One of the best features added to the recently released Joomla 3.2 is the Install from web feature. Other CMS's like Wordpress have had something like this for some time of course, but this addition is feature rich and more importantly easy to use.

What is the Install from the web feature

The Install from Web tab in the Joomla installer draws in listings from the Joomla Extension directory and displays them in a easy to use interface in the Joomla administrator. You can sort the listing by popularity, rating, name, updated or newest ordering, find the extension you want to install and install it with a few mouse clicks.

Our free Joomla extensions use the install from web feature.

Our free extensions including JB Type, Fitvids, jFlickr, Hoverbox and Captify Content are now all compatible with the Install from web feature and can be installed on your site with a few clicks in your Joomla 3.2 site admin. There are currently some pull requests in the Joomla CMS repo that will make it easier to list commercial listings and as soon as those changes are made we will also make the Zentools module available via this method.

How do you use the Install from Web feature in Joomla 3.2

In fresh installations of Joomla 3.2 the Install from web feature is already installed and available via the extensions manager. If you have updated your Joomla installation from a previous version of Joomla then the first time you visit the extension manager you will see a message saying that Install from web is available to install.

1. Navigate to the extension manager in your Joomla administrator.

1. If you have updated from 2.5 or 3.1 you will see a message like the one in the screenshot below. To enable the Install from web feature you need to click the button that says Install from web tab

   

2. Once the install from web tab is installed the "Joomla App store" should be available in the extension manager. The screen displays the highest rated / most popsular extensions across the extension directory by default. You should recognise a few of those listed below.

1. In this example we are going to install our JB Type plugin. So the first step is to search for it by typing the name in the search bar. You can also use the vertical menu of category listings in the sidebar however with 7400+ extensions it's easier to find the one you are looking for by doing a quick search.

1. From here you need to click on the listing and it will take you to the extension details page. This page details the item's description, releae details, rating and also provides links to the developers website, the Extension directory listing page and importantly the installtion button.

1. So to install the extension simply click on the install button. This is a pretty important step in my opinion because you can verify the file that you are actually downloading and installing. Once you have verified the link, click the install button.

1. Installation success. If the process has gone smoothly then the extension should be installed on your site.

A game changer for Joomla?

Personally I think this is a bit of a game changer for Joomla. As I mentioned before it's not a revolutionary feature when compared to other CMS's, however there is a visual flair to the Install from web tab that makes it a much more user friendly and information rich experience. I think this alone differentiates it from the other offerings and makes Joomla a much more user friendly platform.

Also I imagine that the Install from Web feature has the potential to change the way that developers start working on new sites. I know a lot of developers like to start projects from an already prepared installation based (usually packaged using Akeeba backup) but this may well change their workflow when starting new projects.

Using the Install from Web feature means that you will always have the latest available version of the extension installed on your site in a matter of a few clicks, with a lot more control over which extensions you start the site build with.

We're hoping to make Zentools available via this feature soon so stay tuned for more developments on that front.

Until then enjoy using this awesome new Joomla feature.

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