Plugin Hooks

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

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

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<extension version="3.0" method="upgrade" type="plugin" group="simcontests">
	<name>Example</name>
	<author>John Smith</author>
	<creationDate>July 2016</creationDate>
	<copyright>Copyright (C) 2016 johnsmith.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_simcontests_example.ini</language>
		<language tag="en-GB">en-GB.plg_simcontests_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 plgSIMContestsExample extends JPlugin {
	
	protected $autoloadLanguage = true;
	 
	function __construct(&$subject, $config) {
		parent::__construct($subject, $config);
		require_once JPATH_ROOT.'/components/com_simcontests/helpers/core.php';
	}
}
?>

The hook functions include:

onNewEntry

Function: Triggered right after a new entry is submitted to a contest

Parameters:
$entry_id - the ID of the submitted ID
$admin_approval - if true, the entry is submitted by an admin. True only if Admin Approval is enabled, and an admin subsequently approve the submission.

To get the entry object:

$entry = SCHelper::getTable('Entries');
$entry->load($entry_id);			
			

onNewScore

Function: Triggered right after a user scores an entry

Parameters:
$score_id - the ID of the submitted score
$isNew - true if this is the first time this user scored the entry, false if a previous score exists and the user is changing his score

To get the score object:

$score = SCHelper::getTable('Scores');
$score->load($score_id);
$points = $score->score;			
			

onNewComment

Function: Triggered right after a comment is submitted

Parameters:
$comment - the comment object

onDeleteComment

Function: Triggered right after a comment is deleted

Parameters:
$comment - the comment object

onNewWinner

Function: Triggered right after a an entry wins a contest

Parameters:
$entry_id - the ID of the winning entry
$position - the winning position of the entry
$notify_winner - true if winner is to be notified

To get the entry object:

$entry = SCHelper::getTable('Entries');
$entry->load($entry_id);