Admin Tools 
Version
2.5.5 (last update on May 22, 2013)
Rating
Compatibility
Reviews
164
License
GPLv2 or later
Non-Commercial
Type
Date Added
20 September 2010
Written and maintained by the same developer as Akeeba Backup and the Joomla! updater component of Joomla! 2.5.4 and later.
Note: a commercial edition (Admin Tools Professional) with extra security-oriented features is also available from our site for a fee. This listing is about the free version, Admin Tools Core.
Note 2: The software is free of charge, its support is not. You need a valid subscription (starting at EUR 7.79) to request support. However, its documentation, the troubleshooting wizard and searching the forum is free.
This set of tools is presented in a helpfully user-friendly way. Using it gives me a greater level of confidence in my site security - though I value the illustration of a bullet-proof vest!
Together with the well-presented documentation (though I think I did spot a minor layout fault!), I have used the facilities I need in less than a day, without any problem.
Together with the well-presented documentation (though I think I did spot a minor layout fault!), I have used the facilities I need in less than a day, without any problem.
Nicholas accurately describes Admin Tools as “a true Swiss Army Knife for your site,” but even that is an understatement. Admin Tools offers basic protection for any Joomla! site, even in places you didn’t know you had vulnerabilities. It also does the heavy lifting on tedious chores that often get put off until the last possible moment of inevitability, including 1-Click Joomla! core updates and Database maintenance.
You will probably find other extensions in JEDland that offer various subsets of this multi-tool’s functionality and feature set, but none that I am aware of provides its reach and scope in a single, clean and integrated package for the nice price of free.
From one newbie to another, this is truly exemplary software no Joomla! site should be without. But for even greater protection, you would do well, as I did after testing it on a couple of personal sites, to step up to the Professional edition which does so much more. It’s incredibly inexpensive protection for all the other investments and commitments you make in the work you do.
You will probably find other extensions in JEDland that offer various subsets of this multi-tool’s functionality and feature set, but none that I am aware of provides its reach and scope in a single, clean and integrated package for the nice price of free.
From one newbie to another, this is truly exemplary software no Joomla! site should be without. But for even greater protection, you would do well, as I did after testing it on a couple of personal sites, to step up to the Professional edition which does so much more. It’s incredibly inexpensive protection for all the other investments and commitments you make in the work you do.
This extenstion should by default be "in the box". Some of the options should not even be necessary (like changing the database prefix and Admin id) but since they are I am very happy with this easy solution!
Thank you, and thanks again Nicholas and Akeeba developers!
Thank you, and thanks again Nicholas and Akeeba developers!
I very rarely submit reviews for anything but this is so good and valuable to Joomla sites, in my opinion, that I felt it necessary to take the time to suggest to all who read this to download this component and install it! You won't regret it and you will wonder how you got by without it!! Excellent!
I forget things often, and I would not consider an installation complete without the Akeeba core backup. My installations all have it installed and by the second installation is Admin tools. I go to it immediately after logging into the back end. I cannot rate their product and support as anything but the best I have experienced. You have to try it before you will believe it.
As my last review (which took along time to write) never showed up I will make this short and sweet.
Admin Tools is really useful, installs in seconds and makes general administration much easier.
One of the most usefull aspects of this component (for me anyways), is the ability to set file permissions for files and folders, then have it restore permissions for all.
I had to make a hack to the CHMOD values for this as it was missing the option to set things at values of CHMOD 705 and 604, which are the preferred permissions on shared hosting to prevent cross site injections.
All in all I think most of the tools in Admin Tools should be built in to Joomla 1.6 as standard, this is one of those components you'll find yourself useing in all your installs, if only they made joomla a multisite engine!.
Admin Tools is really useful, installs in seconds and makes general administration much easier.
One of the most usefull aspects of this component (for me anyways), is the ability to set file permissions for files and folders, then have it restore permissions for all.
I had to make a hack to the CHMOD values for this as it was missing the option to set things at values of CHMOD 705 and 604, which are the preferred permissions on shared hosting to prevent cross site injections.
All in all I think most of the tools in Admin Tools should be built in to Joomla 1.6 as standard, this is one of those components you'll find yourself useing in all your installs, if only they made joomla a multisite engine!.
There are several tools here in the extension directory, which do the same thing and offer better handling details:
Example:
IP-Blocking: Here: Only one by one can be entered. They cannot be disabled but have to be deleted.
Other tool: (IP Block): Offers the entering of many IPs, which can be disabled or not.
Country blocking: Here: If you accidentally block your country (as I did for testing purposes), I could not even go to the backend anymore.
Other tool: (CF Country Block): Blocks countries only in the front end and uses the same Maxmind data source.
HttpBL blocking: It works with the honeypot project but does not offer a redirecting page.
Other tool: httpbl: Offers a redirecting page.
For all blocking aspects a redirecting page 403 should be possible. For the time being only the individual language .ini files need to be adjusted, which I don't like too much.
Apart from these items the tool offers a huge variety of items to set and the tool has helped me to upgrade the Joomla core easily.
The answers in the forum came fast and could have been a little more specific in regard to the questions asked.
Example:
IP-Blocking: Here: Only one by one can be entered. They cannot be disabled but have to be deleted.
Other tool: (IP Block): Offers the entering of many IPs, which can be disabled or not.
Country blocking: Here: If you accidentally block your country (as I did for testing purposes), I could not even go to the backend anymore.
Other tool: (CF Country Block): Blocks countries only in the front end and uses the same Maxmind data source.
HttpBL blocking: It works with the honeypot project but does not offer a redirecting page.
Other tool: httpbl: Offers a redirecting page.
For all blocking aspects a redirecting page 403 should be possible. For the time being only the individual language .ini files need to be adjusted, which I don't like too much.
Apart from these items the tool offers a huge variety of items to set and the tool has helped me to upgrade the Joomla core easily.
The answers in the forum came fast and could have been a little more specific in regard to the questions asked.
Owner's reply
Thank you for your review, but you seem to have missed some of the tips and features of Admin Tools.
1. IP Block. You can enter IP ranges in human readable format, i.e. 192.168.0.1-192.168.1.255 or 192.168.1. If you want to mass-enter a large number of IP addresses you can use FreakedOut.de's Content Uploader to import massive lists from Excel files.
2. GeoIP blocking. Yes, we do protect your back-end as well. If you block a country you usually do so because you have tons of spamming/hacking attempts. Why risk those people attacking your back-end and not be blocked? That said, if you are you locked out, no problem, just follow the manual instructions for renaming one file, fix it and restore the file. Would you think that adding a toggle (protect front-end only / protect entire site) would be better? Please place your suggestion in our forum's Feature Request section so that we can discuss this further.
3. HttpBL blocking. What do you mean by redirecting page? Would you like to post a feature request in our forum so that we can talk about it more in depth and possibly implement this? The latest version (2.0.5 at the time of this writing) does present you with a link to a page which explains why you are blocked and what you can do to unblock yourself.
4. Blocking message: I agree. I don't like it either. This is on my to-do list for version 2.1.
Regarding the forum support, please note that we answer based on the information you provide us in your question. It's impossible to provide 100% accurate responses without having full access to the site. That kind of service is provided to AKEEBADELUXE and SUPPORT subscribers through the private ticket system - hence the higher price of those subscriptions.
Thank you for your feedback and constructive criticism! This is what helps us improve the software :)
Admin Tools Pro version is a must have extension for Joomla 1.5 and 1.6. This component installs on both stable versions of Joomla with ease and is simple to maintain with it’s upgrade notification feature in the control panel. Notable features include; upgrade, security, and tools.
Upgrade features allow the user to maintain their Joomla installation and the component with a few simple clicks of a mouse. Security features afford the user the ability to secure the admin panel, super admin user, and create a .htaccess file with ease. Tools assist with the management of permissions, DB repair and optimization, SEO, URL redirection, session and temp file purging, and scheduling.
Overall this is an excellent extension for website administrators and business owners interested in simplifying some of the administrative processes that go along with maintaining a secure website.
Upgrade features allow the user to maintain their Joomla installation and the component with a few simple clicks of a mouse. Security features afford the user the ability to secure the admin panel, super admin user, and create a .htaccess file with ease. Tools assist with the management of permissions, DB repair and optimization, SEO, URL redirection, session and temp file purging, and scheduling.
Overall this is an excellent extension for website administrators and business owners interested in simplifying some of the administrative processes that go along with maintaining a secure website.
A time saver when upgrading, tighten security without any knowledge at all. Several other tools for cleaning and optimizing the database tables as well as fixing the tables if there are errors. Some simple SEO tools and redirecting tools as well. there also a few other tools. This is a time saver for me and makes me feel a little more secure. Excellent! I have the PRO version.
This extension is a great addition to Joomla admin management and patch updates. I've used it to manage three non-profit sites and can honestly say its a breeze to use and a great time saver.
Nicholas is a Star in the Joomla Universe :)
Nicholas is a Star in the Joomla Universe :)
After you using the free version for a while I just found myself using it more and more each time I put up a new Joomla site. Not wanting to feel like a free loader I went ahead and bought the pro version for admin tools. Akeeba products are the swiss army knife of tools for Joomla!
I've been using Joomla! for years. Have avoided this extension...not sure why. I should have been using it from it's inception. An excellent tool that has helped me to do things more easily, and that has helped me do things comfortably (for example...Permissions) that I was not comfortable doing before.
I also like the authors attitude...a lot! Well documented. Very useful.
Thanks for this component!
I also like the authors attitude...a lot! Well documented. Very useful.
Thanks for this component!
Another example of what open source can and should be. The tool brings together a number of features that we would need to hunt down. Nicholas has gathered them under this umbrella and released a tool that every Joomla admin should use. I suggest paying for the Pro version (as well as the Pro version of Akeeba Backup - anohter product he has generously given to the community in a free version). I would also suggest you read his statement of philosophy in his excellent documentation. Again, this guy is the epitome of the spirit of open source. He provides quick, accurate support. Can't say enough about him.
As a long time Akeeba backup fan I can't believe I didn't find this before now.
Well done on a great tool. So many useful utilities, especially the Joomla update and fix permissions options.
Well done on a great tool. So many useful utilities, especially the Joomla update and fix permissions options.
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