Plugin/Application development

Hi . Is your plugin enabled? It wouldn't be by default, as you'd need to enable it in Administration > Extensions first. And if it isn't listed in Administration > Extensions, there is likely an issue with the plugin being able to initialize and there should be an exception about it logged in Administration > Monitoring > Exceptions.

I have enabled it, but it still isn't showing. No recent exceptions logged either.

If the plugin is listed and enabled in Extensions, there is likely some other issue with the plugin implementation. Since you mentioned "Add Application", is this an IApplicationType plugin? If so, is the custom application type listed in Administration > Applications > Applications when the plugin is enabled in Administration > Extensions?

If it's not listed there, it would be helpful to share some code.

using System;
using Telligent.Evolution.Extensibility;
using Telligent.Evolution.Extensibility.Administration.Version1;
using Telligent.Evolution.Extensibility.Api.Version1;
using Telligent.Evolution.Extensibility.Content.Version1;
using Telligent.Evolution.Extensibility.Version1;

namespace Samples.Links
{
    public class LinksApplicationType : IApplicationType, ITranslatablePlugin, IAdministrationPanel
    {
        IApplicationStateChanges _applicationState = null;
        ITranslatablePluginController _translations = null;

        public Guid AdministrationPanelCategoryId { get; }
        public string CssClass { get; }
        public int? DisplayOrder { get; }
        public bool IsCacheable { get; }
        public string PanelDescription { get; }
        public Guid PanelId { get; }
        public string PanelName { get; }
        public bool VaryCacheByUser { get; }

        #region IPlugin Members
        string IPlugin.Name
        {
            get { return "Links"; }
        }
        string IPlugin.Description
        {
            get { return "Collections of Links"; }
        }

        void IPlugin.Initialize()
        {

        }
        #endregion

        #region IApplicationType Members
        Guid IApplicationType.ApplicationTypeId
        {
            get { return ContentTypes.LinksApplicationId; ; }
        }

        string IApplicationType.ApplicationTypeName
        {
            get { return _translations.GetLanguageResourceValue("ApplicationTypeName"); }
        }

        void IApplicationType.AttachChangeEvents(IApplicationStateChanges stateChanges)
        {
            _applicationState = stateChanges;
        }

        Guid[] IApplicationType.ContainerTypes
        {
            get { return new Guid[] { Apis.Get<IGroups>().ContentTypeId }; }
        }

        IApplication IApplicationType.Get(Guid applicationId)
        {
            return LinksData.GetApplication(applicationId);
        }
        #endregion

        #region ITranslatablePlugin Members
        Translation[] ITranslatablePlugin.DefaultTranslations
        {
            get
            {
                var t = new Translation("en-US");
                t.Set("ApplicationTypeName", "Links Application");
                return new Translation[] { t };
            }
        }

        void ITranslatablePlugin.SetController(ITranslatablePluginController controller)
        {
            _translations = controller;
        }
        #endregion

        public string GetViewHtml()
        {
            return null;
        }

        public bool HasAccess(int userId)
        {
            return true;
        }
    }
}

This is part of the code I downloaded. The full code is in the zip file.

I added the implementation of IAdminstrationPanel as I thought that was the issue, but it hasn't fixed the problem

Thank you for sharing the code. I'm also able to compile and enable this plugin in Administration. To add an application of this type within a group's "Add Application" management panel (and subsequently manage the application through panels), it must also implement IManageableApplicationType. I haven't fully reviewed the application, but it would also need to define APIs, pages, factory default widgets, and more. And for being fully manageable within the contextual management shell, it would also need to implement IApplicationPanels for whatever manageable behavior you'd want to expose.

Thank you for sharing the code. I'm also able to compile and enable this plugin in Administration. To add an application of this type within a group's "Add Application" management panel (and subsequently manage the application through panels), it must also implement IManageableApplicationType. I haven't fully reviewed the application, but it would also need to define APIs, pages, factory default widgets, and more. And for being fully manageable within the contextual management shell, it would also need to implement IApplicationPanels for whatever manageable behavior you'd want to expose.

Thanks for your reply. Do you know where I can get more information on how to implement these interfaces as there isn't enough information in the documentation?

I was going to suggest reviewing the developer training for creating custom applications, and I noticed this code is that document's attached sample. This is a great starting place. Just to note, while this example doesn't implement all the items that an application can (and should), it should still already be functional. It won't support being managed within a group (via group > applications > add application), but you can still enable the application site-wide in Administration > Applications and then add the widget to a page to call the APIs the application exposes.

As for other functionality, it's a matter of picking and choosing what kind of functionality you'd like to expose with the application.

If you can share a bit on what you'd like to do, I can hopefully point you to some specifics. 

I'd like to have a section where I provide reviews of products and each product can be rated and commented on. This would be a paged list of product summaries where clicking on any item would show more detail with the options of rating, commenting or liking.

Hey there! What you're looking for is very similar to what we've built and will soon offer to customers. Check out our Marketplace here: https://community.telligent.com/marketplace It may be a bit more advanced than what you're needing with filters and such, but is a clean way if you're looking for this type of functionality. We're building it out further and then will list the Marketplace application as it's own listing!

Alternatively, you can use one of our other OOTB applications to possibly accomplish what you're after. Surprisingly enough, blogs are a good use for just listing out content and each blog can have ratings, comments, likes. If you want to add files to download, switch over to Media Galleries as an option.

Hope this also helps provide some guidance as you build out!

Thanks for letting me know. I actually prefer text links as filters to help with SEO, but I'll be on the lookout for your product.