Extending Yii

Code style

Use core framework code style.
Document classes, methods and properties using phpdoc. Note that you can use markdown and link to properties and methods using the following syntax: e.g. [[name()]], [[name\space\MyClass::name()]].
Extension classes should not be prefixed. No TbNavBar, EMyWidget, etc.

Namespace

Do not use yiisoft in the namespaces.
Do not use \yii, \yii2 or \yiisoft as root namespace.
Use vendor-name\type namespace format (all lowercase) where type may be widgets, behaviors, modules etc.

Distribution

There should be a readme.md file clearly describing what extension does in English, its requirements, how to install and use it. It should be written using markdown. If you want to provide translated readme, name it as readme_ru.md where ru is your language code. If extension provides a widget it is a good idea to include some screenshots.
It is recommended to host your extensions at Github.
Extension should be registered at Packagist in order to be installable via Composer. Choose package name wisely since changing it leads to losing stats and inability to install package by the old name.

Composer package name

If your extension was made specifically for Yii2 (i.e. cannot be used as a standalone PHP library) it is recommended to name it like the following:

yii2-my-extension-name-type

In the above:

yii2- prefix.
Extension name lowecase, words separated by -.
-type postfix where type may be widget, behavior, module etc.

Dependencies

Additional code, eg. libraries, should be required in your composer.json file.
When extension is released in a stable version, its requirements should not include dev packages that do not have a stable release.
Use appropriate version constraints, eg. 1.*, @stable for requirements.

Versioning

Use the rules of semantic versioning.
Use a consistent format for your repository tags, as they are treated as version strings by composer, eg. 0.2.4, 0.2.5,0.3.0,1.0.0.

composer.json

Use the type yii2-extension in composer.json file if your extension is Yii-specific.
Do not use yii or yii2 as composer vendor name.
Do not use yiisoft in the composer package name or the composer vendor name.

If your extension classes reside directly in repository root use PSR-4 the following way in your composer.json:

{
        "name": "samdark/yii2-iconized-menu-widget",
        "description": "IconizedMenu automatically adds favicons in front of menu links",
        "keywords": ["yii", "extension", "favicon", "menu", "icon"],
        "homepage": "https://github.com/samdark/yii2-iconized-menu-widget",
        "type": "yii2-extension",
        "license": "BSD-3-Clause",
        "authors": [
                {
                        "name": "Alexander Makarov",
                        "email": "sam@rmcreative.ru"
                }
        ],
        "require": {
                "yiisoft/yii2": "*"
        },
        "autoload": {
                "psr-4": {
                        "samdark\\widgets\\": ""
                }
        }
}

In the above samdark/yii2-iconized-menu-widget is the package name that will be registered at Packagist. It is common for it to match your github repository.

We're using psr-4 autoloader and mapping samdark\widgets namespace to the root directory where our classes reside.

More details can be found in the composer documentation.

Working with database

If extension creates or modifies database schema always use Yii migrations instead of SQL files or custom scripts.
Migrations should be appliable to as many data storages as possible.
Do not use active record models in your migrations.

Assets

Events

TBD

i18n

If extension outputs messages intended for end user these should be wrapped into Yii::t() in order to be translatable.
Exceptions and other developer-oriented message should not be translated.
Consider proving config.php for yii message command to simplify translation.

Testing your extension

Consider adding unit tests for PHPUnit.

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