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Light modules can be built with a simple text editor, with no special tools (such as Maven) required. A light module cannot incorporate java classes.
Light module structure
Example of light module structure:
magnolia.resources.dir/ └── foo/ ├── apps ├── blocks ├── contentTypes ├── decorations ├── dialogs │ ├── components │ └── pages ├── i18n │ └── foo-messages_en.properties ├── includes │ └── README.txt ├── messageViews ├── README.md ├── restEndpoints ├── templates │ ├── components │ └── pages ├── themes ├── virtualUriMappings └── webresources
(This example structure was created using version 3.1.0 of Magnolia CLI and setting comprehensive
as the value of the -P
flag of the create-light-module
CLI command.)
Light modules folder: magnolia.resources.dir
Magnolia light modules must reside within the Magnolia resources directory; this directory is also often referred to as the Magnolia light modules folder. The name and the location of this directory are arbitrary, but you must provide the path to the folder via configuration.
magnolia.resources.dir
is a property defining the directory from which resources are loaded in a Magnolia instance. This directory is used for file-based resources such as light modules and for overriding classpath resources. The property is configured in WEB-INF/config/default/magnolia.properties
and has the default value $magnolia.home/modules
. To see the current value of the property, go to the Config Info tab in the About Magnolia app. You can use symbolic links (a.k.a symlinks or soft links) in the resources directory to include light modules located elsewhere on your system.
Magnolia 5.6.1+: A change in the light modules folder may also flush the server cache. You can configure this behavior under
/modules/cache/config/contentCaching/defaultPageCache/flushPolicy/policies/lightModule/pathToCacheMappings/defaultPageCache
with the pattern
property, which specifies the pattern for the operation. The default value is .*/(templates|webresources|i18n)/.*
.
What items can be defined in a light module?
The following items can be defined within a light module using YAML. Items defined by YAML can be decorated, or can be reused with YAML inherit and include.
- App definitions
- Dialog definitions
- Field type definitions
- Media editor definitions
- Message view definitions
- Renderer definitions
- REST endpoint definitions
- Template definitions
- Theme definitions
- Virtual URI mappings
- Workflow definitions
- Work item handler definitions
Other non YAML-based items which can be in a light module:
- i18n message bundles (see Internationalization and related pages)
- JavaScript Models
Creating a light module with Magnolia CLI
create-light-module
. Open a shell, cd
to your light modules directory, and execute the following command:mgnl create-light-module one-pager-module
é
, à
, ç
, ä
, ö
, ü
or special characters (e.g. slashes /
, \
and so on). The name must match the regular expression [a-zA-Z0-9-_]
.Note that this only works if you have installed Magnolia CLI, see Magnolia CLI Installation.