5 Things for Developers and Site Builders with Joomla! 1.6

Usually, when people talk about Joomla! 1.6, they point out improvements to the Access Control environment, Nested Categories and the Core and Extension Installer/Updater. Those are, indeed, important improvements.

But, there are other things that stand out for me, as a developer, and I want to point those out since they don't seem to get as much fanfare. I think these tools will help developers extend Joomla! and build Extensions that can be integrated with other work.

Example 1:  Defines.php 

Check out your index.php file and notice how you can override (or augment) the defines.php file by placing a defines.php on the root of your Website. Essentially, this provides an OnGetThisPartyStarted Event where you could load your own library, or override the Joomla! library as needed. You could create constants with different values than what Joomla assigns.

Example 2: Common Events

Joomla! 1.6 has a Common set of Events that fire for any Content. Content Events will  fire for Articles, Newsfeeds, Weblinks and the Media Manager, amongst others that follow that model.

So, now it will be much easier  for a Site Builder to add a thumbnail package that fires when Images are uploaded into the Media Manager. In the same sense, email notification to subscribers will be easy to do, whether that content is a new Event, or a Post, or a Comment.

I believe common Content Events might be the most important deliverable in 1.6. It will help developers build in flexibility and integration that has sometimes been tricky with Joomla!.

• onContentPrepare
• onContentAfterTitle
• onContentBeforeDisplay
• onContentAfterDisplay
• onContentChangeState
• onContentBeforeSave
• onContentAfterSave
• onContentBeforeDelete
• onContentAfterDelete

Example 3: Custom Content

Check out the User Profile plugin in 1.6 to see how you can add your own custom content for Users. This CCK-like approach can be used for any Component.  There is no point and click environment (yet) so it does require basic XML and PHP knowledge, but it is fairly simple for those who wish to adapt the example for their site deployment needs. It will be extremely useful to site builders who need to add a bit of data to existing Components. Don't forget - with overrides - you can put everything where you want it.


Example 4: Abstracting the MVC into Framework Classes

I'll start by saying this feature needs more work, but, it's heading in good directions. There has been a great deal of progress abstracting the logic needed for certain tasks and therefore making it far easier for developers to create Controllers, View, and Models for their Components. I hope to see it continue to advance for v 1.7; there is a lot of potential to create work flow that consistently treats all content.


Example 5: Overrides, Alternatives, and more.

In Joomla! 1.5, there were Layout Overrides and Module Chrome, both of which were revolutionary.

Now, there is more. In Joomla! 1.6, you can create Template Styles, Alternative Layouts and (wait for it!) Alternative Views (Menu Items). Check out the documentation Mark Dexter wrote on these features (and that I found on the Tracker.)

So, now you. What do you like in 1.6 and what do you want to see improved for 1.7? If we really are looking at 6 month windows, 1.7 won't be far away. Best get thinking now!

Congratulations to those who helped make Joomla! 1.6 possible!

Please use the software with caution. There are still bugs and security issues in the software. Backups can be your best friend.