= Components for Dolphin 7 Modules Development =


The main feature of Dolphin 7 for developers is the new modular structure and a set of development tools. Modules are located in '''modules/{Vendor}/{Module Name}''' directory. See !BoonEx modules for live examples.

This is a quick overview of the features developer can use, for exact description of each feature see appropriate class or file. The following features are available for modules, all of them can be done without modifying any single line in base package:

 *  '''Privacy''' - your content can have privacy settings, which member set for any content, see '''!BxDolPrivacy''' class.

 *  '''Alerts''' - Dolphin rise alerts (events) for different actions, modules can catch these alerts and receive notifications about these updates. Not only Dolphin rise alerts, but modules too, so it is possible to receive notifications about modules alerts. For more information see '''!BxDolAlerts''' class.

 *  '''Forms''' - unified forms across the script, with automatic checking and saving to database, see '''!BxDolForm''' class.

 *  '''Page builders''' - you can design you pages to use page builder, so admin will be able to reorganize blocks on this page, see '''!BxDolPageView''' class.

 *  '''Cron''' - dolphin supports cron system, now modules can install own scripts to run every defined period of time, without needing to install it manually in SSH or cPanel, see '''!BxDolCron'''.

 *  '''Tags''' - automatically parse and manage tags for any content, see '''!BxDolTags''' class.

 *  '''Categories''' - automatically parse and manage categories for any content, see '''!BxDolCategories''' class.

 *  '''Albums''' - automatically parse and manage albums for any content, see '''!BxDolAlbums''' class.

 *  '''ACL (the old name is Memberships)''' - admin can set access to different sections of the site for different members roles. See '''checkAction''' function in '''membership_levels.inc.php''' file for more information.

 *  '''Comments''' - add section with comments to your module, see '''!BxDolCmts''' class for more information.

 *  '''Voting''' - add voting section to your module, see '''!BxDolVoting''' class for more information.

 *  '''Calendar''' - displays calendar with your custom content to your module, see '''!BxDolCalendar''' class for more information.

 *  '''Member Menu''' - customizable member menu. It is possible to add new items to member's menu with custom submenus and notifications, see '''!BxDolMemberMenu''' class for more information.

 *  '''Top Menu''' - main site menu can be customizable via '''sys_menu_top''' table.

 *  '''Admin menu''' - admin menu can be customizable via '''sys_menu_admin''' table. It is better to add own links to Modules menu item only.

 *  '''Admin Top Menu''' - admin top menu can be customizable via '''sys_menu_admin_top''' table but please keep in mind that this menu contains outer links.

 *  '''Admin Dashboard''' - customizable admin dashboard page via '''sys_admin_dashboard''' table, see '''!BxDolAdminDashboard''' class.

 *  '''Bottom Menu''' - bottom menu can be customizable via '''sys_menu_bottom''' table.

 *  '''Email templates''' - every module can have email templates which can be managed via admin panel, see '''!BxDolEmailTemplates'''.

 *  '''Paginate''' - use ready paginate class to implement unified interface for your content paginate, see '''!BxDolPaginate'''.

 *  '''Admin Settings Form''' - display and automatically save admin settings for your content, see '''!BxDolAdminSettings''' class.

 *  '''Permalinks''' - it is good practice to use friendly looking permalinks in URLs, see '''!BxDolPermalinks''' class.

 *  '''Continuous ratings''' - see '''!BxDolRate''' class. 

 *  '''RSS''' - generate RSS XML for any content, see '''!BxDolRssFactory''' class.

 *  '''Site Search''' - it is possible to search through all content on the site, but module must support this function, see '''!BxDolSearch''' class.

 *  '''Services''' - services are used for inner communication between modules, see '''!BxDolService''' class.

 *  '''Subscriptions''' - it is possible to subscribe to any content, and receive email notifications about any changes, see '''!BxDolSubscription''' class.

 *  '''Views''' - it is possible to track any object views automatically, see '''!BxDolViews''' class.

 *  '''Images resizing''' - to resize image in your module use '''!BxDolImageResize''' class.

 *  '''Action buttons''' - it is easy to display action buttons for your content in separate block or in title zone, see '''BxBaseFunctions::genObjectsActions''', '''BxBaseMenu::setCustomSubActions''' and '''sys_objects_actions''' table.

 *  '''Authentication types''' - by default standard and Facebook Connect (as separate module) authentication types are supported, it is possible to add you own, see '''sys_objects_auths''' table.

 *  '''Injections''' - you can insert you code to different places on the page, see '''!BxDolTemplate''' class.

 *  '''Site stat''' - display site statistics, see '''sys_stat_member''' table.

 *  '''User stat''' - display user statistic, see '''sys_stat_site''' table.

Many modules provide service functions to work with them, for example you can use '''photos''' module to store photos for your content, see main module class for list of service functions the module provides.

It is a good idea to install '''Profiler''' module to help in developing modules and check your script execution time.

== Modules Packaging ==

When you finished with your module you need to create a distribution package. Archive your module's main folder using ZIP archiver. For example, if your module is located in '''modulesyour_name/module_name''' folder you need to archive '''module_name''' folder with all files.