Book Image

Developing Extensions for Joomla! 5

By : Carlos M. Cámara Mora
5 (2)
Book Image

Developing Extensions for Joomla! 5

5 (2)
By: Carlos M. Cámara Mora

Overview of this book

Joomla! 5 is a groundbreaking CMS that helps you take a significant leap into the world of content management systems. Joomla! 5 features a variety of impressive new features that align with current web standards and enable you to experience lightning-fast performance for optimal web page optimization, leverage the new code architecture, and tap into the WebService API, among others. This book takes you on a journey of extending Joomla's capabilities by developing your own extensions. The chapters not only explain the key concepts behind Joomla's architecture but also equip you with the latest techniques for crafting components and plugins. You’ll discover how to leverage existing features within Joomla! to empower your extensions and create tailored solutions. The book takes you from the initial stages of planning your extension development to a fully featured finished product. As you advance, you'll learn invaluable techniques for testing your extension, addressing common issues, and preparing it for publication. The concluding chapters of this comprehensive guide teach you how to test your extension for common issues, along with how to publish the extension for everyone to use. By the end of this book, you’ll have the confidence and skills to complete the cycle of extension development.

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Table of Contents (21 chapters)
Preface
Preface
Who this book is for
What this book covers
To get the most out of this book
Disclaimer
Download the example code files
Conventions used
Get in touch
Share Your Thoughts
Download a free PDF copy of this book
1
Part 1: Developing Components
Part 1: Developing Components
Free Chapter
2
Chapter 1: Planning Your Component
Chapter 1: Planning Your Component
Understanding what a Joomla! component is
Translating your problem into an application
Defining your component database structure
Adding mock data to your database
Summary
Further reading
3
Chapter 2: Developing the Backend of a Basic Joomla! Component
Chapter 2: Developing the Backend of a Basic Joomla! Component
Technical requirements
Component file architecture
Creating a manifest file
Developing a list view for a component
Developing an edit item view for our component
Summary
Further reading
4
Chapter 3: Developing the Frontend of a Basic Joomla! Component
Chapter 3: Developing the Frontend of a Basic Joomla! Component
Technical requirements
Developing a frontend list view for our component
Adding CSS and JS to our component
Developing a frontend item view for our component
Adding friendly URLs to our component
Summary
Further reading
5
Chapter 4: Creating Forms in Joomla!
Chapter 4: Creating Forms in Joomla!
Technical requirements
Defining forms in Joomla!
Using standard Joomla! Form fields
Defining custom form field types
How to use the subform field type
Validating user input on the client side
Validating user input on the server side
Summary
Further reading
6
Chapter 5: Harnessing the Power of Joomla! in Your Component
Chapter 5: Harnessing the Power of Joomla! in Your Component
Technical requirements
Reviewing what Joomla! features you can use in your component
Adding an ACL to our component
Using Joomla! categories in our component
Introduction to Joomla! custom fields
Using Joomla’s multilingual capabilities in our component
Summary
Further reading
7
Chapter 6: Adding a Web Service API to Your Component
Chapter 6: Adding a Web Service API to Your Component
Technical requirements
What is a Web Service API?
How can I use the Joomla! Web Service API?
Authorization for the API
Web Services API permissions
Adding a Web Service API to your component
Reading data from your Web Service – adding a GET endpoint to your component
Writing data from your Web Service – adding a POST endpoint to your component
Summary
Further reading
8
Part 2: Developing Modules and Plugins
Part 2: Developing Modules and Plugins
9
Chapter 7: Developing a Module
Chapter 7: Developing a Module
Technical requirements
Understanding the module file structure
Using module helpers
Using module configuration parameters
Summary
Further reading
10
Chapter 8: Developing a Joomla! Plugin
Chapter 8: Developing a Joomla! Plugin
Technical requirements
What is a plugin in Joomla!?
Understanding Joomla’s plugin file structure
Creating the manifest file for our plugins
Creating a content plugin
Adding plugins to our component
Summary
Further reading
11
Chapter 9: Adding a CLI to Your Extension
Chapter 9: Adding a CLI to Your Extension
Technical requirements
What is a CLI?
How to use Joomla! CLI
Adding a Joomla! CLI command to Joomla!
Adding parameters to your CLI command
Summary
Further reading
12
Part 3: Extending Templates
Part 3: Extending Templates
13
Chapter 10: Creating Unique Web Applications with Template Overrides
Chapter 10: Creating Unique Web Applications with Template Overrides
Technical requirements
What is a Joomla! template?
What are template overrides?
Creating a template override for Joomla! views
Creating alternative layouts
Overriding CSS and JS
Summary
Further reading
14
Chapter 11: Creating a Child Template in Joomla!
Chapter 11: Creating a Child Template in Joomla!
Technical requirements
Why do we need child templates?
Creating a child template
Adding a new module position to the template
Reusing child templates on different sites
Summary
Further reading
15
Part 4: Distributing Your Extensions
Part 4: Distributing Your Extensions
16
Chapter 12: Testing Your Extensions
Chapter 12: Testing Your Extensions
Technical requirements
Do I need tests?
Including unit testing in Joomla!
How to add system testing in Joomla!
Testing accessibility in our extensions
Summary
Further reading
17
Chapter 13: Security Practices in Joomla!
Chapter 13: Security Practices in Joomla!
Technical requirements
Fetching data from forms
Preventing SQL injection
Securing your assets for the future
Hardening access to your files
Summary
Further reading
18
Chapter 14: Distributing Your Joomla! Extensions
Chapter 14: Distributing Your Joomla! Extensions
Technical requirements
Creating a package for your extensions
How to manage database changes on your extensions
How to execute advanced tasks on extension install
Setting up an update server
Adding a paywall to your extension download
Summary
Further reading
19
Index
Index
Why subscribe?
20
Other Books You May Enjoy
Other Books You May Enjoy
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What is a plugin in Joomla!?

Joomla! plugins are the smallest type of extension you can write, but they are also the most powerful. Joomla! plugins are executed in response to certain events in Joomla!. For instance, some plugins are executed upon the creation of a new user. There are lots of events throughout the Joomla! life cycle and we can hook our plugins into each of these events.

Plugins integrate into Joomla’s ACL system and you can set different permissions per Joomla’s view level. This creates a flexible system that provides website administrators with lots of possibilities.

Joomla! plugins are organized into different groups according to the contexts in which they are used. This categorization allows triggering plugins in specific contexts. We can create more types if we need and we can group our plugins as we think they fit best.

The plugin groups we can find in a Joomla! installation are as follows:

  • API Authentication
  • Authentication
    • ...
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