May 03 2008

Joomla 1.5 extensions - Our favourites

Written by David Towers

Saturday, 03 May 2008

Yesterday we shared with you the most important Joomla 1.5 extensions that we recommend you install. Those extensions were appropriate for nearly every Joomla 1.5 website.

Today we'd like to share with you a larger list of our favourite Joomla 1.5 extensions. This list includes over 15 extensions (modules and plugins) which will help you customise Joomla 1.5 to create the sort of website you desire. The list includes extensions for Joomla 1.5 which are useful for SEO, image management, creating blogs and creating communities.

Why use Joomla 1.5 extensions?

The reason for installing modules and plugins in Joomla 1.5 is to expand the functionality of your website. (It's a credit to the Joomla community how many good quality extensions exist).

We have created this list of extensions because we have used them when building Joomla 1.5 websites and that we can recommend them for use on other websites.

If you feel like we have missed off a useful plugin, please follow the link at the bottom of the table below to suggest a new extension or alternatively click here to contact us.

Joomla 1.5 extensions we recommend

	What does the extension do? [-]	Is it free? [-]	Is it native? [-]
Sh404sef	Search engine friendly URLs, meta tag management for each page (title, description, keywords, author, language), add h1 tags to contentheadings and componentheadings.		Legacy mode required
JoomlaPack	Complete site backup (including files and database)
JCE 1.5	WYSIWYG editor
Xmap	HTML and XML Sitemap
Signallogin	Fully customisable login module
Google Adsense Plugin	Add Google Adsense into content easily
AdSense Module	Google Adsense module
Calendar Icon	Show article date in neat CSS format
Jom Comment	Flexible and customisable comment system	$30
Community builder	Build and manage communities		Legacy mode required
RokAccess	Hide content according to membership status (Requires hack from GoodWebPractices).
Blog post avatar	Add author avatar next to article title
HTML Tidy PHP	Ensures clean and tidy HTML markup
HighSlide for Joomla	Lightbox effect for displaying images
Ninja Shadowbox	Lightbox effect for viewing media (images, video and websites)
Frontpage Slideshow	CSS slideshow plugin	$30
JSN ImageShow	Flash slideshow plugin	$30
jReviews	Review and rating system	$100

* If you would like to add something to this table or suggest changes, please use this form.

What do you think about this list? Are there any plugins that you think we have missed out?

23 Comments



fuqaha May 04, 2008 Votes: +1	One thing that really hinders me from using 1.5 for all my sites is the lack of real gallery component. Unless someone manage to port PonyGallery or RSGallery / create a new gallery component, i think im gonna stick with 1.0.x. =) report abuse vote down vote up


David T May 04, 2008 Votes: +0	Hi fuqaha, thanks for your comment! RSGallery 2 is being made available for Joomla 1.5 in legacy mode. You download the production Alpha here: http://rsgallery2.net/content/view/92/62/ Why not give it a try? report abuse vote down vote up


Steve Moseley \| Hannisdal Express May 06, 2008 Votes: +0	I love frontpage slideshow - using it on our new upcoming site Also just tried out Joomlapack. Great component for backing it up. Although you have to pay for it, I'd also mention Joomla Cloner as a great tool - Especially for 1.0x without the FTP layer. I had all sorts of issues with permission problems and transferring my site. If I did it will FTP then the server owned it. Then I had to keep permissions wide open which I didn't want to do. Joomla Cloner uses php to open it, so the permissions stay with PHP. Very nice. Haven't tried moving a 1.5 site yet, but it was a God send for 1.0x. report abuse vote down vote up


David T May 07, 2008 Votes: -1	JoomlaCloner from http://www.joomlaplug.com/ is available for Joomla 1.5 but is actually called XCloner, it's basically a newer version. We have been using JoomlaCloner here at GoodWebPractices with Joomla 1.0 and agree that it's a fantastic backup tool. Are you working on a new site for Hannisdal Express Steve? Using Joomla 1.5? report abuse vote down vote up


Steve Moseley \| Hannisdal Express May 07, 2008 Votes: +0	@David Yes - the site is almost done. We just waiting on a few things. We are using Joomla 1.5 which has been interesting. To me, it seem like there are 1-2 extensions in a category I want. If those don't work, then I've got problems. We wanted to have a newsletter component so we settled on Acajoom's Free Newsletter component. Its pretty powerful but I hated some of the management (such as changing outputted text). I had to live with it though as there wasn't too many other options. Once I get the site up, I'll have to have you guys check it out and give me some traffic! report abuse vote down vote up


Steve Moseley \| Hannisdal Express May 08, 2008 Votes: +0	David, Where did you guys get those date numbers for the articles? I know I've read about it somewhere but can't remember what it is. Thanks! Steve report abuse vote down vote up


Steve Moseley \| Hannisdal Express May 08, 2008 Votes: -1	Never mind! I see it is already on the list! report abuse vote down vote up


David T May 08, 2008 Votes: -1	Hi Steve, Great to learn your new site is using Joomla 1.5! We've developed a number of sites in Joomla 1.5 and much prefer it to Joomla 1.0... Joomla 1.5 is especially advantageous when clients are using the website, simply because its more user friendly. report abuse vote down vote up


Andrea May 10, 2008 Votes: -1	You miss the best: Jreviews. Yes, is only available for 1.0 since now, but the 1.5 version is coming. report abuse vote down vote up


Kyle Ledbetter May 11, 2008 Votes: +0	Somehow missed the Calendar Icon on the Joomla Extensions site, thanks for listing that one, just added to the JoomlaPraise blog. Congrats on the site btw, it's come along nicely. report abuse vote down vote up


David T May 11, 2008 Votes: +1	Andrea - when JReviews 1.5 becomes available it will be added to the list! Kyle - Glad you found the list helpful. The Blog calender is a nice little extension! What do you think of our potential homepage switch by the way Kyle? http://www.goodwebpractices.co...ayout.html We're going to use PraiseSlides hopefully... report abuse vote down vote up


Peety May 13, 2008 Votes: +2	Thanks for the list. It reminded me to get an update for FrontPage Slideshow. And I think I will give Jom Comment a try.. report abuse vote down vote up


David T May 13, 2008 Votes: +0	Glad you have found the list useful Peety! Good luck trying out Jom Comment report abuse vote down vote up


Seree May 14, 2008 Votes: +0	Hi David, Thanks for sharing and I really love RokAccess as I'm preparing my site to go membership. Best regards, Seree W. report abuse vote down vote up


David T May 14, 2008 Votes: +0	Hi Seree! You're welcome! RokAccess is a great extensions for having certain content only for members! report abuse vote down vote up


Alexis May 29, 2008 Votes: +0	Great for this purpose report abuse vote down vote up


Zibi June 13, 2008 Votes: +0	Jreviews is released in 1.5 native version. report abuse vote down vote up


David T June 16, 2008 Votes: +0	Thanks Zibi I have added it to the table. report abuse vote down vote up


Jez June 19, 2008 Votes: +0	Great list - very helpful - thanks very much!!! report abuse vote down vote up


m0nb0f June 24, 2008 Votes: +0	Great list, So, could you tell me what is the comment system that you use ? Is it Jom Comment ? I find it good (avatar and sytem of vote). This is great too but the support is ended Regards report abuse vote down vote up


David T June 24, 2008 Votes: +0	Hi m0nb0f! We're using Azrul's JomComment! We really like it and can certainly recommend it! In actual fact I'm currently writing a post about JomComment now... So if you come back tomorrow you will be able to read in detail what we think about it. report abuse vote down vote up


David T June 24, 2008 Votes: +0	The new post about Jom Comment is here m0nb0f: http://www.goodwebpractices.co...eview.html Hope you find it useful. report abuse vote down vote up


Lauren G June 30, 2008 Votes: +0	Any suggestions on an extension for 1.5 that will help with RSS feed issues - the way DS-Syndicate does for 1.0? I can't figure out how to get the "Read more" link to show up in my site's feed and it's frustrating and problematic.... report abuse vote down vote up