Summary
In this chapter, we explored the Strapi plugin ecosystem. We started by explaining the concept of a plugin in Strapi and how to install and configure a plugin from the Marketplace. We gave an example of using the API Documentation plugin and saw how can it be used to generate OpenAPI specifications for our API. Then, we explained how we can find more community-based plugins from GitHub or via npm.
We then explored two popular plugins and use cases. First, we learned how to enable GraphQL for our API and how to use GraphQL Playground to test it and explore the generated schema. Next, we learned how to send emails from Strapi by using the Email plugin. While configuring the Email plugin, we also explored the concept of a provider, setting up a custom email provider for us to use in production.
Afterward, we dug deeper into the plugin architecture and created our own custom local plugin with a frontend component to show in the admin panel. This opens up endless capabilities...
