Newbie or oldtimer? We all sometimes have issues finding the correct extension for the site we're building. Sometimes it's a piece of cake, sometimes you could bash up your workstation and yell at the client, "Why, whyyy?". Nevertheless, extensions are the builldingblocks to better and more powerful Joomla sites. Let's look at some pointers or guidelines about how to choose an extension.

Let's start at the very beginning of all extension searches: http://extensions.joomla.org. The Joomla Extension Directory (or JED) should be your first source at all times. The current count of extensions is about 6500 foor Joomla 2.5 and 3.x. If you're wondering what happened to the 1.5 extensions, they're still there (at http://archive.extensions.joomla.org/), but really, isn't it tme to upgrade to Joomla 2.5 or higher?

The JED is growing rapidly with extensions, and so you will have to use the search. On the left side there's an easy navigation where extensions are already categorized. Take a peek and you might find some extensions you never expected. On top of the JED you can search by keyword. Don't just enter a lot of words but try to narrow it down to one or two keywords. It makes life a lot easier.

So you found some extensions and they all seems to be good for your needs. Great, but how to choose the correct one?

Take a look at some basics. What Joomla version are you using, do you (or your client) need a commercial or non commercial extension, does it have to be a component, module or plugin? Now that this selection is made, let's drill it down a bit further.

Is development still ongoing for the extensions still left in your selection? Look at the version and when it was last updated on the detail page of the extension. Does it use the Joomla updater, or do you have to update it manually each time? What's on the roadmap for the coming months?

One of the most important criteria in your selection is the features of the extension. Not only those you need now, but think a bit about the future. What would be nice to have, and what will you or your client need soon? Can the extension communicate with other extensions (e.g. automatic subscription to a newsletter when buying a membership, and at the same time create a user account)? If one feature is not on the list, and all the others are, why not get in touch with the developer and ask whether it's possible to get that one feature added or not. And try the demo to check if the feature(s) you're looking for are also working the way you want.

Although some people appear to have lost the ability to read, documentation is a crucial point in the selection. Is there good documentation available about the extension? Is it accurate, and does it cover troubleshooting? Good documentation can save you and the developer a lot of time. (Don't bother reading from A to Z when still in selection mode. Skim over it, and look for some particular descriptions on how to configure, how to change, and how some features work.)

An extension is only as strong as its support, some like to say, and most do agree. Who hasn't had a bad experience with support? Or with supporting clients? Support can be given in different ways: by a ticket system, in forums, or direct email with the developer, etc. Is support for the extension free, or is it a yearly (or monthly) subscription? Just a pointer on this one: when you need support, the one and only person who can answer your question with 100% certainty is the developer of that extension - no Facebook group or some obscure forum.

And the last thing to consider in this Part 1 article, are the experiences other people have had with the extension you're considering. Within the JED you can find reviews written by other users, and they may contain some useful information. In my humble opinion, the mediocre reviews are the best, where the reviewers are pointing out the good and not so good things about the extension. And reviews where the developer has responded are also very useful. They give you an idea of how the developer is involved in the quality of his extension, and if he's looking for solutions.

Choosing a good extension (especially for client projects) is not something you do as quickly as getting fast food. The above are meant to be some pointers and guidelines to get you started.

In the next JCM issue(s) I'll go deeper into tips, tricks, and look at some specific extensions. So stay tuned!

In 2013 there will be more mobile devices capable of accessing the web than there will be computers. How do you present your Joomla!  website to your users accessing it from their mobile devices? A Mobile website is a website which has been optimized to work in a mobile browser. Using a mobile phone web browser one can directly access these websites. Mobile devices have unpredictable screen sizes and the speed of the internet connection can be low. The loading of images can take longer. This article will describe different approaches to mobilizing your Joomla! website.

Separate Mobile Website

The mobile version is a totally independent website with another URL, mostly using the subdomain "m.". Using some Joomla extensions it is possible to use your existing content to create a separate mobile version.

The top internet brands like Google, Facebook and Yahoo use separate mobile solutions - quite simply, for the speed. It has been found out in studies that the average mobile user is only willing to wait a maximum of four seconds for content to load on their devices.

Most of those sites would perform 100-400% faster on mobile by using a separate mobile solution.

Mobile Joomla

Switching a website from desktop mode to mobile mode is not hard with Joomla, thanks to the tiny but useful component Mobile Joomla. One of the most popular components in the Joomla Extensios Directory (JED), Mobile Joomla features many customization options you can tweak to ensure that your mobile visitors will have an enjoyable browsing experience on your website.

The most important feature of Mobile Joomla is probably its stability and simplicity. Mobile Joomla is easy to implement, and really does what it claims.

Mobile Joomla significant features include:

• User agent detection system through multiple methods, including WURFL;
• Flexible layout settings;
• Support for custom themes and modules;
• iPhone, iMode, Wap, and XHTML device categorization.

Jtouch

Jtouch Mobile is not just a template, it is a solution to mobilize your Joomla 1.5 & 2.5 website. designed to help mobilizing Joomla! websites is easy as 1-2-3! Its aim is to bring a better view and interaction for your website on most modern smartphones like iPhone/iPad, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry...

Jtouch is free and Open Source. No encoded script, no back-track - it's all open!

Responsive Web Design

Jtouch specializes in targeting mobile screens, and helps your website look more beautiful and attractive on mobile.

Supports Most Major Platforms

Jtouch works really well on iPhone, Android, Window Phone and many other OS's like BlackBerry, Meego, Tizen and FirefoxOS...

Easy to Customize

Jtouch adapts Themeroller for jQueryMobile. You can drag and drop colors and then download a custom theme. It only takes about 5 minutes to make your theme like no others.

Auto Detects

Clients are browsing your page on various types of smartphones. Don't ask them tap on a link to display your mobile site! Jtouch can detect and It is smart enough to switch your website from desktop to mobile template, automatically!

Responsive Webdesign

Responsive Web Design tries to adapt the layout to the viewing environment, and probably also uses flexible images.

Responsive design usually reacts to four kinds of screens: the widescreen desktop monitor; the smaller desktop (or laptop); the tablet; and the mobile phone.

Responsive design works by using @media queries to identify the size of the device screen and presents a layout based on that size.

Joomla Responsive Design

According to Google Trends, “Joomla Responsive” is catching up very quickly From October 2011.

Joomla Responsive vs. Joomla Mobile

Responsive Joomla Templates

• RocketTheme
• JoomlArt
• yooTheme

Test your website

Take a look at different websites and see how they are dealing with different device sizes.

• http://mattkersley.com/responsive/ 
• http://quirktools.com/screenfly/

 Mobile App

Apps are actual applications that are downloaded and installed on your mobile device, rather than being rendered within a browser. The app may pull content and data from the Internet, in similar fashion to a website, or it may download the content so that it can be accessed without an Internet connection.

When Does an App Make Sense?

Despite the many inherent benefits of the mobile web, apps are still very popular, and there are a number of specific use scenarios where an app will be your best choice.  Generally speaking, if you need one of the following, an app makes sense:

• Interactivity/Gaming – for interactive games (think Angry Birds) an app is almost always going to be your best choice, at least for the foreseeable future.
• Regular Usage/Personalization – If your target users are going to be using your app in a personalized fashion on a regular basis (think EverNote) then an app provides a great way to do that.
• Complex Calculations or Reporting – If you need something that will take data and allow you to manipulate it with complex calculations, charts or reports (think banking or investment) an app will help you do that very effectively.
• Native Functionality or Processing Required - mobile web browsers are getting increasingly good at accessing certain mobile-specific functions such as click-to-call, SMS and GPS. However, if you need to access a user's camera or processing power an app will still do that much more effectivley.
• No connection required – If you need to provide offline access to content or perform functions without a network/wireless connection then an app makes sense.

Chimoora

Chimoora is a Joomla! client app which brings the features of a Joomla! powered website to mobile devices.

Different operating systems will be supported. The first one will be Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich). BlackBerry 10, Windows 8 and iOS are on the radar as well. Chimoora 1.0 will support Blogs (Joomla! featured articles) and Forums (powered by Discussions). The next version will bring Private Messages (Discussions) and Classified Ads (Marketplace).

On the serverside, Chimoora needs a Joomla! API extension which is developed as part of the Chimoora project in parallel. The API extension is a "normal" Joomla! component and is simply installed via the extension manager.

Requirements:

• Chimoora is an Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) native app and therefore it requires Android 4.x on the mobile device
• The Joomla! API extension needs Joomla! 2.5 or above to work.

Joooid

Joooid (with three "o") is a free app/extension for Android devices.

Joooid allows you to:

• create or edit articles, change title, alias, category, status, access level, frontpage and scheduled publishing.
• create content with the WYSIWYG with html markup and links, in full screen! 
• add images and galleries using pictures from your device.
• add youtube videos or share images and videos with Joooid directly from Image Gallery or YouTube App. 
• geotag articles, embed maps with your current position using GPS/Network or set the map coordinates with the handy map picker. You can also share a location to Joooid directly from the Google Maps application.  

JomMobile

jomMobile allows you to manage your Joomla 1.7 site on the go with your android.

jomMobile allows you to edit many core features of your Joomla site for free!

Feature list:

• Manage multiple sites
• Article manager: View/Add/Edit/Delete
• Category manager: View/Add/Edit/Delete
• Menu manager: View
• Menu items: View/Edit/Delete
• User manager: View/Add/Edit/Delete
• Manage 3rd party plugins (ie. K2)

You have to install the app and a Joomla component.

If you find a feeling of helpless despair descending upon you every time you open up your email inbox, help is at hand—you can get on top of your messages without hiring a personal secretary, and we're here to show you how.

Offering a prescriptive, step-by-step method that's going to work for everyone seems a futile exercise, as we all use email differently in our personal and professional lives. Instead we've come up with some of our favorite techniques and apps to take charge of your incoming mail—you can pick and choose the ones that work best for you and your workflow.

Where possible we've tried to talk in generic terms that will work for any email client and service, though we have included some more specific tips too. Let's get to it.

The Strategies

You're the boss: The amount of time you spend dealing with email shouldn't be dictated by how many messages you get, or how many times your phone buzzes. It should be set by how much time you need to spend on the task. An hour a day? 30 minutes? Recent figures suggest we spend about a quarter of our office time working with emails, so anything under this and you're already ahead of the game.

The trouble with checking your email so often is that it usually involves just that—checking—without any kind of process or action. Not only does it take up time, it distracts you from whatever you were doing beforehand. You need to set parameters for yourself, and stick to them.

Cut down on the number of times you look for new messages and decide how much of your life you want to spend in your inbox. Anything you don't deal with in that time, mark as read and archive (or delete). Close down Outlook. Shut that Gmail tab. Disable sync on your phone. And don't check email first thing in the morning if you can possibly help it.

Write long emails elsewhere: When you really need to invest time and energy in an email (for job applications, perhaps, or writing to a loved one on the other side of the world), use a program other than your email client (such as a plain text editor). This avoids the urge to check for new messages or browse through the latest bulletin from your favorite band every time you pause for thought. You can then paste in the fruits of your labors the next time you're due to venture into your inbox.

Be ruthless: It's tempting to hang on to emails and archive them away just in case they're ever needed, and because... well... why not? But a bloated archive means slower searches and more chaff to wade through. By all means hang on to those flight booking details and messages from your sister, but you don't really need to know what Amazon's daily deals were this time last year. Delete, unless you have a good reason not to, and be especially dismissive of emails that aren't from a real person. Speaking of which...

You don't have to read emails: This is why the "mark read" option and the "subject" and "sender" columns were invented. Before you even open up an email and waste valuable seconds scanning it, you already have a good idea of whether it's actually any use. If you don't get around to these lower-level messages, don't let them languish. Just trash them. The world won't end, and if it does, inbox management systems are the least of your concerns. If your email client has a preview feature, turn it on.

Use the alternatives: It's a safe bet that your office fire alarm system is a loud ringing bell rather than a company-wide email shot. Likewise: Don't use email when there are better alternatives. For example, get into the habit of speaking to colleagues face-to-face or using Twitter to replace all of those email newsletters you're subscribed to.

Email has become the standard tool for everything from family announcements to software bug reports, but the more you make use of more efficient alternatives, the quieter your inbox will become.

Filter in rather than filter out: Many of us have gotten used to filtering out emails we don't want to see. If you get a lot of incoming messages, it's a better idea to filter in the really important stuff. In Gmail, for example, you can mark messages from particular senders as important as part of the Priority Inbox feature. In Outlook, you could create a filter to flag emails from your most significant contacts. Focus your efforts on these important, filtered-in emails, and if you have any time left over give the whatever other messages you receive a quick once-over before archiving or trashing them.

Guard your email address: Restrict access to your address and make it harder for people—marketers, especially—to reach your inbox. You could direct people (be they colleagues, clients or friends) to an alternative platform such as Twitter or Skype if they want to get in touch with you, perhaps.

Here's a tip for Gmail: you can insert dots anywhere in your address and it won't make any difference, so mr.smith@gmail.com and mrsmith@gmail.com lead to the same account. Use one alternative in all of the trivial Web forms you fill out and you can set up a filter to archive or mark as read all of the messages coming in to this address.

Turn off and unsubscribe: You might be surprised at just how effective clicking on a few "unsubscribe" links can be, and how much of a difference removing a few subscriptions can make. Turn off those newsletters you never read, and while you're at it, disable the notifications you get from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (you already check those sites often enough, right?)

The Apps and Extensions

ActiveInbox (Chrome/Firefox): An extension for Firefox or Chrome, ActiveInbox gives you a set of tools to help you treat emails as tasks and power through them more efficiently. Prioritize your most important messages, group emails together based on projects, and tick off emails that you've dealt with.

Boomerang (Chrome/Firefox/Safari): Boomerang plugs right into your Gmail inbox to give you a set of extra features, including the ability to schedule when emails are sent, and the option to have follow-up reminders appear if someone hasn't got back to you. If you can't deal with a conversation right away, you can snooze it for later. Visit the official website to download the extension for your browser.

Customizable Tabs (Gmail): Gmail's latest trick might also be its handiest; a new layout for web and mobile that just started rolling out this week automatically sorts your emails into tabbed categories like Primary (actual acquaintances), Social (Twitter, Facebook, etc. updates), Promotions (all your Groupon offers), and Updates (order confirmations, flight information, and the like).

You can also customize both how many tabs you use from one to five, and designate certain senders to always appear in a given tab. All Gmail users will get the tabbed view eventually, but if you want to try it sooner, watch for the Configure inbox option to appear in your Gmail settings menu.

Dextr (Android): Dextr works on the 'filter in' principle. It helps you set up a whitelist of people you want to hear from, and all other emails are hidden away ready to be checked when you have time to deal with them.

Still in its beta development stage, you can pick up Dextr for $1 on Google Play.

Mail Pilot (iOS): Mail Pilot turns your inbox into a to-do list, although if that sounds like something that would work for you, you'll have to lay down $15 to get it from the App Store. You can mark emails as done, assign deadlines to them, and get on top of your messages from the comfort of your iDevice. It's a hefty price to pay, but no one ever said Inbox Zero comes cheap.

Mailbox (iOS): You've no doubt seen plenty of news about Mailbox, most recently bought by Dropbox. Inbox zero is the goal of the app, and it helps you achieve this by simplifying your Gmail account—messages can be dealt with, archived, deleted or snoozed until a later date, enabling you to work through the most important emails and leave the rest.

Mailbox is free from the App Store (and there's no waitlist any more, either).

Priority Inbox (Gmail): Gmail's Priority Inbox feature launched in 2010, and if you're not using it then it's worth a look. It attempts to automatically weigh up which emails are most important to you, letting you focus on these and catch up on the rest another time. The best part is you can train Gmail to recognize important and unimportant messages so it gets better over time, and the Priority Inbox feature can be carried over to Gmail's iOS and Android apps so you only see significant messages. Log into Gmail to use it.

Sanebox (multiple): Sanebox works with just about any email service on just about any platform, and does a similar job to Gmail's Priority Inbox. It will only interrupt you with really important emails (and you can help train it to recognize these) while everything else is archived for later. An easily digestible summary can be sent as often or as rarely as you like. Prices start from $2.04 a month, but you can sign up for a free trial from the official website.

Scoop (Web): Scoop gathers up all of those daily emails that pepper your inbox and summarizes them into an easily digestible one-shot. All of the magic is done in the background, so you don't have to train the service, but you can tweak Scoop's settings if it gets something wrong. All processed emails are archived immediately and labelled as "Scooped" so you can check them if required. More information can be found at the Scoop website. Unroll.me does a similar job.

Triage (iOS): Triage is another app hoping to simplify the process of wading through your emails. Incoming messages can be archived, replied to or kept in the inbox for dealing with later, all with a flick of your finger. The app is available for $2 from the App Store.

As ever, we'd welcome your input in the discussion below if you've found a killer app or philosophy that has helped you keep a clean and tidy inbox.

SMS fees are pure profit for the cellular carriers. They’re basically free for carriers to send, but they can often cost ten cents or more per message. It costs more to send a text message on Earth than it does to transmit data from Mars.

Given these extortionate fees, it’s no surprise that a variety of apps are springing up that allow people to send text messages for free and avoid the carriers. The most popular, WhatsApp, claims it has more users than Twitter and sends more messages than Facebook worldwide.

Why Do Texts Cost So Much, Anyway?

The truth about text messages is that they don’t put any additional load on a cellular network. They’re sent along with other data that’s already being used with the wireless network. A text is basically free for a carrier to send.

So why do carriers charge so much for text messages? Well, for a similar reason that carriers add so much profit to roaming fees — because they can get away with it.

If your plan gives you unlimited text messages — something that sounds nice, but is basically free for the carrier to offer so they bundle it to justify high monthly fees — you probably don’t care about getting text messages for free. However, if you use a prepaid carrier with pay-per-use billing, using one of the apps below can help you and your friends save money, texting entirely for free when you’re on Wi-Fi.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp, the most popular free messaging app, piggybacks on top of your existing phone number and contacts. When you install WhatsApp on your phone, you’ll have to confirm your phone number by receiving a text message. After you do, WhatsApp will associate the app with your current phone number on its servers. It will scan your phone’s address book and look at the phone numbers you have associated with your contacts, displaying your contacts that are using WhatsApp. If they’re using WhatsApp, you can message them via the WhatsApp app. WhatsApp functions similarly to SMS, but it sends messages via the Internet — so it will be completely free if you’re connected to Wi-Fi or will only cost you a small bit of data if you’re on a cellular network.

The interesting thing about WhatsApp is how low-friction it is. You don’t have to tell your friends to sign up for WhatsApp accounts and then friend each other, as you do on other messaging services. If someone in your address book is on WhatsApp, you’ll know. If you already text with people, you can just ask everyone to download WhatsApp and you’ll see them in WhatsApp without any friending required.

US Only: Google Voice

If you’re in the USA, you can sign up for a free Google Voice number. Using the Google Voice mobile app or even Google Voice on the web, you can send free text messages. Like with WhatsApp, if you send a text message via Google Voice while not connected to Wi-Fi, the app will use a bit of data instead of counting as a text message. One nice thing about Google Voice is that it isn’t mobile-only. You can also send and receive text messages on the web,.

You can even port your existing phone number to Google Voice, using it as your main number to send and receive calls from.

iOS Only: Apple iMessage

Apple’s iOS devices and Macs include iMessage. If you’re using iMessage and send a message to another iMessage user, iMessage will send that message over the Internet (via Wi-Fi or a data connection) rather than sending it as a traditional text message. This all happens automatically — the app routes as many messages as possible via the Internet rather than sending them as traditional SMS messages.

If you’re using an iPhone and send a message to another iPhone user, that message will be probably transmitted over the Internet rather than as a traditional SMS message. However, this requires your contacts have Apple devices — if they don’t, you’re better off using a cross-platform app like WhatsApp.

Other Services

The above options are far from the only SMS-replacement services. There are a wide variety of services,some of which are more popular in individual countries. Kik, Viber, Line, Facebook Messenger, BlackBerry Messenger (soon to be available for iOS and Android), Google Hangouts — the list goes on and on.

Unfortunately, while SMS was a service that allowed people with different phones and apps to interoperate with each other, all of these messaging apps are confined to their own little world. If you want to message someone on WhatsApp, you’ll need to be using WhatsApp. If you want to message someone via Google Hangouts, you’ll have to do it via the Google Hangouts app.

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If you really want to send free texts between your social circle or family, you may want to decide on an app that you’ll all use. Thanks to the carriers’ greed, the world of mobile messaging services has become fragmented.