Community Magazine

You probably already know Joomla has built-in search functionality, which meets modern requirements - the smart search component. But what if your users need a little more? What if you want third party extensions to be searchable as well? In this series of articles, we will look at how to create a smart search plugin for a third-party Joomla component

Nine months ago, I created my first Extension for Joomla!. Now, I’ve made seven simple Extensions with the help of ChatGPT. In this article, I’ll share what I learned through this process in the form of tips so that you can easily create your own Extension.

Let's face it, building a website in 2024 on one hand is easier and easier than it has ever been ... especially with solutions like Joomla 5... but on the other, once you have built your beautiful website, it is harder than ever to get noticed, to get quality traffic and to convert visitors into customers... 

The Future is bright for Joomla 5 (and beyond)…

EPISODE V: T3, Extendible TM, GK, YT & Plazart Frameworks

If you’ve been building websites for some time you may just reach for your favourite CMS without thinking much about why you use it. However you might need to give some justification to a client, especially one with some knowledge of website building tools, as to why Joomla 5 is the best CMS for their new site.

Joomla 5 was released back in October 2023 and after some 8 months of being out in the world, it is definitely the best version of Joomla and probably any CMS that is out there… (I can hear the pros/cons arguments already) 

Stability and reliability are keywords when it comes to any software release. Only hindsight shows whether such was achieved. Yet Joomla 5.0 hit these two requirements and many more, nailing that many have said is the best release of a major to date. Yes, we need to celebrate the features, but often all the hard work can be eclipsed by the issues that follow. 

I discovered Joomla in 2008 when a web developer recommended I use it to replace a static HTML website I'd built for my not-for-profit dog training club. "Joomla's super easy to use," he enthused, adding, "after the initial 'WHAT THE!?' shock."

As Joomla enthusiasts, we focus on the design, the user experience and the functionalities offered by our favourite cms, so as to build the perfect site for our visitors, but we also have to think about the administration interface, AKA The Backend.

I became aware of the changes in extension development in Joomla when I started looking at migrating websites from Joomla 3 to Joomla 4. A sticking point for me was that some extensions hadn't been made Joomla 4 compatible. Some took a long time to be updated and some didn’t ever work in Joomla 4. It was a big jump and reading this book I can now see much more of what that was about.