How to install an extension in Joomla (1.7)

Joomla is very good. It takes only the original features to make complete websites with a professional look.

But after some time the need to include something that is not possible with the original modules arises.

So you need to install an extension in Joomla. You can search and find various extensions for Joomla in http://extensions.joomla.org/ or http://developer.Joomla.org, amongst other sites.

There are five main extension types in Joomla: Components, Modules, Plugins, Templates, and Languages​​. Each type deals with specific functionality (see http://docs.joomla.org/Extension_types_(general_definitions)).

Other possible extensions are File and Library. Libraries are code packages that provide functionality to the Joomla framework or its extensions.





Components are content elements or mini-applications, usually to include in the center of the main content area of a template.

A component usually has two parts: the part of the site, and the part of the administrator. A component forms the major part of a Joomla page, because every component is guided by a menu item and every menu item runs a component.

Some of the core functionality of Joomla is based on components (eg: Banners, Contact, News Feeds, Polls, ...).

The modules are lightweight extensions that extend the capabilities of Joomla with new functionality.


Modules are small content items that can be displayed anywhere allowed by the template. They are usually the boxes arranged around a component (eg, the login module). The page bottom (footer) is a module. Modules are assigned per menu item, so you can decide which menu item should appear as a module.

Some modules are connected to components such as the module "latest news", which is connected to the component com_content and shows links to the most recent content items.

Some modules that originally come with Joomla are: Main Menu, Top menu, Template Chooser, Polls, Newsflash, ...

Plugins are advanced extensions. Essentially they are event handlers. Plugins are registered in Joomla to deal with some event triggered when using the Joomla site. When an event is triggered, Joomla sees if it has a plugin to handle this event and, if so, executes it. In the early days of Joomla, plugins were known as mambots.

A template is the basic design of a Joomla website. It allows you to change the look & feel of a website. Templates have certain fields where components (only one field) and modules (several fields) are shown.


Languages ​​are basic extensions that are available as an extension package or as a core package, which basically consists of files of key/value pairs providing the translation of Joomla static text in another language. These language packages affect the main site (front end) and the administrator site (back end).

Modules, plugins, templates and language packages are easily installed in the administrator site (backend), going to the menu Site -> Control Panel -> Extension Manager.

There, it is possible to select the package file (.zip) and click in “Upload & Install”, or opt by one of the alternative solutions.

After installing the extension, you need to configure it so that it appears in the correct place in the website.