Top 10 free Joomla Extentions

This post was published long ago, when I was a student and an amateur blogger. The links might be outdated and content may not be useful anymore. Please read this content keeping its age in mind.

I have used hundreds of free Joomla extensions for various commercial projects. While there are many great Joomla components and modules out there, only a handfull deserve a special place at the top! Following is a list of GPL extensions. Don’t beat me up on this list too bad, as they are simply reccomended tools that I have found invalueble to the vast range of Joomla projects I have developed, and are sure to be incorporated into any future sites I contribute to.

• JCE – The Best Editor for Joomla

An advanced, configurable WYSIWYG editor for Joomla! based on Moxiecode’s TinyMCE.

Includes advanced Image/Media, File and Link handling, plugin support, and an Administration interface for editor configuration.

Read More ||    Live Demo ||    Download Latest Version

• Jumi – Custom Code in Joomla

Jumi is the set of custom code extensions for Joomla! 1.0.x and 1.5.x in their native modes.

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p style=”text-align: justify;”>With Jumi
*You can include php, html, javascript scripts into the modules position, articles, category or section descriptions, or into your own custom made component pages,
*You can even include static html or txt pages into your pages without using wrapper component,
*You have full access to Joomla! variables, functions, constants, etc. in your php scripts. Jumi is ideal solution for
*Including banners or text ads into your Joomla! site: no matter if your own or affiliates ones,
*Easy and fast inclusion of smart javascript, php, html and dhtml scripts into your Joomla! content,
*Fast development of not only small and simple customized modules and plugin solutions based on php, javascript and html or dhtml scripts like flash shows, ads and picture presentations, forms inclusion, etc. but for the development of more sophisticated solutions including database data processing.

Read More ||    Live Demo ||    Download Latest Version

• Breezing Forms – The ultimate WYSIWYG Form Creator

It’s 3-in-1: For non-programmers, designers and technicians!

Create powerful and ergonomic forms in minutes. This is clever forming!Includes many nice features like summary pages, “pay to download”, easy to add calendar, effects and more. See videos! Offers 3 form editors – suits everybody’s taste. All three modes share the same power but each has its own audience:

• QuickMode:
  A form editor for the non-programmer and people who want their forms to be done very quickly but nice looking.

• EasyMode:
  A form editor for layout centric form creation. Very powerful but simple in usage. Ideal for designers.

• ClassicMode:
  A wysiwyg editor for creating forms. For technicians and fans of FacileForms.

Important features:

• Summary item: Create summary pages quickly (including calculations if you want)
• Integrator – Use your forms to integrate with other extensions
• User Editable Forms
• 18 and counting form items (from simple input to captcha items)
• Multipage forms
• Built-in PayPal and Direct Payment (Sofortüberweisung)
• Built-in Captcha system
• Works perfectly with Jollom: http://www.crosstec.de/jollom-spam-protection.html
• Built-in calendar item
• Many pre-defined validations and actions
• Custom scripting
• Unlimited reply-to fields
• Reply-to files: attach files from your server to reply-to addresses
• Reply-to for select lists
• Reply-to addresses as sender addresses
• Custom mail subjects
• File attachments from upload fields for admin and user mails
• Multiple recipients for the admin notification mails (themeable)
• User data is shown in the email notifications
• Database storage of all submitted data
• CSV & XML Creation: Export submissions data into CSV or XML
• Full Joomfish 2.0 Support for the classic mode
• Documentation and tutorial videos
• Frequently updated
• Fast & effective support (free 4 all + paid tickets for urgent cases)

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• Expose Flash Gallery – The best Joomla Photo and Video gallery

Exposé is a Flash-based tool which allows you to create eye-catching slide shows of your pictures on the web. A list of the features supported by exposé includes the following:

• direct linking to a photo or album
• a slide show can be automatically started
• a background/foreground image can be loaded
• more interface elements can be now customized
• smoother Interface
• iframe has been removed, full php integration
• easier to adjust the size using only the expose.html.php
• improved background color adjustments
• check_system.php script added for troublshooting
• supports SEF URL’s (being re-worked currently, limited functionality)
• upload/add background image through Joomla backend

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• joomlaXplorer – Joomla File and FTP Manager
  

joomlaXplorer is a File- and FTP – Manager. It allows you to edit files, delete, copy, rename, archive and unpack files/directories directly on your server. You can – Browse Directories & Files – Edit, Copy, Move and Delete files – Search, Upload and Downloading files – Create new files and directories – Change file permissions (chmod) and much more

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• Community Builder – Make Joomla Social
  

Community Builder suite (CB) extends the Joomla! user management system. Key features: extra fields in profile, enhanced registration workflows, user lists, connection paths between users, admin defined tabs and user profiles, image upload, front-end workflow management, integration with other components, like PMS, Newsletter, Forum, Galleries. CB has many CB plugins from CB Team and from third parties, including Profile Gallery, Profile Blog, Profile Guestbook, Profile Wall, Paid Subscriptions Membership management, Donations management, Shop, Captcha and many more. Over 180 extensions for CB are listed here. CB is compatible with all Joomla! 1.5 native, Joomla! 1.0.x native and Mambo 4.5.2-4.6.5. CB allows multi-criteria user searches, full field controls of core fields, ajax email and username checkers, image and integer fields, custom validations and many more features. CB 1.2.1 Stable is open-source and free.

Read More ||    Live Demo ||    Download Latest Version

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• Kunena – Best Joomla Forum

Kunena, translated from Swahili meaning “to speak,” arose out of a fork of the former Fireboard forum with a new team and some of the previous developers, including several Joomla core developers.

Power doesn’t mean complexity, and Kunena shows how incredibly easy it is manage your communication. Seasoned software developers combine high performance and a top-notch architecture to bring you the best integrated forum. Working close with the Joomla team and having an impressive list of features in development, the future is bright for Kunena.

Read More ||    Live Demo ||    Download Latest Version

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• JoomlaPack – Backup your Joomla

JoomlaPack is an open-source backup component for the Joomla! CMS, quite a bit different than its competition. Its mission is simple: create a site backup that can be restored on any Joomla!-capable server. Its possibilities: endless It creates a full backup of your site in a single archive. The archive contains all the files, a database snapshot and an installer derived from the standard Joomla! installer. The backup and restore process is AJAX powered to avoid server timeouts, even with huge sites. Alternatively, you can make a backup of only your database. If you want a reliable, easy to use, open source backup solution for your Joomla! site, try it out.

Features:
-AJAX powered backup (site and database or database only)
–able to exclude specific folders
–able to exclude specific database tables
-AJAX powered restore
-“KickStart” restore: restore without unpacking backup
-Unattended backup mode
-Move your site between hosts
and much much more!

Read More ||    Live Demo ||    Download Latest Version

• ARTIO JoomSEF – Search Engine Friendly Joomla

This component will rewrite your Joomla! URLs not to be only Search Engine Friendly, but also to be human easily understandable. Provides support for multilingual sites using JoomFish. Enables full customization of wide-range of meta tags for any URL in your site! Works with both with Apache and IIS. May be easily updated on-line. Allows you to configure your 404 page.

Native support for following 3rd party components (build-in or using add-on modules): AdsManager, AlphaContent, Contacts XTD, Community Builder, Datso Gallery, DocMan, EZ Realty, Fireboard forum, Glossary, iJoomla Components, JE Comparison Charts, JEvents, Jomres, Joomlaboard, JoomFish, Joomla Tags, Jomres (Joomla Residents), Portfol, Seyret Video Component, SMF Bridge, SOBI2, Marketplace, Mosets Hot Property, Mosets Tree, ReMOSitory, RSGallery2, VirtueMart, Zoom Media Gallery. … and more are available in JoomSEF Extensions category on this site.

Read More ||    Live Demo ||    Download Latest Version

• Joomap – Dynamic Joomla Sitemap Generator

Joomap is a sitemap component for Joomla that shows the normal Menu Structure, Content Categories, Sections and Virtuemart Categories in a hierarchical tree or a Google Sitemaps list. A plugin system and translation support make it easy to expand the range of supported content and localization!

Read More ||    Live Demo ||    Download Latest Version

Conclusion 🙂

While these free Joomla components, modules and mambots are not perfect, I have found them to be highly notable additions to the Joomla GPL toolbox. Please note that I have absolutely no affiliation with any of these extensions or their developers other than I use them regularly in commercial applications. Simply stated…they work well, so I use them!  I hope you will find them usefull as well !

Let me know if I have missed out any 🙂