Joomla for Website Development: Content, Design and the Work Behind a Site

The October 2026 release

Joomla 6.2, named Mwezi, arrived on 13 October 2026. Its changes reach across article editing, navigation, extension updates and mail authentication. TinyMCE gained closer integration with Joomla’s Media Manager, a unified link selector and a quicker Read More control. The editor also uses Joomla’s configured text filters by default. Introductory and full-text article images gained separate class fields for the image and its surrounding figure.

Extension developers can identify an update as security-related and assign a severity, with flagged releases highlighted in the administrator interface. Generic XOAuth2 support changes SMTP authentication: a mail provider issues a refresh token that Joomla exchanges for short-lived access tokens. Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are relevant examples. These are specific additions to the publishing and administration system, alongside a reorganization of the JavaScript and CSS build pipeline.

Source: Joomla · 2026-10-13

Hosting requirements before design

Joomla is a server application with requirements for PHP, a database and a web server. The Joomla 6 requirements table sets PHP 8.3.0 as its minimum and supported floor. MySQL 8.0.13 is the corresponding database minimum when MySQL is used. MariaDB and PostgreSQL are alternative database choices, with their own minimum and supported versions. A site needs one suitable database system, rather than all three.

The documentation separates recommended, supported and absolute minimum versions. Those columns have different meanings: an installation that meets an enforced minimum does not necessarily use the environment the project recommends. Required PHP modules include JSON, SimpleXML, DOM, zlib and GD, together with the appropriate database driver. Apache’s rewrite module is optional for rewritten SEO URLs. A hosting specification can therefore identify runtime versions, enabled modules and URL-rewriting support before template work begins, rather than describing the package only by storage capacity.

Source: Joomla · documentation

Installation connects the files and database

A Joomla installation combines the downloaded application files with a database connection and an initial Super User account. The web installer collects the site name, administrator login details and database settings. The database hostname, database name, username and password are separate from the administrator credentials used to sign in to the CMS. A database may run on the same machine or at a hostname supplied by the hosting provider.

The installer also supplies a table prefix, allowing Joomla’s database tables to be identified together. Administrators can install additional language packs and choose defaults for the site and administration interfaces. The production installation removes the installation directory after completion. The installed files can sit at the web root or in a subdirectory; that location changes the address through which visitors reach the site. These are deployment settings within Joomla, distinct from the articles, categories and template choices configured afterwards.

Source: Joomla · documentation

Articles form the content library

Articles hold the text, images, links and other material published through Joomla’s content component. They can appear individually, within category layouts or as featured content. Publication controls include scheduling, author details and metadata, while formatting tools cover headings, lists, tables, images and links. Long articles can use pagination or a Read More break to separate an introduction from the remaining content.

The administrator’s article tools also include filters, archiving, version history and previews. Archiving retains older material within the system; deleting it is a different operation. An article’s stored content is therefore managed independently from the particular page layout through which a visitor encounters it. A content-rich company site can work with a library of articles and their publication settings, rather than treating every edit as a new page of template code. Joomla’s article interface also exposes access and permission settings for the people maintaining that library.

Source: Joomla · documentation

Categories and tags organize different relationships

Categories arrange articles into a hierarchy. A category can contain articles and further subcategories, so a publication can group material under subjects and narrower branches. Each article belongs to one category. Joomla supplies an Uncategorised category for material that has not been assigned to a more specific one. Category Blog and Category List menu items provide different public views of a category’s contents.

Tags add another way to group material across that hierarchy. An article about a particular technology can remain in its primary category while carrying tags that connect it with other relevant subjects. Category settings include a parent category, access level, publication status and language. A category can also have a description and image used in its presentation. The distinction between one category assignment and multiple tags is part of Joomla’s content model, and affects how an editorial team classifies and retrieves its growing collection of articles.

Source: Joomla · documentation

Menus connect content with public navigation

Joomla separates a menu from the module that displays it. A working menu involves a menu structure, a menu module and menu items pointing to content. The item type determines what opens: possibilities include article views, contact pages, user functions and Smart Search. Menu items can be ordered and nested into parent-child relationships. The menu module controls where the resulting navigation appears within the template.

Navigation can also be split across several areas of a page. Primary items may appear in one position while a separate module displays relevant child items elsewhere. This is different from creating a separate article category for every visible navigation link. The content organization and the visitor-facing menu are related configurations with different functions. Joomla’s available menu techniques include archived-article lists and restricted administrator menus, providing ways to expose selected tasks or collections without changing the underlying articles themselves.

Source: Joomla · documentation

Templates and styles shape the presentation

Joomla includes Cassiopeia for the public-facing site and Atum for administration. Templates define layout, colors, module positions and other visual elements. They can be customized or replaced. Cassiopeia has built-in style options, and a user.css file can provide additional styling. Template styles can also be assigned through menu items, allowing selected pages to use a different presentation from the site’s default.

Several customization mechanisms operate at different levels. An override changes the output markup of an extension, while alternative layouts let particular component or module instances use another arrangement. Template configuration describes available positions and options. Branding includes the site logo and browser icons, rather than only the colors of article text. For website development, these are separate controls over the shell, component output and individual display choices. Content can remain in the article system while its surrounding presentation is changed through the template layer.

Source: Joomla · documentation

Child templates retain a relationship with their parent

A child template inherits its parent’s files except where the child contains a file with the same name. The child’s own files are not overwritten by Joomla updates. A developer can therefore add a custom stylesheet, replace a template file or introduce different module positions within a child, while continuing to inherit the other files from Cassiopeia.

The administrator interface includes a Create Child Template action. The resulting template has its own templateDetails.xml file, and its style can be assigned to a menu item. Joomla’s worked example uses a separate user.css file to give selected pages a different color treatment. This arrangement provides a defined location for the changed files and a continuing connection with the parent template. It also makes the extent of customization explicit: inherited files continue to come from the parent, while matching files in the child supply the replacement output or styling.

Source: Joomla · documentation

Extensions have distinct jobs

Extensions add functionality to Joomla, and both core and community packages use this system. A component provides the principal application output associated with a menu item. A module supplies a smaller block that can appear on multiple pages. A plugin extends behavior or modifies content.

Extensions may be free or paid. Joomla offers several installation routes, including package upload, installation from a folder or URL, and Install from Web. The Joomla Extensions Directory is the project’s official extension catalogue. The available extension types describe different responsibilities rather than interchangeable ways to build the same screen. A website specification can consequently identify which requirements belong in the core configuration, which need a component, and which involve a module or plugin. Joomla’s extension guidance also includes checking for vulnerable packages and removing them when necessary.

• Templates define presentation.
• Language extensions supply interface translations.
• Libraries provide functions used by other extensions.
• Packages group related extensions.

Source: Joomla · documentation

JavaScript and CSS have a dependency system

The Web Asset Manager organizes scripts and styles used by extensions. An asset definition can include its name, file location, version, dependencies and HTML attributes. Definitions may be placed in a joomla.asset.json file. Registration makes an asset known to the system; marking it as used tells Joomla to include it and the dependencies it requires in the page.

When Joomla renders the relevant script and stylesheet elements, it accounts for dependency order. Version information also helps browsers request a changed asset instead of continuing to use an older cached copy. An extension can register and use assets through the manager’s methods, and asset definitions can be overridden by name. This is a concrete part of extension development: a page’s CSS and JavaScript requirements are described together with their relationships. The mechanism predates Joomla 6, while the 6.2 release separately reorganized the project’s asset build pipeline.

Source: Joomla · documentation

Viewing access and editing permission are separate

Joomla’s access-control system distinguishes what a visitor can see from what a user can do. Viewing access levels apply to objects such as articles, menu items and modules. Action permissions govern operations such as creating, editing, deleting or changing publication state. Permission settings exist at global, component and individual-item levels, with inheritance between levels.

User groups collect people with particular responsibilities. The standard Author group, for example, can create articles and edit its own work; broader editorial and administrative groups have additional permissions. A Super User has responsibility across the system. Custom groups can restrict an administrator to a specific area, such as article management. A restricted module and a restricted editing action are consequently different configurations. This distinction allows an organization to describe reader access and staff responsibilities separately, including teams that contribute material without controlling every site setting or every stage of publication.

Source: Joomla · documentation

Workflows describe the publishing process

Workflows add stages and transitions to the life of an article. A stage records where the item sits in a process; a transition moves it between stages. These workflow records are separate from the familiar publication states of unpublished, published, archived and trashed. A category can select a particular workflow, allowing different content groups to follow different processes.

Transitions can change publication or featured status and send notifications to specified users or groups. Permissions determine who may execute a transition. Joomla’s workflow plugins implement actions such as publishing and notification, so the visible editorial process has configured operations behind it. For example, a preparation stage can lead to a review stage before a permitted transition publishes the article. That is an example of the available configuration, rather than a mandatory process for every site. Workflows can be enabled or disabled in the article options without automatically changing the existing publication state of each item.

Source: Joomla · documentation

Multilingual publishing includes editorial work

Joomla’s core provides a framework for multilingual sites. Language packs translate the interface strings supplied by Joomla, including built-in labels and messages. They do not translate the articles, menus or other content written by the site owner. Third-party extensions also need suitable language files for their own interface text. A multilingual website therefore has both software-language configuration and separately maintained editorial material.

Content associations connect corresponding articles, categories, contacts, menu items and news feeds across languages. Language overrides replace individual strings without editing the original language files. Those mechanisms address different jobs: an association links corresponding content, while an override changes a piece of interface wording. A site can install additional languages, organize language-specific menus and categories, and connect the matching items. The amount of translation work still depends on the actual content being published. Installing a language pack alone does not produce a translated website or create equivalent articles in the other language.

Source: Joomla · documentation

Search needs indexed content

Smart Search uses a prepared index, scoring and filters to retrieve Joomla content. Its plugins cover articles, categories, contacts, news feeds and tags; other components may provide their own plugins. The enabled plugins determine which content can enter the index. An administrator can run indexing through the backend, while command-line indexing provides another route for larger collections.

Visitors reach search through a module or a menu item. Administrators can configure filters and taxonomies, such as category, author or content type, for particular search instances. Testing includes confirming that expected terms actually return the relevant indexed items. One documented behavior also matters for restricted collections: search suggestions can expose terms from restricted content even when the underlying items are not displayed in results. Joomla’s guidance describes disabling suggestions when that disclosure is a concern. Search configuration therefore includes its content scope, entry points and suggestions, alongside the visible search box.

Source: Joomla · documentation

The major release introduced changes below the surface

Joomla 6.0 launched on 14 October 2025 alongside Joomla 5.4. Automatic core updating arrived in those releases, following the secure-update work introduced with Joomla 5.1. Joomla 6 also expanded version history to include custom-field data, added notes and numeric custom fields, and updated TinyMCE from version 6 to version 8. The numeric field includes optional currency formatting.

The release also introduced a Cassiopeia child template with additional color and font controls. A Backward Compatibility 6 plugin shipped in Joomla 5.4 so that it would already be present when a site upgraded to Joomla 6. These changes concern different layers of an existing website: stored content history, editing tools, template configuration and extension compatibility. The October 2025 release provides part of the technical background for a project using Joomla 6.2 a year later, rather than treating every Joomla 6 feature as new in the latest minor release.

Source: Joomla · 2025-10-14

Minor updates and major upgrades follow different paths

Joomla 6.1 arrived on 14 April 2026. It added a visual workflow editor, media custom-field options for audio, video and documents, module version history and multilingual module associations. A proof-of-work CAPTCHA was another addition, operating without an external account or API. These features extended tools already present in the CMS rather than replacing its article and template model.

Automatic updating supports patch and minor releases from Joomla 5.4 and 6.0 onwards. It does not perform major-version transitions, which still require an administrator action or an external tool. The distinction is operational: moving within the Joomla 6 series follows a different update path from moving between major series. For an existing website, the installed core version and the compatibility of its extensions remain identifiable parts of the upgrade work. Joomla’s release announcements distinguish those paths, even when the new interface makes routine updating less visible to editors.

Source: Joomla · 2026-04-14

Recovery remains part of running the website

A Joomla website has two principal parts to back up: its directory tree and its database. Files include application code, uploaded media and template customizations. The database holds much of the changing site content. Backing up only one part leaves the other outside that recovery copy. Joomla’s backup guidance describes combined backup tools as well as separate file archives and database exports.

Akeeba Backup is one documented extension route for producing a combined copy. Hosting tools, database export utilities and filesystem archives provide other methods. Restoring or copying a site also requires the destination environment to meet Joomla’s requirements and the database connection settings to match the restored installation. A recovery plan can identify the latest usable copy of both parts and include a restoration check in a separate location. The development work then remains connected to the website that staff continue to edit, update and maintain after its initial launch.

Source: Joomla · documentation