My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

My delve into Joomla was a long tread in the deep end, but very enjoyable. Joomla itself is a
standalone, extremely stable/secure dynamic web content system that allows developers to
work with all of the core features that a site needs.

One of the greatest aspects of Joomla is that it can be heavily modified with a plethora of user
built "Extensions" to personalise and expand your sites capability. There are literally thousands
upon thousands out there, but I prefer to use extensions that are add free, stable, look good,
clean and most importantly, free.

This list details all of my top finds, and provides a quick description of each with direct links to
the Joomla extension site so that future updates can always be found there.

JFusion

Allows dual login between Joomla sites or more importantly for my needs, phpbb3. Make sure
the instructions are closely adhered to and that the administrator account in both applications
only use lower case characters for the username/password - and that both are exactly the same
between apps.

A new version comes out on the 13 Apr that improves dual logins for phpbb3. At the moment,
hacks are required to ensure the user log's in from Joomla, activating the session within
phpbb3. I simply diverted the login/out links from phpbb3 to the main Joomla site.

Component(s): jfusion

Plugin(s): Authentication - jfusion, User - Jfusion

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

Module(s): mod_jfusion_activity, mod_jfusion_login

JoomlaComment

This extension allows every article within a selected range of sections/categories to have a
comments section at the bottom of them. The style of the comment editior can be altered from
the component menu. IE does not allow full functionality of some Java script, none the less,
users can still post comments and use editor options easily.

Another good feature; Captcha for guest users.

Some article rating extensions that use Ajax script are not compatible with this extension. The
tell tail sign is that buttons do not action in anyway while using IE.

You need to have the plugin enabled in order for this to work on your site. I am not aware of the
full functionality of the clean cache plugin, but it is enabled on my sites without any issues.

Component(s): comment

Plugin(s): !JoomlaComment, JoomlaComment CleanCache

Module(s): None

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

AlphaRegistration

Adds reCaptcha to your new user registration. Nice and fancy, simple to integrate. You can
change the appearance and settings from the component menu. The plugin must be enabled for
the reCaptcha to load and show the layouts (which add a nice touch to the registration process -
nice big arrows and simple intros for each registration step)

Component(s): AlphaRegistration

Plugin(s): System - AlphaRegistration

Module(s): None

BCA RSS Syndicator

This RSS Feed extension does not contain any frontend advertising, and allows for any number
of RSS feeds to specific sections/categories (or the whole site). BCA stands for breast cancer
awareness, and the component has a small picture (like most others) on the admin back-end -
nothing to fret about.

The feeds are displayed via the module. Put them in the "top" position to be shown at the top
right of the page (this is where it will default to when created from the component menu)

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

Component(s): BCA-RSS-Syndicator

Plugin(s): None

Module(s): mod_bca-rss-syndicator

Content Revision

A must have if your site gathers content from multiple users. This extension will track all
revisions made to the articles and allow seeming-less simple backups/restoration. Keep in mind
that every article save will be logged, and for *large* sites this may be resource demanding.

Note: make sure you enable the plugin after the install. This is the part that physically tracks
saves from the front end, while the component is for maintenance

Component(s): contentrevision

Plugin(s): Content Revision

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

Module(s): None

DOCman

File storage made easy. One of the best features is that file can be "updated" on the front end
(by either the creator or approved member - configurable) and all links still point to the same file.
Settings can be changed so that only registered users can download files, while all guests can
view.

Files can be stored into categories, each category can have separate permissions.

Search DOCman plugin allows the Joomla search tool to search documents as well.

Component(s): docman

Plugin(s): Search DOCman

Module(s): None

eXtplorer

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

This is an absolute must have as it allows simple FTP file browsing from the Joomla menu. Very
handy.

Component(s): eXtplorer

Plugin(s): None

Module(s): None

JCE

Another must have. JCE allows extends the front/backend editor menu with a plethora of great
tools. Of particular notice is the advanced hyperlinks which allow for internal page hooks, and
the image manager which can be configured to allow contributors to have their own upload
folder. I found the later extremely useful as uploaded images are isolated from other users. I
hope a future update allows some sort of orphan image detector..

You can set groups and permissions for each editor button with an easy to use layout editor.

Component(s): JCE

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

Plugin(s): Editor - JCE 1.5.2, JCE Utilities

Module(s): None

JoomlaPack

This is probably the best back tool out there. It fully backs up your site and allows very simple
restoring or site replication onto another server.

Use this documentation for complete guides, and Kickstart to unpack your backup files.

Quick tips: Upload your backup and kickstart.php to the install directory. Run kickstart.php
Follow the prompts, careful attention to database and admin password settings. Delete install
folder when finished. Click on the finish link in kickstart.php

Component(s): JoomlaPack

Plugin(s): None

Module(s): None

jPFChat

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

AJAX live chat module. It has a small add but is of not impeding in any way. Once installed,
create a menu link to the jPF listing.

Component(s): None

Plugin(s): None

Module(s): None

Jumi

This is most likely the best html/java script inserting tool I have found. Allows simple integration
and you can insert your modules via custom locations with {loadposition moduleposition} Be
sure to keep the custom positions all lower case. I have used this for some small 3rd party stat
counters and features.

Use the Jumi module to insert custom script, and the component to manage all items.

Component(s): Jumi

Plugin(s): System - Jumi Router, Jumi

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

Module(s): mod_jumi

ProjectFork

Looks promising, although I have not really used it much. It allows project organisation and
task/activity management. Members must have access to a project to be a part of it, and have
the appropriate access to edit task/comments etc..

Managed from the component on the backend. Note the front end requires a lot of horizontal
space, vertical menus can't be used in conjunction with this

Component(s): ProjectFork

Plugin(s): None

Module(s): None

Xmap

Dynamically creates a .xml file for listing with search engines, handy.

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

Component(s): Xmap

Plugin(s): None

Module(s): None

AllVideos

This allows extremely simple linking to youtube videos (and many others). To center align
youtube videos, simply highlight the {_youtube}XXXXXXX{_/youtube} (without the _) and hit the
center align;

{youtube}-56N5sMKdZo{/youtube}

Component(s): None

Plugin(s): AllVideos (by JoomlaWorks)

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My Joomla Extensions

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Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

Module(s): None

Tabs & Slides

Another extension with loads of potential, for example;

{tab=first tab}
some text
here
{tab=other tab}
{loadposition vid_createanarticle}
{/tabs}

{slide=My first slide in Joomla!}

some text
here
{/slide}
{slide=Joomla! is the best}
some more text here
{/slide}

Component(s): None

Plugin(s): Tabs & Slides (in content items)

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

Module(s): None

Content Templator

Users can select from a drop down box within the editor to select a pre-made template to work
with. Any number of templates can be made up

Note: the plugin must be enabled to display the drop-down box in the editor.

Component(s): Content Templater

Plugin(s): Editor Button - Content Templater

Module(s): None

Camp26 Special AJAX RSS

Inserts any RSS feed straight to the modules position, and displays items in a flashy scrolling
appearance. Good for spicing up the front page with some dynamic content

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

Component(s): None

Plugin(s): None

Module(s): mod_camp26_special_ajaxrss

db8 Best Rated Content

List highly voted articles in a module for display anywhere. Great for use in conjunction with
rating plugins.

Component(s): None

Plugin(s): None

Module(s): mod_db8bestratedcontent

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

Joomulus

The module name is very different to what this actually does - a 3D interactive tag cloud. Very
goochy

Component(s): None

Plugin(s): None

Module(s): mod_joomulus

phpBB3 Latest Topics

This module will connect to your phpbb3 database and retrieve the latest post information. It
can be displayed anywhere and configured to suit.

Component(s): None

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

Plugin(s): None

Module(s): mod_phpbb3_latest_topics

Simple Paypal

Incorporates a paypal donation module anywhere on your page.

Component(s): None

Plugin(s): None

Module(s): mod_simplepaypal

Extra Vote

This plugin allows you every article to be voted upon, and you can also insert additional votes
within content, for example {extravote 1}

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My Joomla Extensions

Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

Note: I am yet to find a way to diable voting on particular articles or sections. I'd like such a
feature on the homepage. Other extensions do offer this, but conflict with JoomlaComment and
IE.

Component(s): None

Plugin(s): None

Module(s): Content - ExtraVote

Name

Intro

Component(s): None

Plugin(s): None

Module(s): None

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Written by Mitchy
Tuesday, 21 April 2009 12:23 -

{loadposition mod_leavecomment}

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