Migrations

On this page you create the faqs table: one row per question, each tied to a channel so every storefront shows its own FAQ. A package keeps its migrations in src/Database/Migrations and loads that folder from its service provider; the migrations themselves are standard Laravel migrations.

Load the Migrations Folder

Add loadMigrationsFrom() to the provider's boot() method:

File: packages/Webkul/Faq/src/Providers/FaqServiceProvider.php

<?php

namespace Webkul\Faq\Providers;

use Illuminate\Support\ServiceProvider;

class FaqServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
    /**
     * Register services.
     */
    public function register(): void {}

    /**
     * Bootstrap services.
     */
    public function boot(): void
    {
        $this->loadMigrationsFrom(__DIR__.'/../Database/Migrations');
    }
}

Create the Migration File

Laravel's make:migration writes into the folder given with --path, and creates the folder when it is missing:

php artisan make:migration create_faqs_table --path=packages/Webkul/Faq/src/Database/Migrations

The file is named <timestamp>_create_faqs_table.php.

Write the Migration

Replace the generated body with the table the FAQ needs:

File: packages/Webkul/Faq/src/Database/Migrations/<timestamp>_create_faqs_table.php

<?php

use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;

return new class extends Migration
{
    /**
     * Run the migrations.
     */
    public function up(): void
    {
        Schema::create('faqs', function (Blueprint $table) {
            $table->id();
            $table->unsignedInteger('channel_id');
            $table->string('question');
            $table->text('answer');
            $table->unsignedInteger('sort_order')->default(0);
            $table->boolean('status')->default(true);
            $table->timestamps();

            $table->index(['channel_id', 'status']);

            $table->foreign('channel_id')->references('id')->on('channels')->cascadeOnDelete();
        });
    }

    /**
     * Reverse the migrations.
     */
    public function down(): void
    {
        Schema::dropIfExists('faqs');
    }
};

Column	Why
channel_id	The channel the question belongs to. channels.id is created with increments(), and a foreign key column must match the referenced column's type, so this is unsignedInteger()
question, answer	The content
sort_order	The order on the storefront page
status	Whether the question is published; new questions are

The foreign key deletes a channel's questions with the channel, and the composite index serves the storefront query, which filters on channel_id and status together.

Test It

1. Run the migration:

   php artisan migrate

2. Check that it ran. <timestamp>_create_faqs_table is listed as Ran:

   php artisan migrate:status

Things to Watch

• Write migrations that run on every supported database. Bagisto 2.5 runs on MySQL, MariaDB and PostgreSQL. Use the schema builder rather than raw SQL, and route any raw expression through db_grammar(); see Database Compatibility.
• Read the referenced table before adding a foreign key. channels, customers, products and orders use increments(), but some newer core tables use id() or bigIncrements().
• Always write down(), and never change a migration that has already run on a shared database. Add a new migration that alters the table.
• Table names share one database with core. A bare name such as faqs is fine while no core table uses it; prefix a name with the package's (faq_categories) when it could collide.
• DB_PREFIX applies to every table. The schema builder, Eloquent and the query builder add the prefix for you; raw SQL doesn't, so read it from DB::getTablePrefix().

Next Step

The table exists. Next, give it a model that the rest of Bagisto can resolve and replace.

Continue to: Models