The main Joomla site (www.joomla.org) keeps a directory of extensions that work with Joomla, and also provides a feedback/rating system where users can describe their experiences with the various add-ons. You can directly access the extensions directory here: http://extensions.joomla.org

The Joomla Extension Directory (JED) catalogs more than 1,600 extensions (as of this writing) that have been registered on the system. Each extension is filed in one of 18 categories. The home page of the directory also displays the five most recently added extensions and lists the five top-rated. Each entry in the directory contains descriptive and usage information relating to the add-on.

As of this writing, Joomla has been moving extensions from the Joomla! Forge site to JoomlaCode (http://joomlacode.org). This process has been going on for quite some time and still remains incomplete. If you click on an extension download link in JED and get a “file not found” error, try searching the projects on JoomlaCode to see if the extension has been relocated there. If you still can’t find it, go to a search engine such as Google where you can typically locate a current version on the developer’s home page.

A typical directory entry will let you know the following information:

❑       Description  —  Description of the component. Often the description also contains a summary of the version history, as well as the changes to the most recent version.

❑       Type of extension  —  Most extensions are actually a package of more than one extension type. There are separate icons for module (red), component (green), and plug-in (purple). The icons associated with the package will indicate the type or types of extensions that it contains.

❑       Home page  —  The home page of the extension. If you like an extension and find it useful, this link comes in handy because you can find other extensions written by the same author.

❑       Version  —  Displays the latest version and when the last update of the extension occurred.

❑       Developer and Email  —  The name and contact email address of the developer of the extension.

❑       Views  —  The number of times visitors to the Web site have clicked on the extension to read the descriptive entry.

❑       License  —  The license related to use of the extension. Most common licenses include GNU GPL, commercial, and other open source/free license.

❑       Compatibility  —  The version of Joomla that is compatible with the extension. Currently, compatibility is only listed for Joomla 1.0, Joomla 1.5, or both.

❑       Date added  —  The first date when extension was registered with the directory.

❑       User ratings & comments  —  Perhaps the most useful aspect of the listing. Users can post their experiences, comments, and descriptions of various issues with the extension. You’ll often find not only complements for a component’s capabilities but also suggestions for installation, deployment details, or recommendations for another extension that performs the task same task — only better.

There are 18 categories of extensions used on the site, and each has its own subcategories. For ease of description, this discussion divides these categories into four rough divisions:

❑       Site features and management

❑       Organizations and e-commerce

❑       Site content

❑       Site interactivity

These divisions have been used to simplify the search process when looking for an extension that adds a particular feature to Joomla.

The extensions directory does include a search engine, but it is often only marginally useful in finding the feature you need. When using this search feature, you should stick with single word searches, because these seem most likely to focus the search on the desired item. Multi-word searches tend to return many entries that are unrelated to the desired capability.