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Joomla Developer Manual

Manual Index

Developer: Required Software

Introduction

This tutorial is aimed at newcomers to Joomla code development who wish to prepare extensions on a local computer. There are other tutorials that cover setting up a Joomla environment on remote or local hosts, and setting up on a local host to contribute to core code. This tutorial should be self-contained and a little simpler.

To get started on your own laptop or desktop computer, which usually has the domain name localhost, you will need to install a standard set of separate items of software. The group is often referred to as a stack and may be named LAMP, MAMP or WAMP, where the letters in the acronym mean the following:

  • L, M or W platform. L for Linux, M for Mac and W for Windows.
  • A: Apache web server. Other web servers are available but newcomers should stick with Apache.
  • M: MySQL or MariaDB database. Other databases are available but newcomers should stick with one of these. The two are interchangeable
  • P: PHP scripting language. A widely used scripting language. There is no alternative as Joomla is coded in PHP.

In addition to thee items you will also need:

  • phpMyAdmin a tool used for managing MySQL and MariaDB databases.
  • xDebug an extension to PHP used for debugging.

Software Stacks

If you are have a Linux or Macintosh computer you will find that you can install each of the required software items independently from the remote repositories that support your OS. It is possible they may be installed and ready to go. To test, open your favourite web browser and enter localhost in the url bar. You will see a placeholder page or connection error page.

If Apache is not running on your computer consider using a package that installs everything you need in one go. See the XAMPP tutorial for one way to do that on all three common platforms. Otherwise, install the items individually. Look up how to do that for your platform, there is too much variation to cover here.

Web Server Document Root Directory

On installation, your Apache server will have set a default document root directory. The location varies from platform to platform and you either need to know where it is or create a virtual host to put it where you want it. Example default locations:

  • Mac OS: "/Library/WebServer/Documents"
  • Linux: /var/www/html
  • Windows: ...

To avoid later problems with file permissions it is often convenient to create a virtual host to point to the public_html directory of your own file space. That could be /home/username/public_html on Linux or /Users/username/Sites on Mac.

This is an example Mac virtual host entry in file /etc/apache2/vhosts/localhost.conf:

<VirtualHost *:80>
        DocumentRoot "/Users/username/Sites"
        ServerName localhost
        ErrorLog "/private/var/log/apache2/localhost-error_log"
        CustomLog "/private/var/log/apache2/localhost-access_log" common
        <Directory "/Users/username/Sites">
            AllowOverride All
            Require all granted
        </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Alternatively, you may be able to create a symbolic link from the default document root to the public_html folder of your personal file space. That you would access in your browser using localhost/username.

Database Setup with phpMyAdmin

Before installing Joomla you need an empty database ready to be populated. You also need a database user.

  • Start phpMyAdmin Enter localhost/phpmyadmin in your browser url bar.
  • Login Depending on how it was installed, the username will be root or admin and ther may or may not be a password.
  • Select Databases from the phpMyAdmin Home page top menu.
  • Create Database / Database name enter a short name in place of the hint, For example, j4test123.
  • Collation Select utf8mb4_unicode_ci from next to bottom of the drop-down list.
  • Select Create to create the database.
  • Select User Accounts from the Home top menu.
  • Select Add User Account from the New panel beneath the list of current users (if any).
  • Enter a Username this can be a short name you will need later during Joomla installation. Example: j4test.
  • Select Local from the Hostname field list. It will set localhost in the adjacent value field.
  • Generate a password using the Generate button. You need to copy the generated value and paste it into a text editor for use later. You do not need to remember it. 8t8mGQq.gw[]8lp(
  • Save skip the Database for user and Global privileges sections of the form. The Go (Save) button is at the bottom,
  • Select Database with the User account selected, if necessary via Home / User accounts / User name.
  • Add privileges select the database you created in the previous step. Select Go to save.
  • Database specific privileges Check all and then Go to save.

That is it! You can now logout of phpMyAdmin. Did you forget to write down the database user password? Go back and edit the User account you created to change it.

Install Joomla

This is just a short summary of the steps involved:

  • Download the latest full version from the Joomla Downloads page: https://downloads.joomla.org/
  • Save the download file in your Document root or a subfolder of the root.
  • Uncompress the download file in place. Some operating systems will create a folder with the same name as the download zip file, minus the zip. That is good - you can just rename the folder with a short name and move it if necessary. Other operating systems will unpack the files and folders in place. That is bad if you have put the download in your root folder where there are existing folders with other sites. You will have to create a short folder name and move all the newly extracted files and folders into it. The objective is to end up with a folder that you can access with your web browser via localhost/j4test.
  • Install point your browser at localhost/j4test and fill out the installation forms.

Configuration

Some suggestions:

  • Global Configuration / Site / Cookie / Cookie Path set to the folder containing you joomla installation (/j4text).
  • Global Configuration / System / Debug / Debug System set to Yes.
  • Global Configuration / System / Session Lifetime set to 60 - otherwise get logged out whilst thinking.
  • Global Configuration / Sever / Server / Error Reporting set to Maximum.
  • Plugin System - Debug / Plugin / Refresh Assets set to No unless you are debugging css or javascript.

That is it. If Joomla is working you are ready to use it for extension development.