#Addons

There are many third party services you may wish to integrate with or added functionality that not all sites need. For this, MercuryCMS provides an Addon system.

For example, you may want to list merchandise from from a third party merchant like Shopify on your website, or fetch data from an external database to be stored in Collections so they can be used when Templating.

#How Addons Work

Addons add functionality to your website for as long as they are installed. They can create new Collections and Components to be used in Templates. They can add entire Pages and Layouts. Some Addons add special steps to modify page content during the Build.

Addons can be installed and configured through MercuryCMS and provide their own settings screens.

Once the Addon is uninstalled, all of its settings are also deleted. Most Addons also remove their Collections, Components, Pages, etc. during the uninstall as well.

#Modifying Addons

One of the strengths of the Addon system is your ability to modify the features provided by the Addon yourself. Addons provide a settings screen for you to configure them, but there are also many things you can do yourself to extend their functionality.

You can build your own Components that use their Collections' data. You can add your own custom Fields to their Collections. You can also create your own Collections that share Fields with the Collections provided by the Addon.

#Writing Addons

Anyone can write Addons for MercuryCMS and install them via an Addon Package. To write your own Addon, see Addon Development.