installers?
 

im have a quite large hack that runs quite a bit of queries and adds a bunch of templates in the installation....

do you think i should use an installation php file or use an XML?

Use Product Management, much easier than writing custom installers.

just work it into an xml product file.

It's the way to go...everyone's doing it.

but what if i already have a custom installer made?
THEN whats the better way?

Burn it and make a Product XML :)
Shouldn't be too hard
- Install using the Installer
- Assign Phrases/Templates/Settings to the Product
- Copy Query-Code to Product Install/Uninstall Code
- Export
Done.

and how exactly do i assign templates and stuff to the product?

oh, and will this allow me to have a php file in the admincp directory that allows me to edit the settings?

Go into debug mode, then create them into the Master Style, and specify the product upon creating them. You can add ACP options the same way.

If you already have the phrases/templates/settings in the DB you can easily assign them by issuing a Query (UPDATE table SET product='myproduct' WHERE ...)