ValPress Marketplace

Overview

The ValPress Marketplace (https://market.valpress.net) is the official hub for extending the ValPress CMS ecosystem. It provides a centralized platform where developers can distribute their work and users can discover high-quality themes and plugins to enhance their sites.

Why It Matters

A thriving marketplace is essential for the growth of any CMS. For users, it offers a vetted source of extensions that are guaranteed to follow ValPress standards. For developers, it provides a monetization channel and a way to reach a broad audience without managing individual payment processing or update delivery infrastructure.

How It Works

The Marketplace operates as a curated repository. Every submission undergoes a review process by the ValPress team (Editors) to ensure security, licensing compliance, and technical quality.

Product Types & Pricing

  • Themes: Can be offered for free or at a fixed price.
  • Plugins: Can be offered for free or at a fixed price.

Licensing

To ensure maximum compatibility and protect user freedoms, all products distributed via the official Marketplace must be licensed under the GPLv3 (the same license as ValPress CMS).

Update Lifecycle

When a developer uploads and publishes a new version of a Marketplace product, that release becomes available through the ValPress API. Installed sites are not notified automatically — there is no push notification to every site running that product.

Each ValPress site discovers available plugin and theme updates when:

  1. An administrator clicks Check for Updates in the Update Center
  2. Automatic update checks run (when enabled under Settings → General), or the dashboard prompts a check after 24 hours without one

Eligible updates can then be verified and applied from the Update Center or the Plugins/Themes admin screens. See Updates & Maintenance.

Usage

For Users

  1. Browse: Visit market.valpress.net to explore available extensions.
  2. Purchase/Download: Free items can be downloaded immediately. Paid items require a one-time payment via the secure checkout.
  3. Install: Upload the ZIP file via the ValPress Admin dashboard or use the built-in marketplace browser (if available in your version).
  4. License Management: For paid products, view your purchased licenses in your Marketplace account dashboard and bind each license to your site URL before activating the product on that site.

For Developers

  1. Register: Create a developer account on the Marketplace.
  2. Submit Product: Provide a name, slug, description, and upload your initial version (ZIP) through the developer dashboard.
  3. Review: An Editor will review your code. You will receive a status_message with feedback if changes are required.
  4. Publish: Once approved, your product becomes visible to the public.
  5. Updates: Upload new versions from your product page in the developer dashboard. After approval, the release is published and becomes available for installed sites to discover on their next update check.

Code Examples

Plugin/Theme Metadata

ValPress reads product metadata from each extension's config.php file. The Marketplace review process checks that this metadata matches your submission — header comments in plugin.php are not used for identification.

Plugin (public/plugins/{slug}/config.php):

<?php

return [
    'plugin_slug' => 'advanced-seo-pro',
    'name' => 'Advanced SEO Pro',
    'plugin_url' => 'https://market.valpress.net/product/advanced-seo-pro',
    'version' => '1.2.0',
    'short_description' => 'Take control of your site\'s SEO with advanced metadata management.',
    'author' => 'ValPress Solutions',
    'author_url' => 'https://valpress.net',
    'compat_min' => '1.0.0',
    'php_min' => '8.2',
];

Theme (public/themes/{slug}/config.php):

<?php

return [
    'name' => 'Advanced SEO Pro',
    'version' => '1.2.0',
    'author' => 'ValPress Solutions',
    'short_description' => 'A clean theme with built-in SEO-friendly markup.',
    'screenshot' => 'screenshot.png',
    'thumbnail' => 'thumbnail.png',
];

Best Practices

  • Provide Screenshots: High-quality visual previews significantly increase conversion rates for themes.
  • Detailed Changelogs: Always document what changed in a new version to build trust with users.
  • Support Links: Include a link to a support forum or email in your product description.
  • Keep Slugs Consistent: Your Marketplace slug should match your directory name (public/plugins/{slug} or public/themes/{slug}) for seamless updates.

Common Mistakes

  • Licensing Mismatch: Attempting to submit non-GPL code. All derivative works of ValPress must be GPL-compatible.
  • Hardcoded URLs: Using absolute URLs instead of relative paths or Laravel helpers.
  • Vague Descriptions: Failing to explain what the product actually does.
  • Skipping Reviews: Ignoring the Editor's feedback in the status_message.
  • Metadata in the Wrong Place: Putting product name, version, or slug only in plugin.php header comments instead of config.php.

Summary

The ValPress Marketplace is the bridge between developers and users. By adhering to the GPLv3 license and maintaining high technical standards, the marketplace ensures a safe, sustainable, and powerful ecosystem for all ValPress participants.