created: 20140320055936611
modified: 20141022145259278
tags: howto
title: Developing plugins using Node.js and GitHub
type: text/vnd.tiddlywiki

The most practical way to develop plugins is to use Node.js with the tiddlywiki5 repository to build your plugins, and to use ~GitHub to manage you files.

! Step by step

!! 1. Installation

First read https://tiddlywiki.com/static/PluginMechanism.html.

Install Git from http://git-scm.com/downloads

Install Node.js from http://nodejs.org/

!! 2. Create a new blank repository on ~GitHub

Hint: ~GitHub repositories cannot be grouped together into directories, so it is only possible to group by using a naming scheme, e.g. use 'TW5-' as a name prefix with tiddlywiki5 projects to group them together.

Go to https://github.com/ and create new a repository 'pluginname' - choose to add a readme file.

!! 3. Setup a working environment

Choose a location in your file system (eg TW5) for your plugin project; issue commands to:

!!! 1. Create the directory

```bash
mkdir TW5

```

!!! 2. Make a local read-only copy of the ~TiddlyWiki5 repository

```bash
git clone https://github.com/TiddlyWiki/TiddlyWiki5.git TW5

```

!!! 3. Make a directory for your plugin

```bash
cd TW5
cd plugins
mkdir yourname
cd yourname
mkdir pluginname

```

!!! 4. Make a local copy of your plugin repository

```bash
git clone https://github.com/yourgithub/pluginname.git pluginname

```
!!! 5. Go to your files

```bash
cd pluginname

```

Create the file plugin.info with content:

```js
{
	"title": "$:/plugins/yourgithub/pluginname",
	"description": "summary of the plugin's purpose",
	"author": "yourname",
	"version": "0.0.1",
	"core-version": ">=5.0.8",
	"source": "https://github.com/yourgithub/pluginname",
	"plugin-type": "plugin"
}
```


!! 4. Create the files for your plugin

For example files see the plugins in the ~TiddlyWiki5 repository i.e. those located at plugins/tiddlywiki/. See [[TiddlerFiles|https://tiddlywiki.com/#TiddlerFiles]] for details of the supported tiddler file formats.

!!5. Build your files into a ~TiddlyWiki

Modify `editions/tw5.com/tiddlywiki.info` to include a reference to your plugin directory, i.e. find `"plugins": [ ` and add `"yourname/pluginname"`.

From the TW5 directory issue the command

```bash
node ./tiddlywiki.js editions/tw5.com --build index
```

The resultant file (index.html) will be placed in the `editions/tw5.com/output` directory of the TW5 repo.

!! 6. Save your work on ~GitHub

From `plugins/yourname/pluginname/` issue commands to:

!!! 1. Add all files

```bash
git add -A
```

!!! 2. Commit to your local repository

```bash
git commit -am "something meaningful about this check in"
```

!!! 3. Copy local changes to github

```bash
git push
```