CodePress/guide/en/codepress-developer/plugin-development.md

Plugin Development

Plugin structure

plugins/MyPlugin/
├── MyPlugin.php         # Main plugin class (name = folder name)
├── plugin.json          # Plugin metadata
├── config.json          # Optional configuration
└── assets/              # Optional CSS/JS
    ├── css/
    └── scss/

plugin.json

{
  "name": "My Plugin",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "author": "Your Name",
  "description": "Description",
  "type": "content",
  "essential": false,
  "hasConfig": false
}

Fields

Field	Value	Description
name	string	Display name in admin
version	string	Version number
author	string	Author
description	string	Short description
type	"system" or "content"	System (blue badge) or content (green badge)
essential	boolean	Essential plugins cannot be edited/deleted
hasConfig	boolean	Shows a Config button in admin

Plugin class example

<?php

class MyPlugin
{
    private ?PluginAPIInterface $api = null;

    public function setAPI(PluginAPIInterface $api): void
    {
        $this->api = $api;
    }

    public function getConfig(): array
    {
        return [
            'title' => 'My Plugin',
            'type' => 'content',
            'viewable' => true,
        ];
    }

    public function getSidebarContent(): string
    {
        $title = $this->api ? $this->api->getCurrentPageTitle() : '';
        return '<p>Current page: ' . htmlspecialchars($title) . '</p>';
    }
}

The plugin class is automatically loaded by PluginManager when the plugin is listed in enabled_plugins in config.json.

Using the API

The API is injected via setAPI(), not via a static method. In the front-end context this is a CMSAPI instance, in the admin context an AdminPluginAPI instance. Both implement PluginAPIInterface.

// Front-end API (CMSAPI)
$this->api->getCurrentPageTitle();
$this->api->getMenu();
$this->api->getConfig('site_title');
$this->api->getCurrentLanguage();
$this->api->isHomepage();
$this->api->createUrl('about-us');

// Admin API (AdminPluginAPI)
$this->api->getConfig('analytics.enabled');
$this->api->getContentDir();
$this->api->getEnabledPlugins();

Hooks

Plugins can implement the following methods for automatic hook registration:

Actions (no return value):

• onPageLoad - On page load
• onBeforeRender - Before rendering
• onAfterRender - After rendering
• onSearch - On search
• onMenuBuild - On menu build

Filters (return modified value):

• onContentFilter - Filter content
• onTitleFilter - Filter title
• onMenuFilter - Filter menu

Admin integration

Plugins can add custom admin pages via getAdminMenu() and handleAdminRoute():

public function getAdminMenu(): array
{
    return [
        [
            'plugin' => 'MyPlugin',
            'route' => 'my-plugin',
            'label' => 'My Plugin',
            'icon' => 'bi-puzzle',
            'section' => 'general',  // or 'system'
        ],
    ];
}

public function handleAdminRoute(string $action): ?string
{
    return '<h2>My Plugin admin page</h2>';
}

Only plugins listed in enabled_plugins are shown in the admin sidebar.

Adding CSS

Plugins can provide a CSS URL via getCssUrl():

public function getCssUrl(): string
{
    return '/plugins/MyPlugin/assets/css/style.css';
}