To make your app available to others, here are the steps:
1. Go to GitHub and register for a free account. Remember your GitHub username for step 4.
2. Create a new public repository on GitHub. This is where your files will be stored online. Remember your repository name for step 4.
3. Install git itself, or one of its desktop clients.
4. Create an elefant.json file and place it in your app folder. This is a JSON-formatted file that describes your app (name, version, author, etc.). It is used by Elefant's app/theme installer to verify and install your app onto someone else's website.
Your elefant.json file should contain the following:
{
"type": "app",
"folder": "myapp",
"name": "Your App Name",
"version": "1.0.0",
"website": "http://www.your-website.com/",
"repository": "git://github.com/github-username/repository-name.git",
"author": {
"name": "Your Name",
"email": "you@your-website.com"
},
"requires": {
"php": "5.3.6",
"elefant": "1.3.6"
}
}
Edit the values to reflect your app info.
5. Initialize your app as a git repository and push your files to the server. These are the steps using git directly from the command line:
cd /var/www/apps/myapp # <- adjust this path
git init # initialize a new repository
git add * # add your files to the repository
git commit -m "Initial import" * # commit the changes
git remote add origin \
https://github.com/user/repository.git # <- adjust the user and repository
git push origin master # upload the changes to github
Using GitHub for Mac, once you set your account info in the app, you would select File > New Repository and enter your app info in the dialog that opens up. It should look like this:
Elefant apps and themes can also be shared through Composer, PHP's dependency manager. Here are the steps to sharing your app through Composer and its package directory, Packagist.
1. Follow the steps above to setup your shared app.
2. Create a composer.json file and place it in your app folder. This tells Composer about your package and how to install it.
Your composer.json file should contain the following:
{
"name": "elefant/app-myapp",
"type": "elefant-app",
"description": "Description of your app for the Elefant CMS",
"keywords": ["elefant", "cms", "app"],
"license": "MIT",
"authors": [
{
"name": "Your Name",
"email": "you@your-website.com",
"homepage": "http://www.your-website.com/"
}
],
"repositories": [
{"type": "git", "url": "http://github.com/jbroadway/elefant_installer"}
],
"require": {
"elefant/app-installer": "*"
}
}
Edit the values to reflect your app info.
3. Add your composer.json file to the repository and upload it to GitHub. From the command line, here are the steps:
cd /var/www/apps/myapp # <- adjust this path
git add composer.json # add the new file
git commit -m "Add composer file" composer.json # commit the changes
git push origin master # upload the changes to github
In GitHub for Mac, you would open the project, then under Uncommitted Changes select the composer.json file and make a new commit. Click Sync Branch to upload the new file to GitHub.
4. Create a new account at Packagist, then click Submit Package. Paste the clone URL from your GitHub project page into the Repository URL field on Packagist. This can be found on the right side of the GitHub page and looks like this:
Users should now be able to install your app via Composer like this:
composer require elefant/app-myapp
Here is a complete list of Elefant apps and themes available through Composer.
There are several user experience considerations to make when sharing an app with other users. These include:
Taking these steps, your app is sure to provide an excellent experience for your users.
Next: Contributing to Elefant