Joomla.org currently hosts over 7,000 third-party extensions. A few of these are "duplicates." That's, if you want a blogging system, and visit the blog category and appear, you will find fifteen potential pieces of code. How can you go about picking the right extension?
Narrow your alternatives with the advanced search.
Either visit extensions.joomla.org and click on the Advanced Search link, or go right to the URL above.
Category: If you know the course you are searching for, click the drop-down box and choose it. Blogging software, for example, is located underneath the main category of News Production. If you don't know where your category is, click on "All Categories" on the left navigation links and all sorts of types of extensions come up. Do a control F on your browser (for Firefox and Chrome a minimum of) after which search for "blog" or "content" or "tag" or whatever you want to locate. Try and locate your category that way. The category field is the best method to narrow your search.
Extension name: Unless you know the specific extension you're looking for, leave this blank.
Description: Should you couldn't look for a category, this is an excellent place to include a few keywords.
License: If you don't understand what you want, just leave this field blank.
Type: Select commercial (is expensive but usually has support), non-commercial (free, but typically does not have support), or leave seo blank.
Compatibility: This is probably the 2nd most significant way to narrow your research. Select the appropriate version of Joomla. If you're using Joomla 1.5, click 1.5 Native and steer clear of Legacy.
Extension includes: Components are mini-applications and when installed, appear underneath the component menu. Components can typically be used all over a webpage. Modules are usually designated for one block on the screen. Plugins change the way the whole site works, and therefore are usually transparent to you once they're installed. If you do not care, leave all of these boxes blank.
Filenames: If you don't know the specific extension you are looking for, leave this blank.
Installs As: Unless you know the specific extension you're looking for, leave this blank.
"Research" each potential extension.
Look through your Advanced Search Results. Browse the brief descriptions and see if the product might meet your needs. Underneath the product's name, consider the quantity of stars and also the number of votes the product has. Also look at the number of reviews it's.
An item with zero votes and zero reviews probably means it is a brand new product. You can just give up on that product if you don't like to use new technology. Alternatively, you are able to look for other extensions made from the same company and browse those reviews. That technique, a minimum of, will give you an idea of the company's customer care abilities.
Examine the number of reviews the product has. If your product has under ten reviews, read the reviews carefully. Not everybody does it, but some people write code and then have their friends and families write reviews for them. Chances are very good, however, when a product has a lot more than ten approximately reviews, you'll find some "real" comments.
Consider the average star rating, but it's more important to read the actual reviews themselves. Once in a while someone will use a product, do not have the necessary technical knowledge or just have plain misfortune, and write a poor review. How did the organization react to that review?
Is there a demo or a "lite" version you can test free of charge?
Once you have narrowed your choices to a couple, visit the companies' websites and find out if they have demos available or lite versions from the extension you are able to install and try out. Usually, if your commercial product doesn't have a demo or a lite version, they'll at least have a video of someone using the product.
You are able to improve your odds of getting a good product, but you can't guarantee it.
I purchased a blogging extension recently. I am a technical kind of person and I've written little extensions myself. Basically, I understand what I'm doing. But that specific bit of blog software and I didn't get on. I kept finding bug after bug and incompatibilities with other extensions. Customer care kind of answered my questions, but never actually solved, or helped to solve, the problems I had using their software. I gave up on that software and chalked the fifty bucks as much as experience. What boggles me, however, is that this particular extension has a four and a half star rating and about a hundred reviews, almost all of that are positive.
That blogging software was an exception, however. With every other extension I've used, the extension has been precisely what I was expecting after reading the reviews.
Joomla.org currently hosts over seven thousand third-party extensions. Some of these are "duplicates." That's, if you prefer a blogging system, and visit the blog category and appear, you will find fifteen potential bits of code. How do you go about choosing the right extension?
Narrow your alternatives using the advanced search.
Either go to extensions.joomla.org and click on the Advanced Search link, or go right to the URL above.
Category: Knowing the course you are searching for, click on the drop-down box and select it. Blogging software, for example, is situated underneath the main group of News Production. If you don't know where your category is, click "All Categories" on the left navigation links and all the categories of extensions show up. Do a control F on your browser (for Firefox and Chrome at least) and then look for "blog" or "content" or "tag" or whatever you want to locate. Try and locate your category that way. The course field is the greatest way to narrow your research.
Extension name: If you don't know the specific extension you are looking for, leave this blank.
Description: Should you couldn't look for a category, this is an excellent place to put in a few keywords.
License: If you don't know what you want, just leave seo blank.
Type: Select commercial (costs money truly has support), non-commercial (free, but typically doesn't have support), or leave this field blank.
Compatibility: This might be the 2nd most significant way to narrow your research. Select the appropriate version of Joomla. If you are using Joomla 1.5, click 1.5 Native and avoid Legacy.
Extension includes: Components are mini-applications and when installed, show up under the component menu. Components can typically be used throughout a page. Modules are usually designated for one block on the screen. Plugins change how the whole site works, and therefore are usually transparent to you once they're installed. If you do not care, leave many of these boxes blank.
Filenames: Unless you know the specific extension you're looking for, leave this blank.
Installs As: If you don't be aware of specific extension you are looking for, leave this blank.
"Research" each potential extension.
Examine your Advanced Search engine results. Browse the brief descriptions and determine when the product might meet your needs. Underneath the product's name, look at the quantity of stars and also the quantity of votes the merchandise has. Also look at the number of reviews it has.
A product with zero votes and zero reviews probably means it is a completely new product. You can just give up that product if you do not like to use new technology. Alternatively, you can search for other extensions produced from exactly the same company and read those reviews. That technique, a minimum of, will give you an idea of the business's customer support abilities.
Examine the amount of looks at the product has. If your product has less than ten reviews, browse the reviews carefully. Not everybody will it, but some people write code and then have their friends write reviews for them. Chances are pretty good, however, that if an item has a lot more than ten or so reviews, you'll find some "real" comments.
Consider the average star rating, but it's more important to see the actual reviews themselves. Every once in a while someone uses a product, do not have the necessary technical knowledge or just have plain bad luck, and write a bad review. How did the company react to that review?
What is the demo or perhaps a "lite" version you can test free of charge?
Once you have narrowed your choices to a few, go to the companies' websites and see should they have demos available or lite versions from the extension you are able to install and try out. Usually, if your commercial product doesn't have a demo or a lite version, they'll a minimum of have a video of someone using the product.
You are able to enhance your odds of getting a good product, however, you can't guarantee it.
I purchased a blogging extension recently. I'm a technical sort of person and i have written little extensions myself. Basically, I understand what I'm doing. But that particular bit of blog software and I did not get along. I kept finding bug after bug and incompatibilities with other extensions. Customer care sort of answered my questions, but never actually solved, or helped to solve, the issues I had using their software. I gave up on that software and chalked the fifty bucks up to experience. What boggles me, however, is that this particular extension has a four . 5 star rating and about a hundred reviews, the majority of that are positive.
That blogging software was an exception, however. With every other extension I've used, the extension continues to be precisely what I was expecting after reading the reviews.
