How Different Joomla Modules Work

Joomla! comes with many installed modules. A Joomla! installation can have a number of modules that are installed but have not been included as functional content elements. This means that a module extension can be installed by the Extensions Manager, but not yet included to be part of a web page.

A module must be selected for inclusion to appear on the Module Manager.

1. Archived Articles: Shows a list of the articles that have been archived (stored and not visible on the site) and categorized historically.

2. Articles Categories: Displays a list of the categories that contain articles. This is referred to as the Category List view.

3. Articles Category: Displays a list of articles from one or more categories, and is referred to as the Category Article view.

4. Articles Newsflash: Displays a fixed number of articles from one or more categories by designation.

5. Articles Related: This module displays other articles that are related to the one currently being viewed, and associated via keywords or tags.

6. Banners: The Banners module displays the active banners from the banners component.

7. Breadcrumbs: This module displays the viewing location information for the current web page, and the pathway of links clicked to get there. Generally referred to as a "pathway" or as "breadcrumbs".

8. Custom HTML: Allows content to be displayed in module positions that contain custom HTML code, which allows creation and placement of special coded content.

9. Feed Display: It can generate RSS feed display in module positions on the website with many controls on how or where the display is to appear.

10. Footer: This module appears in the footer position on the website and typically contains copyright and other information, such as how to contact the website manager.

11. Language Switcher: If multi-languages are included and invoked, changes the front-end display to another language.

12. Latest News: Displays the latest content published on the website by designation of Category and Order.

13. Latest Users: Shows which users have logged into the website recently.

14. Login: Standard user front-end login module.

15. Menu: Can be a menu of any type or style and can be located in any module position desired. You can set it to hide or display based on which menu link item is associated with it.

16. Most Read Content: Shows which website content has been read the most. This is sometimes referred to as the "most popular" content on a website.

17. Popular Tags: Shows the tags most frequently used to find site content.

18. Random Image: Displays a random image array and is linked to an image folder that is controlled in the Media Manager.

19. Search: This is the basic site Search module you use to find website content.

20. Similar Tags: Displays a list of links to other content items that have similar tags.

21. Smart Search Module: This is a search module for the Smart Search system, which allows highly specific or narrowed Search items to be used.

22. Statistics: The Statistics module shows information about your webserver installation together with statistics on the website users, number of articles in your database, and the number of weblinks.

23. Syndication Feeds: Smart Syndication module that creates a syndicated feed for the page where the Module is displayed.

24. Weblinks: This module displays weblinks from a category defined in the Weblinks component.

25. Who's Online: This module displays the number of anonymous users (Guests) and registered users (logged in) who are currently accessing the website.

26. Wrapper: This module shows an iFrame window to specified location. The iFrame allows including a URL page from another website.