With over 10 years Joomla experience building and looking after Joomla websites for a living, I have a fair idea of what does and doesn't work when it comes to Joomla.
I only list resources and tools here that I use and find useful myself or that come highly recommended from industry experts that I trust.
You should always do your own research as your particular requirements may vary.
Also see https://webhostingdownunder.com.au for advice about choosing a suitable web hosting provider.
Affiliate Disclosure
Some of the links on this website are affiliate links so I receive a small commission when you use the link to make a purchase. In some cases, you may also receive a discount. This helps me to continue providing free advice and resources on the website and I appreciate your support. :)
AcyMailing
AcyMailing is the ultimate Joomla newsletter extension for sending emails out to mailing lists.
Most features are included in the free "Starter" version with more advanced features in the paid versions.
AcyMailing can be integrated with a growing list of other Joomla Extensions which makes it especially versatile.
Rating:
Akeeba Backup
Akeeba Backup is the industry standard backup solution for Joomla and is probably the most important addition to a standard Joomla install. It is also now available for WordPress.
Akeeba Backup backs up the database and all the files in your web space into one compressed file. This makes it easy to copy the backup to your local machine or elsewhere.
Restoring a website is also straightforward by uploading the backup file to your web space and uploading and running Akeeba Kickstart, another utility supplied by Akeeba.
Paying a subscription is recommended as this entitles you to log support requests with the the developer and ensures he has an income to continue developing and supporting this excellent and essential extension.
Rating:
Cloudbeds
Cloudbeds provides excellent booking, channel management and property management software for all types of hospitality businesses including bed and breakfast accommodation, vacation rentals, hostels, hotels and hotel groups.
Cloudbeds provides an integrated solution which is often better value than other solutions and is easier to set up and maintain.
The Channel Manager allows you to connect to a vast array of channels such as booking.com, Expedia and Airbnb without worrying about duplicate bookings.
The responsive widgets that you can install on your own website work well and increase direct bookings to maximise your profit.
Tip: Use my affiliate link for a $50 credit.
Rating:
Helix Ultimate
Helix Ultimate is one of the most popular template frameworks for good reason.
Even the free version of Helix Ultimate loads quickly and has an excellent feature set including provision for multiple Google Fonts, an optional body background image, optimisation of CSS and JS files, provision for adding code into the header area and a simple page builder.
The Helix Ultimate template uses Bootstrap 5 so Joomla 3 websites using this template are relatively straightforward to migrate to Joomla 4.
Helix Ultimate is my current default template choice.
Rating:
Pixelarity
Pixelarity offer a range of stunning single page and multiple page responsive HTML5 templates suitable for a wide range of projects.
They are beautifully designed, expertly coded and load quickly.
A subscription gives unlimited access to all 93 (as at January 2020) templates including support and updates for just US$19 and is a great way to support the developer.
Rating:
RocketTheme
RocketTheme are one of the oldest and most popular Joomla template developers.
I have used RocketTheme templates on most of the websites I have built (including this one).
RocketTheme templates are based on the open source Gantry Framework and RocketTheme provide a few free templates in addition to their paid templates.
Support via their forums is excellent.
RocketTheme are diligent in retrospectively upgrading their older templates as new versions of Joomla have been released with the result that websites with RocketTheme templates are often the simplest to migrate to a new version of Joomla.
Rating:
Start Bootstrap
Start Bootstrap offer a range of excellent free Bootstrap HTML5 templates suitable for a wide range of projects.
They are beautifully designed, expertly coded and load quickly.
Rating:
VentraIP
VentraIP is one of the best value domain registration and web hosting providers in Australia.
I recommend the "Starter" web hosting plan which is adequate for smaller businesses and organisations.
Like many of the better Australian domain registrars, VentraIP will transfer your Australian domain for free.
The service and support is consistently good.
Tip: New clients often receive a discount on their first invoice so check for any current promotions before signing up.
Rating:
YouJoomla Simple Grid
The YJ Simple Grid from YouJoomla is one of the fastest Joomla template frameworks.
The YJ Simple Grid has a comprehensive feature set including Google Fonts, a choice of Bootstrap v2 or Bootstrap v3, and options to optimise CSS, enable Google Analytics and include code in the header section.
There is also a range of free templates of which Baseline and Eximium seem to be the fastest.
Rating:
