Chapter 15. Extension Manager

Being able to extend a content management system is no longer a perk—it’s a requirement. These add-ons in Joomla are called extensions. In Chapter 2, we discussed that there are five different types of extensions: components, modules, plug-ins, templates, and languages. Other chapters have discussed the basics of installing extensions in Joomla. This chapter will take you much more in depth and explain other ways of installing, as well as uninstalling, extensions.

If you’re looking for tips or information on choosing extensions, see Appendix B.

Installing Extensions

The install tab in Extension Manager gives Administrators and Super Administrators the ability to install extensions. Extensions come archived in a single file that can be downloaded from JoomlaCode (at http://www.joomlacode.org, the code repository for Joomla) or a developer’s website.

Before beginning, we need to make sure that everything is in order. Navigate to Help→System Info. Click the Directory Permissions tab. All of the directories should have a status of Writable. If any of directories are not writable, you should fix them before attempting to install any extensions.

As seen in Figure 15-1, there are three methods to installing extensions.

Extensions Manager: Install

Figure 15-1. Extensions Manager: Install

Upload Package File

This is by far the easiest and most widely used method of installing extensions. ...

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