In Nucleus, modules add functionality to your site. A module adds on-screen content, and is a type of extension. Modules are made up of one or more .NET Core MVC Controllers, ViewModels and Razor Views and are typically developed using Visual Studio and C#.

The step by step guide on Developing a Nucleus Module walks you through the process of developing a Nucleus module.

Project Templates

The easiest way to develop a module is to start with one of the Visual Studio templates provided by the Nucleus Developer Tools.

There are three module templates:

Nucleus Complex Extension Project

Use the Nucleus Complex Extension Project template when you are developing a module that will save data in its own database tables.

Includes default controllers, a data provider, view models and views, a cache extension and manager class, a sample manifest file, project references to the Nucleus Nuget packages, project file entries which link to the Nucleus MSBuild script, and a ViewImports file to import the Nucleus namespaces used by modules.

Nucleus Simple Extension Project

Use the Nucleus Simple Extension project template when your module will only save simple module settings to the ModuleSettings table using built-in Nucleus classes.

Includes default controllers, view models and views, project references to the Nucleus Nuget packages, a sample manifest file, project file entries which link to the Nucleus MSBuild script, and a ViewImports file to import the Nucleus namespaces used by modules, but does not include a default data provider, cache extension or manager class.

Nucleus Empty Extension Project

You will generally use the Nucleus Empty Extension Project template when you are creating an extension which is not a module, like a package which contains layouts and containers, a search provider or a file system provider.

Includes project references to the Nucleus Nuget packages, a sample manifest file, project file entries which link to the Nucleus MSBuild script, and a ViewImports file to import the Nucleus namespaces used by modules, but no template controllers, views, data providers or other classes.

Nucleus Developer Tools also contains a Layout extensions template.