Glossary
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Article
In Joomla! an Article is a piece of content consisting of text (HTML), possibly with links to other resources (for example, images). Articles are the basic units of information in the content system and the bottom level in the content hierarchy. Since Joomla! 2.5 
, each Article is in exactly one Category, and Categories can be in other Categories. It is also possible to have Uncategorised Articles that exist without being associated with any Category.
In Joomla! 1.5 
and earlier versions, an Article was the third level in the hierarchy Sections -> Categories -> Articles.
Articles are maintained using the Article Manager (help screen) which can be reached in the Administrator (Back-end) by clicking on the Content menu, then the Article Manager menu item.
Cascading Style Sheet (CSS)
A Cascading Style Sheet or CSS is used to control the presentation of an HTML page. For example, a CSS file will often control the font, margins, color, background graphics, and other aspects of a web page's appearance. CSS allows you to separate the content of an HTML page from it's appearance. In Joomla!, CSS files (for example, template.css) are normally part of the template.
See also: Template, Page Class Suffix, Module Class Suffix
Category
In Joomla! a Category is a collection of Articles. In Joomla! versions up to and including , is the middle level in the hierarchy Sections -> Categories -> Articles. For example, a website might have Sections called "Animals" and "Plants". Within the "Animals" Section, the website might have Categories such as "Birds" and "Mammals". Within the "Birds" Category, the website might have Articles such as "Parrots" and "Sparrows". In Joomla! versions and up, Categories can contain other Categories. The example above could be created using an "Animal" category, the Categories "Birds" and "Mammals" that are in that category, and the "Parrots" and "Sparrows" Articles in the "Birds" category.
Categories are maintained using the Category Manager (help screen) which can be reached in the Administrator (Back-end) by clicking on the Content menu, then the Category Manager menu item.
Chrome
The visible graphical interface features of an application are sometimes referred to as chrome. See Applying custom module chrome for information about how to modify the look of modules (in other words, the module "chrome").
Component
A component is a kind of Joomla! extension. Components are the main functional units of Joomla!; they can be seen as mini-applications. An easy analogy would be that Joomla! is the operating system and the components are desktop applications. They are usually displayed in the center of the main content area of a template (depending on the template).
Most components have two main parts: an administrator part and a site part. The site part is what is used to render pages when being called during normal site operation. The administrator part provides an interface to configure and manage different aspects of the component and is accessible through the Joomla! administrator application.
Joomla! comes with a number of core components, like the content management system, contact forms and Web Links.
See also: Module, Plugin, Template
Extension
An extension is a software package that extends your Joomla! installation in some way. A small selection of extensions is included with the default Joomla! installation but many more are available from the Joomla! Extensions Directory.
The term extension is generic and the following specific extension types are available (listed alphabetically):
- Component (since
) – adds custom functions to your site that can be selected from menus
- Language (since ) – defines an additional language for your site
- Library (since
) – provides functions to be used by other extensions
- Mambot (in ) – modifies content in articles
- Module (since ) – shows nonessential data in a side box, possibly on multiple pages
- Package (since ) – bundles related extensions
- Plugin (since
) – modifies content in articles or provides functions to extend other extensions
- Template (since ) – define the look, feel, and navigation capabilities of your site
For an overview of the most important extension types and the functionality they provide, see Extension types (general definitions).
jdoc
jdoc statements are included in every Joomla template and indicate where the output from other parts of Joomla or its extensions should be positioned in the overall web page. A typical jdoc statement looks like this: <jdoc:include type="component" /> See the jdoc statements article for more information.
Legacy Plugin
Version 1.5 of Joomla! changed the way that third-party Extensions work with the Joomla! core programs. Extensions written for version 1.0 need to be modified in order to use the new 1.5 methodology. To allow for backward compatibility with existing 1.0 Extensions, a Plugin called "System - Legacy" is included with Joomla! 1.5. This Plugin allows many Extensions developed for version 1.0 to work with version 1.5. This Plugin is disabled by default and must be enabled before you can use any Extensions in "Legacy" mode. It can be enabled from the Plugin Manager screen.
Extensions that have been tested by the Extension provider to work using the Legacy Plugin are labeled as "1.5 Legacy". Extensions that use the new 1.5 methodology are labeled as "1.5 Native". In general, "1.5 Native" Extensions will perform somewhat faster than "1.5 Legacy", because the Legacy Plugin requires one extra layer of processing. Over time, it is expected that the majority of Extensions will be available in "1.5 Native" mode.
Mambot
Module
Modules are lightweight and flexible extensions used for page rendering. These modules are often “boxes” arranged around a component on a typical page. A well-known example is the login module. Modules are assigned per menu item, so you can decide to show or hide (for example) the login module depending on which page (menu item) the user is currently on. Some modules are linked to components: the “latest news” module, for example, links to the content component (com_content) and displays links to the newest content items. However, modules do not need to be linked to components; they don't even need to be linked to anything and can be just static HTML or text.
Modules are managed in the Administrator by the Module Manager (help screen).
See also: Component, Plugin, Template
Module Class Suffix
Module Class Suffix is a parameter in Joomla! modules. It is set Module: [Edit] screen under Advanced Parameters. Setting this parameter causes Joomla! to either add a new CSS class or modify the existing CSS class for the div element for this specific module.
<div class="moduletable"><div class="moduletable myNewClass"><div class="moduletable_mySuffix">Generally, it is recommended to use a leading space to create a new class. This way, CSS styling for this module that uses the standard class names will continue to work. You can use the new class name to add any desired styling to the module without needing to re-create all of the existing CSS code. Note that, if you create a new class name, make sure it has a unique name and doesn't conflict with any existing class names.
See Using Class Suffixes for more information.
Page Class Suffix
Page Class Suffix is a parameter in Joomla! content Menu Items. It is set in the Menu Item: [Edit] screen under the "Parameters (Advanced)" section. This will cause Joomla! to either add a new CSS class or modify the existing CSS class for elements in this specific Menu Item layout.
When Joomla! generates a page, it automatically creates pre-defined CSS classes to allow styling of the page. For example, a page might have the element<div class="componentheading"><div class="componentheading myNewClass"><div class="componentheading_mySuffix">Generally, it is recommended to use a leading space to create a new class. This way, CSS styling for this component that uses the standard class names will continue to work. You can use the new class name to add any desired styling to the component without needing to re-create all of the existing CSS code. Note that, if you create a new class name, make sure it has a unique name and doesn't conflict with any existing class names.
See also: Using Class Suffixes, Using the Page Class Suffix in Template Code
Patch
The term patch file is used for two different file types. The term patch file is sometimes used to refer to archive files that allow you to upgrade from one Joomla! version to another (for example, from version 1.0.0 to version 1.0.7). These upgrade files are also referred to as upgrade packages.
The other meaning for a patch file is a file created by source code version control software -- for example, Subversion or SVN, which is used for the Joomla! source code. This type of patch file contains instructions for changing the contents of one or more source code files. The SVN software reads the patch file and then can automatically change the source code of the files being patched.
Patch files are used by the Bug Squad to test proposed bug fixes. They can also be used to contribute proposed new features to the version under development. For more information about the structure of SVN patch files, read Learn more about patch files.
PHP
PHP is a computer scripting language designed for creating dynamic web pages. PHP is widely-used for web development and can be embedded into HTML. It generally runs on a web server, taking PHP code as its input and creating web pages as output. Joomla! is primarily written using the PHP language. For more information, see Where can you learn about PHP? For more information see: Where can you learn about PHP?
Plugin
A plugin is a kind of Joomla! extension. Plugins provide functions which are associated with trigger events. Joomla provides a set of core plugin events, but any extension can fire (custom) events. When a particular event occurs, all plugin functions of the type associated with the event are executed in sequence. This is a powerful way of extending the functionality of the Joomla! Framework. It also offers extension developers a way to allow other extensions to respond to their actions, making extensions extensible.
The Joomla! plugin architecture follows the Observer design pattern. The JPlugin class is derived from JObserver and provides the means to register custom plugin code with core or custom events. The JEventDispatcher class, derived from JObservable, is an event handler which calls all plugins registered for a particular event, when that event is triggered.
See also: Component, Module, Template
Section
In Joomla! versions up to and including , a Section is a collection of Categories. It is the top level in the hierarchy Sections -> Categories -> Articles. For example, a website might have Sections called "Animals" and "Plants". Within the "Animals" Section, the website might have Categories such as "Birds" and "Mammals".
Sections are maintained using the Section Manager (help screen) which can be reached in the Administrator (Back-end) by clicking on the Content menu, then the Section Manager menu item.
SEF URLs
Search-engine friendly URLs. Normal Joomla! URLs look something like this:
http://www.yoursite.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=3&Itemid=41
You can optionally have URLs display to look like static HTML pages like this:
http://www.yoursite.org/faq.html
Joomla! 1.5 has built-in optionos for SEF URLs. These are enabled by changing the "SEO Settings" in the Site tab in the Global Configuration screen in the Joomla! back end. There are also third-party extensions that create SEF URLs for Joomla!.
Template
A template is the type of Joomla! extension that changes the way your site looks. There are two types of templates: Front-end Templates and Back-end Templates.
