gnomeontherun/square-one-cms — Issue #56: Add distribution management to Extension Manager
Author: gnomeontherun
Created: 2011-12-12 02:06:04+00:00
State: open
Labels: Priority: 1 Urgent, Status: In Progress, Type: Feature

###Problem: To make Square One a practical distribution core, it should be easy to setup and distribute customized distributions.

###Solution: Use the built in update system, and expand it to allow for customized lists of extensions to be used for creating a distribution.

#Details

The Extension Manager will include new subitems to manage distributions. There will be a view that shows a list of ‘official’ distribution lists, which a user can select from. Once they select a given distribution, they will be able to select if they want to install all extensions, or an advanced option to pick and choose from the list.

Official distribution lists will be selective. However users will be able to generate a custom distribution for themselves, or even share it with others.

To create a distribution, a user will first setup a copy of Square One with the desired extensions. Then in the Extension Manager they will be able to generate an xml manifest file for their customized distribution. It will be possible to upload that file to any Square One installation as a new distribution list.

All code will be added to the Extension Manager, and should not change the existing functionality of the manager. The additions will provide two key functionalities: Distribution List Management (the list of distributions) and Distribution Extension Management (the list of extensions belonging to a distribution)

This will be built using the #__updates and #__update_sites tables for data storage, which is inline with how Joomla uses them. In many ways this may be fulfilling the original intentions of the Extension Manager with regards to remote installation and updates. A new update_site type will be used called ‘distribution’.