419 CHAPTER Working With the Administrator Modules IN THIS CHAPTER Reviewing the Module Manager Reviewing the Administrator modules T he Joomla! system includes both Site modules and Administrator modules. The former provide output for the site visitors, and the lat- ter help create the administration interface and provide the back end of the site with useful functionality. Because they tend to supply critical functionality, Administrator modules are rarely touched by programmers and system administrators. The vast majority of people use the default configuration. However, a closer examination of the modules shows that some benefits can be gained from learning to manage your site’s Administrator modules. Reviewing the Module Manager All the Joomla! modules are controlled through the Module Manager. The manager contains all the default Joomla! modules, together with any third- party modules you may have installed. To get started, go to the Extensions menu and select the option Module Manager. The Module Manager loads in your browser window, as shown in Figure 18.1. Part III: Working with Components, Modules, and Plugins 420 FIGURE 18.1 The Joomla! 1.5.x Module Manager, showing the Administrator modules. The toolbar at the top of the Module Manager provides quick access to the following functions: l Enable: Select one or more modules from the list, then click this icon to enable them. l Disable: Select one or more modules from the list, then click this icon to disable them. l Copy: Select a module then click this icon to make an exact copy of the module. l Delete: Select one or more modules from the list, then click this icon to delete the module. l Edit: Select a module from the list then click this icon to edit the module’s details. l New: Click to add a new module. l Help: Click to access the online Help files related to the active screen. Below the toolbar are two text links: the link labeled Site shows you the Site Module Manager, dis- cussed previously. The Administrator link displays the Administrator Module Manager. Chapter 18: Working With the Administrator Modules 421 Located below the two links and above the list of modules are five sorting and searching tools to help you manage long lists of modules: l The Filter field on the left works like a search box. Type a word or phrase into the text box and then click Go. The page reloads and displays the results of the search. To clear the screen and return to a full listing, click the Reset button. l Select Template: Shows a list of the available templates. Select a template name from the combo box to restrict the search to the modules associated with that template. Note that for the administrator system, there is only one template in the default installation. l Select Position: Sort and display the modules according to the position they are assigned to. l Select Type: Filter the list by the module type. l The Select State filter on the far right allows you to filter and display the modules according to whether they are published or unpublished. The Select State filter provides an easy way to identify all modules that are currently active on the site. To reset this filter, change the combo box back to the default setting. Tip The Select Position, Type, and State filters can be combined to further refine the view of the list of modules. The main content area of the screen contains a list of all the modules in your Administrator Modules Manager. The columns provided are: l # : An indexing number assigned by Joomla! This number cannot be changed. l Checkbox (no label): Click in a checkbox to select a module; this is needed if you want to use several of the toolbar options, referenced above. l Module Name: This field displays the full name of the module. Click on the name to edit the module’s details. l Enabled: A green checkmark in this column indicates that the module is published. The field shows a red X if the module is not published. Administrators can toggle between the two settings by clicking the icons. l Order: The numbers in this field affect the ordering of the module on this list. Change the numbers and click the Save icon at the top of the column to reorder the module. You can also click the up and down arrows to reorder the list. l Position: The module position to which the module is assigned. A single module can only be assigned to a single position. l Pages: An indicator of which pages the module has been assigned to. The only options here are All, meaning to all pages in the administration system, None, which means the module has not been assigned to any pages and Varies, which means the module is assigned to some but not all the pages. To change these settings, edit the module. Part III: Working with Components, Modules, and Plugins 422 l Type: The module type of the module. Each module can be of only one type. l ID: The system-generated user ID number. Tip The information you see on the Control Panel screen is provided by various Administrator modules. On the right side of the Control Panel, the Welcome to Joomla! message, Logged in Users, Popular, Recent added Articles, Menu Stats, and Joomla! Security Newsfeed are all created by Admin modules. The ordering control on the Administrator Module Manager interface makes it possible for you to unpublish or reorder these ele- ments. For example, you may want to unpublish the Welcome to Joomla! message, or move the Joomla! Security Newsfeed to the top of the list where it is always visible. At the bottom of the screen, below the content area, is the Display # option. Change the value in the combo box control to alter the number of modules that are displayed on the page. The default value can be altered by changing the List Length option on the Global Configuration Manager. Creating new modules All modules are created from the Module Manager. Simply click the New icon at the top toolbar, and the system loads a new window in the browser. The new window requires you to specify the module type you want to create. Select one of the 20 choices and the page reloads, showing you the proper module creation dialogue, like the one in Figure 18.2. The module types all share com- mon elements, as discussed next, but each also has unique parameters that must be considered. Note If you have installed additional extensions to your site, it is possible you may also see additional module types that allow for the creation of new modules beyond the system defaults. Copying modules You can make exact copies of modules by using the Copy command on the Module Manager. This function is very useful if you need to run multiple instances of the same module type; in this case the Copy function can save you time configuring your new modules. To copy a module, follow these steps: 1. Open the Module Manager. 2. Select the module you want to copy by clicking in the select box next to the Module Name. 3. Click the Copy icon. The system makes a copy of the module and places it in the Module Manager with the name “Copy of (original module’s name).” Chapter 18: Working With the Administrator Modules 423 FIGURE 18.2 The New Module Dialogue, in this case, for creation of an Administrator module. This shows the default system options. Editing and deleting modules Existing modules can be edited from the Module Manager. To edit a module, either click the mod- ule name in the Module Manager, or select the module on the list and then click the Edit icon on the Module Manager toolbar. Regardless of which method you use, the system opens the Edit Module dialogue. The Edit Module dialogue is identical to the New Module dialogue, with the same fields and requirements. To make changes to a module, simply alter the desired fields in the Edit Module dialogue and then click the Save or Apply icon on the toolbar. Any changes you make are applied immediately. To delete one or more modules, follow these steps: 1. Open the Module Manager. 2. Select one or more modules. 3. Click the Delete icon. Part III: Working with Components, Modules, and Plugins 424 Caution Deleting Admin modules is rarely appropriate. All the existing module types provide functional output in the default system. Some of the modules are essential, and the deletion of the module may make administering the site difficult. Note that the Login module cannot be disabled or deleted. In general, you should be cautious about deleting modules because there is no confirmation dialogue — clicking the Delete icon immediately deletes the module! Reviewing the Administrator Modules The workspace of each Administrator Module dialogue is divided into three areas: Details, Menu Assignment, and Parameters, as shown in Figure 18.3. The Details and Menu Assignment portions of all the module types are identical. Unlike the site modules, the Administrator modules cannot be assigned to specific pages, hence the Menu Assignment area serves no function. Moreover, there are few options associated with the Administrator modules, and those few that exist are found in the parameters area of the module dialogue. FIGURE 18.3 A typical Administrator Module dialogue, in this case, the Logged In Users module. . loads in your browser window, as shown in Figure 18 .1. Part III: Working with Components, Modules, and Plugins 420 FIGURE 18 .1 The Joomla! 1. 5 .x Module Manager, showing the Administrator modules. The. Manager. The columns provided are: l # : An indexing number assigned by Joomla! This number cannot be changed. l Checkbox (no label): Click in a checkbox to select a module; this is needed if you. long lists of modules: l The Filter field on the left works like a search box. Type a word or phrase into the text box and then click Go. The page reloads and displays the results of the search.