Gnome Extension | newcomer needs assistance developing a simple extension

[CaptainHusaynPenguin]

Hi everyone,

I just recently moved to Fedora Workstation 33 and since I have some experience on web development & stuff, I thought I could have a smooth transition, also given how long it has been since last time I used Fedora (about a decade or more ago) …

What I’m trying to do is quite simple: a digital photo frame that hides in the top menu.

What I can’t really get through is how to create a “hello world” extension on Gnome.

I found two sets of guides, one on Youtube: How to Create a GNOME Extension (Part 1) - Create a Button in Panel - YouTube and the other on a wiki page that is said to be more update than the “Step by Step Guide” that shows up as first result on Google: Projects/GnomeShell/Extensions/Writing - GNOME Wiki!

I tried to pilot test an empty extension but it just ends up receiving an exclamation sign on “Tweaks” and whatever I try to change in the source code, doesn’t seem to make any difference.

So, is there any way to get rid of this exclamation mark, or else how do you debug when developing an extension?

On a more general note, is there any better guide/tutorial to get started with developing an extension?

On a related question, do I need to log in and out each time I make an edit to the code or is it going to work out of the box since it is Javascript?

Thanks for letting a newcomer take your time, and would appreciate any effort to point me in the right direction!

PS. Also, also, if any of the Gnome core contributors ever read this: it would be great if somebody developed the “Step by Step Guide” because in order to make basic applications, one does usually needs to develop an extension to go with it; i.e. to-do list, note taking, kanban, messenger, email reader, blogging & social media reader, RSS reader, etc.

[CaptainHusaynPenguin]

to be exact, I did made one change to the both tutorials’ codes: I change the Gnome shell version to mine, which is “3.38” in “metadata.json”

[andyholmes]

@CaptainHusaynPenguin

So, is there any way to get rid of this exclamation mark, or else how do you debug when developing an extension?

It should be noted that the page on the GNOME wiki was written to be read entirely, from start to finish. To debug the error, see the Basic Debugging section.

@CaptainHusaynPenguin

On a more general note, is there any better guide/tutorial to get started with developing an extension?

There is some documentation on gjs.guide, but this is mostly copied over from the wiki at this point. Progress is slow at the moment, as there aren’t many contributors.

@CaptainHusaynPenguin

On a related question, do I need to log in and out each time I make an edit to the code or is it going to work out of the box since it is Javascript?

If you’re using Wayland, probably. If you’re using Xorg you can restart by using Alt+F2 and typing r. See the first paragraph of Extension Creation in the wiki.