Finally, Joomla 2.5 has been released, so have you found suitable extensions for your Joomla site? Let's take a look at Joomla Extensions Directory (JED) which contains a number of extensions ready for Joomla 2.5. In this blog post, we will introduce you to some outstanding popular Joomla extensions based on the following criteria:

• High rating (4.5 stars and above)
• At least 50 votes from users
• Good reviews from users
• Supports Joomla 2.5.

JCE - Editor

• Compatibility: Joomla 1.5, 1.6, 1.7 and 2.5
• License: GPLv2 or later
• Reviews: 370+
• Votes: 780+
• Website - Download

JCE Toggled Editor

Introduction

In this tutorial, we will show how to convert a Joomla 1.5 template to Joomla 2.5 template. We will take default Joomla 1.5 template "rhuk_milkyway" as an example and convert it to Joomla 2.5 native compatible template.

Note:

This tutorial covers only template conversion process, so it's assumed that you already have Joomla 2.5 website installed or converted from version 1.5.

There are 5 steps involved.

1. Make a copy all Joomla 1.5 template files
2. Edit files structure
3. Edit file "templateDetails.xml"
4. Edit file "index.php"
5. Install and test converted Joomla 2.5 template

The release of Joomla 2.5 is a step which marks a big and long-term change in the Joomla Community. No matter whether you have used Joomla before or are just learning about it now, you will find it necessary to know more about the latest version: Joomla 2.5. All of the basic questions you wonder about will be fully answered in this article.

What does Joomla 2.5 allow the user to do?

If you thought that only developers can build and run a website, it’s time to forget that. With Joomla 2.5, you are provided with a foundation framework to build your own website. If you’ve dreamed of having your own website, nothing can prevent you from trying to build a good one with Joomla. Joomla gives you all the things you need, and now you just need to learn how to master Joomla.

Joomla 2.5 is the latest version of Joomla; it was released in January, 2012. This is a long-term version in comparison with Joomla 1.6, Joomla 1.7. Basically, there are no big changes in this current version compared to the previous version. The interface as well as the basic structure of Joomla 2.5 is similar to Joomla 1.7, but there are some new features added in. These improvements give you a new experience to perfect your website with every passing day. The latest version of Joomla 2.5 is Joomla 2.5.4 (at the time of writing this article).

I/ Joomla! 2.5

Joomla! have just released version 2.5.3. The functionality of Joomla! 2.5 made me feel very interested, and today I'm writing a blog post about the new features. My blog might not mention all of the new features, but I'll try to write this blog within my knowledge.

II/ New features in Joomla! 2.5

There are many articles written about the new features in Joomla! 2.5. I will go straight to the important functions which I think are very useful for users in Joomla! 2.5. This blog post includes two parts: one for Beginners and one for Advanced Joomla! Users.

A. For beginners

Smart Search

Besides the regular Search module, Joomla! 2.5 now supports Smart Search functionality. For content to be displayed in search results it must first be indexed by one of the Smart Search plug-ins. After the indexing of the content is completed, you can set configuration to display Smart Search via Module Manager with a module named "Smart Search Module".

Figure 1: Smart Search component

Joomla 2.5, with many new features and upgrades, comes soon after the release of versions beta1 and beta2. JoomlaShine is glad to announce that we have already tested our JoomlaShine template in Joomla 2.5 and will support it when it is officially released.