Chapter 7. Creating Your First Plugin
The next three chapters are a beginner's guide to customizing Elgg. This chapter leads you through the process of creating your first plugin. It introduces you to several components of Elgg's plugin API and provides advice on debugging plugins. Chapter 8, Customization through Plugins, completes the introduction of plugin development through a series of examples that teach different facets of Elgg development. An overview of theming is presented in Chapter 9, Theming Elgg, to wrap up this section of the book.
These chapters are tutorial in nature and slowly build up your knowledge of plugin development. They do not cover everything there is to know about Elgg. Appendix A, Developer's Quick Start Guide, provides a systematic look at the Elgg framework. It complements the learning-by-example approach of these chapters. Your starting point depends on your skill level and your preference for tutorials versus high-level overviews.
The plugin code is available...