It's been out a while now but only recently have I felt ready to make the transition to Joomla 1.6. I have been super excited about the move because it opens up some fun extra functionality that 1.5 lacked. We are, I think, at a point where migration from 1.5 to 1.6 is possible in most cases because what I believe to be some of the main 3rd party extensions are finally 1.6 compatible! So here again is my list of a few of the nicer primary 1.6 3rd party extensions that make my Life easier in developing the average website (just some little updates from the original post):

5 Must haves:

1| JCE Editor: Really head and shoulders above the generic editor. Makes managing content a breeze (or as easy as it can be with a CMS) for the end user. Remember two things in regards to this: 1) After installing you need to “activate” JCE in the Joomla! configuration tab as it is still set to the default Tiny editor. 2) Make sure to go to Components > JCE Config. > Groups > default > Edit parameters > file directory path to set the images path to whatever you want (most likely images) as it makes it easier for your users to interact with the CMS. Now 1.6 compatible yay! It is a Beta but seems to run smoothly.

2| RSForms! Pro: A useful and flexible forms module that does pretty much anything you want a form to do. Stores user data in an exportable db too which is nice. Now 1.6 compatible yay!

3| Content Version Control: Ever finish a beautiful new Joomla! content install phase only to discover an inexperienced client has accidentally deleted some of your hard work? Well with Fatica’s version control plugin you can simply revert to an earlier version of the article! (A must have if you don’t want to have to rollback your hosting!). Now 1.6 compatible yay! I'm surprised J1.6 doesn't have some kind of version control yet.

4| Akeeba core backup: Useful for backing up or even transferring an entire site from one Joomla! install to another. Apparently supports tranfers to legacy versions of Joomla! also which is nice. Now 1.6 compatible yay!

5| WordPress for Joomla!: Packed with all of WordPress’s professional blogging tools, you can now harness the power of WordPress without ever leaving Joomla!. Now 1.6 compatible yay!

5 Nice extras perhaps not needed for every site:

6| Frontend-User-Access: to manage user groups and content access: Perhaps not needed anymore due to improved 1.6 user management?

7| Docman: If you need to allow your users to upload, download, do just about anything with files and folders then Docman is a god option. The older version is now free and still extremely useful for a lot of projects. Not yet 1.6 compatible :( but we will just use 1.5 for any Docman focused projects - we'd LURV to see this made 1.6 ready though!

8| Virtuemart: A very serious useful E-Commerce option and really the primary option where Joomla! is concerned. The nice thing about this plugin is that you can use it simply as a catalog or as a more advanced onine shopping cart. Not yet 1.6 compatible :( but we will just use 1.5 for any eCom focused projects - we'd LURV to see this made 1.6 ready though!

9| Mobile Joomla: It’s crazy how easy this app makes producing a mobile friendly version of your website. Easy to install and takes care of most of the heavy lifting associated with making a mobile website. Not yet 1.6 compatible :( but we will just use 1.5 for any Mobile focused projects - we'd LURV to see this made 1.6 ready though!

10| JomSocial: Considering Joomla! has utilized JomSocial for a new “Joomla! People” community, I think it is fair to say that the JomSocial squad have produced an excellent package enabling Joe Bloggs to create his own social network! If you are looking to create your own social network, this one is hard to beat! Now 1.6 compatible yay!

Thanks guys!

David McKillen

Web Strategies Inc.