This post is part of a series, featuring the incredible work of plugin authors who grow the TRMNL plugin ecosystem with every contribution. The TRMNL team has individually selected these plugins and authors to be featured.

HubbyCal

Community member Oliver Cahill (Discord: frizzlefratz) created the HubbyCal plugin; here are their words on how it was created.

Why did you want this plugin to exist?

I normally use Apple Calendars and I have so many events it can make me crosseyed. I just wanted a simple way to for me and my husband to see our day and not have to fight different screens and apps or text each other with work schedules or plans.

Why were you the person to make it?

I was recently laid off from my Graphic Design job. My TRMNL X came in a few days later and inspired and pushed me to get out of my funk and get creative again. I was the person to make it because the universe said so. I had the time and a cool new toy to play with.

Were you inspired by any other recipes or plugin creators?

The Google Calendar. It was too busy! Also, I can’t remember the name of it but I saw a quote of the day recipe that gave me the idea for quotes when there are no events.

How did you balance look vs functionality?

I wanted everything to be big. And readable. And friendly. That was the main goal. Balance was hard because some days I have lots of events and figuring out how to make them all show at a size I can glance at while trying to get ready was tough. Once I got the design language down, I went extra hard on really maximizing the screen space with as many features as I could. I even had it reporting the charge level of my EV at one point. I’ll have to add that back in the future…

What was your process for creating the plugin?

Lots of mockups in Adobe XD and code done primarily in Claude and ChatGPT. I was very specific with what I wanted and spent hours and hours fine tuning as much as I could and drawing every screen and state our first to make sure the AI didn’t break away from my vision.

What, if any, challenges did you face while creating it?

Getting all the data in! I’ve been a Graphic Designer and UI/UX designer for 20+ years but I never worked with code or servers or APIs. So setting up my workspace and connecting to services and OAuth and all of that was new to me. I was familiar with it all but having to do a lot of that myself was a big jump for me.

Did you learn anything that you want to apply to future or past recipes?

Too much to put here! I learned a lot about architecting and planning software. Even with something as basic as this, I picked up so many workflows. Enough to where I’ve built a super charged version of this as an iOS App I’ll be launching soon.

Is there a tip you would give to a new plugin developer?

If you’re going to use AI to help you with the coding, be very specific. Draw out your screens. Come up with your features and all the rules and be very specific. If you let it make that all for you, you’ll never achieve your vision.Plan first. Build later.

What part of the TRMNL Framework, Liquid filters, or other documentation was most helpful?

The entire framework documentation was a HUUUGE help. I may have used AI, but AI is not as smart as people think. It would go rogue and write its own stuff and more often than not, I’d have to refer it to a specific page or detail a specific way things need to be done for TRMNL recipes.

What is your favorite plugin that someone else created and why?

TBH I haven’t used many yet! The LCARS Schematics one is pretty great tho. We’re a big Star Trek house here.

How was support?

Your support staff is AMAZING. I feel so bad for Ikraam! I kept sending issues on Discord and he was so quick to respond and help.