Birkly CMS downloads ship without bundled plugins. After a fresh install, the plugins/ folder is empty and you add extensions from the Birkly Marketplace. Official Birkly plugins (commerce, events, automation, user management) are free and install in one click from the CMS admin. Paid official plugins require marketplace checkout and a license key. Subscription official plugins bill monthly/yearly until canceled. Paid third-party offers use the same checkout flow.
Fresh installs contain core CMS only: no commerce, events, automation, or user-management code in the download. Open Plugins → Marketplace in the admin to browse the catalog and install extensions. Free official plugins install in one click. Paid official plugins show a price badge and Purchase CTA — complete checkout, then activate the license in CMS. Existing installs that already have plugin folders keep working; future updates for those plugins come from the marketplace.
Beginner
What changed
Older Birkly builds included official plugins inside the CMS zip. Current releases ship an empty plugins/ directory (with a short README). This keeps the core download small and lets you choose only the extensions you need.
First install workflow
- Download and deploy Birkly CMS (see Getting started).
- Log in to admin and complete onboarding if prompted.
- Open Plugins → Marketplace.
- Browse Official or filter the catalog for Birkly-published plugins.
- Click Install on a free official plugin (e.g. Commerce). No marketplace account or license key is needed.
- When install finishes, Enable the plugin if it is not enabled automatically.
- Repeat for other plugins you need. Install Commerce before Events if you plan to sell tickets (Events declares a soft dependency on Commerce for paid flows).
Onboarding hint
The setup wizard may suggest installing recommended plugins from the marketplace. You can skip this step and install later from Plugins → Marketplace.
Existing sites (grandfathered)
If you upgraded from an older build that already had plugins in plugins/, those copies continue to work. You are not required to reinstall them. When you want updates, use the Marketplace tab Update action (or reinstall from the marketplace) so checksums and licenses stay in sync.
Official plugins
These four plugins are maintained by Birkly and listed on the marketplace as free offers:
| Plugin folder | Marketplace slug | What it does | Docs | |---------------|------------------|--------------|------| | commerce | birkly-commerce | Payments, catalog, cart, checkout, orders | Commerce plugin | | events | birkly-events | Events, RSVP, paid tickets (uses Commerce) | Events functions | | automation | birkly-automation | Workflows, triggers, conditions, actions | Automation overview | | user_management | birkly-user-management | Registration, auth, tiers, permissions | User plugin |
Paid and subscription official offers (for example SEO Basics, Analytics Pro) also appear in the catalog with pricing.model one_time or subscription. They require marketplace checkout — see Marketplace — buyer license and install.
Community plugins, themes, and template packs from other providers may be free or paid — see Marketplace — buyer license and install.
Advanced Users
Release layout
The CMS distribution manifest excludes plugins/* except placeholder files. Official plugin source remains in the Birkly platform repository for development and CI; release zips are built separately and published to the marketplace registry API.
Dev and CI
Local development and automated tests use scripts/install-dev-plugins.sh in the Birkly repo to install plugin zips without the marketplace UI. Production and staging sites should use the marketplace client.
Registry and checksums
Each marketplace release includes a semver version, artifact URL, and SHA-256 checksum. The CMS verifies the checksum before extracting into plugins/. Override the marketplace base URL with BIRKLY_MARKETPLACE_URL or settings/marketplace.json for staging.
Production platform (Birkly Cloud)
| Surface | URL | Purpose | |---------|-----|---------| | Public marketplace | https://marketplace.birkly.cloud | Catalog, registry API, buyer checkout | | Provider Studio | https://providers.birkly.cloud | Seller signup, offers, Stripe Connect | | Birkly Ops | https://ops.birkly.cloud | Staff admin, feedback inbox, install registry |
CMS installs use marketplace.birkly.cloud by default. Customer feedback relays to Ops when settings/platform.json includes feedback_relay_url (see docs/reviews/platform.json.example in the Birkly repo).
API gating
Core routes that depend on a plugin (e.g. automation webhooks, commerce APIs) return 404 or 503 when the plugin is not installed, instead of fatal errors.