jQuery Plugin Development Template

Last updated on January 3, 2013 in Development

Developing jQuery plugin

Update: Here is my current favorite jQuery Plugin Dev Template

Since I wrote about HTML5 boilerplates and WordPress starter frameworks in the past, I also wanted to mention some jQuery plugin development templates and boilerplates. Most people out there point to the revisted jquery plugin boilerplate from Stefan Gabos but below I will show some other options for starting on your plugin development.

jQuery Boilerplate – a boilerplate for jump-starting jQuery plugin development.
jQuery plugin patterns – a collection of optimized and recommended jQuery plugin templates.
Skeleton jQuery plugin – simple skeleton for writing a jQuery plugin.
jQuery plugin template in CoffeeScript – this gist also has the compiled JavaScript version of the template.

What about a jQuery plugin generator? Personally, I really like Starter. You give it a class name, namespace, function parameters, default options and it creates a nice jQuery plugin template. It also has example data to show how it works. You could also try this jQuery code generator on jsFiddle.

If you prefer to just start from scratch, I still recommend reading the jQuery plugin development pattern and Remy Sharp’s signs of a poorly written jQuery plugin.