Extending Sitefinity - documentation not clear

Hi there,

The documentation doesn't seem to be very clear on this, but what are the types of extending that one can do in Sitefinity?
1. Widgets (simple user controls?)
2. Modules (advanced controls with front and backend views?)

There are references to Content based modules intrasite modules, MVC modules, etc.

I'm looking for documentation on creating a module that we can build, use and then sell on the Sitefinity market place.
We need to make sure that it works across different databases
We need to make sure that it is upgradable
We're not really interested in Content workflow

What is the correct module type and where can we find clear documentation for this?

Regards,
Jacques

Hi Jacques,

For more information on modules you can check this article of our Documentation and more specifically the Custom Modules section in it. I think you'll also find it useful to go through the Testimonials module and Template Importer which are also available in our SDK. Both sample modules are not Content based.

Another good source of information would be the Blogs section in our site. You may want to check out Josh's blog post on Creating intra-site modules and Slavo's post on Versioning and upgrades in custom modules.

I hope this helps.

All the best,
Pavel Benov

Hi Pavel,

I had found all of these items using Google and none of them are clear so I'm going to do this step by step.

Step1: Module in SF Project
I've created a new module in the Modules folder called MyModule (I'm following the example testimonials project)
I was trying to understand how the actual Install method is called, but then I noticed the Admin > Modules section which allows you to install.
When I click install the page reloads and nothing happens.

NB. I had created another test module using Thunder and this seems to have installed by itself.

Major differences are that the Thunder example uses fluent whilst mine used the testimonials approach.

I put a break point on the install method and fired off the Install command on the module again, but it never fires.

Questions:
1. Why would the install not fire
2. Out of interest - How did Sitefinity know about my module?

Thanks,
Jacques

Hi Pavel,

Any chance you can get back to me on this one?

Regards,
Jacques

Hi Pavel,

Just to follow up: I've looked for events logged in either the Sitefinity log or the Event log and both seem to only be logging an exception when I try to uninstall the module.

I read somewhere that to force a reinstall of the module you should remove the content of the version attribute in the section where the modules are configured (config file that is). However there is no version attribute.
With the config file open I click on the Install option next to the module and it definitely tries something. When I go back to VS it says the file has been updated should it reload.

But ultimately nothing installs.

?

Hi Pavel,

Are you seeing my responses?

Anyone?