Packages

Overview

Composer is used in the Tiki code development process to import and manage external software such as jQuery and Bootstrap. But some software cannot be packaged with Tiki due to an incompatible license, or shouldn't necessarily be packaged with Tiki by default because of the software's specialized nature or niche application. So it is a natural step for Tiki site administrators to be able to use Composer to install and manage external software specifically for their site after the site is installed.

Use

The interface for Packages is located at the site's tiki-admin.php?page=packages page. The Packages admin page has four sections, displayed in tabs — Packages Installed, Install Other Packages, Packages Bundled, and Diagnose. These sections are described below:

Packages Installed

This list shows packages that have been installed via this feature. The details for each package include package name, version required, status, and version installed, plus a remove button for each. The version required is the minimum version required by Tiki, so the version installed must be that version or a newer one. If the Packages feature hasn't been used yet, then of course the list will be empty.



The status column shows a success icon () if the package is installed, or a warning icon () if it is missing. If the package is missing, you can click the "Fix Missing Packages" button that is displayed and Tiki will try to install the package again.

Install Other Packages

This section shows packages that are available to be selected and installed.

Some examples include:

• PhantomJS and CasperJS
• mPDF
• Expose
• SAML

Install Other Packages section feedback

[+]

Other information

Currently those that are available are listed in the local composer.json file and fetched from https://packagist.org.

Packages Bundled

This section lists the external software packages that are bundled with the core Tiki files, so are available for use in a fresh Tiki site. This list is for information purposes only and there's no interface here to make changes.

Diagnose

The "Diagnose Composer" button can be clicked to run Composer and test the output. If Composer isn't found for some reason, there will be a message to that effect.



Normally, Composer will be found and run, and so some information will be shown here.

Future development

Initially, the focus will be files at https://packagist.org/, but later this feature is intended to be expanded to include importing themes, libraries formerly hosted at mods.tiki.org, language files, and more.

Related

• See also https://dev.tiki.org/Composer-Web-Installer
• Profiles
• “Packaging” Composer packages
• About Tiki Packages in Tiki 18.0 LTS and why I support this project. And mods.tiki.org can now be scheduled for retirement (Marc Laporte).
• https://gitlab.com/tikiwiki/tiki-packages-build

Page alias

• Composer Web Installer
• Package