This is a simple skeleton to easily build Unicode Notepad++ PlugIns using the MinGW Compiler (aka, GCC for Windows)

If you are not yet familiar with Notepad++ PlugIns development don't hesitate to take a look at the official docs. You'll need the PluginInterface.h header (and companion files) to get started, as included on the Notepad++ Plugin Template for VC++

Then, by just typing make a NppSkeleton.dll should be created, which just provides a single menu entry to open a dialog with a "Hello, world!" message. Moreover, using make install should copy the DLL to C:\Program Files\Notepad++\plugins\

This has been tested using GCC 4.7.2 and Binutils 2.23.1

So, go ahead and try to build the skeleton yourself. It should work OOTB, if it doesn't feel free to fill a issue pointing what GCC environment are you exactly using.

###Beyond the Skeleton###

Now that you've successfully compiled the skeleton, it's time to start building your PlugIn. There are a few macros and options you'll need to change.

At Makefile change PROGRAM to the name of your PlugIn, IMAGEMAGICK to the location where the ImageMagick suite is installed, and INSTALL_PATH if needed.

At main.h you'll need to change PROGNAME, PROGDESC, and COMPANY_NAME. These things are mainly used to embed a version-information resource with the dll.

Finally, you'll need either a main.png image file (which ImageMagick will convert to .ico) or just a proper main.ico to be used as the icon for the DLL (not really needed, but nice to have :)

And that's all, next get into main.cpp and start hacking stuff. I hope thanks to this you can bring useful things to our favorite editor! :-)