Modules, Components and Plugins

Make your website truly dynamic by installing extensions to turn it into an online shop, community building site or forum. This short guide provides a general overview, explaining the differences between modules, components and plugins, how to install them, how to enable them and also lists some of the best free extensions available.

Creating a basic Joomla site | Improving Appearance | Categories & Blog Layouts | Access Control Levels | Installing Extensions

Installing Extensions

Modules, components and plugins are all extensions that expand the core capabilities of Joomla. There are various modules, components and plugins included within the default Joomla setup but many more are available to download from the Joomla Extension Directory or from commercial sites such as RSjoomla, JoomlaBamboo or Yootheme. They are available compressed in ZIP, TAR or RAR formats and there is no need to decompress the extensions as the Joomla installer does this for you.

From the control panel go to Extensions > Install/Uninstall. Click on the browse button to locate the zipped file from your computer then click on upload to install.

When it has completed an “install successful” message will appear.

Modules

Modules are self contained applications that can easily be added to various parts of your site. They range from simple logo displays and menus to incredibly dynamic functions such as log-in areas, video galleries and RSS feeds. You can choose to display modules on one particular page or throughout the whole site. The actual position of the modules depends on the template you are using but they can be displayed virtually anywhere.

Go to Extensions > Module Manager. This lists all the modules currently used on your site. To use a new module click on the New button and select one of the 20 pre-installed modules. They will then be added to the Module Manager list.

If you have installed a new module via the Extension Manager the module should already be displayed in the Module Manager list. Only modules that are enabled, will work on your site.

To disable a module simply click on the green tick icon to turn it into a red cross.

To enable it back, simply click on the red cross icon to turn it back into a green tick.

Click on the Module’s name to edit the settings.

The Title is for your reference only and can be changed to whatever you want (although it is best to keep “show title” set to “No”).

The position is the point on your template where the module will be displayed. Module positions vary (depending on the template you use) but are always situated around the main content space (usually including “left”, “right”, “top”, “breadcrumb” and “footer”). Either choose the position from the dropdown menu or (if unavailable) type it directly into the box.

For a quick way to view the module positions available on a live site, add ?tp=1 after the URL of the Joomla site.

The order stipulates the sequence in which your module will appear (from top to bottom) if more than one shares the same module position.

Finally you should assign the module to the pages you wish them to appear on. Either set this to All or select the individual pages from the list (use CTRL and click to select more than one). Don’t forget: only articles assigned to a menu item can be viewed. So if you can’t find the page you want to add the module to, double-check that a menu item has been created.

Any additional parameters (these vary depending on the type of module you are using) will be displayed on the right hand side.

Once finished click on Save (in the top right corner) to update the changes.

Placing Modules within Articles

Sometimes you may want to place a module within an article rather than in a position set outside of the content box. To do this insert the following code at the appropriate place within your article.

Replacing “x" with the new module position title of your choice. Then, via the module manager, type the new module position title into the dropdown menu box and then save.
This will display your module within the article in the place of

Components

Components are powerful applications that extend Joomla's core capability. Unlike modules they are not restricted to a certain area of a page. They sometimes require a whole page to themselves but could also function on the administrator side only, being entirely from the front end. There isn’t a component manager as is there is with modules and plugins but to disable/enable certain components go to Extensions > Install Uninstall then click on the Components tab.

Click on the icon in the enabled column to enable/disable that component.
For example if you had no need for the core components (Banner, Contacts, News Feeds, Polls & Web Links) but wanted the Search component to remain, simply disable the unwanted components and they will be removed from the drop down Components menu in the admin panel.

Here are a few of the best free components available…

JoomlaPack allows you to clone your entire website and database and download as a zip file for safe storage.

Virtuemart allows you to set up your own online shop, accept payments and invoice clients for purchases they have made.

Rubberdoc allows various types of files to be uploaded into a document management system so users can download at will.

Community Builder allows you to build community based sites so that users can login and contribute to the site.

Kunena allows you to embed a whole forum into your site, enabling users to start discussions and add to threads.

Plugins

Compared to modules and components, plugins are fairly invisible. Once installed and enabled they can change a particular setting or behaviour. The plugin that you are probably already familiar with is TinyMCE, the WYSIWYG editor that you use to edit and display the contents of your articles.

To access the plugin manager go to Extensions > Plugin Manager.

To disable/enable particular plugins simply click on the icon in the enabled column.

Here are a few of the best free plugins available…

JCE Editor provides an alternative to TinyMCE, allowing you greater control over editing your content.

KC Kufon uses javascript to embed fonts on your site to create headings that aren’t restricted to the usual system
fonts.

Youtube Embed allows you to embed youtube videos directly into your articles by just including the URL.

Passwort makes any page containing a particular line of code password protected.