New to Joomla? what are the common 3rd party components, modules, mambots you may need

Some remarks:

• (OSS) mean an open source program, most of the time using GPL license
• (previously xxx) mean that the team has decide to abandon Mambo for #Joomla development
• These are the 3rd party Tool I highly recommend You to install for Joomla/Mambo. These are the 3rd party softwares I prefer and aren’t in any case a MUST.
• The list isn’t in any means complete, there is more than 713 projects host by Joomla forge and. 12000 users creating projects daily and even more on MamboForge (1411 projects and 47177 users)

On Your server

Components

Components are Joomla’s content elements or applications that usually in the center of the the main content area of a template.  This depends on the design of the template in use. Components are core elements of Joomla functionality.  These core elements include: Banners, Contact, News Feeds, Polls and Weblinks. Members of the Joomla Community are producing third party Mambo components on a continuous basis.

You Want to	I recommend	Alternatives
Have a Guestbook, so visitor can tell You how much they appreciate your work.	AkoBook AkoBook, is the oldest but still one the best… Note: I’ve write 3 extensions for avoiding spam: com_securityimages, com_hashcash, com_bayesianSpamfiltering
Let users leave comment on Your articles	Akocomment, is the oldest but still one the best… Note: I’ve write 3 extensions for avoiding spam: com_securityimages, com_hashcash, com_bayesianSpamfiltering
Let users download some resources and files	Docman
Organize file on your server, rename, edit, delete like in a file explorer	joomlaXplorer
A better WYSIWYG editor	I personally use HTMLArea3 XTD  but I also like FCKeditor (Demo)
A forums	I like JoomlaBoard (previously simpleboard) from Two Shoes M-Factory but there is version of PHBB for Joomla
You want to open a SHOP	I recommend VirtueMart (previously MamboPHPShop)
You want to produce and maintain an  online communities	Community Builder A Joomla/Mambo component and 3 collaborating core modules An environment for producing and maintaining online communities on Joomla/Mambo driven sites A system that provides user profile capabilities for Joomla/Mambo sites A different registration/login process for Joomla/Mambo sites (supports 4 different workflows) An environment that enables Mambo/Joomla site administrators to create user profiles that capture extra information from users (with the creation of new fields) that can be presented and organized in tabs (again defined by the administrator) A framework for other Joomla/Mambo components to integrate with user profiles Note: support for com_securityimages, built-in
You want to display a gallery of pictures	I really like  ZOOM gallery even if  some release are not sooo stable… 🙂

also look at Joomlaforge and browse the project list….

Modules

A ‘window’ or section of the screen used to present some form of content in the website front end. Modules are normally positioned around the edges of the screen, while the main content is displayed in the center. Examples of modules include the built-in search box, polls, and who’s online. Each menu is also displayed through a module.

Most of the time, major components You may install come with one or more modules to increase their power or visibility. You will have to install them separately. For example VirtueMart has more than 12 official modules! I can not provide a list, but I recommend You to type “Joomla modules” in Google

Mambots

A Mambot is a small, task-oriented function that intercepts content before it is displayed and manipulates it in some way. Joomla provides a number of Mambots in the core distribution. Email cloaking, smileys support, geshi …

also look at Joomlaforge and browse the project list….

Templates

The ‘presentation layer’ of a Joomla website. A template usually consists of a file called index.php, which defines the general layout of all of the site’s pages, and a CSS (cascading style sheet) file to define the formatting to use. You can apply different templates to different menu options if you want to create a different look and feel for certain pages. The template governs where the different module positions will be physically displayed on the screen, what fonts and colors the site will use, etc.

Please use Google to locate free templates provider like:

• www.joomlahut.com 
• http://www.joomlaos.de/joomla_template_galerie.html (405 GPL templates)

or commercial one

On Your PC

Resources

http://www.joomlaos.de/option,com_remository/Itemid,41/func,select/id,91.html