Joomla! is an extensible framework, which means, developers can add to it. In fact there is a very healthy ecosystem of both paid and free third-party extensions. This chapter will take you through installation, configuration, and use of some selected extensions. Most of these are commercially available extensions. The choice of inclusion of some commercial extensions is based on the differences in support models and their usefulness to a successful Joomla! site.
Installing using eXtplorer
eXtplorer is a nice add-on for using the functions of FTP from within your Joomla! site. This feature-rich, free extension is easy to install and use. eXtplorer includes the ability to: ff Browse directories and files ff Edit, copy, move, and delete files ff Search, upload, and download files ff Create new files and directories ff Create and extract archives with files and directories ff Changing file permissions (also known as chmod)
Changing Permission
Changing permissions Lots of issues in Joomla! are caused by setting the incorrect permissions on files and folders. The rule is files should be set to 644 and folders set to 755. Looking at the screen on the right in eXtplorer, you'll see a column labeled Perms. Let's set permissions for our newly created file from the last step.
1. Right-click the file you just created. Here's mine.
2. The right-click on the file called newfile brings up this menu. I have pointed the arrow at the control and at the permissions. You see the permissions for the file are 664. It should be set for 644.
3. Choose Change (chmod) Rights (Folder/Files(s)).
4. In this case, we want to remove the write (w) permissions from the Group.
5. Uncheck the (w) in the preceding group and click Save.
6. Now you will see the newfile file has the correct permissions.
Using and configuring content uploader extension
Joomla! allows you to manage your content from an easy-to-use interface and present your content to your visitors in the form of your website. Managing your content is easy when you have a small number of pages, or articles you wish to present. However, when you face dozens or hundreds of pieces of information, that must be manually inserted - then you have a large task on your hands. Today people manage vast quantities of data using spreadsheets, using this free extension you can upload and create articles automatically. This will work with Excel and OpenOffice and other formats. As an example, say you have 15 rows of spreadsheet data; with this tool, you can create 15 articles - automatically
Installing using eXtplorer
eXtplorer is a nice add-on for using the functions of FTP from within your Joomla! site. This feature-rich, free extension is easy to install and use. eXtplorer includes the ability to: ff Browse directories and files ff Edit, copy, move, and delete files ff Search, upload, and download files ff Create new files and directories ff Create and extract archives with files and directories ff Changing file permissions (also known as chmod)
Changing Permission
Changing permissions Lots of issues in Joomla! are caused by setting the incorrect permissions on files and folders. The rule is files should be set to 644 and folders set to 755. Looking at the screen on the right in eXtplorer, you'll see a column labeled Perms. Let's set permissions for our newly created file from the last step.
1. Right-click the file you just created. Here's mine.
2. The right-click on the file called newfile brings up this menu. I have pointed the arrow at the control and at the permissions. You see the permissions for the file are 664. It should be set for 644.
3. Choose Change (chmod) Rights (Folder/Files(s)).
4. In this case, we want to remove the write (w) permissions from the Group.
5. Uncheck the (w) in the preceding group and click Save.
6. Now you will see the newfile file has the correct permissions.
Using and configuring content uploader extension
Joomla! allows you to manage your content from an easy-to-use interface and present your content to your visitors in the form of your website. Managing your content is easy when you have a small number of pages, or articles you wish to present. However, when you face dozens or hundreds of pieces of information, that must be manually inserted - then you have a large task on your hands. Today people manage vast quantities of data using spreadsheets, using this free extension you can upload and create articles automatically. This will work with Excel and OpenOffice and other formats. As an example, say you have 15 rows of spreadsheet data; with this tool, you can create 15 articles - automatically
