Link to full package boilerplate

If you followed first part of this tutorial, you should have a folder called packages in your Laravel installation, and inside that, you should have directory structure like following:

packages
|- <your-github-id>
  |-- <your-package-name>
    |--README.md
    |--composer.json
    |--<YOURSERVICEPROVIDER>.php
    |--src <-- A blank folder

In this part of the tutorial, we will take a look at how we can create migrations, models and controllers, and creating routing and views.

Migrations

In your src directory, create a folder named database, and create a folder called migrations inside it, just like how Laravel migrations are stored. You can put your migrations into this directory.

Add the following to your package ServiceProvider’s boot method.

$this->loadMigrationsFrom(__DIR__.'/database/migrations');

Try running php artisan migrate in your laravel project directory and see if the migrations inside this directory is running.

Models and Controllers

Inside your src directory, create folder named Http, and inside that, create a folder called Controllers. I like to follow the Laravel’s directory structure to keep it consistent.

Namespace your Model like Path/PackageNamespace/Http.

For controllers, similar logic applies. You can create files in Controllers directory and namespace it Path/PackageNamespace/Http/Controllers.

Routes and Views

Inside your src directory, create a folder called routes, and create a file called web.php inside it.

In your ServiceProvider’s boot method, add this line:

$this->loadRoutesFrom(__DIR__."/routes/web.php");

You can then call routes within your namespace like this (web.php file):

<?php 
$namespace = "Path\PackageNamespace\Http\Controllers";

Route::group(['namespace' => $namespace, 'prefix' => 'your-package'], function () {
    Route::get('/', 'YourController@index');
});

Now, in your Laravel site, try going into that route (/your-package) and check if the controller index method is loaded (dd("working");). Do you see the Controller now working? If it did, congrats!

In the next series, we will take a look at how the Javascript/CSS and Laravel mix can be used within your package.