Private Plug-ins

Work with private plug-ins

Introduction

Any part of an app (client) you are building can be exported as a plug-in. A plug-in can then be imported into any other app along with out-of-the-box Appery.io plug-ins.
Think of this as creating reusable app components. For example, you can create an app with one page and one service which sends an email. You can export it as a plug-in and then add this functionality (one page, one service) into another app.

Creating Private Plug-ins

To create a private plug-in that you can later use in your projects, simply build any app and export it (or its parts) as a plug-in.

Example

Follow the steps below to export an app as a private plug-in.

  1. Build an app that you want to export as a plug-in. You don’t need to build a complete working app, you can create pages or services and export them as a plug-in.
  2. To export this app as a plug-in, click Export in the upper dashboard and select Appery.io plugin:
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  1. In the new page that opens, Export plugin, perform the following steps (some are optional):
  • Upload the plug-in’s icon image.
  • Set the plug-in’s name.
  • Set the plug-in’s description.
  • Provide an API home page and documentation site.
  • Set the plug-in version.
  • Pick one or more categories.
  • Set the API vendor:
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  1. By default, the entire project is exported as a plug-in.
    If you need to export just parts of the app into the plug-in (only pages or specific services), clear the Export entire project check box. You’ll see the option to select which app file you’d like to export into the plug-in:
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  1. Click Export to finish creating your private plug-in:
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  1. When ready, you will see the message Plugin "MyQuizAppPlug-in" has been created successfully. and the plug-in should appear on the plug-ins list in the left view of the Apps tab:
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Updating Plug-ins

There are three ways to update a plug-in:

  1. Create a new plug-in.
  2. Open the plug-in and edit it.
  3. Replace the plug-in with a new version.

When creating a new plug-in, you lose the Import counter value (the new plug-in doesn’t inherit this value from the old one). If you open and edit the plug-in, someone can import it when you haven’t finished working on it – it is unsafe. The safest way is to replace the plug-in with a new version.

To replace the plug-in with a new version:

  1. Open the project your plug-in was created from, or recreate a project with the same features.
  2. Make changes in the project and check that it works correctly (debug).
  3. Select Export > Appery.io plugin.
  4. In the Export plugin tab, select the Replace plugin check box.
  5. In the pop-up, select the plug-in you are going to replace and click Import selected plugins.
  6. Change the version of the plugin. Other properties can also be updated. Make sure the additional options’ boxes are selected correctly.
  7. Click Replace.

Your plug-in will be replaced instantly, and the import counter will be kept.

Publishing as App Templates

Any project can also be published as a project template. To export your project as a project template, click the EXPORT button in the app Toolbar and select the Appery.io plugin option:

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Then select the Export entire project and Add this plugin as project template options and confirm exporting it:

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Exporting Project

To export it as a project template, Export entire project must be selected.

In a moment, you will see the message: Plugin "MyQuizAppTemplate" has been created successfully.
Now, you can check your private plug-ins list under the Apps > Plugins section:

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There, you can find information about the plug-ins or templates created by you (creator e3mail, publicity, import counter value, and so on) and:

  • Open the plug-in to edit it.
  • Rename the plug-in.
  • Delete it.
  • Backup it.

Creating from Custom Templates

To create a new app based on your custom project template, click Create new app from the Apps tab, go to the Templates tab, scroll down to select the needed project template, name your new project, and click Create:

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Later, in the app Project view, you can go to the CREATE NEW > From Plugin. This will open a new window with your created project template listed there as well (with Project template: yes) and that can be imported into your app.
Note, that in this case, it is listed under three categories since we assigned it to all three when creating this plug-in (check this example for more details):

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To finish, confirm import by clicking the Import selected plugins button.

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Tip!

To quickly find the needed plug-in, start typing its name or group all plug-ins by the vendor. By default, they are grouped by Category.

You can check now how your Apps list looks like with private plug-ins and your new app created from your custom template:

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Creating Public Plug-ins

If you would like to create your plug-in public and make it available to the entire Appery.io user community, please contact [email protected]. We will review the plug-in and publish it.