Joomla is a very popular CMS platform these days, and one major reason behind its success is the flexible plugin system, which allows anyone with the right skillset to extend their Joomla-based website and add various types of new functionality to it. And for those who don’t feel up for the task, the open market for the platform provides plenty of pre-made plugins that are ready to integrate into one’s project. When you need advanced functionality that’s tightly specialized for a certain task though, you will have to get your hands dirty and write your plugin.
Basic Technological Prerequisites
Some level of technological aptitude will be necessary to get the job done. Programming should go without saying, although the level of coding required for a Joomla plugin tends to be lower. You’ll usually work with a lot of boilerplate code that follows a specific format and you’ll be filling the gaps most of the time. The rest can be learned through comprehensive documentation. You should also know a thing or two about databases and online technology in general. Keep in mind that this is a rapidly evolving field, so you might need to bring yourself up to speed if your knowledge isn’t more recent.
Do You Need Advanced Education?
While programming is a skill that you can largely learn yourself, it can pay to go through a comprehensive course. Sure, you can find a lot of that information online already, but having it presented to you in a condensed manner and giving you a proper run through all the needed knowledge can save you a lot of time and effort. If you feel like you can see yourself doing this a lot in the future, then it might be worth your time and resources to go the extra mile. But if this is just a one-off thing, it may not be such a smart investment.
Know How to Scout Your Market
Making plugins for your personal use boils down to the technological aspect and nothing more. But if you are trying to make something public that will be used by many, there’s a lot more ground to cover. You must learn how to explore the market and check if the idea is even viable in the first place. This doesn’t just mean doing something that nobody has done before. If the plugin you have in mind doesn’t exist, you must verify that there’s no good reason for that.
And like many similar things, try to get involved in the community as much as you can! There are many people out there banging their heads against the same problems that you will eventually face, and it can feel much less daunting if you share your experience with them. Just remember to approach those discussions respectfully, instead of fishing for free information or practically asking people to do the job for you – this will not take you far.