1. Make using your plugin easier for everyone and put the plugin file at the root level of your plugin repository instead of hiding it in a subdirectory. This allows [oh-my-zsh](https://github.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh) users to install it with a simple `git clone git@github.com:you/yourplugin.git` in their `custom/plugins` directory and also lets [Antigen](https://github.com/zsh-users/antigen) and [zgenom](https://github.com/jandamm/zgenom) users let the framework automatically clone the repository without having to specify a subdirectory path.
2. Only oh-my-zsh sets the `${ZSH_CUSTOM}` variable. Relying on your plugin being in `${ZSH_CUSTOM}/yourPluginName` will make your plugin not work with anything but oh-my-zsh. `$(dirname $0)` will tell you what directory your plugin is actually installed in, is cross-framework and won't break when a user inevitably renames your plugin directory.
3. Don't assume your plugin will be checked out into a directory with the same name you gave the plugin. This is another case where `$(dirname ${0})` will work and `${ZSH_CUSTOM}/hardcoded-directory-name` will fail miserably.
4. Use `yourplugin.plugin.zsh` for the main plugin file. This is what [oh-my-zsh](https://github.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh) looks for. [Antigen](https://github.com/zsh-users/antigen), [zgenom](https://github.com/jandamm/zgenom) and most other ZSH frameworks will also automatically find and load that filename.
6. If your plugin adds any of its subdirectories to the user's `fpath`, make sure those subdirectories only contain function definition files. This allows for frameworks to correctly [zcompile all functions](http://zsh.sourceforge.net/Doc/Release/Functions.html#Autoloading-Functions). Please don't make your plugin add its root directory to the `fpath`.
7. Don't forget to add a license. [choosealicense.com](https://choosealicense.com) is a good tool to help you pick one if you don't have something specific already in mind.
