Creating a Brixy Plugin
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Creating a Brixy Plugin

Plugins in Brixy App Builder are built using the MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture, which ensures a clear separation of concerns, scalability, and maintainability. Each plugin acts as an extension of functionality, triggered at a specific stage of the page lifecycle (e.g., onBeforeHeader, onBeforeRender, afterRender) through predefined Brixy App hooks.

Plugins do not require user interaction and can:

  • Embed code, such as JavaScript for Google Analytics, Matomo, etc.;
  • Modify or extend core data available at a specific lifecycle stage;
  • Process information from the server or client using Model and Controller logic.

Plugin Structure:

    Directories and files for custom plugins must be placed in the Extensions/Plugins directory.

    ⚠️ Caution: Custom plugins will not be overwritten or updated after a Brixy update. They are a separate part of the system.

Example structure:

Extensions/
└── Plugins/
    └── plugin_category/
        └── plugin_name/
            ├── Config/
            │   └── Routes.php
            ├── Controllers/
            │   └── Brixy_Ext_Plugin_Plugin_Name_Controller.php
            ├── Language/
            │   └── en/
            │       └── Brixy_Ext_Plugin_Plugin_Name.php
            ├── Models/
            │   └── Brixy_Ext_Plugin_Plugin_Name_Model.php
            ├── Views/
            │   ├── admin.php
            │   └── default.php
            ├── plugin_name.php
            └── plugin_name.json

Component Explanation:

Element Description
plugin_category Unique folder name for plugin grouping (e.g., system, global, custom).
plugin_name Unique name of the plugin
Config/Routes.php Defines custom routes pointing to controller methods. Optional.
Controllers/Brixy_Ext_Plugin_Plugin_Name_Controller.php Contains controller logic for handling requests. Optional.
Language/en/Brixy_Ext_Plugin_Plugin_Name.php Language file for the plugin. The filename must use Snake Capital format.
Models/Brixy_Ext_Plugin_Plugin_Name_Model.php Contains business logic and helper methods. Optional.
Views/admin.php Admin UI template for plugin settings. Can be empty.
Views/default.php Main plugin content rendered in a predefined position or used to modify Brixy data at a given hook stage.
plugin_name.json Required JSON file containing plugin metadata such as name, position, description, etc.
plugin_name.php Main plugin file, containing core methods. It must extend BasePlugin.

 

Typical Use Case

The google_analytics plugin embeds JavaScript tracking code for Google Analytics. During the page lifecycle, it:

  • Loads configuration (GA-XXXXX);
  • Injects JavaScript code through the view;

All of this is invisible to the end user and is triggered automatically based on the defined hook stage onBeforeHeader.

Download Google Analytics Brixy Plugin - The archive file must be extracted in Extensions/Plugins/system.