%META:TOPICINFO{author="guest" date="1072079856" format="1.0" version="1.23"}%
This page lists plugins installed on this site. Information not necessary for day to day use has been removed. See [[http://localhost/o/view/Main/TWikiPlugins?rev=1.21 revision 1.21]] for the as distributed docs on plugins, how they work, acquiring new ones, and an introduction on creating your own.

---++ Installed Plugins
There are three Plugins as part of the standard installation.

	* *[[%TWIKIWEB%.DefaultPlugin][DefaultPlugin]]* optionally handles some legacy variables from older versions of TWiki. You can control this option from %TWIKIWEB%.TWikiPreferences. (Perl programmers can also [[#DefaultPluginAlt][add rules]] for simple custom processing.)

	* *[[%TWIKIWEB%.EmptyPlugin][EmptyPlugin]]* is a fully functional module, minus active code; it does nothing and serves as a template for new Plugin development. 

	* *[[%TWIKIWEB%.InterwikiPlugin][InterwikiPlugin]]* is preinstalled but can be disabled or removed. Use it for shorthand linking to remote sites, ex: =TWiki:Plugins= expands to TWiki:Plugins on TWiki.org. You can edit the predefined set of of Wiki-related sites, and add your own.

<div style="background-color:#f5f5f5">
---++ Active Plugins
Quick list (using =%<nop>ACTIVATEDPLUGINS%=): %ACTIVATEDPLUGINS%.

Verbose list (using =%<no>PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS%=):
%PLUGINDESCRIPTIONS%
</div>

---+++ On-Site Pretesting

To test new Plugins on your installation before making them public, you may want to use one of these two approaches:

	* *Method 1:* Safely test on-the-fly by creating separate Production and Test branches in your live TWiki installation. 
		* *Duplicate* the =twiki/bin= and =twiki/lib= directories for the Test version, adjusting the paths in the new =lib/TWiki.cfg=, the =twiki/data=; the =twiki/templates= and =twiki/pub= directories are shared. 
		* *Test* Plugins and other new features in the Test installation until you're satisfied.
			* %X% If you modify topics using the new features, live users will likely see unfamiliar new META tags showing up on their pages - to avoid this, create and edit test-only topics to try out new features.
		* *Copy* the modified files to the Production installation. You can update a TWiki installation live and users won't even notice.

	* *Method 2:* List the Plugin being tested in the =DISABLEDPLUGINS= variable in %TWIKIWEB%.TWikiPreferences. Redefine the =DISABLEDPLUGINS= variable in the =Sandbox= web and do the testing there.

---+++ Setting Preferences

Installed Plugins can be *toggled on or off*, site-wide or by web, through <nop>TWikiPreferences and individual <nop>WebPreferences:

	* All Plugin modules present in the =lib/TWiki/Plugins= directory are activated automatically unless disabled by the =DISABLEDPLUGINS= Preferences variable in <nop>TWikiPreferences. You can optionally list the installed Plugins in the =INSTALLEDPLUGINS= Preferences variable. This is useful to define the sequence of Plugin execution, or to specify other webs than the %WIKITOOLNAME% web for the Plugin topics. Settings in %TWIKIWEB%.TWikiPreferences are:
		* =Set INSTALLEDPLUGINS = <nop>DefaultPlugin, ...= 
		* =Set DISABLEDPLUGINS = <nop>EmptyPlugin, ...=

*Plugin execution order* in TWiki is determined by searching Plugin topics in a specific sequence: First, full =web.topicname= name, if specified in =INSTALLEDPLUGINS=; next, the %TWIKIWEB% web is searched; and finally, the current web.

*Plugin-specific settings* are done in individual Plugin topics. Two settings are standard for each Plugin:
	1 One line description, used to form the bullets describing the Plugins in the %TWIKIWEB%.TextFormattingRules topic:
		* =Set SHORTDESCRIPTION = Blah blah woof woof.=
	1 Debug Plugin, output can be seen in =data/debug.txt=. Set to 0=off or 1=on:
		* =Set DEBUG = 0=
	* The settings can be retrieved as Preferences variables like =%&lt;pluginname&gt;_&lt;var&gt;%=, ex: =%<nop>DEFAULTPLUGIN_SHORTDESCRIPTION%= shows the description of the <nop>DefaultPlugin.

