How to PrestaShop the "right way"?

[peri]

Hi everybody,

while adding a customer number (* see below for details) to the PrestaShop i was wondering what could be the "right way" to do that.
It's not too difficult to add some code to the backend that manages the customer number.
But my intention is to do it in a way that is helpful for the community rather than doing a quick hack just for myself.
So please help me to understand how PrestaShop is developed.


- Is there an "official" way / a guideline that tells how to add new functionality to the shop?

- Where can i find more information about programming addons / a scheme?

- How can i participate in the development of PrestaShop?


The reason why i tease you here in the forum is that i did not find an appropriate section for wannabe-develpers. Maybe it's there, but i did not find it - too much white wine for dinner ;-).
However, any guidance is welcome.

Thanks
Peter


(*) The motivation for adding a customer number is that i set up a PrestaShop up for a company that is doing old school business, and their customers have a customer number. I added the customer number in the shop and modified the backend so that i can manage these existing customers in the shop. So i altered the customers table and added some code in the backend.

[rocky]

I plan to add a development guide to my website that explains the right way to override files in PrestaShop v1.4 instead of modifying files. Writing guides takes a long time though and it's hard for me to find the time since I'm busy adding requested features to my modules. Until it is done, see my post here and the module tutorial here.