jquery plugin template

template.js

// the semi-colon before function invocation is a safety net against concatenated
// scripts and/or other plugins which may not be closed properly.
;(function ($) {

    var privateMethod = function () {
        // ...
    };

    var Plugin = function (element, options) {
		// `this` refers to a `Plugin` intance
        this.element = element;

        this.options = {
            // default options
        };

        /*
         * Initialization
		 *
		 *
		 * `this` inside a jquery function refers to a DOM element
		 * this.element.fadeIn('normal', function(){
		 *     `this` keyword is a DOM element
		 * });
		 */

        this.init(options);
    };

    Plugin.prototype = {
        // initialize options
        init: function (options) {
			// Merge new options with old options
            $.extend(this.options, options);

            /*
             * Update plugin for options
             */
        },

        publicMethod: function () {
            // ...
        }
    };

    /*
     * Plugin wrapper, preventing against multiple instantiations and
     * return plugin instance.
     */
    $.fn.pluginName = function (options) {
		// `this` is a jquery object
		// $(this) == $($('selector'))
        var plugin = this.data('datakey');

        // has plugin instantiated ?
        if (plugin instanceof Plugin) {
            // if have options arguments, call plugin.init() again
            if (typeof options !== 'undefined') {
                plugin.init(options);
            }
        } else {
			// `new` calls Plugin as a constructor
            plugin = new Plugin(this, options);
            this.data('datakey', plugin);
        }

        return plugin;
    };

}(jQuery));

/*
If you need independent Plugin instance per element

$('selector').each(function () {
    $(this).pluginName();
});
*/