First time module dev - *Very frustrated* - Need help

There is a bit of a learning curve with EE development. I found some of the best ways to learn is looking at how others have made their add-ons. Also http://xdebug.org/ comes in useful to see what information is available to you in EE. This thread also has some good suggestions: http://ellislab.com/forums/viewthread/222274/

Here’s a super simple (and completely untested) example of how I’ve made forms in add-ons in the past, it just takes a forename and redirects if one is present.

class Addon {
 function __construct()
 {
  $this->EE =& get_instance();
 }
 public function signup()
 {
  $forename=$this->EE->input->get_post('forename'); // get form values
  $isValid = ($forename!=false); // validation goes here
  if ($isValid) {
   //do_signup(); // signup goes here
   header("Location: signup-thank-you"); 
   exit;
  }
  $tag = array(array('forename'=>$forename)); // if validation fails repopulate form
  return $this->EE->TMPL->parse_variables($this->EE->TMPL->tagdata, $tag);
 }
}

Template code:

{exp:addon:signup}
<form method="post">
<input type="text" name="forename" value="{forename}" />
<input type="submit" name="submit" value="submit" />
</form>
{/exp:addon:signup}

Hi Pete,

I can appreciate the frustration when first diving into EE development; I wouldn’t necessary say the docs are crap, but I do know there are some areas that I’d love to see in more detail (Fieldtype development for example). It might help if you mentioned particular pages/sections that you felt were exceptionally lacking, and I’m sure EL will do their best to improve…

Whenever I need to figure out how to develop an add-on, I begin by looking at other 3rd party add-ons that show similar behaviour. Stick to developers that are proven to produce high quality content (Experience Internet, Low, Pixel&Tonic; to name a few), and you’ll learn much faster.

As for your particular issue, you’re sort of blurring the lines between your job (add-on developer), and the designer/developer who is responsible for the site’s templates & front-end code. There isn’t much docs detailing how you insert forms into templates, because you really shouldn’t be doing that - what you should do however is create tags that the designers can use to build their own forms.

I’d take a look at Solspace’s Freeform module, since it does similar things to what you describe. (I haven’t seen how their new 4.x version works, and I know it’s a substantial rewrite, so perhaps dig up a 3.x version since the codebase will likely be a bit simpler).

Hope that helps, John

Thanks guys,

no doubt that part of the problem is that I’m doing this on my “off” time after work (so already a bit tired and nervous)… but generally I am not too fond of the user guide samples. They’re ok, but really have a lot of gaps.

I’ve started dissecting a couple of modules to get an idea of basic functioning and what not, it’s getting better! 😊

I’m still open to suggestions if anyone should happen to come across a good guide or book on the subject of module development for EE.

Cheers. Pete.