README

Generates a bare forumify plugin or theme: registered with the platform, with quality tooling, GitHub Actions workflows and a README explaining where things go. Plugins also get a test suite wired up to forumify's test kit.

Usage

composer create-project forumify/plugin-skeleton my-plugin

The generator asks whether you're building a plugin or a theme, your package name, namespace, license and whether you want tests and CI, then rewrites the skeleton into your plugin or theme and removes itself.

Add --no-interaction to take every default, deriving the package name from the target directory. Useful in scripts:

composer create-project forumify/plugin-skeleton my-plugin --no-interaction

Scripting the answers

Every question can be answered up front with an environment variable, which is how this repository's own CI checks the generator:

SKELETON_PACKAGE=acme/todo-plugin \
SKELETON_NAME=Todo \
SKELETON_FEATURES=tests,ci \
composer create-project forumify/plugin-skeleton my-plugin --no-interaction

SKELETON_TYPE=theme \
SKELETON_PACKAGE=acme/dark-theme \
SKELETON_FEATURES=ci \
composer create-project forumify/plugin-skeleton my-theme --no-interaction

Variable	Answers
`SKELETON_TYPE`	`plugin` (the default) or `theme`
`SKELETON_PACKAGE`	package name (`vendor/name`)
`SKELETON_NAMESPACE`	PHP namespace
`SKELETON_PLUGIN_CLASS`	plugin or theme class name
`SKELETON_NAME`	display name
`SKELETON_DESCRIPTION`	description
`SKELETON_AUTHOR`	author
`SKELETON_HOMEPAGE`	homepage
`SKELETON_LICENSE`	license
`SKELETON_PLATFORM`	minimum forumify version
`SKELETON_FEATURES`	comma separated list of the features to include, everything else is left out

Valid features: tests, ci. Themes can't have tests, it is ignored for them.

Requirements

PHP 8.4 or newer
Composer 2
A MySQL 8.4 database, if you generate a test suite

What you get

Plugins

Always:

composer.json with the plugin wiring (type, extra.forumify-plugin-class, autoload)
the plugin class, plus service and route configuration
phpcs.xml and phpstan.neon (level 8), runnable with make quality
a Makefile, .editorconfig, .gitignore and a migrations/ directory
a README explaining where controllers, entities, templates and translations go

Optionally:

Question	What it generates
Test suite	phpunit wired to `Forumify\Testing`, plus a test proving the plugin boots
GitHub Actions	Workflows running the tests and the quality checks

Themes

composer.json with the theme wiring (type: forumify-theme, extra.forumify-plugin-class, autoload)
a theme class extending forumify's base theme, so every variable forumify's own styles rely on is there from the start and editable under Admin → Settings → Themes
public/style.css, loaded on every page while the theme is active
an empty templates/ directory for overriding forumify's and plugins' templates
phpcs.xml and phpstan.neon, a Makefile, .editorconfig and .gitignore
a README covering variables, static files and template overrides
optionally, a GitHub Actions workflow running the quality checks

Themes get no test suite: forumify's test kit boots plugins as Symfony bundles, and a theme isn't one. They get no config/ or migrations/ either, forumify never loads them for a theme.

How this repository works

The skeleton is a working forumify plugin in its own right. Its test suite runs in CI exactly as a generated plugin's would, which is what stops the templates from drifting away from the platform.

Generation is plain string replacement of the skeleton's own identity:

Placeholder	Becomes
`forumify/plugin-skeleton`	your package name
`Forumify\PluginSkeleton`	your namespace
`ForumifyPluginSkeletonPlugin`	your plugin class
`Plugin Skeleton`	your plugin's display name
`plugin-skeleton` / `plugin_skeleton`	slugged and snake_cased forms of the display name

Optional parts are wrapped in markers that are stripped when you decline them, and kept (without the markers) when you accept:

# skeleton:if tests
tests:
	make setup-tests
	make run-tests
# skeleton:endif

# skeleton:if !tests inverts the condition. The comment character is ignored, so the same markers work in PHP, YAML, Twig, Makefiles and Markdown. Besides the features, plugin and theme work as conditions too.

Themes are generated from the same plugin: the generator removes what only a plugin uses, then copies skeleton/theme over the top. That directory holds the theme class (under the plugin class's placeholder name, so it is renamed like one), public/, templates/ and the theme's README. The plugin's README lives in skeleton/plugin and is copied the same way.

The generator lives in skeleton/Installer.php and runs from composer's post-create-project-cmd. It deletes itself once it is done.

Contributing

Test a change by generating a plugin from your working copy:

composer create-project forumify/plugin-skeleton /tmp/test-plugin \
  --repository='{"type":"path","url":"/path/to/plugin-skeleton","options":{"symlink":false}}' \
  --stability=dev
cd /tmp/test-plugin && make quality && make tests

For a theme, add SKELETON_TYPE=theme in front and run only make quality.

forumify / plugin-skeleton

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