A big thanks to everyone who submitted Sidebar plug-ins. Now to answer some of the most frequently asked questions regarding what we think are best practices in plug-in development.
There are several stages involved in designing a Sidebar plug-in, submitting it to Google and getting it listed on the Plug-ins page. So once you've got a great idea for a cool plug-in and you've decided to try your programming talents, we recommend these steps:
- Read the Script Plug-ins documentation and the Plug-in Installer guide.
- Download the Google Desktop SDK and experiment with the provided script plug-in samples.
- Follow the recommendations in the Plug-in UI Guidelines and Plug-in Development & Testing Guidelines.
- Design and implement your plug-in in JavaScript or VBScript.
- Package your plug-in using the Plug-in Installer.
- Test and debug your plug-in.
- Repeat from step 4 until everything works as expected.
- Now your plug-in is ready for prime-time.
When your plug-in has reached a wide audience, don't forget to respond to user reports and requests by fixing any bugs and improving the plug-in's usefulness. And let us know of any major updates you make, of course.
