diff --git a/contrib/gs-plugin-example.c b/contrib/gs-plugin-example.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 7a366f04ba514cf56744ac53246aa006742b9eea..0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
--- a/contrib/gs-plugin-example.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,58 +0,0 @@
-/* -*- Mode: C; tab-width: 8; indent-tabs-mode: t; c-basic-offset: 8 -*-
- * vi:set noexpandtab tabstop=8 shiftwidth=8:
- *
- * Copyright (C) 2016 Richard Hughes <richard@hughsie.com>
- *
- * Licensed under the GNU General Public License Version 2
- *
- * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
- * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
- * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
- * (at your option) any later version.
- *
- * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
- * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
- * GNU General Public License for more details.
- *
- * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
- * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
- * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
- */
-
-#include <glib.h>
-#include <gnome-software.h>
-
-/*
- * Compile and install with:
- *
- * |[
- * gcc -shared -o libgs_plugin_example.so gs-plugin-example.c -fPIC \
- *     $(pkg-config --libs --cflags gnome-software) \
- *     -DI_KNOW_THE_GNOME_SOFTWARE_API_IS_SUBJECT_TO_CHANGE && \
- * cp libgs_plugin_example.so $(pkg-config gnome-software --variable=plugindir)
- * ]|
- */
-
-void
-gs_plugin_initialize (GsPlugin *plugin)
-{
-	gs_plugin_add_rule (plugin, GS_PLUGIN_RULE_RUN_BEFORE, "appstream");
-}
-
-gboolean
-gs_plugin_add_search (GsPlugin *plugin,
-		      gchar **values,
-		      GsAppList *list,
-		      GCancellable *cancellable,
-		      GError **error)
-{
-	for (gsize i = 0; values[i] != NULL; i++) {
-		if (g_strcmp0 (values[i], "fotoshop") == 0) {
-			g_autoptr(GsApp) app = gs_app_new ("gimp.desktop");
-			gs_app_add_quirk (app, GS_APP_QUIRK_IS_WILDCARD);
-			gs_app_list_add (list, app);
-		}
-	}
-	return TRUE;
-}
diff --git a/doc/api/gnome-software-docs.xml b/doc/api/gnome-software-docs.xml
index fbff82664d73131e89623f46f400430c11f3f6f2..6f5b77b75f4c59bdc68bb849a4a159d03f8fcba5 100644
--- a/doc/api/gnome-software-docs.xml
+++ b/doc/api/gnome-software-docs.xml
@@ -65,9 +65,12 @@
         </para>
 
         <para>
-          The plugin only needs to define the vfuncs that are required, and the
+          The plugin needs to create a class derived from <type>GsPlugin</type>,
+          and define the vfuncs that it needs. The
           plugin name is taken automatically from the suffix of the
-          <filename>.so</filename> file.
+          <filename>.so</filename> file. The type of the plugin is exposed to
+          gnome-software using <function>gs_plugin_query_type()</function>, which
+          must be exported from the module.
         </para>
         <example>
           <title>A sample plugin</title>
@@ -79,9 +82,19 @@
 #include &lt;glib.h&gt;
 #include &lt;gnome-software.h&gt;
 
-void
-gs_plugin_initialize (GsPlugin *plugin)
+struct _GsPluginSample {
+  GsPlugin parent;
+
+  /* private data here */
+};
+
+G_DEFINE_TYPE (GsPluginSample, gs_plugin_sample, GS_TYPE_PLUGIN)
+
+static void
+gs_plugin_sample_init (GsPluginSample *self)
 {
+  GsPlugin *plugin = GS_PLUGIN (self);
+
   gs_plugin_add_rule (plugin, GS_PLUGIN_RULE_RUN_BEFORE, "appstream");
 }
 
@@ -101,6 +114,17 @@ gs_plugin_add_search (GsPlugin *plugin,
   }
   return TRUE;
 }
+
+static void
+gs_plugin_sample_class_init (GsPluginSampleClass *klass)
+{
+}
+
+GType
+gs_plugin_query_type (void)
+{
+  return GS_TYPE_PLUGIN_SAMPLE;
+}
           </programlisting>
         </example>
 
@@ -149,14 +173,16 @@ cp libgs_plugin_example.so $(pkg-config gnome-software --variable=plugindir)
         <example>
           <title>Self disabling on other distributions</title>
           <programlisting>
-void
-gs_plugin_initialize (GsPlugin *plugin)
+static void
+gs_plugin_sample_init (GsPluginSample *self)
 {
+  GsPlugin *plugin = GS_PLUGIN (self);
+
   if (!gs_plugin_check_distro_id (plugin, "ubuntu")) {
     gs_plugin_set_enabled (plugin, FALSE);
     return;
   }
-  /* allocate private data etc. */
+  /* set up private data etc. */
 }
           </programlisting>
         </example>
@@ -177,11 +203,11 @@ gs_plugin_initialize (GsPlugin *plugin)
         <example>
           <title>Example showing a custom installed application</title>
           <programlisting>
-#include &lt;gnome-software.h&gt;
-
-void
-gs_plugin_initialize (GsPlugin *plugin)
+static void
+gs_plugin_sample_init (GsPluginSample *self)
 {
+  GsPlugin *plugin = GS_PLUGIN (self);
+
   gs_plugin_add_rule (plugin, GS_PLUGIN_RULE_RUN_BEFORE, "icons");
 }