Plugin Suggestions

[Angryboy]

Thought I'd give my 2 cents (since I've tried a lot of these examples and lost the will to continue on most of them and want you to be successful with it):

• Try to consolidate your reusable code as early as possible. If you're developing loads of plugins you'll quickly find yourself redefining many of the same kinds of functions. Maybe turn to mvlcek's i18n plugins and i18n_base for inspiration?
  
• Find a sensible way of structuring your codebase early and stick to it. I would reach the "end" of a project and start the next one very differently, leading to vastly different (and difficult to understand) codebases.
  
• For creating and saving files, use the JSON file format. It's a much easier format to work with than XML since you just need to json_encode/decode your data and put/get the contents to/from the desired file, rather than faffing about with XML escaping and CDATA blocks.
  
• If you can find an existing library/software that can be ported over and easily used in GetSimple, use it. You'll save yourself the headache of implementing your own solutions for functionality that others have potentially done better
  
• Keep your ear to the ground for the current discussions on plugin development. If it turns out that the current plugins will be lagrely incompatible with releases in future (and I mean 4.0+), it might be prudent to design yours in a way that minimizes the teething troubles
  
• If you build plugins that rely on user registration, either tie it to the existing user management plugins that we have or tie them to completely external services. You don't want to have to write your own user registration and authentication system.