Extending Evolution

Main Extension Choices

• Snippet — dynamic parser-side output
• Plugin — event-driven behavior
• Module — manager-side tool or application
• Template / Chunk / TV — content modeling and presentation
• Package — the correct choice when you need several of the above plus routes, migrations, config, and classes

Why the Package Layer Matters

In Evo 3, the cleanest way to ship real functionality is a package with a service provider. The package can register views, migrations, config, classic assets, manager modules, and Artisan commands in one place.

Example Service Provider

class ExampleServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
    protected $namespace = 'example';

    protected $commands = [
        ExampleInstallDemoCommand::class,
    ];

    public function boot()
    {
        $this->loadMigrationsFrom(__DIR__ . '/../migrations');
        $this->loadViewsFrom(__DIR__ . '/../views', 'example');
        $this->publishes([__DIR__ . '/../public/assets/vendor/example' => public_path('assets/vendor/example')], 'example-assets');
        $this->publishes([__DIR__ . '/../config/example.php' => $this->resolveConfigPublishPath('example.php')], 'example-config');
        $this->loadTranslationsFrom(__DIR__ . '/../lang', 'example');
    }

    public function register()
    {
        $this->mergeConfigFrom(__DIR__ . '/../config/example.php', 'example');
        $this->commands($this->commands);
        $this->loadChunksFrom(dirname(__DIR__) . '/assets/chunks/', $this->namespace);
        $this->loadPluginsFrom(dirname(__DIR__) . '/assets/plugins/');
        $this->app->registerModule('Example Demo Module', dirname(__DIR__) . '/assets/modules/example/module.php');
    }
}

Typical Package Building Blocks

• config for package settings
• migrations for schema changes
• seeders for demo or bootstrap data
• controllers for package routes and page logic
• views for frontend and manager output
• assets/chunks, assets/snippets, assets/plugins, assets/tvs for classic Evolution elements
• assets/modules for a manager module

Controller Example

class ExampleApiController
{
    public function getDocuments()
    {
        return SiteContent::where('parent', 0)
            ->orderBy('pagetitle', 'asc')
            ->get();
    }

    public function getInfo()
    {
        return Response::json($this->getDocuments());
    }
}

Seeder Example

example-package also shows how a package can create templates, TVs, and demo resources with updateOrCreate() inside a seeder.

For the full package anatomy, see Project Structure. For the install and publishing flow, see Installing Extras and Creating an Extra.