Top Joomla Extensions

If you are unfamiliar with Joomla, it is a content management system developed for the production of websites. It is truly amazing. This article lists and describes my choice of the top free extensions to improve Joomla even further.

JoomlaXplorer - This component adds a file manager to the back end of Joomla. This is almost a necessity if you have several people working on a website. Setting up several FTP accounts and getting everyone setup with one can be a hassle.

VirtueMart - With this extension, you are capable of running a shop right inside of your site. This is much nicer than an alternative like Zen Cart or osCommerce, where you would have to use two separate back ends to administer each part. It also saves you the hassle of adding another MySQL database, which can be a hassle if your web host only allows 1 or 2 MySQL databases. Although this isn't stand-alone, it does support all the important things other stand-alone programs do. You are capable of selling downloadable files and it supports many payments types right off the bat, including PayPal. It also has add-ons, such as Google Checkout.

JoomlaPack - This component allows you to backup your entire Joomla site, including the MySQL database and includes an installer, to restore a Joomla Installation, even when Joomla isn't installed on the server!

Community Builder - This extension adds several things to the user management system. Some key features are: it adds extra fields to the user's profile and adds user profiles. Registration is required in order to download this extension. Although this isn't a big deal, it's somewhat annoying.

Fabrik - This is an amazing tool that allows you to create applications without any programming knowledge.

AllVideos - This extension currently supports over 40 video providers and allows you to stream from your server or a remote server. It supports everything from YouTube videos to .flv and .ram, and everything in between. (.mpeg, .avi, .mp3, etc.)