta_boxes' ) );
// require additional module files
require_once 'player/podlove-web-player/podlove-web-player.php';
}

public function register_meta_boxes() {
// code ...
}

}

Hooks

Activation

<?php
do_action( 'podlove_module_was_activated', $activated_module );
do_action( 'podlove_module_was_activated_' . $activated_module );

Deactivation

<?php
do_action( 'podlove_module_was_deactivated', $deactivated_module );
do_action( 'podlove_module_was_deactivated_' . $deactivated_module );

Usage

Use the second hook if possible, like this:

<?php
add_action( 'podlove_module_was_activated_podlove_web_player', function( $module_name ) {
// activation code
} );

add_action( 'podlove_module_was_deactivated_podlove_web_player', function( $module_name ) {
// deactivation code
} );

Options

A module can register its own options. This happens in a declarative way. The Publisher plugin will handle storage and form generation.

Register Options

Use the module method public function register_option( $name, $input_type, $args ) to register an option. $name is the name of your option. There is no need to prefix it. Uniqueness is handled by the Publisher, so "title" would be an acceptable name.

Available input types:

  • string
  • text
  • select
  • checkbox
  • radio
  • image

Right now there is no documentation on forms. Please look into the form builder file for possible arguments.

<?php
// register options in load()
$this->register_option( 'my setting', 'string', array(
'label' => __( 'my setting', 'podlove' ),
'description' => __( 'yada yada yada', 'podlove' ),
'default' => 'A sensible default',
'html' => array( 'class' => 'regular-text' )
) );

$this->register_option( 'a_number', 'select', array(
'label' => __( 'Number', 'podlove' ),
'description' => __( 'Select a number', 'podlove' ),
'default' => 3,
'options' => array( 1 => 'one', 2 => 'two', 3 => 'three' )
) );