Version: 2.1
Introduction
Content Pager is a powerful Joomla module that displays articles in an attractive slider format with popup lightbox functionality. Perfect for showcasing featured content, recent articles, or category-specific content in an engaging and interactive way.
Key Highlights
- Full Joomla 4, 5 & 6 Compatibility
- Article Slider with bxSlider Integration
- Professional Popup Lightbox (Fancybox)
- Flexible Category Filtering
- Multiple Ordering Options
- Customizable Display Options
- Advanced Styling Controls
- Slider Configuration Settings
- Plugin Event Support
- Performance Optimized
- Security Enhanced
- Fully Responsive Design
Perfect For:
- News websites
- Blog sites
- Magazine sites
- Corporate sites
- E-commerce sites
- Portfolio sites
- Educational sites
- Any site displaying articles in a slider
Installation
Downloading the Extension
After purchasing the extension, you will receive a download link for the module package.
Installing the Module
- Log in to your Joomla backend
- Navigate to Extensions > Manage > Install
- Click on the "Upload Package File" tab
- Select the module installation file (
mod_pager_X.x.zip) - Click "Upload and Install"
- Navigate to Extensions > Modules
- Click "New" and select "Content Pager"
- Configure and publish the module
A success message will be displayed once the installation is complete.
System Requirements
- Joomla 4.x, 5.x, or 6.x
- PHP 7.4 or higher
- jQuery (included with Joomla)
- Articles in com_content
Module Settings
Access module settings by navigating to Extensions > Modules, create or edit a "Content Pager" module.
Category Selection
- Category: Select one or more categories to filter articles (default: All)
- Use multi-select to choose multiple categories
- Articles from selected categories will be displayed
Ordering Options
- Order Results: Choose ordering method
- Published Date (default)
- Created Date
- Modified Date
- Ordering
- Hits
- Random
- Order Direction: Ascending or Descending (only for non-random ordering)
Content Settings
- Trigger Plugin Events: Enable/disable plugin events for custom fields (default: Yes)
- Number of Articles: How many articles to display (default: 5, range: 1-100)
Styling Settings
- Show Article Title: Enable/disable title display (default: Yes)
- Show Readmore: Enable/disable read more link (default: Yes)
- Show Category: Enable/disable category information (default: Yes)
- Show Author: Enable/disable author information (default: Yes)
- Show Date: Enable/disable date information (default: Yes)
- Number of Characters: Character limit for intro text (default: 100, range: 10-10000)
- Read More Text: Custom text for read more link (default: "Read More")
- Width of Popup: Popup width in pixels (default: 600, range: 200-2000)
- Height of Popup: Popup height in pixels (default: 400, range: 200-2000)
- Border: Customizable border settings (width, style, color, radius)
- Header Color: Color for article titles (default: #333333)
- Read More Color: Color for read more links (default: #539DE8)
- Intro Text Font Size: Font size for intro text (default: 12px)
Slider Settings
- Maximum Slides: Number of slides visible at once (default: 2, range: 1-10)
- Minimum Slides: Number of slides on mobile (default: 2, range: 1-10)
- Each Slide Width: Width of each slide in pixels (default: 300, range: 100-2000)
- Minimum Height: Minimum height of slider in pixels (default: 600, range: 100-2000)
- Auto Slide: Enable/disable automatic sliding (default: No)
- Speed of Slide: Transition speed in milliseconds (default: 500, range: 100-5000)
- Pause Time: Time between slides in milliseconds (default: 3000, range: 500-30000)
- Move Slides: Number of slides to move at once when navigating (default: 2, range: 1-10)
Advanced Settings
- Additional CSS: Add custom CSS for advanced styling
Configuration Guide
Step-by-Step Configuration
Step 1: Create Module Instance
- Navigate to Extensions > Modules
- Click "New" button
- Select "Content Pager" from the list
Step 2: Configure Article Selection
- Select one or more categories from the category dropdown
- Choose ordering method (Published Date recommended for latest articles)
- Set sort direction (Descending for newest first)
- Set number of articles to display (recommended: 5-10)
Step 3: Configure Display Options
- Enable/disable title, read more, category, author, and date
- Set character limit for intro text (recommended: 100-200 characters)
- Customize read more text if needed
Step 4: Configure Popup Settings
- Set popup width (recommended: 600-800px)
- Set popup height (recommended: 400-600px)
- Adjust based on your content length
Step 5: Configure Slider Settings
- Set maximum slides (recommended: 2-4 for desktop)
- Set minimum slides (recommended: 1-2 for mobile)
- Set slide width (recommended: 300-400px)
- Set minimum height (recommended: 400-600px)
- Enable auto-slide if desired
- Set transition speed (recommended: 500-800ms)
- Set pause time (recommended: 3000-5000ms)
- Set move slides (recommended: 1-2 for smooth navigation)
Step 6: Customize Styling
- Configure border settings if needed
- Set header and read more colors
- Adjust font size for intro text
- Add custom CSS if needed
Step 7: Assign and Publish
- Select module position
- Set menu assignment
- Set access level if needed
- Publish the module
Best Practices
- Use 2-4 slides maximum for best visibility
- Keep intro text to 100-200 characters for readability
- Enable auto-slide for dynamic content display
- Test on different screen sizes
- Use appropriate popup dimensions for your content
- Enable plugin events if using custom fields
Features
Core Features
- Article Slider: Beautiful horizontal slider using bxSlider with smooth animations
- Popup Lightbox: Professional Fancybox integration for viewing full article content
- Category Filtering: Filter articles by one or more categories
- Multiple Ordering: Order by Published Date, Created, Modified, Ordering, Hits, or Random
- Display Controls: Show/hide title, read more, category, author, and date
- Styling Options: Customize borders, colors, fonts, and dimensions
- Slider Configuration: Control slides, speed, auto-slide, and dimensions
- Plugin Events: Optional support for custom fields and plugin content
Slider Features
- Responsive Design: Adapts to screen size with configurable min/max slides
- Auto-Slide: Optional automatic sliding with customizable timing
- Smooth Animations: Configurable transition speeds and pause times
- Pagination: Built-in pagination controls for navigation
- Adaptive Height: Automatically adjusts to content height
Popup Features
- Lightbox Overlay: Professional overlay with opacity control
- Full Content Display: Shows intro text and full article content
- Customizable Dimensions: Set width and height for optimal display
- Smooth Animations: Professional opening and closing effects
Styling Features
- Border Customization: Width, style, color, and radius control
- Color Control: Header colors, link colors, and text colors
- Font Control: Font size for intro text
- Character Limit: Control intro text length
- Custom CSS: Additional CSS support for advanced styling
Compatibility
- Joomla 4, 5 & 6 Compatible: Full support for all modern Joomla versions
- Modern PHP: PHP 7.4+ syntax and features
- Future-Proof: Regular updates and security patches
FAQ
General Questions
Which Joomla versions are supported?
- The module is fully compatible with Joomla 4.x, 5.x, and 6.x
How do I create a content pager module?
- Go to Extensions > Modules > New
- Select "Content Pager"
- Configure categories, ordering, and display options
- Set slider and popup settings
- Assign to module position and publish
Can I display articles from multiple categories?
- Yes, use the multi-select category field to choose multiple categories
- Articles from all selected categories will be displayed
- Ordering applies across all selected categories
Configuration Questions
What's the best number of slides to show?
- Recommended: 2-4 slides for desktop
- 1-2 slides for mobile devices
- Too many slides can make content hard to read
- Too few slides may not utilize space efficiently
Should I enable auto-slide?
- Yes, for dynamic content display and better engagement
- Set pause time to 3000-5000ms (3-5 seconds) for good balance
- Users can still manually navigate slides
- Auto-hover pause prevents interruption when users are reading
What character limit should I use for intro text?
- Recommended: 100-200 characters
- Shorter (50-100) for compact displays
- Longer (200-300) for detailed previews
- Adjust based on your slide width and design
- Character limit accurately counts actual text characters (HTML entities are decoded first)
- Text is truncated at word boundaries when possible for better readability
Display Questions
How does the popup work?
- Click on article title or "Read More" link
- Popup opens with full article content (intro + fulltext)
- Popup dimensions are configurable
- Background overlay prevents interaction with page
Can I customize the popup appearance?
- Yes, set popup width and height in module settings
- Use Additional CSS field for advanced styling
- Fancybox CSS can be overridden with custom CSS
What happens if an article has no intro text?
- Full text will be displayed in the popup
- Slider will show truncated full text
- Character limit applies to available text
Technical Questions
How does category filtering work?
- Select one or more categories from the dropdown
- Only articles from selected categories are displayed
- Articles must be published and accessible
- Language filtering applies if multilingual is enabled
What does "Trigger Plugin Events" do?
- Enables content plugins to process articles
- Displays custom fields, voting, and other plugin content
- May slightly impact performance
- Disable if not using custom fields or plugins
Can I use custom CSS?
- Yes, use the "Additional CSS" field in Advanced Settings
- CSS applies to the module container
- Use module ID (#cpager-wrapX) for specific targeting
- Override default styles as needed
Troubleshooting
Common Issues and Solutions
Module Issues
Module Not Displaying
- Ensure the module is published
- Check module position is correct for your template
- Verify menu assignment includes the current page
- Check that module is assigned to correct user groups
- Clear Joomla cache
- Verify categories have published articles
No Articles Displaying
- Check that selected categories have published articles
- Verify articles are accessible to current user level
- Check article publish dates (not in future)
- Verify language settings if multilingual
- Check number of articles setting is greater than 0
- Module will display "No articles found" message if no articles match criteria
Slider Issues
Slider Not Working
- Check that jQuery is loaded (included with Joomla)
- Verify bxSlider JavaScript files are loading
- Check browser console for JavaScript errors
- Ensure no other scripts are conflicting
- Clear browser cache
- Verify WebAssetManager is working correctly
Slides Not Displaying Correctly
- Check maximum/minimum slides settings
- Verify slide width is appropriate for container
- Check minimum height setting
- Ensure articles have content to display
- Check for CSS conflicts with your template
Popup Issues
Popup Not Opening
- Check Fancybox JavaScript files are loading
- Verify popup width and height are set correctly
- Check browser console for JavaScript errors
- Ensure jQuery is loaded before Fancybox
- Clear browser cache
- Popup initialization now includes automatic retry if script loads late
- Verify popup links have correct href attributes (#cpage-X-Y format)
Popup Content Not Displaying
- Verify articles have intro text or full text
- Check popup dimensions are large enough
- Check for JavaScript errors in console
- Verify content is not being filtered
Styling Issues
Styling Not Applied
- Check CSS files are loading correctly
- Verify no CSS conflicts with your template
- Check browser console for CSS errors
- Use browser developer tools to inspect styles
- Try disabling other modules/plugins temporarily
Colors Not Working
- Verify color values are valid hex codes
- Check for CSS specificity issues
- Clear browser cache
- Use browser developer tools to inspect applied styles
Performance Issues
Module Loading Slowly
- Reduce number of articles displayed
- Disable plugin events if not needed
- Optimize article images
- Check server resources
- Verify WebAssetManager is working correctly
Getting Help
If you continue to experience issues:
- Check Joomla error logs for PHP errors
- Visit our support forum: https://support.joomlax.com
- Ensure you're using the latest version
- Verify your Joomla version is compatible (4.x, 5.x, or 6.x)
- Check documentation: https://joomlax.com/documentation/content-pager