Developer Guides Index

[Discourse]

Documentation about extending Discourse with plugins, themes, and theme components, working with the core code, and using the Discourse API.

Using the Discourse API

• API documentation: Discourse REST API Documentation
• API examples: Discourse REST API comprehensive examples
• Reverse engineer the API: Reverse engineer the Discourse API
• Data ‌Explorer queries: Run Data Explorer queries with the Discourse API
• API notifications: Get notifications via the API
• Fetch all posts: Fetch All Posts from a Topic Using the API
• Grant custom badge: Grant a custom badge through the API
• Ruby gem: Use the Discourse API ruby gem
• User API keys: User API keys specification
• Generate API keys: Generate User API Keys for testing

Development Environments

• Dev Container: Developing Discourse using a Dev Container
• GitHub Codespaces: Developing Discourse on GitHub Codespaces
• Docker setup: Install Discourse for development using Docker
• macOS setup: Install Discourse on macOS for development
• Ubuntu/Debian setup: Install Discourse on Ubuntu or Debian for Development
• Windows 10 setup: Install Discourse on Windows 10 for development
• Non-Docker plugins: Install plugins in your non-Docker development environment
• Local setup: Set up a local Discourse Development Environment?
• Multisite setup: Set up a multisite development environment
• Fedora setup: Set up Discourse for development on Fedora Linux

Code & Internals

• Ember components: Add Ember Components to Discourse
• Lint and format: Automatically lint and format code before commits
• Acceptance tests: Write acceptance tests and component tests for Ember code in Discourse
• Run test suites: How to run Discourse core, plugin and theme QUnit test suites
• Version compatibility: Pinning plugin and theme versions for older Discourse installs (.discourse-compatibility)
• Ember object ownership: Ember object ownership (getOwner, service injections, etc.)
• JS performance: Using Google’s ‘tachometer’ to measure JS performance changes in Discourse
• CI with GitHub Actions: Setup Continuous Integration using GitHub Actions
• Markdown extensions: Developer’s guide to Markdown extensions
• Converting modals: Converting modals from legacy controllers to new DModal component API
• DModal API: Using the DModal API to render Modal windows (aka popups/dialogs) in Discourse
• PluginAPI: Using the PluginAPI in Site Customizations
• Plugin outlet connectors: Using Plugin Outlet Connectors from a Theme or Plugin
• modifyClass: Using modifyClass to change core behavior
• Creating routes: Creating Routes in Discourse and Showing Data
• Authentication method: Adding a new ‘managed’ authentication method to Discourse
• Accidental serialization of ActiveRecord models: Preventing accidental serialization of ActiveRecord models
• Overriding templates: (not recomended) Overriding Discourse templates from a Theme or Plugin
• Service objects: Using service objects in Discourse
• System specs: Write end-to-end system specs for the Discourse user interface
• FormKit: Discourse toolkit to render forms.

Plugins

• Basic plugin: Developing Discourse Plugins - Part 1 - Create a basic plugin
• Plugin outlet: Developing Discourse Plugins - Part 2 - Connect to a plugin outlet
• Site settings: Developing Discourse Plugins - Part 3 - Add custom site settings
• Git setup: Developing Discourse Plugins - Part 4 - Setup git
• Admin interface: Developing Discourse Plugins - Part 5 - Add an admin interface
• Acceptance tests: Developing Discourse Plugins - Part 6 - Add acceptance tests
• Publish your plugin: Developing Discourse Plugins - Part 7 - Publish your plugin
• New locales: Add a new locale from plugin
• Chat integration: Add a new provider to discourse-chat-integration
• markdown-it extension: Repackaging a markdown-it extension as a Discourse plugin
• Rails autoloading: Structuring a plugin for Rails autoloading

Themes & Components

• Beginners guide: Beginner’s guide to developing Discourse Themes
• Quick reference: Theme Developer Quick Reference Guide
• Designers guide: Designer’s Guide to getting started with themes in Discourse
• Theme Creator: Get started with Theme Creator and the Theme CLI
• Theme CLI: Install the Discourse Theme CLI console app to help you build themes
• Theme structure: Structure of themes and theme components
• Multiple JS files: Split up theme Javascript into multiple files
• Multiple SCSS files: Split up theme SCSS into multiple files
• Theme settings: Add settings to your Discourse theme
• Objects for theme settings: Objects type for theme setting
• Migrate settings: Migrate Discourse theme settings
• Theme metadata: Adding Metadata to a Theme
• Core variables: Use Discourse Core Variables in your Theme
• Localizable strings: Add localizable strings to themes and theme components
• E2E testing: End-to-end system testing for themes and theme components
• Minimizing maintenance: Minimizing Maintenance on Theme Customizations
• Font sizes: Change font sizes in your themes
• Include assets: Include assets (e.g. images, fonts) in themes and components
• Custom icons: Replace Discourse’s default SVG icons with custom icons in a theme
• Dark mode: Update themes and plugins to support automatic dark mode
• Theme modifiers: Theme modifiers: A brief introduction
• Pseudo-elements: Insert text or images anywhere on your site using CSS pseudo-elements
• Font component: Create and share a font theme component
• Highlight.JS language: Install a new language for Highlight.JS via a theme component
• Homepage content: Add custom content that only appears on your homepage
• Featured topic list: Add a featured topic list to your Discourse homepage
• Message format: Message Format support for localization
• Global icon changes: Change icons globally
• Alternative icons: Alternative icons
• Wiki post style: Change the style of a wiki post
• Color scheme: Create and share a color scheme
• Navigation menu: Use the navigation_menu query parameter to preview the sidebar or other options
• Post content styles: Customize posts’ contents with your own styles

General Guides

• White-labelling mobile apps: Things to consider before deciding to white-label the Discourse Mobile apps
• Custom automations: Create custom Automations
• Public data dump: Discourse Public Data Dump

[pfaffman (Jay Pfaffman)]

There is a command you can use that will ask a couple of questions and create a plugin skeleton. There’s a topic describing it, and I posted several times in that topic. I can’t find it here. I can’t find it on Beginner's guide to developing Discourse Themes. But, really, I can’t find it anywhere.

Maybe GitHub - discourse/discourse-plugin-skeleton: Template for Discourse plugins could have a readme that said how to run that command (but then it would have to erase all of that when it created the skeleton plugin–a chicken egg problem, to be sure).

Theme Developer Quick Reference Guide does link to the theme creator, so that one’s answered.

EDIT: Found it!! Automating Discourse Plugin Setup with `create-discourse-plugin` gem

@JammyDodger

looks for a way to lock topics against TL4 drive-bys…

Ooops. Sorry.

I guess user training is the answer. I’ll try to notice. But also, a theme component that replaced reply with reply-as-linked-topic might be a good idea.

But anyway, please add said link (or just mention the rake task?) here and delete this.

[JammyDodger]

looks for a way to lock topics against TL4 drive-bys…

But is it this one in the Community wiki?

Automating Discourse Plugin Setup with `create-discourse-plugin` gem

This plugin is now bundled with Discourse core. There is no need to use this gem. To create a new plugin, use: rake plugin:create[plugin-name] Since I started developing discourse plugins, I felt the overall setup could be more straightforward. We should have a better overall developer experience when creating a plugin. In that spirit, I’ve created in my free time this gem called create-discourse-plugin What does it do? It clones and creates a copy of the discourse-plugin-skeleton …