Joomla Interview Questions

A list of top frequently asked Joomla interview questions and answers are given below.

1) What is Joomla?

Joomla is an open source Content Management System (CMS) written in PHP. It is a very popular content management system along with WordPress and Drupal. It facilitates users to develop online applications and websites. Joomla is built on a model-view-controller (MVC) web application framework.

2) What are Mambots in Joomla?

A Mambot is a small, task-oriented function or mini program or plugin that is responsible some actions like modifying content before display, extending the site search, adding core functionality etc. Mambots are renamed plugins in Joomla 1.5.

3) What are the advantages of using Joomla?

Following are the main advantages of using Joomla:

• It is an open source software and absolutely free.
• A lot of free components are available in extensions.joomla.org/
• Permission and user role are inbuilt with Joomla.
• It facilitates its users to update old Joomla from the admin section.
• There are a lot of templates available free of cost and can apply with one click.

4) What is position in Joomla?

A site template displays the pages in a specific format. It divides the pages into a number of things like nav, header, footer, top, bottom, module1, etc. This is known as position.

5) What are Joomla modules?

Modules are small content items that can be displayed anywhere through the module manager in the administrative interface. They are used to extend the capability of Joomla by adding new functionalities to the software. Modules are installed in the admin section.

A Joomla module may include:

• Main menu
• Top menu
• Template chooser
• Newsflash
• Polls
• Hit counters etc.

6) Which files are required to build module in Joomla?

• mod_module_name.php
• mod_module_name.xml

7) In which types of websites, Joomla is frequently used?

Joomla is frequently used in following type of websites:

• Corporate web sites or portals
• Corporate intranets and extranets
• Online magazines, newspapers and publications
• Non-profit organizational websites
• Community-based portals
• Personal or family homepages

8) What are the components in Joomla?

Components are the core elements of Joomla's functionality. These core elements include content, banners, contact, polls, news feed and web links.

9) What is favicon? How can you change a favicon in Joomla?

A favicon is an icon associated with a particular website, generally displayed in the address bar of the browser. You can change, manage and upload a new favicon by accessing global configuration site tab.

10) How can you make a menu link that is not clickable?

You can use a link type separator/ placeholder to create a menu link that is not clickable (doesn't connect to anything).

11) How Joomla is different in comparison to Drupal and WordPress?

Joomla, Drupal and WordPress all are content management systems written in PHP. Let's check the differences among them.

WordPress:

• It is best for beginners.
• Easy to use.
• It works well for small to medium sized websites & blogs.
• Provides a lot of themes, plugins and widgets.

Joomla:

• It is good for E-commerce type of sites, but requires at least some level of technical coding.
• It is user-friendly but more complex site development option.

Drupal:

• It is the most difficult one, but also the most powerful CMS.
• It requires some expertise and experience to operate.
• It is used to develop most advanced websites.

12) What is the prefix that Joomla uses by default?

Joomla have prefix like jos_.

13) What are the most useful and advanced features or add-ons in Joomla?

Joomla framework has some very useful and advanced features that facilitate developers to build some specific applications and websites very easily and quickly. These are:

• Inventory control systems
• Data reporting tools
• Application bridges
• Custom product catalogs
• Integrated e-commerce systems
• Complex business directories
• Reservation systems
• Communication tools

14) In which files database setting are stored in Joomla CMS?

In Joomla CMS, database setting are stored in the root directory under configuration.php.

15) Why the SSL enabled option is set to on?

If you set the SSL enabled option to on then the link from the menu will begin with an "https://".

16) Which option would you choose to set the site meta-data for the installed website?

You have to choose "Global Configuration" to set the site meta-data for the installed website.

17) Which file is loaded by index.php file to provide a menu bar to the administrator interface?

Toolbar.php file is loaded by index.php file to provide a menu bar to the administrator interface.

18) Can you control the desktop application with Joomla?

Most of the CMS (Content Management Systems) are considered as web applications but desktop applications can also be communicated with Joomla server by following some standard protocols.

19) What are content items, section, and categories in Joomla ?

Contents are the HTML pages that are managed by admin and may have rich text, CSS, JavaScript, Images, links to internal or external pages.

Contents are categorized in categories, for example X category have zero or more contents page and categories are again classified in section, means 1 section have zero or more categories.

20) How can you install an extension in Joomla?

If you want to install an extension in Joomla. You have to go to the backend of your Joomla site (administration), select installer and then type the extension which you want to install i.e. component, mambot/plugin, module, site template etc.

Follow these steps:

• Browse the package file.
• Click the install button.
• Follow the instructions.

For large extensions, automated installer cannot be used. In this case, follow these steps:

• Unzip all the files locally.
• Transfer the files to a folder in the install directory.
• Then use installer to install the file.