Frankenstyle

'Frankenstyle' refers to the naming convention that is used to uniquely identify a Moodle plugin based on the type of plugin and its name.

Martin Dougiamas is credited with inventing the word 'frankenstyle'. (It is a great word!)

Format

Frankenstyle names have a prefix and then a name, separated by an underscore.

• The prefix is determined by the type of plugin. For example, the prefix for a module is mod.
• The name is the name of the plugin. (Plugin names are always made of lower-case letters.)

So the frankenstyle name for the quiz module is mod_quiz.

Plugin types

• Activity modules: [mod] => /mod
• Authentication plugins: [auth] => /auth
• Enrolment plugins: [enrol] => /enrol
• Messaging consumers: [message] => /message/output
• Blocks: [block] => /blocks
• Filters: [filter] => /filter
• Editors: [editor] => /lib/editor
• Course formats: [format] => /course/format
• User profile fields: [profilefield] => /user/profile/field
• Admin reports: [report] => /admin/report
• Course reports: [coursereport] => /course/report
• Grade export plugins: [gradeexport] => /grade/export
• Grade import plugins: [gradeimport] => /grade/import
• Grade reports: [gradereport] => /grade/report
• Mnet services: [mnetservice] => /mnet/service
• Webservice protocols: [webservice] => /webservice
• Repository plugins: [repository] => /repository
• Portfolio plugins: [portfolio] => /portfolio
• Question behaviours: [qbehaviour] => /question/behaviour
• Question formats: [qformat] => /question/format
• Question types: [qtype] => /question/type
• Plagiarism plugins: [plagiarism] => /plagiarism
• Themes: [theme] => /theme
• Assignments: [assignment] => /mod/assignment/type
• Database field types: [datafield] => /mod/data/field
• Database presets: [datapreset] => /mod/data/preset
• Quiz reports: [quiz] => /mod/quiz/report
• SCORM reports: [scormreport] => /mod/scorm/report
• Workshop grading forms: [workshopform] => /mod/workshop/form
• Workshop allocation strategies: [workshopallocation] => /mod/workshop/allocation
• Workshop evaluation plugins: [workshopeval] => /mod/workshop/eval
• Local plugins: [local] => /local

To get a definitive list, do print_object(get_plugin_types()); in a Moodle 2.x install.

Usages

Frankenstyle is used in:

Table names

All table names for a plugin must begin with its frankenstyle name (after the standard Moodle table prefix).

Examples: mdl_mod_quiz, mdl_mod_quiz_attempts

Capabilities

All capabilities for a plugin use the frankenstyle name, except with a / instead of a _.

Example: mod/quiz:viewattempt

Other places (TODO)

Please add more as they come up.