Joomla has the power and the capability to be the best content management system. Being continuously revamped and working as an open source platform gives it some hands-down advantages. Not only is Joomla easy to use but it is extremely versatile. The extensions or components serve as the building blocks in Joomla. There are so many kinds of components available for this open source platform that using a couple or more of them can immensely enhance the functionality of the website.
6 Joomla Components That Cannot Be Missed
1. K2:
One of the primary features that any website needs to take care of is content. K2 is a powerful content extension for Joomla using which you can configure your page title, content body and more. Installing K2 into Joomla will help you get rich content forms having additional fields for videos, article images, podcasts, attachment and image galleries. K2 also offer hassle-free image management that allows you to forget all about Photoshop. Other attractive feature of K2 are improving the comments section, tagging, front-end editing along with easy-to-use access control settings that are specially made for content-rich websites. K2 also boasts of powerful templating and sub-templating that helps make your below-average Joomla site into an above-average content management platform.
2. VirtueMart
VirtueMart is an extension that has become synonymous with Joomla today. If you are developing an e-commerce store on Joomla, it is almost necessary to install VirtueMart. There are several advantages of working along with Joomla MVC framework such as template overwriting, implementation of other Joomla third-party plugins for payment, coupon, shipment, custom product fields, calculation rules etc. When it comes to categories, developers can nest categories using the VirtueMart component. Using Meta tags that help in SEO is also one of the foremost features of the component. There are several other customizable features in the component that specially caters to products, shoppergroups, shoppers, inventory and stock, prices, real multi-currency etc.
3. Akeeba Backup
A developer that doesn’t have a backup for the site is always threatened by data loss, security breach etc. While there are several ways to ensure that the security of the site is full-proof, as an additional precautionary measure, using a backup component is advisable. Akeeba Backup is one of the most widely used backup components used in Joomla. The component is known for providing a thorough documentation. To create a full-site backup using Akeeba, a single click command is all that is required. By using the Configuration Wizard, you can easily configure the entire site for a backup without having to think about how things are getting done. Backup can be saved in various formats such as ZIP archives, highly-optimized JPA archives or even an AES-128 secured JPS archive. If you want to migrate to another server, Akeeba helps you move to the new location or even create a clone.
4. Joomla Content Editor
Joomla Content Editor is another killer component that allows you to work with your web content even without the knowledge of HTML, XHTML and CSS. The intuitive and familiar interface is simple to use and comes with multiple features such as uploading, renaming, deleting posts and images. Using the extension, you can also create links to other sections, articles, categories, web links and contacts. Joomla Content Editor also allows you to integrate Spellchecking using Google SpellChecker or PSpell and ASpell. Furthermore, you can also install add-ons to Joomla Content Editor and further enhance the functionality of the extension. Some of the popular add-ons that can be used are – File Manager, Media Manager, and Image Manager Extended etc.
5. Mobile Joomla
To survive in this world a website has to be responsive. A website needs to work smoothly in different devices and platforms. To facilitate this, the Mobile Joomla extension is increasingly being used. Using Mobile Joomla, you can use responsive Joomla templates for the site. The extension is known for automatically optimizing images, JavaScript and CSS files for faster page loads, lower bounce rates and longer visits.
[ad name=”bnr-middle-post”]6. Community Builder
Community Builder is the social community solution for Joomla. Using the extension you can build your own community, personalize user profiles, share photos and videos, create unlimited user lists etc. You can also use hundreds of plugins along with Community Builder. Some of the features of this extremely cool extension are that it works natively with all stable flavors of Joomla, categorizes members and encourages members to connect with other members. The extension also allows members to create content for the site and make a few key members moderators of the site. Community Builder has a fully translatable language option too!
The above list is by no means exhaustive. There are several other Joomla components that are known for their killer features. Check out the Extensions module in Joomla to know more about the various listed components in Joomla.