If you ask Google to define the word ‘jargon’, you’ll find the following: “Jargon is terminology that relates to a specific activity, profession or group. Much like slang it develops as a kind of shorthand, to quickly express ideas that are frequently discussed between members of a group. In many cases a standard term may be given a more precise or specialized usage among practitioners of a field.”
So Joomla jargon will be the words or phrases that you will see us use, stuff unique, and sometimes not so unique, to Joomla. Understanding this jargon is of vital importance to you in your plan to understand and work with Joomla. So here is a list of frequently used Joomla jargon.
Component
Components are the applications that add functionality to your website. You should think of Joomla as your OS (Operating System), and the software programs are the components that you install and configure on top of your OS. Each component has a specific function.
Modules
Modules are normally supplied with a component, assisting you in displaying part of the component on the side of your website. Modules can have various different functions, and you might find modules that work on their own, without a component, like a RSS module that pulls info from another website to display it on yours.
Mambots
The functions of mambots can be classed into one of the following
* Content
* Editors and editors-xtd
* System
Mambots are used to assist in extending the functionality of a component within the Joomla website. Search mambots are used to make components searchable by the core search component. It’s not everyday that you will come into contact with mambots, and they are normally included along with components for installation and then you forget about them …
Plugin
Some components don’t make use of mambots, but have a special area where you can install plug-ins for the component (An example would be community builder and JCE).
Extentions
A broader term used to refer to either a component, module or mambot.
Template
A template is the design and lay-out you choose for your website. Joomla uses templates and there are literally thousands of free templates to choose from. You can also buy a template from professional designers.
Think of a template as the case and trimmings you choose for your Joomla website. All your components and modules can be placed inside this box, and you can change things like module positions, font colors and graphics on the template to better suite your needs.
Content
When we refer to content, we normally refer to text content, articles or information to be loaded in a component. When creating content/articles, you will be doing that within sections and categories.
Section
A section is the highest level in the Joomla! content organization hierarchy. Sections contain categories, and categories contain content items.
Category
A category is the second level in the Joomla! content organization hierarchy. Each content item that you create must be saved within a category and section.
