Distribution

You've written a great extension — and now you want the whole world to be able to use it. This document will take you through the process of distribution, from setting up a Git repository for your extension, to publishing it on Packagist.

Setting Up Git

The first thing you'll need to do is set up a version control system (VCS). The most popular VCS is Git (opens new window). In this guide we'll be using Git, so make sure you have it installed (opens new window) before continuing. If you don't have much Git knowledge, you may want to check out these learning resources (opens new window).

After you have installed Git, you'll need to initialize your repository. You can use git init on the command line if you're comfortable, or use a GUI tool like SourceTree (opens new window) or GitKraken (opens new window).

Then, you'll need an account in a Git hosting server, the most popular being GitHub (opens new window) and GitLab (opens new window). These will instruct you on how to hook up your local repository with the online "remote" repository.

Tagging a Release

As you are going to be publishing this extension, you'll want to make sure that the information is up to date. Take a minute to revisit composer.json and make sure package name, description, and Flarum extension information are all correct. It is recommended to have a README.md file in your repository to explain what the extension is, so create one if you haven't already.

When you're ready to release, commit your extension's files to the repo and tag your first version:

git tag v0.1.0
git push && git push --tags

Publishing on Packagist

Composer packages are published to a Composer repository, usually Packagist (opens new window). You will need an account to proceed.

If this is the first release you are publishing of your extension, you will need to submit your package (opens new window) using its public repository URL. If your extension is located on GitHub, this URL will look something like https://github.com/AUTHOR/NAME.git.

Future Releases

You can set up Packagist to auto-update packages (opens new window). Then for future releases, all you will need to do with Git is commit, tag, and push it to the remote server.

Promoting Your Extension

You will most likely want to create a discussion on the Flarum Community in the Extensions tag (opens new window). Other people can install your extension using the following command:

composer require vendor/package