Eight Must-Have Joomla Extensions
Written by Jennifer Anderson
These are the most useful extensions we have found for Joomla! to date.
There are literally thousands of plug-ins, components, and modules available for Joomla!. It's hard to tell which ones to choose. We have been building Joomla! sites for years, so we thought we'd list a few below that have become a standard part of almost every Joomla! installation here at PC-Limited.
Advanced Module Manager
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/access-a-security/modules-management/10307
This allows me to choose from more advanced placement options for the modules on the side bar of your pages.
Modules Anywhere
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/core-enhancements/embed-a-include/6402
This goes hand in hand with the one above, and gives a LOT more control over where modules can be placed.
Jumi
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/edition/custom-code-in-content/1023
This plug-in allows for the use of custom code anywhere I want on a Joomla! site - it's great for embedding videos and/or forms into content and modules.
Mass Content
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/news-production/mass-content/2514
This plug-in allows the creation of many blank articles/categories and sections at one time. It makes menu creation site structure go a LOT faster.
Akeeba Backup
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/access-a-security/site-security/backup/1606
This plug-in enables us to perform both site and database backups easily from the admin area. Not only that, but it is also useful for moving an entire Joomla! site to another server.
AceSEF
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/site-management/sef/10019
This plug-in allows the creation of search-engine-friendly (SEF) links and other SEO tasks needed on a site. I have tried other SEF URL extensions and so far, this one is the easiest to use.
AcyMailing Autoresponder
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/content-sharing/newsletter/10341
If you need any kind of e-mail marketing program for your site, this is the one to choose. It works correctly, right out of the box, the first time. There is still a lot of setup, as in other programs, but that's all part of the job when setting up marketing campaigns. In short, we will never use another extension for this task - it's simply top-notch!
Joomlatags
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/search-a-indexing/tags-a-clouds/7718
This plug-in allows installation of a tagging system into your site. It's easily customizable with CSS and is one of the most simple-yet-useful extensions I have found to date.
