Package Manifest
The package.manifest JSON file format is used to describe one or more custom Umbraco property editors, grid editors, parameter editors, dashboards, sections or content apps. This page outlines the file format and properties found in the JSON.
Sample Manifest
This is a sample manifest, it is always stored in a folder in /App_Plugins/{YourPackageName}
, with the name package.manifest
{
"propertyEditors": [
{
"alias": "Sir.Trevor",
"name": "Sir Trevor",
"editor": {
"view": "~/App_Plugins/SirTrevor/SirTrevor.html",
"hideLabel": true,
"valueType": "JSON"
}
}
],
"javascript": [
"~/App_Plugins/SirTrevor/SirTrevor.controller.js"
]
}
Root elements
The manifest can contain eight root collections, none of them are mandatory:
{
"propertyEditors": [],
"gridEditors": [],
"parameterEditors": [],
"contentApps": [],
"dashboards": [],
"sections": [],
"javascript": [],
"css": []
}
Property Editors
propertyEditors
returns an array of property editor definitions, each object specifies an editor to make available to data types as an editor component. These editors are primarily property editors for content, media and members. They can also be made available as a macro parameter editor.
The basic values on any editor are alias
, name
and editor
. These three must be set. Furthermore the editor value is an object with additional configuration options, it must contain a view value.
{
"alias": "my.editor.alias",
"name": "My friendly editor name",
"editor": {
view: "~/App_Plugins/SirTrevor/view.html"
},
"prevalues": {
fields: []
}
}
alias
The alias of the editor, this must be unique, its recommended to prefix with your own "namespace"name
The name visible to the user in the UI, should also be unique.editor
Object containing editor configuration (see below)isParameterEditor
enables the property editor as a macro parameter editor can be true/falseprevalues
Configuration of editor prevalues (see below)defaultConfig
Default configuration values (see below)icon
A CSS class for the icon to be used in the 'Select Editor' dialog: e.g.icon-autofill
group
The group to place this editor in within the 'Select Editor' dialog. Use a new group name or alternatively use an existing one such asPickers
defaultConfig
Provides a collection of default configuration values, in case the property editor is not configured or is using a parameter editor, which doesn't allow configuration. The object is a key/value collection and must match theprevalues
fields keys.
Editor
editor
Besides setting a view, the editor can also contain additional information.
"editor": {
"view": "~/App_Plugins/SirTrevor/view.html",
"hideLabel": true,
"valueType": "TEXT",
"validation": {},
"isReadOnly": false
}
view
Path to the HTML file to use for rendering the editorhideLabel
Turn the label on/offvalueType
Sets the database type the value is stored as, by default it'sstring
validation
Object describing required validators on the editorisReadOnly
Disables editing the value
valueType
sets the kind of data the editor will save in the database, its default setting is string
. The available options are:
STRING
Stores the value as an nvarchar in the databaseDATETIME
Stores the value as datetime in the databaseTEXT
Stores the value as ntext in the databaseINT
Stores the value as a bigint in the databaseJSON
Stored as ntext and automatically serialized to a dynamic object
Pre Values
preValues
is a collection of prevalue editors, used for configuring the property editor, the prevalues object must return an array of editors, called fields
.
"prevalues": {
"fields": [
{
"label": "Enable something",
"description": "This is a description",
"key": "enableStuff",
"view": "boolean"
}
]
}
Each field contains a number of configuration values:
label
The label shown on the data type configuration screendescription
Help text displayed underneath the labelkey
The key the prevalue is stored under (see below)view
Path to the editor used to configure this prevalue (see below)
key
on a prevalue, determines where it's stored in the database. If you give your prevalue the key "wolf" then this key will be used in the prevalue table.
It also means when this property editor is used on a property the prevalue will be exposed on the models configuration object as shown below, inside the property editors controller:
// this is the property value
$scope.model.value = "hello";
// this is the configuration on the property editor
$scope.model.config
// this is our specific prevalue with the alias wolf
$scope.model.config.wolf
view
config value points the prevalue editor to an editor to use. This follows the same concept as any other editor in Umbraco, but with prevalue editors there are a couple of conventions.
If you specify a name like boolean
then Umbraco will look at /umbraco/views/prevalueeditors/boolean/boolean.html
for the editor view - if you wish to use your own, you specify the path like ~/App_Data/package/prevalue-editor.html
.
Default Config
The defaultConfig object provides a collection of default configuration values in case the property editor is not configured or is using a parameter editor, which doesn't allow configuration. The object is a key/value collection and must match the prevalue field keys.
"defaultConfig": {
"wolf": "nope",
"editor": "hello",
"random": 1234
}
Grid Editors
Similar to how the propertyEditors
array defines one or more property editors, gridEditors
can be used to define editors specific to the grid. Setting up the default richtext editor in the Umbraco grid could look like:
"gridEditors": [
{
"name": "Rich text editor",
"alias": "rte",
"view": "rte",
"icon": "icon-article"
}
]
However the default grid editors are already configured in /config/grid.editors.config.js
. You can use the file for inspiration, or see the Grid Editors page for more information on grid editors.
Parameter Editors
parameterEditors
returns an array of editor objects, each object specifies an editor to make available to macro parameters as an editor component. These editors work solely as parameter editors and will not show up on the property editors list.
The parameter editors array follows the same format as the property editors described above, however it cannot contain prevalues since there are no configuration options for macro parameter editors.
Content Apps
Here is an example of adding a content app. See the Content Apps article for more information and a full guide on how to create Content Apps.
"contentApps": [
{
"name": "Word Counter", // required - the name that appears under the icon
"alias": "wordCounter", // required - unique alias for your app
"weight": 0, // optional, default is 0, use values between -99 and +99 to appear between the existing Content (-100) and Info (100) apps
"icon": "icon-calculator", // required - the icon to use
"view": "~/App_Plugins/WordCounter/wordcounter.html", // required - the location of the view file
}
]
Dashboard
There are two approaches to registering a custom dashboard to appear in the Umbraco Backoffice. Registering with package.manifest or with C# Type. Here is an example of registering a custom dashboard with the package.manifest file.
"dashboards": [
{
"alias": "myCustomDashboard",
"view": "~/App_Plugins/WordCounter/wordcounter.html",
"sections": ["content", "member", "settings" ],
"weight": -10
}
]
See the Dashboards for a full article on how to create custom dashboards.
Sections
As with the custom dashboards, a custom section can be registered either with a package.manifest file or with C# Type. Here is an example of registering a custom section with the package.manifest file.
"sections": [
{
"alias": "myFavouriteThings",
"name": "My Favourite Things"
}
]
See the Sections for a full article on how to create custom sections.
JavaScript
javascript
returns a string[] of JavaScript files to load on application start
"javascript": [
"~/App_Plugins/SirTrevor/SirTrevor.controller.js",
"~/App_Plugins/SirTrevor/service.js"
]
CSS
css
returns a string[] of css files to load on application start
"css": [
"~/App_Plugins/SirTrevor/SirTrevor.css",
"~/App_Plugins/SirTrevor/hibba.css"
]
JSON Schema
The package.manifest JSON file has a hosted online JSON schema file that allows editors such as Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code to have autocomplete/intellisense support when creating and editing package.manifest files. This helps to avoid mistakes or errors when creating your package.manifest files.
Schema Files
Setting up Visual Studio
To associate the hosted JSON schema file to all package.manifest files you will need to perform the following inside of Visual Studio.
- Tools -> Options
- Browse down to Text Editor -> File Extension
- Add
manifest
into the Extension box - Select
JSON Editor
from the dropdown and add the mapping - Open a
package.manifest
file and ensure in the top left hand corner you see the schema with the URL set to http://json.schemastore.org/package.manifest. You can also add the schema inline in the json file (see below).
Setting up Visual Studio Code
To associate the hosted JSON schema file to all package.manifest files you will need to perform the following inside of Visual Studio Code editor.
- File -> Preferences -> User Settings
- This will open two editors side by side with the default settings on the left and custom overrides on the right
- In the right hand file add the following
{
"json.schemas": [
{
"fileMatch": [
"manifest.json"
],
"url": "http://json.schemastore.org/package.manifest"
}
]
}
Adding inline schema
Editors like visual studio can use the $schema
notation in your file.
{
"$schema" : "http://json.schemastore.org/package.manifest",
"javascript": [],
"other properties": ""
}