One or more TWiki variables should be defined so that the last step include the plugin in the installed plugins variable is not really needed.

As a suggestion %PLUGINHELP%, should expand to links to the help topics for all installed plugins in the web (wich could obviously reside in TextFormattingRules), that way no changes to the web have to be made for the addition of plugins.

-- EdgarBrown - 25 Apr 2001

What if you install a Plugin and you want it enabled in a web but not in a different web?

E.g. in the web for the Operation System course I want the PerlsamplePlugin enabled so that students can write Perl code in a topic and see what happens ... (Yes there is such plugin and also a PrologsamplePlugin ready )

-- AndreaSterbini - 26 Apr 2001

Yikes!!!, that's too much Perl for my taste ;^)....

In that case, probably the help topic should be a topic inside the current web, that includes the generic TWiki help (very much as this topic), and has a set of links (preferably automaticaly generated)to show the active plugins and variables.

The harder way would be to make the help topics accept parameters, and pass the current web as a parameter, so that the active plugin topics would be retrieved.

If you want to get fancy, the use of variables could alow to have in the Main TWiki preferences a syntax of the form:

• • Set ACTIVEPLUGINS = %EXISTINGPLUGINS%-PerlsamplePlugin

So that no extra typing is needed except in special cases.

-- EdgarBrown - 26 Apr 2001

Is the default web for the NamePlugin topic the main or the twiki web? (I assume twiki). How about other installation and example topics? This is a slight pain for me because we use "People" for main and "Wiki" for TWiki and I have'nt figured out how to make Zip read TWiki variables :). What do you think about requiring a Plugin web for any installation that uses plugins?

-- SteveRoe - 06 Jul 2001

Default web for plugins has been discussed before. The first idea was to use a new Plugins web for that, but this means that there is yet another TWiki tool specific web which drew some resistence. Now we favour the TWiki web as the default Plugins web, so that web should contain the plugin topics and all associated topics like example topics. That way all TWiki tool specific content is in the TWiki web, and all company specific content (users, offices, groups) is in the Main web. If you renamed the TWiki web you need to unzip the plugin to a temporary location and move the files to the renamed web. Note that some of the current plugins are packaged using the TWiki web, some are still using the Plugins web.

All plugins can be downloaded from the Plugins web at TWiki.org. This web will officially be listed after the pending production release.

-- PeterThoeny - 06 Jul 2001

• See also: SkinPackagingHowTo

How about a TwikiPlugins web?

-- MartinCleaver - 07 Jul 2001

I like the idea of using TWiki as the web for plugins. Perhaps the TWiki web should be renamed to TWikidocs or similar, since it does look a bit like the 'top' or 'main' web if you are not familiar with TWiki, due to its name.

-- RichardDonkin - 08 Jul 2001

Renaming the TWiki web to TWikidocs sounds like a good idea, follow up in RenameTheMainWeb.

-- PeterThoeny - 06 Jul 2001