Object-Oriented jQuery Plugin skeleton

myplugin.js

//Source: http://www.virgentech.com/blog/2009/10/building-object-oriented-jquery-plugin.html
//Author: Hector Virgen 
//Date: August 23, 2010
(function($) {

  var MyPlugin = function(element, options) {

    var elem = $(element);
    var obj = this;

    var settings = $.extend({
      param: 'defaultValue'
    }, options || {});


    // Public method - can be called from client code
    this.publicMethod = function() {
      console.log('public method called!');
    };


    // Private method - can only be called from within this object
    var privateMethod = function() {
      console.log('private method called!');
    };
  };


  $.fn.myplugin = function(options) {
    var element = $(this);

    // Return early if this element already has a plugin instance
    if (element.data('myplugin')) return element.data('myplugin');

    // pass options to plugin constructor
    var myplugin = new MyPlugin(this, options);

    // Store plugin object in this element's data
    element.data('myplugin', myplugin);

    return myplugin;
  };
})(jQuery);

//Usage:
//var myplugin = $('#myElement).myplugin();
//myplugin.publicMethod();