Components are considerably more difficult to make changes to than any other extension, and so we must take great care when working with them.
Usually, most web site developers will be happy with the functionality provided, but sometimes we can make slight tweaks to a component in order to give our web site a little bit of extra functionality.
However, there is one kind of common change many web site owners will, and should, make to their components. That change is to customize the appearance of the components so that they blend with the template.
If we remember our earlier discussion on the Frankensite syndrome, unmatched templates and components are one of the most common examples of this. It makes it immediately obvious that our site is either a CMS, a mash-up of different scripts, or just run by someone with terrible taste. We don't want people thinking any of these about our web business.
Because we want our business to succeed, we need to make some changes to the...