Apache NetBeans Plugin Portal allows not only registering NetBeans plugins hosted on Maven Central repository and their download through web browser but after successful verification also their publishing on the NetBeans Plugin Portal Update Center (PPUC) which then makes the plugins visible directly in the Apache NetBeans IDE and this way considerably simplifies their installation.
In order to do that please follow these steps:
- Upload your plugin to Maven Central.
- Create Google or GitHub account or prepare credentials for your existing account.
- Visit Apache NetBeans Plugin Portal and use Sign In button in the top right corner to authenticate yourself.
- In the main menu click Add plugin button.
- Provide groupId and artifactId values of your plugin and click Add Plugin button. The two values are contained in maven-metadata.xml file.
- All the other metadata like Name, License, Homepage or Short/Full Descriptions is loaded automatically so you just have to categorize your plugin. The homepage should ideally point to location of the plugin sources or where more documentation is available. It is also very good practise to upload some thumbnail image easily identifying your plugin. Then click Save Plugin button.
- Now you only need to identify which plugin version is compatible with which Apache NetBeans version. On My Plugins page click Edit button for a plugin version which will open Version Management page for selected version.
- Check approriate Apache NetBeans version which the selected version of plugin is compatible with, optionally provide Release Notes information and then click Save Plugin Version button.
- If you believe that given version of your plugin satisfies Quality Criteria for publishing on the PPUC, you can have your plugin tested and approved for publishing the plugin on PPUC. In order to do that click Request verification button.
Please note that:
- Only Maven Central hosted plugins are accepted for registration in the Apache NetBeans Plugin Portal. If you need to publish updates of your plugin often, you need to create a router plugin which will register a new Update Center in the Apache NetBeans IDE running on your own infrastructure, publish this router plugin in the Maven Central and get it on Plugin Portal Update Center using the procedure above.
- If two Plugin Portal verifiers approve your plugin and nobody rejects it, the plugin will be automatically published on PPUC.