Open Source Support Desk

During the international Joomla Event JandBeyond in Germany three weeks ago I had the pleasure to present a talk on how to choose a Joomla Extension. I am happy to share the slides here with you now.

In short, my overall conclusion is: 'Less is More'. We see broken sites every day and have to tell clients every day that the fact you could install an extension doesn't mean you should!

1. There is a cost to free software: integration, maintenance and support
2. With the ever growing importance of Going Mobile, the vast majority of extensions does not play well with the small screen sizes
3. Extensions add up to a certain level of security risks.
4. Code conflicts doesn't contribute to User Experience
5. Never use a live website to test extensions, setup a seperate site for development and testing!
6. Extensions that aren't used will be forgotten easily.
7. The fact that the software is 'open sourced' doesn't mean the source is reliable. Only use proven technology from reliable sources on business critical applications!