Joomla! 1.5 Module Configuration

This tutorial will take you through the general configurable options available in all Joomla! modules. Understanding these settings are essential to your productivity on your Joomla! site.

Below is a list of items that we shall explain:

1. Title
2. Show Title
3. Position
4. Module Order
5. Access Level
6. Published
7. Menu Links
8. Module Class Suffix

• Title: is the option which controls what word(s) appear in the Module Header. Each Module has a heading such as Latest News. Be aware that the greater the length of the title, the greater the possibility of distorting your template layout, which is dependent on which template you use and the options chosen.
• Show Title: is the setting which defines if the Title as defined above appears in the Module Header. Either select Yes or No to chose the necessary option. Disabling the Module Header is greater for slideshows or modules created for visual presentation.
• Position: is the value which controls the location of the Module. The positions themselves are defined in the template. You can view your site's module positions by adding

  ?tp=1

  after your website url. Many template providers, such as RocketTheme provide a map of the available module positions on our demo site and in our Template Overview pages. If the position is not available on your template, it will not appear on your front-end.
• Module Order: defines the arrangement of modules with the given position. For example, if you had 3 modules in the left position, module order defines which module appears first, second and third. Simply select a value from the dropdown menu to select your desired module order
• Access Level: controls who can view the module. In Joomla!, you have 3 options, these are:
  
  1. Public
  2. Registered
  3. Special
  When ever you choose an access level, the ranks above that access level also can view the module. For example, if I chose Public, all registered and special users could view it as well. Public describes visitors/non members; Registered defines members of your sites and Special is the term given to members with more control on your site such as an Administrator.
• Published: allows you to choose whether your module is activated on your site or not. If the setting is no, it will not appear on your front-end but still be configurable in the back-end.
• Menu Links: is the option which controls where the module appears in respect to menu items. If I select all, the module will appear in the defined position on every page. However, if I select Wrapper and select multiple items with the Ctrl keyboard button, the module will only appear on those chosen pages.
• Module Class Suffix: allows you to place a suffix your template provider has coded into your template. Many RocketTheme templates have module hilites that use the suffix of

  -hilite for example.

These settings appear in all site modules in Joomla. In the majority of circumstances, you will find more options which are specific to that module.