1/** @page plugin-ids Plugin IDs
2
3 @section Introduction
4  Every plugin contains a unique identifier to prevent duplicate plugin
5  loading and conflicts. Third-party plugins (that is, plugins written by
6  anyone who is not a libpurple, Pidgin, or Finch developer) are expected
7  to use a plugin ID that follows a specific format. This format
8  categorizes plugins and makes duplicate IDs highly unlikely.
9
10 @section Format
11  The basic format of a plugin ID is as follows:
12
13  <tt><i>type</i>-<i>username</i>-<i>pluginname</i></tt>
14
15  The @em type indicator specifies the type of plugin. This must be one
16  of the following:
17
18    - core      - A core libpurple plugin, capable of being loaded in any
19                  program using libpurple. Core plugins may not contain any
20                  UI-specific code.
21    - prpl      - A protocol plugin. This is a special type of core plugin,
22                  which provides libpurple the ability to connect to
23                  another IM or chat network.
24    - lopl      - A loader plugin, which loads scripts as plugins. Perl and
25                  Tcl plugins are made possible by loader plugins.
26    - gtk       - A GTK+ 2.x (a.k.a. Pidgin) plugin. These plugins may use
27                  GTK+ code, but may not use window toolkit code, such as
28                  X11, Win32, Cocoa, or Carbon.
29    - gtk-x11   - A GTK+ 2.x plugin that uses X11 code. These plugins may
30                  use both GTK+ code and X11 code, allowing to hook into
31                  features specific to X11.
32    - gtk-win32 - A GTK+ plugin that uses Win32 code. These plugins may use
33                  both GTK+ code and Win32 code, allowing to hook into
34                  features available on Windows.
35    - gnt       - A GNT (a.k.a. Finch) plugin. These plugins may use GNT code.
36    - qpe       - A plugin for the (now-abandoned) Qutopia user interface.
37
38  The @em username must be a unique identifier for you. It
39  @em should be your http://developer.pidgin.im Trac user ID. Failing that, you
40  could use your SourceForge user ID or your Libera IRC nickname, if you
41  have either. The http://developer.pidgin.im Trac user ID is preferred.
42  Do @em not leave this field blank!
43
44  The @em pluginname is the name of your plugin. It is usually all
45  lowercase letters and matches the static plugin ID (the first argument to
46  the PURPLE_INIT_PLUGIN() macro call), although it can be anything you
47  like. Do @em not include version information in the plugin ID--the
48  #PurplePluginInfo structure already has a field for this.
49
50 @section nospaces One Last Rule for Plugin IDs
51
52  The last rule of plugin IDs is the most important of all. Plugin IDs may
53  @em NOT contain spaces. If you need a space, use another hyphen (-).
54
55 @section exceptions Exceptions to the Rule
56
57  As with any rule there are exceptions. If you browse through the source
58  tree you will see that the plugins we distribute with the Pidgin source
59  do not contain a username field. This is because while one developer may
60  have written each specific plugin, the plugins are maintained
61  collectively by the entire development team. This lack of a username
62  field is also an indicator that the plugin is one of our plugins and not
63  a third-party plugin.
64
65  Another exception to the rule is the <a
66  href="http://plugins.guifications.org/trac/wiki/PluginPack">Purple Plugin
67  Pack</a>. All plugins whose lives started in the Purple Plugin Pack use
68  <tt>"plugin_pack"</tt> for the username field to indicate origination in
69  the Purple Plugin Pack.
70
71  These two exceptions are mentioned here for completeness. We don't
72  encourage breaking the conventions set forth by the rules outlined above.
73
74 @section examples Examples of Well-Chosen Plugin IDs
75
76  The following is a list of well-chosen Plugin IDs listing a few good examples.
77
78    - <tt>"gtk-amc_grim-guifications"</tt> - This is the plugin ID for the
79                                             Guifications 2.x plugin.
80    - <tt>"gtk-rlaager-album"</tt> - This is the plugin ID for the Album
81                                     plugin, which is now part of the
82                                     Purple Plugin Pack. Its ID follows the
83                                     rules because its life started prior
84                                     to its inclusion in the Plugin Pack.
85    - <tt>"core-rlaager-irchelper"</tt> - This is the plugin ID for the IRC
86                                          Helper plugin, which is now part
87                                          of the Purple Plugin Pack. Its ID
88                                          follows the rules because its
89                                          life started prior to its
90                                          inclusion in the Plugin Pack.
91
92 @section plugin-db Plugin Database
93  Although it doesn't exist yet, in time there will be a plugin database
94  on the Pidgin website, where users can download and install new plugins.
95  Plugins will be accessed by your plugin ID, which is one reason why it
96  must be unique.
97
98 */
99
100// vim: syntax=c.doxygen tw=75 et
101