Create a custom plugin no code

Create a custom plugin (no code)

DVinyl comes with music, books, movies, games, LEGO and board games, but your shelf might hold something else: action figures, trading cards, wine, sneakers, you name it. With the built-in plugin editor, you can create your own collection type in a few minutes, without writing any code.

Note

Plugins made with the editor are manual entry only: you type the details yourself, there is no automatic online lookup. If you need to pull data from an external API, that is a code plugin instead.

Before you start

• You need to be an admin of the collection.
• Open the Plugin editor page (the "Create a new plugin" section of the admin area).
• Your new type becomes usable immediately after saving, no restart needed.

Let AI draft it (optional)

If your instance has the AI assist turned on, the editor starts with an Or describe it and let AI draft it box. Type one sentence, like "Old glass Coca-Cola bottles", and press Generate: the AI fills in a name, an icon, a few custom fields and formats. Nothing is saved yet, it only fills in the form below, so go through the steps as usual and adjust whatever you like.

Step by step

The editor is split into a few simple sections, with a live preview on the side so you see your type take shape as you go.

1. Identity

• Plugin name. What your type is called, for example "Figures" or "Pokemon cards".
• Creator field. The main person or brand behind each item, like "Artist" is for music. Name it whatever fits: Manufacturer, Author, Brand, Publisher...
• Icon. Pick a Font Awesome icon (the fa-xxx name), so your type has a recognizable symbol in the navbar.
• Color. Choose the accent color from the palette. It colors the icon and the badges.

2. Image

• Shape. Choose how covers are framed on the plugin's own pages: Poster (2/3) for tall covers (books, movies), Square (sleeve) for square art (vinyl, cards), or Screen (16/9) for wide pictures. The grids use the card shape set in Personalization.
• Default image. Shown on items added without a picture. Leave it empty to keep the DVinyl logo.
• Secondary image. Turn this on if each item should have a second picture (like the disc behind a vinyl sleeve). Every item can also hold a whole gallery of images, whatever you choose here.

3. Standard fields

These are ready-made fields you just toggle on if you want them:

• Year
• Barcode
• Genres
• Rating (out of 5)
• Personal notes
• Location (where it sits on your shelf)
• Tracklist (a numbered list, handy for sets and multi-part items)

Enable the ones that make sense for your type and skip the rest.

4. Formats and editions (optional)

If your items come in variants (New / Used, Standard / Collector, Sealed / Opened...), add them here. Each format gets its own colored badge and becomes a filter in the collection view.

You can also pick a preselected format, already chosen when you add an item. Leave it on "No format" if you prefer to make the choice every time.

5. Custom fields

This is where your type gets personal. Add your own fields, each with:

• A label (for example Scale, Material, Number of pieces).
• A type: Text, Number, Long text, Dropdown, Checkbox, Tags or Date.
• A section: Main section (shown up top) or Metadata (secondary details).
• Whether it is required.
• For a Dropdown, the list of options (comma separated).

6. Save

Give the preview a last look, then hit Create the plugin. That is it! Your new type shows up right away in the navbar, the add menu, the collection tabs and the dashboard, exactly like the built-in ones.

Good to know

• The internal id is generated from the name (lowercase letters, digits and dashes). Some names are reserved by the app, and it will ask you to pick another if there is a clash.
• Field names like title, year and barcode are already handled, so use the standard toggles for those rather than recreating them as custom fields.
• Once created, the Customize button next to your plugin sets, per collection, what the cards show, a field in the corner of the cover, and which of your fields (a Dropdown status, for example) become filters on the collection page. See Customizing your instance.
• You can edit or delete your plugin later. Deleting it keeps the existing items safe in the database, they just become hidden until you recreate a type with the same name.
• There is a limit of 30 custom plugins per instance, which is plenty for most collectors.

Note

Your no-code plugins are saved in the database, so they are included in an instance backup and survive server updates and restarts, just like your items. Nothing special to configure, even on Docker.

Sharing your idea

Built a type that others would love, or wish a certain type had online lookup? Tell me about it by opening a plugin issue. Popular ideas can become official, API-powered plugins.

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