Plugins are mini applications that can add specific functionalities to the Staffbase platform. They can be seamlessly integrated into the Staffbase platform. In most cases, plugins are developed in such a way that it is mostly plug and play, but in some cases you might need to select a connector to establish communication between a specific external system and the Staffbase platform.

Types of Plugins

Staffbase provides a range of possibilities to extend the functionalities of its platform. Plugins can be broadly divided into:

• Standard Plugins

  These are ready-to-use plugins offered by Staffbase and can be further classified into:

• Staffbase-exclusive web applications embedded into the platform
  Example: Forms plugin  
• Staffbase web applications integrated with third-party services or systems
  Example: Microsoft 365 Files plugin

• Custom Plugins

  These are custom-built to simplify specific business use cases. You can develop these in-house or outsource it to our partners or vendors. Learn more about developing custom plugins, here.

Making Content Available via Plugins

Irrespective of the type of plugin, administrators and managing editors can make a variety of content using the same plugin available to users in three easy steps:

1. Install
Administrators and managing editors can install all plugins that are available to their organization. Browse the Plugins page in the Studio to find out what plugins are available to your organization. You can always reach out to Staffbase Support or your Customer Success Manager to activate more plugins for your organization.

2. Add
Once a plugin is installed, managing editors can add different instances of the same plugin to provide various content or processes to relevant users. For example, if you have installed Forms plugin, you can add different forms using different instances of Forms plugin, such as one for feedback and another for report incidents, and so on.

 

3. Publish

Once plugin content is ready, publish it to make it available to users as configured in the visibility settings of the plugin. Users may not know that they are using a plugin, since the plugin acts as a part of the platform. These plugins are optimized to be used with the Staffbase platform. In most cases of plugins integrated with third-party services and custom plugins, users do not have to additionally sign in to access content that is hosted outside the Staffbase platform. This is possible via the single sign-on flow taking place in the background, which ensures that data is accessed only by authorized users. 

How Users Will View Different Content Using a Plugin

In this example, different instances of the Forms plugin are made available to users.