What is the difference between Joomla components, modules, extensions and plugins?
Plugins
Plugins enable you to execute code in response to certain events, either Joomla core events or custom events that are triggered from your own code. This is a powerful way of extending the basic Joomla functionality.
Components
Components are the main functional units that display in your template, like the content management system, contact forms, Web Links and the like. They are usually displayed in the center of the main content area of a template (depending on the template).
Modules
A more lightweight and flexible extension used for page rendering is a module. Modules are used for small bits of the page that are generally less complex and able to be seen across different components. Sometimes modules are linked to a component such as the core latest news module.
Extensions
Components, languages, modules, plugins and templates collectively known as Extensions.
Quickstart tutorial for free.
Components
A component is a separate application. You can think of a component as something that has its own functionality, its own database and its own presentation.
So, if you install a component, you add an application to your website. Examples of components are
a forum
a newsletter
a community system
a photo gallery
You could think of all of these as being a separate application. Each of these would make perfectly sense as a stand-alone system.
A component will be shown in the main part of your website and only one component will be shown. A menu is then nothing more than a switch between different components. You can compare it a bit with your windows taskbar, where you see a tab for each open application.
Modules
Modules are extensions which present certain pieces of information on your site. It's a way of presenting information that is already present. This can add a new function to an application, which was already part of your website.
Think about
latest article modules
login module
a menu
Typically, you'll have a number of modules on each web page.
The difference between a component and a module is not always very clear. A module doesn't make sense as a standalone application, it will just present information or add a function to an existing application.
Take a newsletter for instance. A newsletter is a component. You can have a website which is used as a newsletter only. That makes perfectly sense. Although a newsletter component probably will have a subscription page integrated, you might want to add a subscription module on a sidebar on every page of your website. You can put this subscribe module anywhere on your site. You'll probably agree with me that a site with just a subscription module and no actual newsletter component would be rather ridiculous.
Plugins
They used to be called mambots in Joomla 1.0.x, but since Joomla 1.5.x they're called plugins. A plugin is a function which is performed on a part of Joomla before this part is shown. This part can be on content, on the editor, on the complete system, etc. This might seem a bit abstract, but you'll understand it with an example.
Let's take one of the plugins of Ulti Joomla as an example: Ulti Reflection. This is a plugin which can make a reflection of the images you use in your content articles. To use this you just have to put something like
inside your content. Before the content is shown to the user, the Ulti Reflection plugin will scan the content to find the {reflection} tag. If it finds the tag, it will replace the tag with the image and its reflection.
Be carefull not to put to many plugins one your website, because some of them can really slow down your site.
If the difference between the three types of extensions is still not completely clear, then I advice you to go to admin pages of your joomla installation and check the components menu, the module manager and the plugin manager. Joomla comes with a number of core components, modules and plugins. By checking what they're doing, the difference between the three types of building blocks should become clear. You can also check out the official Joomla extensions page. Browse through the extension categories and you'll be amazed about the extension possiblities you have for your site.
Modules and components are displayed on a page.
Plugins operate behind the scenes and can do a multitude of things, like replacing content with other content, perform searches, perform login/logout functions, or anything really tricky that you can imagine.
There can only ever be one component on a page. When you choose menu items, you are actually choosing the component that you wish a page to display. The variables for the component are stored once (in the database), so you can't have multiple instances of the component!
On the other hand, modules are added multiple times. You can have many modules on the one page. In fact, you could have 100 instances of the same module on the one page. The variables for a module are stored against each instance. (in the database).
This is why joomla templates have one place holder for a component, and many place holders for modules.
A module can be added to an individual page (menu item) , or seleceted pages, or all pages.
Remember that a menu item is indeed a component choice. Each menu item does store variables in the database, so it is possible to feed the component display details. E.g. what page id the content component is to display.
In the back end, components can have many backend settings and functions, and "do" many more things than a module.
Examples of a component are:
com_content (displays articles...)
a bulletin board
a forum
a sitemap
Examples of a module:
a countdown clock
top 10 most read content
a poll
Unless you understand the difference between a module and a component, you will find it very difficult to administer your Joomla installation.
Modules
Modules are usually small pieces of functionality designed to present information in your site. They can appear a number of times, on a number of pages in various positions. On the contrary components are a full blown application, usually quite complex and are to the main body if a page. Also each module can be viewed in various pages, and the position of each module can be easily changed. You are allowed to select the menu items where a module is displayed. A good example of the usage of this functionality is targeted advertising. If your site has various sections, you can create module for each section. Each module will contain a targeted advert for the section. Now instead of showing all the modules, all the time, you customise the visibility of the module such that each advert is displayed only in the relevant menu links. Typical examples of standard Joomla modules are : Main / User / Top and other menus, Latest News, Popular Articles, Polls, Login Form, Syndication Details etc.
Components
On the other hand, a Joomla component is typically more complex, with extensive functionality and capabilities. A component can only be displayed in the main area of a page, and can only be displayed in a single page (usually). Links to components are usually done by creating menu items. Components usually have a particular page or pages for their configuration.
Extensions
Joomla extensions extend the functionality of Joomla websites. Five types of extensions may be distinguished: components, modules, plugins, templates, and languages. Each of these extensions handles a specific function.
Comdev is a Joomla development services provider, which provides varirties of extensions like: JomOffers, JomDirectory, JomHoliday 3, JomEstate, JomEvents.
Source: http://comdevjoomla.blogspot.com/
Related
As a Joomla (novice) developer, I'm concerned about why we really need modules to create our own forms. I'm definitely not an authority on the subject when it comes to Joomla but here's my issue.
I understand (through hands-on discovery) that we can create forms using two ways (without additional custom modules).
By writing the form content straight in the index.php page, then checking for submit using PHP.
By inserting the HTML content for the form as a CustomHTML article using the admin back-end. Then have a separate PHP page to do the processing and return back to a specific landing page.
First I'm not sure if the above methods are considered sane in the joomla world but I do think they're workable.
If so, why do we need to run through rough seas trying to download and install form-builder plug-ins and write code that looks pretty absurd with so many files.
The first solution you mentioned is the worst that could be done. Editing the index.php should never be done. If an update for the template is bought out and you install it, it will override your changes.
The second point you mentioned is also a bad idea. There is no point in using separate PHP pages if you're using the Joomla CMS.
Stick to Joomla standards and create a custom module (not custom HTML module) either by coding it yourself or getting started with a Module Generator.
The whole point of using a CMS is to make life easier. A Joomla site is built of of Components, Modules and Plugins.
Components are like applications such as a Forum, e-commerce system etc. Modules are like widgets such as a twitter feed, shoutbox etc.
Plugins change the behavior of something.
why do we need to run through rough seas trying to download and
install form-builder plug-in?
Trying to download and install a form builder is not difficult at all. Simple go to the Joomla Extensions Directory, go the the necessary category, click on an extension that suits your needs, download and install it and voilà.
I'm investigating Adobe CQ5 and would like any advice on how to integrate its drag-and-drop UI to create a responsive website. It seems as if it works on a concept of fairly bland templates with components that can be dropped in pretty much anywhere, including things like "three-column control" - which would make designing a responsive grid structure very hard (as it would be hard to prevent users from dropping in a control that could ruin the layout).
Does anyone have any experience or advice on this? I'm really looking for deep technical details on the structure of templates vs components (paragraphs), and where/how to manage to the CSS.
CQ5 offers ways to control what can be done within a template, so thinking that components "can be dropped in pretty much anywhere" may be misleading. Page templates are designed and configured so that you control which components can be added to a certain area of a page. This allows you to only make those components available that will work with the template layout, excluding components that would wreck the layout. Then authors are only allowed to use things that will work. If they attempt to drag a component onto a paragraph (parsys) where that component has not been configured as available, the UI will not allow them to use it there. So CQ actually makes it easy to prevent users from dropping a control somewhere that would ruin the layout.
This is outlined a bit here:
http://dev.day.com/docs/en/cq/current/howto/components_develop.html#Adding%20a%20new%20component%20to%20the%20paragraph%20system%20%28design%20%20%20%20%20mode%29 which states that
"The components can be activated (or deactivated) to determine which
are offered to the author when editing a page."
When it comes to CSS and JavaScript, you can create a client library and then include the relevant client library on the page. Backend CQ functionality will take care of combining multiple CSS (or JavaScript) files into a single minified file to allow for a single HTTP request of an optimized file. This it outlined a bit here:
http://dev.day.com/docs/en/cq/current/developing/widgets.html#Including%20the%20Client-Sided%20Code%20in%20a%20Page as well as
http://dev.day.com/docs/en/cq/current/howto/taglib.html#%3Ccq:includeClientLib%3E
So you might develop several components that share a client library, then when any of the components is added to a paragraph the client library will be included on the page. You may also want a CSS library that applies to all the templates to give a common look and feel, yet allow components to add their own when they are used.
These guidelines for using templates and components outline how you provide control, yet flexibility:
http://dev.day.com/docs/en/cq/5-5/developing/developing_guidelines_bestpractices.html#Guidelines%20for%20Using%20Templates%20and%20Components
I'll document our successful WIP experience with RWD and CQ5
Assumptions:
A well documented style guide.
Our First Steps:
Modified existing column control component css to utilize twitter bootstrap grid css.
Create a base page property allowing two different classes on the grid container to be set and inherited by child pages. (container||container-fluid).
Leverage out-of-the-box components where ever possible.
All component widths inherit the width of their parent container allowing for components to be dropped into any location within a template.
Issues:
The out-of-the-box column control component can not be nested.
We are looking into building a custom column control component.
Takeaways: this is an evolutionary project and we are constantly iterating.
With the recent launch of AEM 6.0, they have an example website called as Geomatrixx Media. This website is responsive.
You can take this example as reference and start building on top of it.
I was wondering if page templates can be built instead of individual components in Teamsite 7? I've seen other cMS systems where it is just a page template that has lots of functionality built I and you can "switch" on and off elements that you want to display instead of having to drag components onto a page? Is this possible?
Old question, but since I just came across it:
Yes, TeamSite supports templates (.template) files which can be partial or full page templates. The default location is iwadmin/main/livesite/template.
I recommend downloading the developer guides from Autonomy's web site for detailed information.
Templates in teamsite/livesite is like a bag that can contain components. But in order for a functionality to be developed in teamsite/livesite we need to create components. certainly we can avoid dragging and dropping components in each page by creating templates and dropping components within it for once. Keep in mind templates are bound to layouts. for each type of layout we need to create a template. Please have a look at TS_7.3_SiteDeveloper_rev1, Chapter 5.
Yes, you can create templates instead of dragging components.
Since, TeamSite supports templates (.template) files which can be partial or full page templates and resides at location : iwadmin/main/livesite/template.
So, whenever you try to create a new page everytime the HTML code required for that page gets automatically added with the template and layouts you selected.
But, again this is not good since you can have any number of templates you need but this could create confusions at times when you try to create a new page since you will need to remember every template name and contents that you will need for a particular page so it's better to have small lists of templates and layouts since then we can say that there is reusability in our application/website which we are going to develop using Teamsite and Livesite.
Please vote the solution if its helpful.
Thanks!
I have a website that has related pages. They have links that point back and forth to one another but I have no integrated system, nor do I know what that would mean.
What is the minimum code that a group of web pages must have to be considered a Content Management System (CMS). Is it that all the settings are in the database and the pages are generated somehow? Is there some small snippet that all my pages could share that makes them a CMS, database or not?
Thanks. I was also hoping not to have to study a giant CMS to see what makes it a CMS . After maybe a basic understanding I would know what I was looking for.
edit: here's why I ask about code. Whenever I have looked at a CMS, and maybe they aren't all the same, I saw that to develop a module you always had to inherit from certain classes and had some necessary code. I didn't know if there was some magic model that I just don't get that all cms makers understand.
edit: perhaps my question is more about being extendable or pluggable. What would a minimum look like? Is it possible to show that here?
edit: how about this? Is something a CMS if it is not extendable and/or pluggable?
I think this is really impossible to say. We all manage content. The "system" is just whatever mechanism you use to do so(dragging and dropping in Explorer or committing content changes via a SQL query). To say there is a minimum amount of code needed really isn't indicative. What is indicative is how often you find yourself making mistakes and how easy it is for a given user of a given skill level and knowledge to execute the functions in the designed system. That tells you the quality/degree of what you have in place being worthy of being called a "CMS."
Simply put a CMS is an application that allows the user to publish and edit existing web content.
In response to the edit:
A "good" CMS allows of extensibility. By using inheritence you can extend the functionality of a CMS outside of the core components provided. That's the magic.
About Extensibility:
Depending on the language/framework you want to build your CMS with, you can load pages or controls(ASP.NET) using command built into the framework. Typically what is being done is a parent class/interface is being defined that forces an module that is to be developed to follow some given standards:
Public MustInherit Class CMSModule
'Here you will define properties and functions that need to be global to all modules being developed to extend your CMS.
public property ModuleName as string
End Class
public class PlugInFooCMSPage
inherits CMSModule
end class
Then it's just a matter of simply loading a module dynamically in whatever construct a given language/framework provides.
Ultimately, a CMS is a system that lets you manage content, so it needs an user interface that is dedicated to letting you easily create, edit and delete pages on your website.
However, it's fairly usual to expect from a CMS to provide a browser-based WYSIWYG page editor, file uploading, image resizing, url rewriting, page categories and tags, user accounts (editor, moderator, administrator), and some kind of templae system.
Without dragging you into a theoretical explanation of what a CMS is and what it's not, perhaps some tutorials on the building methodology of a CMS will help you better understand.
http://css-tricks.com/php-for-beginners-building-your-first-simple-cms/
http://www.intranetjournal.com/php-cms/
A Content Management System is a System that Manages Content. :)
So if you got many pages that share the same layout, you can create a system that stores the content into a database and when a page is requested, it gets that content, merges it with a template that contains the page header, menu, etc.. and outputs the result.
The basis idea is that you don't want to copy HTML pages, and have to edit hundreds of them when you want to change your layout.
Such a system can be very complex, featuring wysiwyg editors, toolbars, version control, multiple user publishing and much more, but it could be as simple as a single page behind a standard loging, that contains only an input field for the title and a textarea in which you type the html content.
I'm just starting to evaluate joomla CMS as a tool to build out my personal site. I'd like to manage multiple sites/domains with one copy of joomla on one host. so I'll own mysite.com and myothersite.com, which will both point to the same host/joomla code. If I do this I need to be able to set which domain/site the content I add shows up on. For some sites the content will be on both for others it will be on only one. What would be ideal it to have some kind of filtering mechanism so I don't have to manually set where the content goes.
What would be ideal is for me to set tags on the content and each site can specify which taged content to show.
My last requirement is that I be able to have different pages on each site.
Is this possible or am I asking too much from a "free" CMS?
Thanks all
I don't know if there's a component that achieves what you're describing here. I use a multi-language component in some of my sites that shows translations, but it doesn't "suppress" articles that doesn't have references to a translation: it just says "No translations to this article". I know you're not asking for translations methods, but I think the Joomfish way of selecting content based in a chosen language would be what you wanted, but not based in languages, just domains.
The only component I know it would be able to suppress articles based in pre defined parameters (in its case the language), is the Joomfish's "Table Localization Plugin", but you need to be a Joomfish silver member paying $60 to Joomfish's developers.
You could write a component(see here for plugin documentation), that analyzing the domain, would suppress articles that shouldn't appear in that specific domain. But I think it's going yo be a lot of work. You would learn a lot of Joomla's architecture, though.
How Joomla displays its content (output) is controlled entirely by parameters. So if you can control what parameters are loading, you can create multiple displays per host
However, that may be overkill in this case. You can just easily hack your template. Just make it load a different menu for siteA and siteB. (The host is set in $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'])
The menu on siteA could have a tagging component item, set to display articles tagged siteA.com. The siteB will have the same for its domain.
While there are extensions that will do what you describe (http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/core-enhancements/multiple-sites), Joomla is really designed for one site at a time. I've done setups where I use the same codebase for Joomla and manage it with version control, but I always end up launching multiple sites with individual databases.
However, I don't know of any CMS that inherently allows you to share articles across instances while keeping the data centralized. You may be looking at an extension (or your own customization) regardless of which platform you pick.
We had a similar problem with needing to share content across multiple Joomla! sites so we developed this extension: http://extensions.joomla.org/extension/simple-sharing
It is not very robust in terms of what it can share but it does let you share Articles across multiple sites and choose which sites and categories those articles get published into. I hope it works for you.
Thanks!