Plugin Development

The plugin lifecycle, the manifest, the service provider, a complete tutorial and packaging.

Getting Started

TruCMS Developer Documentation: Start Here
Introduction to TruCMS Development
TruCMS Architecture Overview
TruCMS Repository Layout
Local Development Setup for TruCMS
TruCMS Coding Conventions and Rules

Platform Tour for Developers

Admin Panel and Dashboard Internals
Content System: Pages, Posts, Menus and Widgets
Page Builder Internals
Appearance: Themes, Options and Templates
Users, Roles, Teams and API Tokens
Settings and System Tools
Business Modules: Booking, TruCommerce and TruPayments

Plugin Development

How the TruCMS Plugin System Works
Plugin Manifest Reference (module.json)
Plugin Service Provider: register() and boot()
Tutorial: Build Your First TruCMS Plugin
Package, Install and Update a Plugin

Extending the Admin and Backend

What Can I Extend in TruCMS?
Admin Menu, Breadcrumbs and Dashboard Widgets
Add Settings Screens to the Admin
Permissions and Roles for Extensions
Routes, Controllers and Views
Models, Migrations and Media
Events, Jobs, Schedules and Notifications

Extending the Page Builder and Public Site

Page Types, Slugs and Public URLs
Shortcodes: Create Page-Builder Blocks
Data-Bound Sections
Widgets and Widget Areas
Menus and Navigation Sources
Template Library and Website Templates
AI Assistant Integration for Shortcodes

Payments, Localization and Performance

Payments and Gateways for Developers
Localization and Translatable Models
Caching and Performance

Theme Development

Creating a TruCMS Theme
Theme Options and the CSS Pipeline
Header and Footer Presets, SCSS and Theme Assets

API and Configuration Reference

Facades and Container Keys
Global Helper Functions
Hooks and Extension Index
Routes and Middleware Reference
Artisan Commands Reference
Configuration and Environment Variables

Data and Catalog Reference

Database Tables Reference
Permissions Catalogue
Built-in Blocks, Widgets and Page Types
Echo Theme Options Catalogue

Build, Test and Deploy

Testing TruCMS Core and Plugins with Pest
Build Pipeline and Assets (Vite and Sass)
Deploy and Update TruCMS

Security and Troubleshooting

Security Guide for Extension Authors
Known Quirks and Legacy Areas
Troubleshooting TruCMS Development Problems