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+====== Plugins ======
+When building collections, Greenstone processes each different format of source
+document by seeking a “plugin” that can deal with that particular format.
+Plugins are specified in the collection configuration file. Greenstone
+generally uses the filename to determine document formats—for example,
+''foo.txt'' is processed as a text file, ''foo.html'' as html, and ''foo.doc'' as a Word file.
+Plugins parse the imported documents and extract metadata from them.
+For example, the HTMLplugin converts html pages to the Greenstone Archive Format
+and extracts metadata which is explicit in the document format—such as titles,
+enclosed by //<title></title>// tags.
+While all plugins process file,
+    * some group several files into one document,
+    * some split one file into several documents—also called [[en:filetype:metadata_database_files#Exploding Metadata Files|'exploding']]] and
+    * some have a one to one mapping.
+Greenstone includes a wide array of plugins, however, if you need to process document
+formats not handled by existing plugins; format documents in some special way;
+ or extract a new kind of metadata, it is possible for you to develop new plugins.
+===== Managing Plugins in the GLI =====
+Plugins can be managed from the **Document Plugins** section of the **Design panel**. When
+you create a collection based on "New Collection", the //Assigned Plugins// list will by default
+include a list of the commonly used plugins (e.g. HTMLPlugin, WordPlugin, PDFPlugin). If your collection
+will not include any document types that are processed by these plugins, they can be removed (by selecting
+the plugin and clicking the **Remove Plugin** button). For instance, if there are no PDF's in your
+collection, you can remove the PDFPlugin. However, **GreenstoneXMLPlugin** is a special plugin that
+should not be removed, unless you are changing the archive format.
+If you are in Expert mode, you will also see three plugins at the bottom of the list:
+  * **MetadataXMLPlugin**
+  * **ArchivesInfPlugin**
+  * **DirectoryPlugin**
+which can be configured, but cannot be removed.
+Plugins are processed in the order they appear in the list. So, if a document can be
+processed by more than one plugin in the Assigned Plugins list, it will be processed by the
+first one.
+===== Plugins on the commandline =====
+To find more about any plugin,
+just type //pluginfo.pl plugin-name// at the command prompt.
+(You need to invoke the appropriate //setup// script first,
+if you haven't already, and on Windows you need to type
+//perl —S pluginfo.pl plugin-name// if your environment
+is not set up to associate files ending in //.pl// as Perl executables).
+This displays information about the plugin on the screen—what plugin-specific
+options it takes, and what general options are allowed.
+Run the pluginfo.pl command on the plugin name after setting up
+your environment for Greenstone. For example:
+<code>
+perl -S pluginfo.pl PDFPlugin
+</code>
+===== Additional Resources =====
+  * Greenstone includes a wide array of plugins, which are [[en:plugin:index|listed in full here]].
+  * Visit the [[en:user:document_types|document types page]] to determine which plugin(s) are used for the types of documents in your collection.
+  * There is a [[en:developer:plugins|developer's plugin]] page, which provides technical information about plugins and how they work.