diff --git a/node/server.js b/node/server.js
index c0bf49b1e..bf2b1030e 100644
--- a/node/server.js
+++ b/node/server.js
@@ -103,49 +103,6 @@ async.waterfall([
     app.listen(settings.port, settings.ip);
     console.log("Server is listening at " + settings.ip + ":" + settings.port);
 
-
-
-
-    //init socket.io and redirect all requests to the MessageHandler
-    var io = socketio.listen(app);
-    
-    //this is only a workaround to ensure it works with all browers behind a proxy
-    //we should remove this when the new socket.io version is more stable
-    io.set('transports', ['xhr-polling']);
-    
-    var socketIOLogger = log4js.getLogger("socket.io");
-    io.set('logger', {
-      debug: function (str)
-      {
-        socketIOLogger.debug.apply(socketIOLogger, arguments);
-      }, 
-      info: function (str)
-      {
-        socketIOLogger.info.apply(socketIOLogger, arguments);
-      },
-      warn: function (str)
-      {
-        socketIOLogger.warn.apply(socketIOLogger, arguments);
-      },
-      error: function (str)
-      {
-        socketIOLogger.error.apply(socketIOLogger, arguments);
-      },
-    });
-    
-    //minify socket.io javascript
-    if(settings.minify)
-      io.enable('browser client minification');
-    
-    var padMessageHandler = require("./handler/PadMessageHandler");
-    var timesliderMessageHandler = require("./handler/TimesliderMessageHandler");
-    
-    //Initalize the Socket.IO Router
-    socketIORouter = require("./handler/SocketIORouter");
-    socketIORouter.setSocketIO(io);
-    socketIORouter.addComponent("pad", padMessageHandler);
-    socketIORouter.addComponent("timeslider", timesliderMessageHandler);
-    
     callback(null);  
   }
 ]);
diff --git a/node/socketio.js b/node/socketio.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e6a4f95c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/node/socketio.js
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+var settings = require('./utils/Settings');
+var socketio = require('socket.io');
+var socketIORouter = require("./handler/SocketIORouter");
+var log4js = require('log4js');
+var hooks = require("./pluginfw/hooks");
+
+var padMessageHandler = require("./handler/PadMessageHandler");
+var timesliderMessageHandler = require("./handler/TimesliderMessageHandler");
+
+
+exports.expressCreateServer = function (hook_name, args, cb) {
+  //init socket.io and redirect all requests to the MessageHandler
+  var io = socketio.listen(args.app);
+
+  //this is only a workaround to ensure it works with all browers behind a proxy
+  //we should remove this when the new socket.io version is more stable
+  io.set('transports', ['xhr-polling']);
+
+  var socketIOLogger = log4js.getLogger("socket.io");
+  io.set('logger', {
+    debug: function (str)
+    {
+      socketIOLogger.debug.apply(socketIOLogger, arguments);
+    }, 
+    info: function (str)
+    {
+      socketIOLogger.info.apply(socketIOLogger, arguments);
+    },
+    warn: function (str)
+    {
+      socketIOLogger.warn.apply(socketIOLogger, arguments);
+    },
+    error: function (str)
+    {
+      socketIOLogger.error.apply(socketIOLogger, arguments);
+    },
+  });
+
+  //minify socket.io javascript
+  if(settings.minify)
+    io.enable('browser client minification');
+
+  //Initalize the Socket.IO Router
+  socketIORouter.setSocketIO(io);
+  socketIORouter.addComponent("pad", padMessageHandler);
+  socketIORouter.addComponent("timeslider", timesliderMessageHandler);
+
+  hooks.callAll("socketio", {"app": args.app, "io": io});
+}
diff --git a/pluginomatic.json b/pluginomatic.json
index bb2e0473b..04b61c313 100644
--- a/pluginomatic.json
+++ b/pluginomatic.json
@@ -8,7 +8,8 @@
     { "name": "webaccess", "hooks": { "expressConfigure": "../webaccess:expressConfigure" } },
     { "name": "apicalls", "hooks": { "expressCreateServer": "../apicalls:expressCreateServer" } },
     { "name": "importexport", "hooks": { "expressCreateServer": "../importexport:expressCreateServer" } },
-    { "name": "errorhandling", "hooks": { "expressCreateServer": "../errorhandling:expressCreateServer" } }
+    { "name": "errorhandling", "hooks": { "expressCreateServer": "../errorhandling:expressCreateServer" } },
+    { "name": "socketio", "hooks": { "expressCreateServer": "../socketio:expressCreateServer" } }
 
   ]
 }