As I mentioned earlier, this post will show how to create and use a GiftWorks Addin of your own. I will not go into too much detail about how an addin is written in this post. I will describe the internal of an addin with the next post.

what is a giftworks addin

Strictly speaking, an addin can be as simple as a text file written in Notepad. This file contains instructions that GiftWorks reads to expose custom functionality. The addin file can be located on your computer or it can be located on a remote server somewhere on the internet. GiftWorks doesn't care. The only constraint about using an addin that is located on a remote server is that you need to be connected to the internet in order to load that addin.

the helloworld addin

For this discussion I will use an extremely simple addin. In fact, this addin is so simple it doesn't do anything useful (besides demonstrating how to work with GiftWorks Addins). Most programming examples start with a "HelloWorld" example, which is what I will show here. This example just inserts a menu item called "Hello World" on the start page of GiftWorks. When you click on the menu item, it pops up a message. You can probably guess what that message says.

You can download the HelloWorld addin here: http://daveweaver.net/media/downloads/HelloWorld.xml. If you click on this link it will open up in your browser. Most browsers will show the contents of the addin file. Like I said, I will explain this stuff in a later post.

let's install it already

If you have GiftWorks with Update 3 installed (requires version 2.0.80.00 which will be publicly released at the end of February) you will have an Addin Manager which can be launched from the Help menu. Launch that now.



The Addin manager shows what addins you have installed. You should see nothing installed at this point. To install the HelloWorld addin, simply copy the URL above and paste it into the top text box. Click the Install button and you should see the addin show up in the list.



The checkbox next to the addin name just indicates the addin is loaded. You can have addins installed but disabled which effectively turns them off. Once you see the HelloWorld addin installed and loaded, click the Done button. That's all that is involved with installing a remote GiftWorks Addin. To install an addin that is located on your computer, simply enter the filename of the addin and click the Install button.

make it do something

Now that the addin is installed you can use it. Don't get too excited, this addin doesn't do too much. In GiftWorks, make sure you are signed in, then click on the Home button at the top-left to go to the start page. On the start page you should see Hello World listed on the left menu like below. Click the menu and you will see the message.



what's next

Like I said, not very exciting, but this is very powerful functionality we are exposing to our customers. The addin we've just installed is simple, but is only the tip of the iceburg as to what it is capable of doing. Please stay tuned as I go deeper with my examples. Go back into the Addin manager to uninstall the addin. Or if you are familiar with programming and would like to try some stuff on your own, download the HelloWorld addin and try your hand at coding your own. I haven't given you much information to go on at this point, but that is coming.

We just had a release meeting to review an important update to GiftWorks that will be gradually released over the next couple weeks. This is our 3rd update to GiftWorks since our release of GiftWorks 2006 in September 05.

We are constantly trying to improve our products to better meet customer needs and expectations. This update will not change much functionality you are used to, but it does add some features you requested and fixes several bugs. I'll leave it to Sarah and Steve to go over the hightlights of the update. Sarah is our new Product Manager and Steve is our Lead Developer for GiftWorks.

I would like to describe some additions coming in Update 3 that will be important to developers. It is a goal of ours to give customers the ability to build customized addins that can help better integrate GiftWorks into their organization. We do our best by building useful features into GiftWorks off the shelf, but a lot of our customers have unique needs that can't be handled by GiftWorks without customization. Starting with Update 3, we will gradually be rolling out samples and documentation to customize GiftWorks yourself.

Some examples of customizations would be adding a new screen, or inserting a new menu item into an existing screen. We will give you examples of writing little programs that work with your SmartLists or are used to add and edit donors. The possibilities are really endless.

Update 3 also incorporates an Addin Manager which will allow you to easily install and remove your addins. It will even enable you to use addins created by other companies or organizations. We will be putting an effort into getting other companies to create addins for GiftWorks that will be made available to you.

In the next post I will show you how to create a very simple addin that you can try when you get the GiftWorks update.