Over the last few years, we've helped a lot of people fix problems with their Joomla sites.
Although the problems sound different, we've found that many can be fixed with only six solutions.
If you implement all six, you'll have a safer, healthier and faster Joomla site.
Here are those six solutions.
Before you start
- Before you do any of the steps in checklist, please make a backup of your site.
We recommend Akeeba Backup and have instructions here on how to create a backup and copy of your Joomla site.
Akeeba Backup is also covered in our comprehensive Joomla security class.
Solution #1: Update everything
Your first step is to update everything on your site.
For Joomla itself and for all good extensions, updates will be clearly visible when you login as in the image below.
- To update Joomla, go to Components > Joomla! Update.
- To update extensions, go to Extensions > Manage > Update.
Solution #2: Fix permissions
Incorrect file permissions are a really common reason for installation and operational errors.
We highly recommend Admin Tools, not just to fix permissions problems, but also for many other Joomla health issues. The free Core version is good enough for many tasks. The commercial Pro version is even better. Admin Tools is covered in our Joomla security class.
- After installing Admin Tools, go to Components > Admin Tools. You'll see two buttons:
- Permissions Configuration: this allows you to set the permissions you want for your files and folders. This tutorial explains what all the permissions are, but the short version is that we recommend 755 for folders and 644 for files. We recommend paying particular attention to your configuration.php and index.php files. Those should be set as low as 444, if possible.
- Fix Permissions: this allows you to apply the permissions you chose in the Permissions Configuration area.
Solution #3: Clean the /tmp/ directory
We recommend using Admin Tools to solve another common installation problem: the /tmp/ directory.
The /tmp/ directory is short for "temporary". This is where Joomla stores files temporarily during the installation process. It's not uncommon for files to become stuck in this directory or for so many files to be stored here that the site runs of our space.
Admin Tools allows you to delete all the files in this directory.
- Go to Components > Admin Tools
- Click Clean Temp Directory button.
Solution #4: Check for database errors
After updating Joomla or installing extensions there are sometimes database changes to make.
- Go to Extensions > Manage > Database > Fix to make any available changes.
Solution #5: Reinstall the Joomla core files
This option allows you to install a clean copy of Joomla and so solve any problems with corrupted or missing files.
- Go to Components > Joomla! Update > tab Upload & Update.
- Click Browse and select your Joomla installation pack.
- Click Upload & Install.
- On the next screen, enter your Joomla administrator details and click Install.
- After a short onscreen activity, you should see "You site has been updated" message:
Solution #6: Fix the assets table
By default, PWT ACL is an extension that allows you manage user permissions easily.
However, the developer of PWT ACL found that there were often database issues to fix before permissions would work correctly. This is particularly true on sites that have been migrated from Joomla 2.5 to Joomla 3.
So, PWT ACL has an option which allows you to fix the "assets" table in your database. This solves a lot of common permission problems.
What's Next?
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