A base structure to use when building new plugins!

jquery_plugin_template.js

(function($) {

  var methods = {
    init: function( options ) {
      // iterate and reformat each matched element
    	return this.each(function() {
    		var $this = $(this),
    		    opts = $.extend({}, $.fn.PLUGIN_NAME.defaults, options),
            data = $this.data('PLUGIN_NAME');

        // If the plugin hasn't been initialized yet
        if ( ! data ) {

        // do all your main awesomeness in here...

          //  attach
          $this.data('PLUGIN_NAME', {
            target : $this,
            opts: opts
          });

        };
      });
    },
    update: function() {
      // each method must loop through all selected elements and return 'this'.
      return this.each(function() {
        if(window.console) window.console.log('update called.');
      });
    }
  };

  // main plugin declaration:
  $.fn.PLUGIN_NAME = function( method ) {
    if ( methods[method] ) {
      return methods[method].apply( this, Array.prototype.slice.call( arguments, 1 ));
    } else if ( typeof method === 'object' || ! method ) {
      return methods.init.apply( this, arguments );
    } else {
      $.error( 'Method ' +  method + ' does not exist on jQuery.PLUGIN_NAME' );
    };
  };

  //	defaults
  $.fn.PLUGIN_NAME.defaults = {
    optionA: true
    // etc...
  };

  $.fn.PLUGIN_NAME.publicfunc = function() { return "jquery.PLUGIN_NAME public function. "; };

})(jQuery);