Rosstamicah New Media Design Blog
The Joomla CMS is a free, open-source content management system used by millions of designers, developers, and web administrators worldwide. The system currently has almost 5,000 extensions available in it's Extensions Directory (http://extensions.joomla.org/), many of which are released under the GPL (non-commercial, also known as free) license. While a Joomla core install has many options and parameters available out of the box; functionality such as site backups, advanced optimization tools for search engines, and file/content editors aren't included. Working with Joomla for the past two years, I've created this list of five extensions that are essential for almost every Joomla website.
1. Akeeba Backup (formerly JoomlaPack)
One of the most important extensions for any website is a backup system. Akeeba Backup (formerly known as JoomlaPack) provides an easy to use solution to backup your Joomla website. The component creates a full installable backup of a Joomla site, as well as offering options to backup just the mysql database, files, and directory exclusion. The developers also created a custom file format (.jpa for Joomla Pack Archive) to increase compression and backup speed. The .jpa format allows easy installs using the Kickstart system, as well as options to fine tune backup details and backup scheduling. AkeebaBackup is a free (non-commercial) extension.
2. JCE Editor WYSIWYG Editor
Editing web content is much easier to do with a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, which allows the web administrator to style text and graphic content with an easy to use and familiar interface. Much like the toolbar seen in Dreamweaver and MS Word, the JCE Content Editor is hands down the best available WYSIWYG for Joomla (sorry, tiny MCE!). JCE includes advanced image, media, file and link management, as well as Joomla plugin support, and an administration console for editor configuration. The JCE Content Editor is a free (non-commerical) extension.
3. SEO Canonicalisation Plugin
While website canonicalisation is not the easiest word to say, the concept is simple. Search engines see http://yourwebsite.com/somepage.html and http://www.yourwebsite.com/somepage.html as two different pages, when in fact they are the same. This means that if a user can browse your site with and without the 'www' part of the URL, the search engines see your site as having double the content that it really does. The fix is easy, usually done via the .htaccess server file by the web administrator, but for Joomla it's even easier with the SEO canonicalisation plugin. Simply install the plugin, test your correct domain (you can pick to redirect with or without the 'www'), and you're set. Users will only be able to browse to one version of your url by way of the plugin forcing redirection. You can test this plugin out on this website by removing the 'www.' from the url and hitting enter. The SEO Canonicalisation Plugin is free (non-commercial) extension.Warning: If this extension is misconfigured it may prevent access to your site. Make sure you choose the "Check Settings" option to set your correct domain name before publishing the extension.
4. NinjaXplorer File Manager
File management is essential for any web administrator, allowing uploads, downloads, code editing, and more. The NinjaXplorer component replaces the web administrator's FTP program with a easy to use GUI from the Joomla backend. This saves hours of time uploading files through an additional FTP file management program, and also allows for rich code editing on all files from within the CMS. A must have for your Joomla site. Note: NinjaXplorer is a 1.5 fork of the JoomlaXplorer component by NinjaForge, which was not updated with the switch to Joomla 1.5. The NinjaXplorer component is a free (non-commercial) extension.
5. Xmap Sitemap Generator
The Xmap plugin is a sitemap generator for Joomla based on the Joomap component. It creates a map of your site using the structure of your menus which can be submitted to Google Webmaster Tools for site link tracking. The plugin offers both xml and html sitemaps, menu item exclusion, and plugins for many popular Joomla components including VirtueMart, SOBI2, K2, MyBlog and more. The Xmap plugin is a free (non-commerical) extension.