Use Plugins in CODAP

Note: For a listing of plugins, visit the CODAP plugins database. 

A plugin is a piece of software that acts as an add-on in CODAP. It gives a CODAP document additional functionality. Dozens of plugins have been created, enabling users to do things such as run simulations to generate data or bring data from external sources into CODAP. Several plugins can be accessed directly in CODAP by selecting them from the “Plugins” menu in the toolbar, as described in this help page.

To try out additional plugins, visit our CODAP plugins database, which has a detailed, classified, and searchable listing of CODAP plugins.

From the CODAP plugins database, to view a plugin in CODAP, click on the name of the plugin (the top link in the image example below). Once the plugin is open in CODAP, you can start adding/creating/exploring data there.

Another way to open a plugin from the plugins database is to copy the link to the plugin to your clipboard and use the import menu to import the plugin from its URL into a CODAP document (see screenshots below, and also additional importing instructions here). This is how you can bring a plugin into an existing CODAP document. Note that you need to be using the direct link to the plugin itself, not the plugin opened in CODAP–if you try to import the latter into another CODAP document, it will not import the plugin properly.

If you are using Chrome or Firefox as your browser and you open the plugin itself directly in a new tab or window (copy the link to the plugin and paste it in the address bar to open in a new tab/window), you can then drag the URL for the plugin itself into a CODAP document to import the plugin, as shown in the screenshots below (this dragging method does not work in browsers other than Chrome or Firefox). Note that the tab for the DayLength Plugin is a direct link to the plugin itself–it is not a CODAP document with the plugin open in it. If you have a CODAP document with a plugin open in it and you try to drag this document into another CODAP document, it will not import the plugin.

Note that it is possible to open more than one plugin in a CODAP document, using the dragging or import URL menu options.

If you do not find what you need in the CODAP plugins database and are interested in developing a plugin, see our instructions on how to make a plugin here.