creating a jquery plugin with multiple functions

Question

ok am kinda new to plugins i have used many in my projects, i have also written basic plugins that just work on elements with options:

(function($){
    $.fn         


        

Answer 1

If you look at the design of some of the other jQuery plugins and jQuery UI, what they do is they have a single function $('#div').myplugin({options}), and then they can do different functions by passing a string instead of an object $('#div').myplugin('performdifferenttask') which can in turn call a helper function that is hidden from the user.

For an example look at http://jqueryui.com/demos/progressbar/#methods

Here is an example that will hopefully alleviate your confusion:

(function($) {
    $.fn.myplugin = function(options) {
        if(options == 'function1')
            function1();
        else if(options == 'function2')
            function2();
        else {
            //do default action
        }
    }

    function function1() {
        //do something
    }

    function function2() {
        //do something else
    }
}

Then in use:

$.myplugin({option1: 4, option2: 6}); //does default behavior
$.myplugin('function1'); //calls function1()
$.myplugin('function2'); //calls function2()