+- MyBB Community Forums (https://community.mybb.com)
+-- Forum: Resources (https://community.mybb.com/forum-8.html)
+--- Forum: Tutorials (https://community.mybb.com/forum-38.html)
+--- Thread: Common Errors when making a plugin (/thread-6097.html)
Common Errors when making a plugin - zaher1988 - 2006-01-16
Heloo there,
I'd like to state here some common errors that you might encounter when making your own plugins, a little bit of my little experience in plugins for those who are new.
1- Correct & Common naming
When making a plugin you should ensure to have a common name for the plugin and for the activation , deactivation, info etc...functions.
what i mean in. if you make for example
function icons_activate()your plugin file should be called icons.
or you will not find your plugin in the plugin manager, or the plugin will not work.
2- Escaping all joker characters like $, [, ], ?, ( and ).
When making a plugin and u miss escaping the jokers, you'll plugin will not do the job when activated. this is only apllied for the find string in the function find_replace_templatesets.
What i mean by escaping is
in case u have
Quote:$mybbuser[avatar]
you have to escape it using "\"
Quote:\$mybbuser\[avatar\]
3-When having multilines
It's better that in the search part of the replace templateset, that you dont use multipule lines. however if u have multipule lines make sure to include the letter "s" after the #
for example
"#<td valign="top" align="right">
<div class="bottommenu"><span class="smalltext">\$logoutlink</td>#s"4-Watch up not to use "0" in activate
You dont incluse "0" at the end of the activation for a certain change of templates. As 0 means you don't want to create a new template. however if you change something, you must create a new template otherwise reverting to original won't be possible.
so only use it for deactivating
umm in case others would like to add things here you're free
bbye
RE: Common Errors when making a plugin - Ryan Gordon - 2006-01-16
I didnt know about #3. cool
RE: Common Errors when making a plugin - decswxaqz - 2006-01-16
Just to correct and add to the above
2- Escaping all joker characters like $, [, ], ?, ( and ).
You should NOT escape all the characters in your plugin, just the ones used for the find string in the function find_replace_templatesets
I think the above poster is referring to the function find_replace_templatesets. This function will basically search a specified template with the search string and replace it with something else. The function uses the function preg_replace to look for code. This means you have to 'escape' certain characters. Most noticeably $ and all of the brackets ([{}]). There are a few others but these are the main ones you need to know about.
You should use the function preg_quote to do all of this work for you.
You should also store your search strings in string values instead of copying/pasting the code into the relevant places. If you want to search for something and add something after the search string, some people might use
require_once("inc/adminfunctions_templates.php");
function plugin_activate(){
find_replace_templatesets('postbit', '#reputation#', 'reputation<br/>mystring');
}
function plugin_deactivate(){
find_replace_templatesets('postbit', '#<br/>mystring#', '', 1);
}
$find_string = "reputation";
$replace_string = "<br/>mystring";
require_once("inc/adminfunctions_templates.php");
function plugin_activate(){
global $find_string, $replace_string;
find_replace_templatesets('postbit', '#'.preg_quote($find_string).'#', $find_string.$replace_string);
}
function plugin_deactivate(){
global $find_string, $replace_string;
find_replace_templatesets('postbit', '#'.preg_quote($replace_string).'#', '', 0);
}
4-Watch up not to use "0" in activate
When you use the function find_replace_templatesets the last parameter is optional.
If it isn't used, or set to 1, it will create a new template from the 'master' template. This means an option will appear in the Admin CP for users to revert back to the original (default) template.
If set to 0 then it will try to edit all templates with that title.
So when you install/edit a template for the first time (read: activating a plugin) using the function find_replace_templatesets, you should omit this parameter so that it will create a copy of the master template you are trying to edit.
And when you are deactivating your plugin, you should set this parameter to 0. Like in the code above/below
$find_string = "reputation";
$replace_string = "<br/>mystring";
require_once("inc/adminfunctions_templates.php");
function plugin_activate(){
global $find_string, $replace_string;
find_replace_templatesets('postbit', '#'.preg_quote($find_string).'#', $find_string.$replace_string);
}
function plugin_deactivate(){
global $find_string, $replace_string;
find_replace_templatesets('postbit', '#'.preg_quote($replace_string).'#', '', 0);
}
Notice the extra parameter at the end of the function in plugin_deactive. That will make the find/replace work on all templates with that name.
I will add some more tips when my eyes are working.
RE: Common Errors when making a plugin - zaher1988 - 2006-01-16
yes sorry regarding the 2nd one
i forgot to mention that
yes it's only for the find string in the function find_replace_templatesets i'll edit my post ciao