###################
Create a new plugin
###################
************
Introduction
************
Modoboa offers a plugin API to expand its capabilities. The current
implementation provides the following possibilities:
* Expand navigation by adding entry points to your plugin inside the GUI
* Access and modify administrative objects (domains, mailboxes, etc.)
* Register callback actions for specific events
Plugins are nothing more than Django applications with an extra piece
of code that integrates them into Modoboa. The
:file:`modo_extension.py` file will contain a complete description of
the plugin:
* Admin and user parameters
* Custom menu entries
The communication between both applications is provided by `Django
signals
`_.
The following subsections describe the plugin architecture and explain
how you can create your own.
*****************
The required glue
*****************
To create a new plugin, just start a new django application like
this (into Modoboa's directory)::
$ python manage.py startapp
Then, you need to register this application using the provided
API. Just copy/paste the following example into the :file:`modo_extension.py` file
of the future extension::
from modoboa.core.extensions import ModoExtension, exts_pool
class MyExtension(ModoExtension):
"""My custom Modoboa extension."""
name = "myext"
label = "My Extension"
version = "0.1"
description = "A description"
url = "myext_root_location" # optional, name is used if not defined
def load(self):
"""This method is called when Modoboa loads available and activated plugins.
Declare parameters and register events here.
"""
pass
def load_initial_data(self):
"""Optional: provide initial data for your extension here."""
pass
exts_pool.register_extension(MyExtension)
Once done, simply add your extension's module name to the
``MODOBOA_APPS`` variable located inside :file:`settings.py`. Finally,
run the following commands::
$ python manage.py migrate
$ python manage.py load_initial_data
$ python manage.py collectstatic
**********
Parameters
**********
A plugin can declare its own parameters. There are two levels available:
* 'Global' parameters : used to configure the plugin, editable
inside the *Admin > Settings > Parameters* page
* 'User' parameters : per-user parameters (or preferences), editable
inside the *Options > Preferences* page
Playing with parameters
=======================
Parameters are defined using `Django forms
`_ and Modoboa
adds two special forms you can inherit depending on the level of
parameter(s) you want to add:
* ``modoboa.parameters.forms.AdminParametersForm``: for general parameters
* ``modoboa.parameters.forms.UserParametersForm``: for user parameters
To register new parameters, add the following line into the ``load``
method of your plugin class::
from modoboa.parameters import tools as param_tools
param_tools.registry.add(
LEVEL, YourForm, ugettext_lazy("Title"))
Replace ``LEVEL`` by ``"global"`` or ``"user"``.
***********************
Custom role permissions
***********************
Modoboa uses Django's internal permission system. Administrative roles
are nothing more than groups (``Group`` instances).
An extension can add new permissions to a group by listening to the
``extra_role_permissions`` signal. Here is an example:
.. sourcecode:: python
from django.dispatch import receiver
from modoboa.core import signals as core_signals
PERMISSIONS = {
"Resellers": [
("relaydomains", "relaydomain", "add_relaydomain"),
("relaydomains", "relaydomain", "change_relaydomain"),
("relaydomains", "relaydomain", "delete_relaydomain"),
("relaydomains", "service", "add_service"),
("relaydomains", "service", "change_service"),
("relaydomains", "service", "delete_service")
]
}
@receiver(core_signals.extra_role_permissions)
def extra_role_permissions(sender, role, **kwargs):
"""Add permissions to the Resellers group."""
return constants.PERMISSIONS.get(role, [])
*********************
Extending admin forms
*********************
The forms used to edit objects (account, domain, etc.) through the admin
panel are composed of tabs. You can extend them (ie. add new
tabs) in a pretty easy way thanks to custom signals.
Account
=======
To add a new tab to the account edition form, define new listeners
(handlers) for the following signals:
* ``modoboa.admin.signals.extra_account_forms``
* ``modoboa.admin.signals.get_account_form_instances``
* ``modoboa.admin.signals.check_extra_account_form`` (optional)
Example:
.. sourcecode:: python
from django.dispatch import receiver
from modoboa.admin import signals as admin_signals
@receiver(admin_signals.extra_account_forms)
def extra_account_form(sender, user, account, **kwargs):
return [
{"id": "tabid", "title": "Title", "cls": MyFormClass}
]
@receiver(admin_signals.get_account_form_instances)
def fill_my_tab(sender, user, account, **kwargs):
return {"id": my_instance}
Domain
======
To add a new tab to the domain edition form, define new listeners
(handlers) for the following signals:
* ``modoboa.admin.signals.extra_domain_forms``
* ``modoboa.admin.signals.get_domain_form_instances``
Example:
.. sourcecode:: python
from django.dispatch import receiver
from modoboa.admin import signals as admin_signals
@receiver(admin_signals.extra_domain_forms)
def extra_account_form(sender, user, domain, **kwargs):
return [
{"id": "tabid", "title": "Title", "cls": MyFormClass}
]
@receiver(admin_signals.get_domain_form_instances)
def fill_my_tab(sender, user, domain, **kwargs):
return {"id": my_instance}