Installing plugins

PowerSchool added the ability for us to give you customizations installed as plugins. This is great for CPM users as you can install and remove very easily. Previously CPM users could only remove a customization by deleting the files one by one. With plugins all the files installed with the plugin is removed if you delete the plugin making management a lot easier. But with this change comes some new directions. Since PDS is building all its new customizations as plugins we thought it appropriate to give you an easy place for directions.

I use custom/web_root for customizations. Can I install plugins?
Yes. You don't install them the way these directions are going to show you. Instead unzip the file and place the unzipped files in the custom/web_root just as you would any other customization. You can ignore the xml file as it's just for the plugin. The rest is exactly as it was before.

I use CPM but have never installed a plugin. What do I need to do?
Pearson has made this really easy. Note these directions will only work if your account has permissions to run them.

1. Click on System from the left menu
2. Click on System Settings from the center menu
3. Click on Plugin Management Configuration
4. Click Install
5. Click Choose File and navigate to where you downloaded the plugin
6. Click Install
7. Now your plugin is installed but not active. Click the empty checkbox next to the plugin you just installed.
8. Click yes from the popup.

This customization doesn't work for me/we don't need it anymore. How do I get rid of it?
The old method was to go in and remove each file one by one. This took a long time if you had a customization with a lot of files. But Pearson has made this really easy too. Note these directions will only work if your account has permissions to run them.

1. Click on System from the left menu
2. Click on System Settings from the center menu
3. Click on Plugin Management Configuration
4. Locate the plugin/customization you want to remove
5. If you only want to disable it then uncheck the box next to that customization. It will ask you if you're sure. This will disable the changes made by that plugin without removing the files. You can re-enable the plugin later by simply checking that box again.
6. If you want to remove it from your server completely then click on the delete button next to the plugin you want to get rid of. This will tell PowerSchool to go in and remove all the files associated with this plugin so they won't be in CPM anymore.

A new version of the plugin has been released. How do I update?
The old method was to simply re-upload. This was dangerous as it never looked to see if something was there and would overwrite all your stuff if you weren't careful. The plugin method is a few more steps but well worth it. Note these directions will only work if your account has permissions to run them.

1. Click on System from the left menu
2. Click on System Settings from the center menu
3. Click on Plugin Management Configuration
4. Locate the plugin/customization you want to update
5. Click on the delete button next to the plugin you want to get rid of. This will tell PowerSchool to go in and remove all the files associated with this plugin so they won't be in CPM anymore.
6. Click Install
7. Click Choose File and navigate to where you downloaded the new version of the plugin
8. Click Install
9. Now your plugin is installed but not active. Click the empty checkbox next to the plugin you just installed.
10. Click yes from the popup.

To find the official plugin management document log into PowerSource and it's located here

Is this post outdated? Did I miss a step? If so let me know and I'll try to update it when I can.

Jason