Overview

There are times when a plugin isn’t ready to use right away, but requires some amount of setup from the user. The setup required can range from something simple, like providing an email address, to a complex interaction of different parts of the system. Depending on the circumstances, different solutions are appropriate. When providing settings in your plugin, you have the following options:

  • Assistant

  • Configuration

  • Custom UI

Assistant

An assistant is a helper that guides the user through a complex multi-step process. plentymarkets displays all plugin assistants in the Setup » Assistants » Plugins menu.

Assistants are an appropriate tool if your plugin would otherwise require the user to configure settings in various parts of the system. Payment plugins are a good example. Here, the user has to both authorise their account with the payment provider and make the payment method visible to customers in the webshop. Furthermore, the user may have to configure the payment method for different countries and currencies.

Assistants also allow you inform the user of choices and consequences without relying on external instructions.

If your plugin doesn’t meet any of the conditions outlined above, you should consider an alternative to assistants. Especially options that the user has to change frequently may be better placed elsewhere.

Configuration

A plugin configuration describes a set of settings that the user can access in the plugin details. They offer a number of simple form elements, for example text fields or checkboxes. There’s no room for more elaborate explanation.

You should use a configuration to provide the user with straight-forward options that are specific to each plugin set. Because configurations are always plugin set specific, an assistant or custom UI is more appropriate if your plugin contains any settings that apply to the system as a whole. This may, for example, include account details for communicating with external systems.

Custom UI

If your plugin provides a custom UI, you can also use this UI for settings. In this case, you have to store the settings in a data table. This means that, unlike the plugin configuration, the settings aren’t plugin set specific. They apply to all plugin sets that contain the plugin.

Custom UIs are otherwise used for displaying information or triggering actions. If your plugin has its own UI anyway, you can consider including the settings as well. It’s not suited for plugin set specific settings or a complex setup. In these cases, you should prefer a plugin configuration or assistant respectively.