diff --git a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/DeviceOverview.php b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/DeviceOverview.php
index 28c3f11179..92d8f2dd6d 100644
--- a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/DeviceOverview.php
+++ b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/DeviceOverview.php
@@ -29,4 +29,31 @@ use App\Plugins\Hooks\DeviceOverviewHook;
 
 class DeviceOverview extends DeviceOverviewHook
 {
+    // point to the view for your plugin's settings
+    // this is the default name so you can create the blade file as in this plugin
+    // by ommitting the variable, or point to another one
+
+//    public string $view = 'resources.views.device-overview';
+
+    public function authorize(\App\Models\User $user, \App\Models\Device $device): bool
+    {
+        // In this example, we check if the user has a custom role/permission and if it is member of any device groups
+//        return $user->can('view-extra-port-info') && $device->has('groups');
+
+        return true;
+    }
+
+    // override the data function to add additional data to be accessed in the view
+    // title is a required attribute and will be shown above your returned html from your blade file
+    // inside the blade, all variables will be named based on the key in the returned array
+    public function data(\App\Models\Device $device): array
+    {
+        // here we pass a title string, url to notes, and the device to the blade view for display
+
+        return [
+            'title' => 'Example Plugin: Device Notes',
+            'device' => $device,
+            'url' => url('device/' . $device->device_id . '/notes'),
+        ];
+    }
 }
diff --git a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/Menu.php b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/Menu.php
index b45ab75be4..7a2101f7ad 100644
--- a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/Menu.php
+++ b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/Menu.php
@@ -4,6 +4,33 @@ namespace App\Plugins\ExamplePlugin;
 
 use App\Plugins\Hooks\MenuEntryHook;
 
+// this will create a menu entry in the plugin menu
+// it should generally just be a
 class Menu extends MenuEntryHook
 {
+    // point to the view for your plugin's settings
+    // this is the default name so you can create the blade file as in this plugin
+    // by ommitting the variable, or point to another one
+
+//    public string $view = 'resources.views.menu';
+
+    // this will determine if the menu entry should be shown to the user
+    public function authorize(\App\Models\User $user, array $settings = []): bool
+    {
+        // menu entry shown if users has the global-read role and there is a setting that has > one entries in it
+//        return $user->can('global-read') && isset($settings['some_data']) && count($settings['some_data']) > 0;
+
+        return true; // allow every logged in user
+    }
+
+    // override the data function to add additional data to be accessed in the view
+    // inside the blade, all variables will be named based on the key in the returned array
+    public function data(array $settings = []): array
+    {
+        // inject settings and count how many we have so we can display it in the menu
+
+        return [
+            'count' => count($settings),
+        ];
+    }
 }
diff --git a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/Page.php b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/Page.php
index c356e145d3..57b06fb956 100644
--- a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/Page.php
+++ b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/Page.php
@@ -27,6 +27,40 @@ namespace App\Plugins\ExamplePlugin;
 
 use App\Plugins\Hooks\PageHook;
 
+// this page will be shown when the user clicks on the plugin from the plugins menu.
+// This allows you to output a full screen of whatever you want to the user
 class Page extends PageHook
 {
+    // point to the view for your plugin's settings
+    // this is the default name so you can create the blade file as in this plugin
+    // by ommitting the variable, or point to another one
+
+//    public string $view = 'resources.views.page';
+
+    // The authorize method will determine if the user has access to this page.
+    // if you want all users to be able to access this page simple return true
+    public function authorize(\App\Models\User $user): bool
+    {
+        // you can check user's roles like this:
+//        return $user->can('admin');
+
+        // or use whatever you like
+//        return \Carbon\Carbon::now()->dayOfWeek == Carbon::THURSDAY; // only allowed access on Thursdays!
+
+        return true; // allow every logged in user to access
+    }
+
+    // override the data function to add additional data to be accessed in the view
+    // default just passes the stored data through
+    // inside the blade, all variables will be named based on the key in the returned array
+    public function data(): array
+    {
+        // run any calculations here
+        $username = auth()->user()->username;
+
+        return [
+            'something' => 'this is a variable and can be accessed with {{ $something }}',
+            'hello' => 'Hello: ' . $username,
+        ];
+    }
 }
diff --git a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/PortTab.php b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/PortTab.php
index ed47d71b4d..aa91728f60 100644
--- a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/PortTab.php
+++ b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/PortTab.php
@@ -4,6 +4,28 @@ namespace App\Plugins\ExamplePlugin;
 
 use App\Plugins\Hooks\PortTabHook;
 
+// this will insert a tab into every port view
 class PortTab extends PortTabHook
 {
+    // point to the view for your plugin's port plugin
+    // this is the default name so you can create the blade file as in this plugin
+    // by ommitting the variable, or point to another one
+
+//    public string $view = 'resources.views.port-tab';
+
+    // override the data function to add additional data to be accessed in the view
+    // title is a required attribute and will be shown above your returned html from your blade file
+    // inside the blade, all variables will be named based on the key in the returned array
+    public function data(\App\Models\Port $port): array
+    {
+        // run any calculations here
+        $total_delta = $port->ifOutOctets_delta + $port->ifInOctets_delta; // nonsense calculation :)
+
+        return [
+            'title' => 'Example Plugin',
+            'port' => $port,
+            'something' => 'this is a variable and can be accessed with {{ $something }}',
+            'total' => $total_delta,
+        ];
+    }
 }
diff --git a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/Settings.php b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/Settings.php
index 0ad995e75a..04b6ffbfe8 100644
--- a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/Settings.php
+++ b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/Settings.php
@@ -27,6 +27,29 @@ namespace App\Plugins\ExamplePlugin;
 
 use App\Plugins\Hooks\SettingsHook;
 
+// In the plugins admin page, there will be a settings button if you implement this hook
+// To save settings in your settings page, you should have a form that returns all variables
+// you want to save in the database.
 class Settings extends SettingsHook
 {
+    // point to the view for your plugin's settings
+    // this is the default name so you can create the blade file as in this plugin
+    // by ommitting the variable, or point to another one
+
+//    public string $view = 'resources.views.settings';
+
+    // override the data function to add additional data to be accessed in the view
+    // default just passes the stored data through
+    // inside the blade, all variables will be named based on the key in the returned array
+    public function data(array $settings = []): array
+    {
+        // run any calculations here
+        $total = array_sum([1, 2, 3, 4]);
+
+        return [
+            'settings' => $settings, // this is an array of all the settings stored in the database
+            'something' => 'this is a variable and can be accessed with {{ $something }}',
+            'total' => $total,
+        ];
+    }
 }
diff --git a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/resources/views/device-overview.blade.php b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/resources/views/device-overview.blade.php
index af279c6344..977bec1d4e 100644
--- a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/resources/views/device-overview.blade.php
+++ b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/resources/views/device-overview.blade.php
@@ -2,11 +2,13 @@
     <div class="col-md-12">
         <div class="panel panel-default panel-condensed">
             <div class="panel-heading">
-                <strong>{{ $title }}</strong> <a href="{{ url('device/' . $device->device_id . '/notes') }}">[EDIT]</a>
+                <strong>{{ $title }}</strong> <a href="{{ $url }}">[EDIT]</a>
             </div>
             <div class="panel-body">
                 <div class="row">
                     <div class="col-sm-12">
+                        {{-- This is a comment.  Below we output the markdown output unescaped because we want the raw html
+                         to be output to the page.  Be careful with unescaped output as it can lead to security issues. --}}
                         {!! Str::markdown($device->notes ?? '') !!}
                     </div>
         </div>
diff --git a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/resources/views/menu.blade.php b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/resources/views/menu.blade.php
index 57d47b922c..c52c5daeb3 100644
--- a/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/resources/views/menu.blade.php
+++ b/app/Plugins/ExamplePlugin/resources/views/menu.blade.php
@@ -1 +1 @@
-<a href="{{ url('plugin/ExamplePlugin') }}"><i class="fa fa-coffee fa-fw fa-lg" aria-hidden="true"></i> Example Menu</a>
+<a href="{{ url('plugin/ExamplePlugin') }}"><i class="fa fa-coffee fa-fw fa-lg" aria-hidden="true"></i> Example Menu @if($count)({{ $count }})@endif</a>
diff --git a/app/Plugins/Hooks/DeviceOverviewHook.php b/app/Plugins/Hooks/DeviceOverviewHook.php
index 941519eeb6..44a255fa64 100644
--- a/app/Plugins/Hooks/DeviceOverviewHook.php
+++ b/app/Plugins/Hooks/DeviceOverviewHook.php
@@ -27,14 +27,14 @@ namespace App\Plugins\Hooks;
 
 use App\Models\Device;
 use App\Models\User;
+use Illuminate\Contracts\Foundation\Application;
 use Illuminate\Support\Str;
 
 abstract class DeviceOverviewHook
 {
-    /** @var string */
-    public $view = 'resources.views.device-overview';
+    public string $view = 'resources.views.device-overview';
 
-    public function authorize(User $user, Device $device, array $settings): bool
+    public function authorize(User $user, Device $device): bool
     {
         return true;
     }
@@ -47,8 +47,11 @@ abstract class DeviceOverviewHook
         ];
     }
 
-    final public function handle(string $pluginName, Device $device): \Illuminate\Contracts\View\View
+    final public function handle(string $pluginName, array $settings, Device $device, Application $app): \Illuminate\Contracts\View\View
     {
-        return view(Str::start($this->view, "$pluginName::"), $this->data($device));
+        return view(Str::start($this->view, "$pluginName::"), $app->call([$this, 'data'], [
+            'device' => $device,
+            'settings' => $settings,
+        ]));
     }
 }
diff --git a/app/Plugins/Hooks/MenuEntryHook.php b/app/Plugins/Hooks/MenuEntryHook.php
index 3390ce09db..fd164526c9 100644
--- a/app/Plugins/Hooks/MenuEntryHook.php
+++ b/app/Plugins/Hooks/MenuEntryHook.php
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@
 namespace App\Plugins\Hooks;
 
 use App\Models\User;
+use Illuminate\Contracts\Foundation\Application;
 use Illuminate\Support\Str;
 
 abstract class MenuEntryHook
 {
-    /** @var string */
-    public $view = 'resources.views.menu';
+    public string $view = 'resources.views.menu';
 
-    public function authorize(User $user, array $settings): bool
+    public function authorize(User $user): bool
     {
         return true;
     }
@@ -43,8 +43,10 @@ abstract class MenuEntryHook
         return [];
     }
 
-    final public function handle(string $pluginName): array
+    final public function handle(string $pluginName, array $settings, Application $app): array
     {
-        return [Str::start($this->view, "$pluginName::"), $this->data()];
+        return [Str::start($this->view, "$pluginName::"), $app->call([$this, 'data'], [
+            'settings' => $settings,
+        ])];
     }
 }
diff --git a/app/Plugins/Hooks/PageHook.php b/app/Plugins/Hooks/PageHook.php
index d0152cf47e..a3e8f99753 100644
--- a/app/Plugins/Hooks/PageHook.php
+++ b/app/Plugins/Hooks/PageHook.php
@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@
 namespace App\Plugins\Hooks;
 
 use App\Models\User;
+use Illuminate\Contracts\Foundation\Application;
 use Illuminate\Support\Str;
 
 abstract class PageHook
 {
-    /** @var string */
-    public $view = 'resources.views.page';
+    public string $view = 'resources.views.page';
 
     public function authorize(User $user): bool
     {
@@ -40,14 +40,15 @@ abstract class PageHook
 
     public function data(): array
     {
-        return [
-        ];
+        return [];
     }
 
-    final public function handle(string $pluginName): array
+    final public function handle(string $pluginName, array $settings, Application $app): array
     {
         return array_merge([
             'settings_view' => Str::start($this->view, "$pluginName::"),
-        ], $this->data());
+        ], $app->call([$this, 'data'], [
+            'settings' => $settings,
+        ]));
     }
 }
diff --git a/app/Plugins/Hooks/PortTabHook.php b/app/Plugins/Hooks/PortTabHook.php
index 34109c22ec..af7b6541d0 100644
--- a/app/Plugins/Hooks/PortTabHook.php
+++ b/app/Plugins/Hooks/PortTabHook.php
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ namespace App\Plugins\Hooks;
 use App\Models\Port;
 use App\Models\User;
 use App\Plugins\Hook;
+use Illuminate\Contracts\Foundation\Application;
 use Illuminate\Support\Str;
 
 abstract class PortTabHook implements Hook
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ abstract class PortTabHook implements Hook
     /** @var string */
     public $view = 'resources.views.port-tab';
 
-    public function authorize(User $user, Port $port, array $settings): bool
+    public function authorize(User $user, Port $port): bool
     {
         return true;
     }
@@ -48,8 +49,11 @@ abstract class PortTabHook implements Hook
         ];
     }
 
-    final public function handle(string $pluginName, Port $port): \Illuminate\Contracts\View\View
+    final public function handle(string $pluginName, Port $port, array $settings, Application $app): \Illuminate\Contracts\View\View
     {
-        return view(Str::start($this->view, "$pluginName::"), $this->data($port));
+        return view(Str::start($this->view, "$pluginName::"), $app->call([$this, 'data'], [
+            'port' => $port,
+            'settings' => $settings,
+        ]));
     }
 }
diff --git a/app/Plugins/Hooks/SettingsHook.php b/app/Plugins/Hooks/SettingsHook.php
index 2f0fe9573e..aa0c0c8196 100644
--- a/app/Plugins/Hooks/SettingsHook.php
+++ b/app/Plugins/Hooks/SettingsHook.php
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@
 namespace App\Plugins\Hooks;
 
 use App\Models\User;
+use Illuminate\Contracts\Foundation\Application;
 use Illuminate\Support\Str;
 
 abstract class SettingsHook
 {
-    /** @var string */
-    public $view = 'resources.views.settings';
+    public string $view = 'resources.views.settings';
 
-    public function authorize(User $user, array $settings): bool
+    public function authorize(User $user): bool
     {
         return true;
     }
@@ -45,10 +45,12 @@ abstract class SettingsHook
         ];
     }
 
-    final public function handle(string $pluginName, array $settings): array
+    final public function handle(string $pluginName, array $settings, Application $app): array
     {
         return array_merge([
             'settings_view' => Str::start($this->view, "$pluginName::"),
-        ], $this->data($settings));
+        ], $this->data($app->call([$this, 'data'], [
+            'settings' => $settings,
+        ])));
     }
 }
diff --git a/app/Plugins/PluginManager.php b/app/Plugins/PluginManager.php
index 6969cea122..a9280df125 100644
--- a/app/Plugins/PluginManager.php
+++ b/app/Plugins/PluginManager.php
@@ -114,7 +114,11 @@ class PluginManager
                     return app()->call([$hook['instance'], 'handle'], $this->fillArgs($args, $hook['plugin_name']));
                 } catch (Exception|\Error $e) {
                     $name = $hook['plugin_name'];
-                    Log::error("Error calling hook $hookType for $name: " . $e->getMessage());
+                    Log::error("Error calling hook $hookType for $name: " . $e->getMessage() . PHP_EOL . $e->getTraceAsString());
+
+                    if (\LibreNMS\Config::get('plugins.show_errors')) {
+                        throw $e;
+                    }
 
                     Notifications::create("Plugin $name disabled", "$name caused an error and was disabled, please check with the plugin creator to fix the error. The error can be found in logs/librenms.log", 'plugins', 2);
                     Plugin::where('plugin_name', $name)->update(['plugin_active' => 0]);
@@ -174,7 +178,7 @@ class PluginManager
      */
     public function pluginEnabled(string $pluginName): bool
     {
-        return (bool) optional($this->getPlugin($pluginName))->plugin_active;
+        return (bool) $this->getPlugin($pluginName)?->plugin_active;
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/doc/Extensions/Plugin-System.md b/doc/Extensions/Plugin-System.md
index ec4b8586e0..b861be0a82 100644
--- a/doc/Extensions/Plugin-System.md
+++ b/doc/Extensions/Plugin-System.md
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ LibreNMS. An example plugin is included in the LibreNMS distribution.
 
 Plugins in version 2 need to be installed into app/Plugins
 
+>Note: Plugins are disabled when the have an error, to show errors instead set plugins.show_errors
+
 The structure of a plugin is follows:
 
 ```
@@ -78,20 +80,63 @@ class in 'app/Plugins/PluginName' and overload the hook methods.
 - settings.blade.php :: If you need your own settings and variables, you can have a look in the ExamplePlugin.
 
 
+### PHP Hooks customization
 
-If you want to change the behavior, you can customize the hooks methods. Just as an example, you could imagine that the device-overview.blade.php should only be displayed when the device is in maintanence mode. Of course the method is more for a permission concept but it gives you the idea.
+PHP code should run inside your hooks method and not your blade view.
+The built in hooks support authorize and data methods.
 
-```
-abstract class DeviceOverviewHook
+These methods are called with [Dependency Injection](https://laravel.com/docs/container#method-invocation-and-injection)
+Hooks with relevant database models will include them in these calls.
+Additionally, the settings argument may be included to inject the plugin settings into the method.
+
+#### Data
+
+You can overrid the data method to supply data to your view.  You should also do any processing here.
+You can do things like access the database or configuration settings and more.
+
+In the data method we are injecting settings here to count how many we have for display in the menu entry blade view.
+Note that you must specify a default value (`= []` here) for any arguments that don't exist on the parent method.
+
+```php
+class Menu extends MenuEntryHook
 {
-    ...
-    public function authorize(User $user, Device $device, array $settings): bool
+    public function data(array $settings = []): array
     {
-        return $device->isUnderMaintenance();
+        return [
+            'count' => count($settings),
+        ];
     }
-    ...
+}
 ```
 
+#### Authorize 
+
+By default hooks are always shown, but you may control when the user is authorized to view the hook content.
+
+As an example, you could imagine that the device-overview.blade.php should only be displayed when the
+device is in maintanence mode and the current user has the admin role. 
+
+```php
+class DeviceOverview extends DeviceOverviewHook
+{
+    public function authorize(User $user, Device $device): bool
+    {
+        return $user->can('admin') && $device->isUnderMaintenance();
+    }
+}
+```
+
+
+### Full plugin
+
+You may create a full plugin that can publish multiple routes, views, database migrations and more.
+Create a package according to the Laravel documentation you may call any of the supported hooks to tie into LibreNMS.
+
+https://laravel.com/docs/packages
+
+> This is untested, please come to discord and share any expriences and update this documentation!
+
+
 ## Version 1 Plugin System structure (legacy verion)
 
 Plugins need to be installed into html/plugins
diff --git a/misc/config_definitions.json b/misc/config_definitions.json
index 4947909205..fa8e7b48ea 100644
--- a/misc/config_definitions.json
+++ b/misc/config_definitions.json
@@ -4712,6 +4712,10 @@
         "plugin_dir": {
             "type": "directory"
         },
+        "plugins.show_errors": {
+            "type": "boolean",
+            "default": false
+        },
         "poller_modules.unix-agent": {
             "order": 420,
             "group": "poller",
diff --git a/resources/views/plugins/settings.blade.php b/resources/views/plugins/settings.blade.php
index 0b7a83b0b1..b2f895a568 100644
--- a/resources/views/plugins/settings.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/plugins/settings.blade.php
@@ -2,4 +2,6 @@
 
 @section('title', $title)
 
-@include($settings_view, $settings)
+@section('content')
+    @include($settings_view, $settings)
+@endsection