What are Joomla Extensions?

If you are new to Joomla or don’t really have any experience with building websites, don’t fret. One of the main benefits to Joomla is that it is meant to be used easily and used by everyone. Joomla’s rich CMS platform is far-reaching in depth and richness, but even if you’re creating a site and need specific features that it doesn’t have, the Joomla extensions are designed to fill in the gap.

To get up to par, Joomla is a content management system that allows its users to convert photos, simple text, or HTML coding to Joomla templates. If those terms seem to be above your head or you’re one of those “busy” types who just wants to hop on and load an image to Joomla or PSD to Joomla, this can be done in a snap. Or you can call upon a service provider such as Developer4Lease to do easy converting html to Joomla from an existing site. Joomla has abundant templates, too and some people want convert a whole site to Joomla template or convert WordPress to Joomla. You have full and easy access to these templates via layouts and their tab controls.

So what exactly is a Joomla extension?

For those of you who do use Joomla and want to do more than the regular installed features allow you to, the Joomla extensions are the solution. There are five types of Joomla extensions. They include:

 Components: The most complicated extension that is seen by mini-apps in two parts; through an administrator and part of a site. Whenever a page or image to Joomla comes up, the component renders the body of the page. In the simplest of terms, components are menu-driven.

 Plug-ins: Advanced Joomla extensions that handle events.

 Templates: This describes the main design of the Joomla website and is the extension that allows you to change the look of the site. You will see modules and components on a template. They are customizable and flexible. Templates determine the “style” of a website. You can even use a whole PSD to Joomla template or image to Joomla template instead of enhancing it directly. This is something that can be done by a web developer such as Developer4Lease.

 Modules: Rendering pages flexibly in Joomla requires a module extension, which is then linked to Joomla components to display new content or new images. Joomla modules look like boxes – like the “search” or “login” module. However, they don’t require html to Joomla to work.

 Languages: A very simple extension that can either be used as a core part or as an extension. Language and font info can also be used for pdf or PSD to Joomla conversions.

By using Joomla extensions, you are able to attract traffic to your article and will maintain complete control doing it. Basically, an extension is nothing more than an extra feature or group of features that can be added to your website. In fact, because Joomla is so popular, there is a huge selection of extensions like FrontPage Slideshow, Maps, Media shops and toolbar editors that really jumpstart your website. If you ever wonder how sites like Yahoo and CNET.COM are able to market so well, well now you know.

How do I install an extension on Joomla?

Each module or extension to Joomla will have easy-to-read, and easy-to-understand step-by-step instruction on how to perform installs. Most of the installs can be uploaded by literally a simple point and click, and should only take seconds to install.