Advantages of the Plug-in Architecture

Makes MicroStrategy Web more extensible and customizable

Due to the separation of the customization code changes from default code, plug-ins can be used to extend functionality of MicroStrategy Web without the need to recompile or to add new functionality to MicroStrategy Web without requiring access to source code.

Minimizes the impact of upgrades

This is possible because no files are shared between a plug-in and MicroStrategy Web. Since plug-ins are independent, the architecture is designed to accommodate future additions of plug-ins without breaking the source code. This lack of dependency ensures that every upgrade allows you to view your customizations in the new version of MicroStrategy Web as well as use the new MicroStrategy Web functionality introduced in that upgrade.

Offers transparency in customization code

Due to the separation of the customization code changes from default code, it is easy to view only the customization changes (without the baggage of viewing them as a part of one huge file) that help accomplish your objective.

Facilitates portability of customizations

Once a plug-in has been successfully deployed using the Web Customization Editor, it can be easily ported to an identical version of MicroStrategy Web on a different machine by simply inserting the plug-in into the appropriate folder inside the MicroStrategy Web installation. This reduces the time in moving your customizations from a development environment to a production environment.

Simplifies managing the customizations
Since plug-ins are self-sufficient, you can deploy your customization by simply adding the plug-in into the appropriate folder inside the MicroStrategy Web installation. Similarly, to remove a customization, you only need to remove the plug-in from that folder. Thus, you do not need to get involved with any manual process of modifying or recompiling the files.