Step 3: Add extras through components and extensions
You've just taken a few giant leaps! You have customized the layout of your new site, framed a structure, and have created and published the contents to match. If this were a static HTML site, this would be about it. This would be all there was to a website. In Joomla!, however, the fun has just begun. You can now add functional or even just plain cool extras. For this, you'll use Joomla!'s components and extensions—that's where the Joomla!'s real magic power lies.
Components and extensions, what's the difference?
To manage Joomla!'s extended functionality, you'll find yourself working with both the Components and the Extensions menu in the backend. The main difference between these two is that components are more powerful and more complex; they're applications within the Joomla! application. Modules are smaller add-ons that can contain all sorts of dynamic information. Sometimes, components and modules are designed to work together.
So, in spite of the differences between components and extensions, behind the scenes, they generally serve the same purpose. Both enhance your site's functionality.
Tip
For now, we'll be using components and extensions that are included in the default Joomla! setup. Later, you'll probably want to add other extensions. There are thousands of them available on the Web, providing whatever functionality you might want to add to your site. You'll learn more about adding extensions in Chapter 10.
Add a contact form
Let's take care of one of the last items on your client's wish list and enable site visitors to get in touch through a contact form. Adding this form will take two steps. First, we'll create a contact; after that, we'll create a menu link that displays a contact form.