Articles, categories, menus, modules: what is what?
Articles hold your text, categories group them, menu items turn them into pages with an address, and modules are the blocks around the page (menus, banners, latest news).
The four building blocks
Almost every Joomla site is built from the same four pieces. Once you know them, the administrator makes sense.
What each one does
- Articles hold your content: text, images, links. Content → Articles.
- Categories group articles (for example News, Services, Help). Categories can be nested. Content → Categories.
- Menu items turn content into pages with an address: one article, a list of a category, a contact form… Menus → [your menu].
- Modules are the blocks around the main content: the menu itself, a search box, latest news, a footer text. Each module sits in a position of your template. Content → Site Modules.
How they fit together
You write an article and put it in a category. A menu item shows that article (or the whole category) as a page. Modules appear around it, on the pages you choose in each module's Menu Assignment.
Good to know
- Templates decide how all of this looks; extensions add new types of content, such as forms or shops.
Sources
- Articles and Categories – Joomla User Guide
- Adding a Menu Item – Joomla User Guide
- Adding a Module – Joomla User Guide
