Top 3 Add-ons in ExpressionEngine
Even if you are a whiz at using ExpressionEngine, you can benefit from it a lot more if you download a few add-ons for it. Add-ons can be designed specifically to facilitate the content creation process, help with the website SEO and internet marketing strategies – or some other functions for those using this CMS.
Here are some of the best ones that are a hit with seasoned developers and newbies alike:
1. Matrix
As the name implies, this add-on is a field type that can aid you in making matrices for your content. As an administrator you can use this to add several rows for similar content to streamline content management and without duplicating fields or using difficult templates. Some of the things you can do with it is rotating a hero section on a homepage or a personalized field that requires an image, title, URL and link text. You can also allow other admin to make hero messages as per requirement and allot minimum and maximum figures.
2. Playa
You can use Playa to make multiple relationships between entities, which was not possible before the add-on came into existence. Before, users could only add a single relationship per field in ExpressionEngine. In other words, if you wanted say 4 related products, you would need to create 4 fields to accommodate them. Playa made this simpler and also offers advanced filtering. This function has since been integrated into the CMS but skeptics say that Pixel & Tonic’s interface is more intuitive and neater. Whichever you choose, you can download the add-on even if you don’t have a developer license.
3. Wygwam
This is a or What-you-see-is-what-you-get field type and was created when this CMS’s text editor was based on text only and users only could only use buttons for rendering, italics and bold. Needless to say, it did not offer a good user experience. However, it is relatively easy to use since it is based on Office ’97’s text editor that most admins can master within minutes of using. It is also useful for web masters who can use it to write CSS and XML files to determine how it will look and what kind of code it can produce. Wygwam can also be used to make several editor layouts from a single site. However, it is not ideal for touch screen users since like most WYSIWG , the code can be a bit strange.
However, despite this, and like other add-ons such as Assets, it comes in third place in our list of preferred Joomla add-ons.
Even though Joomla is a good content management system with several integrated tools that can make content creation easier, a little help from useful add-ons will only facilitate your experience with the CMS. Compared with the likes of other great CMS such as WordPress and Drupal, Joomla.com can also help you create free hosted websites using a slightly modified version. All you have to do is register and your website will be online in no time. The above-mentioned add-ons will prove added bonuses.
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