Joomla!® 24-Hour Trainer

26

Adding Extensions to Joomla!

So far, we've taken a close look at Joomla's core features and functionality. In the process, you've learned to create articles, link them to menus, and enhance the functioning of the website with modules and components. Think of these as the absolute basic features that come with Joomla.

However, what if you want to do something in addition to what you've learned so far? For example, consider calendars, photo galleries, weather display, rotating quotes, slide shows — wouldn't it be great to have some of these features, too?

As you know, Joomla has a thriving community surrounding it. Many of these community members build extensions to add new functionality to Joomla, including all of the items listed above and many, many more. They can then distribute these third-party extensions to the Joomla community, either free or for a small fee. These extensions plug right into Joomla, for which they're designed to work. There's no need for additional logins or visiting a bunch of different websites to configure these extensions.

Joomla views its third-party extension collection as one of its greatest strengths, and one of the most compelling reasons to adopt Joomla. If you don't find an extension you like, you can always hire someone to build an extension for you, or to modify an existing extension so it does exactly what you need it to do.

But which extension is “the best?” Where do you find extensions, and is it worth paying for them? This lesson covers ...