PBooks plugins will follow a similar model as Wordpress plugins, at least for presentation plugins. Although I'd like to keep PBooks in as much XSL, XML, and SQL as possible, I think I'll have to use PHP for plugin management for now. Otherwise, I imagine that the plugin architecture will be too complicated. To make sure this is the right idea, I'm looking into how an XML plugin architecture could work.
Plugin Architecture
XML
I was concerned about how a plugin could be registered in the database, then output XML for the sitemap to process. I think the way to do this is via HTTP using curl. There would be one or more plugin gates which could be called to gather plugin information. The plugin information might include another gate to include. Would it be possible to make a change to the database which would alter the structure of the sitemap?
I think it will work: * http://php.oregonstate.edu/manual/en/function.dom-domdocument-load.php
Yes! With a dynamic sitemap gate and an include for it, plugins XML plugins should work.
Plugin Types
Presentation Plugins
Are these themes? Ideas: * Custom reports * Custom charts / graphs * Custom pages with limited content control - like files for downloading, don't want to create a CMS here
Data Processing Plugins
This is likely where plugins will flourish. Wordpress separates the data processing plugins into two types: * Actions * Filters
Example Plugins
- Google Analytics PBooks Plugin