Plugin Hooks

The easiest way to understand how the SIMAnswers plugin system works is look through the files of the SIMAnswers Core plugin (plg_simanswers_core.zip). After installation, the files are located in /plugins/simanswers/core.

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To create your own plugin that works with SIMAnswers, first create the manifest XML file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<extension version="3.0" method="upgrade" type="plugin" group="simanswers">
	<name>Example</name>
	<author>Mike Feng</author>
	<creationDate>Jan 2017</creationDate>
	<copyright>Copyright (C) 2017 simbunch.com</copyright>
	<license>GNU General Public License version 2 or later</license>
	<authorEmail>This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.</authorEmail>
	<authorUrl>www.johnsmith.com</authorUrl>
	<version>1.0.0</version>
	<isapplication>true</isapplication>
	<description>This is the description for this plugin</description>
	<files>
		<filename plugin="example">example.php</filename>
		<filename>index.html</filename>
	</files>
	<languages>
		<language tag="en-GB">en-GB.plg_simanswers_example.ini</language>
		<language tag="en-GB">en-GB.plg_simanswers_example.sys.ini</language>
	</languages>
</extension>

Create a example.php where all the plugin hooks will go in. For example, you can refer to core.php in the Core plugin. Begin the class declaration with:

<?php
defined('_JEXEC') or die('Restricted access');
class plgSIMAnswersExample extends JPlugin {
	
	protected $autoloadLanguage = true;
	 
	function __construct(&$subject, $config) {
		parent::__construct($subject, $config);
		require_once JPATH_ROOT.'/components/com_simanswers/helpers/core.php';
	}
}
?>

The hook functions include:

onNewQuestion

Called when a new question is posted.

onNewAnswer

Called when a new answer is posted to a question.

onSelectBestAnswer

Called when a user (admin or owner) selects a best answer.

onFollowUser

Called when a user follows another user.

onQuestionUpdated

Called when an update is added to a question.

onQuestionExpired

Called when a question expires.

onBeforeQuestionDelete

Called just before a question is deleted. Return true to proceed with delete, return false to prevent delete.

onContentReported

Called when a content is being reported for violation.