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Learning Joomla! 3 Extension Development
Learning Joomla! 3 Extension Development

Learning Joomla! 3 Extension Development: If you have ideas for additional Joomla 3! features, this book will allow you to realize them. It's a complete practical guide to building and extending plugins, modules, and components. Ideal for professional developers and enthusiasts. , Third Edition

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Learning Joomla! 3 Extension Development

Chapter 1. Before you Start

This book guides you through creating Joomla!® 3 extensions, including plugins, modules, and components. You will end up with a fully functioning package of extensions that you either can use on your own site or share with others. It is assumed you will have some basic PHP, HTML, and CSS knowledge, but you don't need any prior Joomla! programming experience.

We will start out developing simple plugins and modules, and then progress to more complex backend and frontend component development. Then we will do a bit of white hat hacking, so you will learn about common security vulnerabilities and what you can do to avoid them. After that, we will look at how you can prepare your extensions for distribution and updates, as well as how you can extend your components with various plugins and modules.

In this chapter, you will learn the difference between a plugin, a module, and a component, as well as seeing the other extension types available. You will get some advice as to the tools you will need to develop extensions, and other things you should consider such as licensing and business models. We are also going to take a look at how you could upgrade a Joomla! 2.5 extension to make it Joomla! 3 compatible. You will learn the following things in this chapter:

  • The various types of Joomla! extensions

  • What's new in Joomla! 3

  • Why you should use GPL license

  • What business model you should adopt

  • Tools you need to develop Joomla! extensions

  • Joomla! coding standards

  • Why you should use Legacy MVC

  • How to upgrade a Joomla! 2.5 component to Joomla! 3

  • Good and bad ways to fork

Extension types and their uses


There are many ways to extend the functionality of Joomla! using add-on software called extensions. Extensions can be installed on your Joomla! site and they add new functionality, in some cases they change the way your website behaves by overriding the core code.

The three main extension types we are going to cover in this book are plugins, modules, and components, and we will also create a package extension.

Plugins

Plugins are code that run in the background and are triggered by events. When you log onto your Joomla! website, an authentication plugin checks your login credentials and decides whether you should have access to the site or not. Plugins can be used to transform content, such as replacing a tag in an article with a Google map, or cloaking an email address and protecting it from spammers. Plugins can be very powerful, you can also use plugins to override core code and change how Joomla! works.

The following screenshots demonstrate how a plugin replaces an address in an article with an actual Google map.

As you can see, the address has been transformed into a Google map showing where the Sydney Opera House is located.

Modules

Modules are used to display content at a particular place on your website. Your site template defines various module positions that determine where these modules are displayed. The menu of your website is a module, and if you have a small login form, that would also be a module. You might even have a social media module to display your Facebook or Twitter news feed. There are both frontend and backend modules, and often modules work in conjunction with components to display information on your website. Some developers use modules as a workaround to bring library code in, for example, RocketTheme's RokNavMenu, but that is not really what they should be used for. The following screenshot is of a login module:

Components

Components are the apps of the Joomla! world and the most complex extension type. Components are displayed in the main content area of the site, which is often the largest area in the template. Most menu items load a page with a component and there is only one component displayed on the page at a time. Most components have database tables to store or retrieve information. Components generally have a frontend and a backend just like Joomla!, although there are some tools that focus on the backend with nothing displayed on the frontend of the site, for example, Akeeba Admin Tools. You can enhance components using modules and plugins; for instance, you may have a search plugin that allows you to search for the content stored in your component, or a module that displays the latest items for the component. The following screenshot shows one of the core components called com_content; you will see this screen when you are creating an article from the front end of your site:

Languages

Joomla! is used worldwide by many people whose first language is not English. Many websites need to be displayed in the local language of the audience and some even need to support multiple languages. A language pack includes the files necessary to translate the text used on the site. This translates predefined language strings used by core Joomla! or its extensions; it does not translate the article text, on the fly, into another language. We are not going to cover language packs in this book, but we will see how we can translate your extension into multiple languages. The following screenshot shows the control panel menu when the Dutch (NL) language is installed:

Templates

We don't want all our websites to look the same, so Joomla! has a powerful template engine that allows you to install additional templates to change the look and feel of the site. Since the content is separated from the presentation, it is easy to give your site a facelift by simply changing the template, assuming the new template has the same module position names. Every Joomla! website uses at least two templates, a site template for the frontend, and an admin template for the backend. It is also possible to have different pages on the same website using different templates. We are not going to cover templates in this book, as there are plenty of books already dedicated to this subject.

The following screenshot shows the default Joomla! 3 template protostar:

The next screenshot shows exactly the same content with a different template applied, in this case, Beez3, and you can see that this looks very different than the Protostar template.

Libraries

Reusable code libraries, which are a collection of classes, can now be installed in the libraries folder. This is a better way of creating reusable code than putting it in a plugin, as this way the code is only used when needed rather than running in the background waiting for an event trigger. Libraries extension type was introduced in Joomla! 1.6. We are not going to cover the library extension in this book.

Packages

Joomla! allows you to bundle related extensions together into a package, so that you can install multiple extensions in one go. It allows you to install your component and any associated plugins and modules all in one go, rather than the user having to install each one individually.

Left arrow icon Right arrow icon

Key benefits

  • Clear steps to create your own plugins, modules, and components for Joomla 3
  • Guides you through extending your components by allowing them to interact with modules and plugins
  • Introduces you to packaging your extensions for distribution to other Joomla users
  • Enables you to secure your extensions and avoid common vulnerabilities by gaining some white hat hacking experience

Description

Joomla 3 is the first of the major open source content management systems that was meant to be mobile friendly by default. Joomla uses object-oriented principles, is database agnostic, and has the best mix of functionality, extensibility, and user friendliness. Add to that the fact that Joomla is completely community driven, and you have a winning combination that is available to everyone, and is the perfect platform to build your own custom applications. "Learning Joomla! 3 Extension Development" is an integrated series of practical, hands-on tutorials that guide you through building and extending Joomla plugins, modules, and components. With Joomla having been downloaded well over 35 million times, there is a huge market for Joomla extensions, so you could potentially earn some extra cash in your spare time using your newly acquired Joomla extension development skills. We will start with developing simple plugins and modules, and then progress to more complex backend and frontend component development. Then we will try our hand at ethical hacking, so you will learn about common security vulnerabilities and what you can do to avoid them. After that we will look at how you can prepare your extensions for distribution and updates, as well as how you can extend your components with various plugins and modules. Finally, you will end up with a fully functioning package of extensions that you can use on your own site or share with others. If you want to build your own custom applications in Joomla, then "Learning Joomla! 3 Extension Development" will teach you everything you need to know in a practical, hands-on manner.

Who is this book for?

"Learning Joomla! 3 Extension Development" is for developers who want to create their own Joomla extensions. It is assumed you will have some basic PHP, HTML, and CSS knowledge, but you don't need any prior Joomla programming experience. This book will also be useful to people who just want to make minor customizations to existing Joomla extensions and build on the work of others in the open source spirit.

What you will learn

  • Extend Joomla using plugins
  • Develop both frontend and backend modules
  • Build a Joomla component that looks and behaves like the core components, to reduce the learning curve for your users
  • Discover common security vulnerabilities and what you can do to avoid them
  • Prepare your extensions for distribution
  • Manage updates and set up an update server
  • Integrate third party extensions in your component

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Publication date : Jul 26, 2013
Length: 458 pages
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Table of Contents

10 Chapters
Before you Start Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Getting Started with Plugin Development Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Getting Started with Module Development Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Getting Started with Component Development Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Backend Component Development – Part 1 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Backend Component Development – Part 2 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Frontend Component Development Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Security – Avoiding Common Vulnerabilities Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Packing Everything Together Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Extending your Component with Plugins and Modules Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

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4 star 39.1%
3 star 4.3%
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1 star 4.3%
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herman van cauwelaert Aug 23, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Clearly explained without getting lost in details.Who to start from scratch and make your own component work.A good understanding of Object Oriented programming is a must for as far as I see things.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Dan Oct 02, 2015
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Good book to start with joomla developing
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Ammar Arwany Jan 30, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I have been reading this book for the past 2 weeks, reviewing every page of it, well I must say, it covers the most important parts of the development process for joomla extensions in all aspects, that help every newly joint developer or even an expert to get his job well done, and even to get your extension listed on the JED without any issues (there are really good writings on that).Joomla as a CMS is wiedly used in creating the websites, and is the choice number 1 for most of the webmasters who want to create a website on the go, and it got that because of the core functionalties that provide security, and creativity and user-friendly and fast responding experience for both of the user and the webmaster, in this book, you get a really nice tips and information about how to make the life of the user and the webmaster easy and make the working with your component a funny thing, and get it recommended from everyone, This book has just got me on the right road, and shown me the way to the successfull development.Just to mention, that the author is a very kind person, and he replies to the emails in an amazing short time, I even wonder how he got time to write back tot he users (and not even few words, but long answers of course with helpful tips and informations).I thank you Tim Plummer for your nice book! just keep it up and I am burning to see your next book!
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Lüttmen Mar 01, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
für den Freund meiner Tochter, Informatiker das Buch schlecht hin.Ich kann leider weniger dazu mitteilen. Als Geschenk für die Compifreaksgenau richtig, Hinweis: Sprache in Englisch.
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Amazon Customer Sep 17, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Si lo que quieres es programar con los criterios de Joomla, entonces este es tu libro.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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