HD-Gfonts plugin for Joomla 3.5

Insert Google Fonts into your Joomla website to replace the standard system fonts with a range of over 700 Search Engine Friendly and Cross Browser compatible fonts.

what is this? | what are google fonts? | after installing | will it work on all templates? | how do i add new google fonts?

What is this?

HD-Gfonts is a simple plugin that allows you to replace the standard fonts on your website with a wider range of fonts from the Google Font Directory. There are over 700 fonts (including bold and italic variations) to choose from.

What are Google Fonts?

The Google font directory is a collection of fonts hosted on Google servers and available for use on your website under an open source license.

• Unlike the CSS font-face system they work on all browsers (even IE6).
• Unlike flash embedded systems the fonts are completely search engine friendly.
• And unlike other Web Font depositories they are free of charge and carry no usage restrictions.

You can learn more about the Google Fonts API here.

What to do after installing?

Install the zip file via the administration install manager as per any other plugin. Once it has installed go to the plugin manager and select HD-Gfonts. Enable the plugin, then choose the font from the drop down selection box.

The font will be applied to a particular class (by default this is H1). You can change the class in the class box. To apply the same font to other classes simply separate them with a comma (eg. "H1, H2, H3").

You can apply additional CSS rules to the class by entering them into the additional CSS box (eg. "color: purple"). To apply more than one CSS rule seperate them with a semi-colon (eg. "color: purple; font-size: 20px").

You can enable up to four Google Fonts, however, it is recommended to keep the number of fonts enabled to a minimum to reduce page load speed.

Will it work on all templates?

Admittedly I haven't tested it on every template but the simple answer is... Yes.

As the CSS added is inline the font should take precedent over any prior style sheets.

If you do run into any difficulties try switching the "Stress Importance" parameter to YES. This adds the "!important" rule to the CSS class, helping it overrule any similar instruction.

How often is this updated?

The first version of HD-Gfonts was released in the infancy of the Google Web Fonts project, back when there was less than 10 fonts available (although they were still welcomed with a fanfare). Currently the font count stands at over 700 and is still growing at a rapid pace. The expanding number of fonts made updating the plugin difficult for us to to keep on top of. Furthermore the filesize of the plugin was beginning to become unmanageable. We wanted the extension to remain free but we also wanted it to list ALL the fonts and we didn't have the time to afford both. 

This version of the plugin has been rewritten from scratch, all the "weight" of the extension is in the XML file (the admin side), with the PHP file (the one that actually performs on the live site) remarkably small. We've also streamlined our update process so the work needed to add new fonts is minimal. We aim to update the plugin once a month but are more than happy to perform adhoc requests. We'll also soon release details on how to update the plugin yourself.