Accessing the Liferay Marketplace

There are two ways to access the Marketplace.

1. Via The Web site - Using your favorite browser, you can navigate to the marketplace at http://liferay.com/marketplace.

2. Via Liferay - If you have a site up and running based on Liferay, you can use the Marketplace tab of the control panel to access Marketplace content.

The Basics

No matter which method you choose, you will see the same content and apps.

If you are new to the Marketplace, the easiest way to access it is by using your browser to navigate to http://liferay.com/marketplace. You will be presented with the Marketplace home page.

Figure 9.1: Marketplace Home Page

In the center of the page you will see a number of icons. Each icon represents an individual app, and they are grouped into a couple of different areas:

• New To Marketplace - The latest apps that have been added to the marketplace
• Featured Products - Liferay features a different set of apps each month
• Top 10 - The top 10 apps as ranked by downloads, views, popularity, etc.

If you click on the title of an app, you can access details about the app, including a description, screenshots, price, and reviews and comments left by other users.

On the left, you'll see a list of App and Theme categories. Clicking on the individual categories will allow you to browse apps in that category.

Figure 9.2: Browsing Apps in Marketplace

Below that are your search and filter options. This allows you to narrowly search for apps with specific titles, compatibilities, or other search criteria. Typing in search terms and clicking Search will perform the search.

At the bottom is a Tag Cloud. Individual apps can be tagged with specific keywords or phrases for easier finding. The Tag Cloud is a collection of these keywords. The larger the keyword, the more popular the tag. Clicking on a tag is the same as performing a search with the tag as the search criteria, and you will get a listing of apps using that tag.

Figure 9.3: Marketplace Apps by Tag

Logging In

You do not need a liferay.com account in order to browse the Marketplace. Once you decide you wish to download an app (or if you are a developer and wish to create and upload new apps), you will need to establish a liferay.com account, and agree to the Marketplace Terms of Use. To get a new liferay.com login, visit the register page and sign up!

Once you are signed in, you will be able to fully utilize the Marketplace to find and use Marketplace apps.

Marketplace Profile

On your existing liferay.com Profile page, you will notice a new tab entitled My Marketplace. This tab shows you relevant information related to your usage of Marketplace. There are three tabs that house information related to Marketplace

My Apps

This page lists apps that you have authored and uploaded, showing you details such as the number of downloads, the current price, and other relevant information. From here you can manage the apps that you have created (please see the Marketplace Developer Guide for detail on this topic).

Figure 9.4: Purchased an App

This page lists the apps that you have downloaded and/or purchased. From this screen, you can find information about the authors of the apps you have downloaded, and you can re-download the app (for example, if you lost your copy or have re-installed Liferay and wish to re-deploy the app). This option is also useful for downloading apps and deploying them to offline instances of Liferay that do not have direct access to liferay.com.

Figure 9.5: Upload an App

This screen allows you to upload a new app and make it available in the marketplace. Please see the Marketplace Developer Guide for more detail on authoring your own app.