10 Free Joomla Extensions I Can't Live Without

[Nipuna]

1. JoomlaXplorer

This Joomla component is a robust file manager that works within Joomla. Sure, you can work a little more efficiently with an external FTP program (I recommend Filezilla), but for the feature list and price, nothing comes close to JoomlaXplorer. I would anticipate that this extension become fully integrated into Joomla at some point since it works as well as it does. I've uploaded this one on many commercial sites and nearly blew my clients away. "Wow" best describes this component..

Pros: Amount of features, ease of use, quality, integration with Joomla.
Cons: Potentially enables an unknowledgable super administrator to damage your Joomla install

JoomlaXplorer Homepage

2. sh404SEF

This Joomla component helps you incorporate SEO and into your Joomla site. If you don't know why you need SEO, please read this free Joomla SEO tutorial. What makes this particular SEO component better than most, is its support of most popular extensions and relatively ease of use. I think most will agree, this is the best Joomla SEO component.

Pro: Relatively easy setup, great support among other extensions, many options
Cons: The amount of options and setup may be overwhelming to the novice.

sh404 Homepage

3. Fireboard

Fireboard may be one of the most exciting Joomla components to hit the market in the last 6 months. Before this one came along, if you wanted a rock solid forum, you used SMF with a bridge which often caused problems (not to mention it was a bit of a hassle). If you wanted something that worked well with Joomla, you were forced to use Joomlaboard. Lucky us, now we have the best of both! Hand down, the best forum component for Joomla.

Pros: Easy to setup and maintain, lots of features, clean appearance, speedy
Cons: Not as many themes available for it as SMF has, uses a CSS/Table layout combination as apposed to a fully CSS layout

Fireboard Homepage

4. Smoothgallery + Lightbox

This Joomla mambot is worth its weight in gold! Believe me, I have used my fair share of Joomla galleries and slide shows - but this is the primary gallery extension I offer to my clients. It looks fabulous, works well and once setup, it works in a variety of custom situations. Note that this extension uses AJAX libraries and I have had issues with it in conjunction with other AJAX extensions installed on the same site - but there are workarounds for such issues. The benefits far outweight these minor issues.

Pros: Easily integrates within your Joomla content, lots of options, superb Mootools transitioning effect, uses AJAX so the images load asynchronously, great developer support
Cons: May interfere with other AJAX extensions, has issues with displaying on frontpage (workaround provided), sometimes difficult for a client to get working (depending on Joomla experience level)

Smoothgallery + Lightbox Homepage

5. Community Builder

This Joomla extension is a must for any type of social network, yet has uses beyond that purpose. Nothing comes close to the amount of features this one provides. There are some setup steps involved, so it does take some time to get setup..but once its going, nothing does with this free Joomla component does. There are also many various extensions specifically for Community Builder which extend it far past the basic setup.

Pros: Provides much more control over Joomla's user management, lots of support from other extensions, lots of options and uses
Cons: Tends to be a bit overwhelming to novice Joomla users, currently there are some compatibility issues with CB and Joomla version 1.0.13

Community Builder Homepage

6. MiniFrontPage

I recently discovered this free Joomla module and simply love it. I call this one the Cadillac of latest news modules, since it does an excellent job of displaying your latest content additions in a module position. Easily display a snippet of your latest content, with an auto-generated image + offers a customizable read more link. -- even gives you links to related content! What more could you want?

Pros: Easily integrates custom content into a module position, lots of layout options, lots of features
Cons: Minor setup involved

MiniFrontPage Homepage

7. JoomlaStats

This is an awesome Joomla component for tracking statistics. Its not nearly as thorough as something like Google Analytics, but for a fully Joomla integrated statistical component, this one cant be beat. Definitely worth using if your interested in tracking visitors and referrals.

Pros: Works great, easily installed and used, great add-on modules available
Cons: Adds weight to your MySQL queries and page loads (typically not noticeable), adds a bit to your database (customizable)

JoomlaStats Homepage

8. Jombackup

This little database backup mambot does what its supposed to! Its basically a simple database backup bot that, once setup, will automatically backup your Joomla database and email it to you. What else can I say, it doesn't get any easier than this!

Pros: Easily automates Joomla database backups, convenience
Cons: None (unless you have a lot of mambots running on a slow site, you may forgo this one for a manual backup)

Jombackup Homepage

9. Virtuemart

This set of free Joomla extensions makes you realize how great Joomla really is. If your selling anything and need a Joomla integrated shopping cart solution, you need to know about Virtuemart. Works out of the box, has some great documentation available on their site, and an overall great extension. While this component has its problems, I felt it was a notable addition to this list due to the fact that it is the best general purpose Joomla E-Commerce solution.

Pros: Free Joomla shopping cart solution, great documentation available
Cons: Many experience unresolved issues, limited developer support

Virtuemart Homepage

10. Extended Menu

This powerfull Joomla module allows you to display CSS dropdown menus (AKA Suckerfish). There are a handful of CSS drop down menus available to Joomla, I typically prefer this one over others due to its raw power and functionality. If you are somewhat of a Joomla novice, I do not recommend this module as it tends to be difficult to setup if you are unfamiliar with CSS. If you are a developer, this module will offer you a solid base in which to build a totally customizable menu system that fully integrates with existing Joomla menus.

Pros: Power, versatility, customization options
Cons: Advanced usage parameters, difficult to setup for many

Extended Menu Homepage