Next DB is a Joomla-native, phpMyAdmin-style database administration component. Browse and edit the Joomla database and attach external MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL and SQLite databases without ever leaving the Joomla admin.

Where generic database tools hand every operator full DBA access, Next DB wraps the editor in a Joomla-native control layer: profiles assign users or user-groups to a permission set governing which connections, databases, tables and operations they may use, every mutation is recorded in a full audit trail, and Joomla's own core tables are write-protected for everyone. A proper database tool — without giving everyone the keys to the whole database.

🎯 Use cases

• 🛠️ Database admin without phpMyAdmin — inspect and edit your Joomla database from inside the admin, with no separate desktop client and no server credentials handed around.
• 👥 Delegated database access — give a developer or client scoped access to specific connections, tables and operations instead of all-or-nothing root.
• 🗄️ Multi-database management — attach and manage external MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL and SQLite databases alongside the Joomla DB, all from one place.
• 📋 Audit & compliance — keep an uneditable record of who changed what data and when, with before/after row snapshots and configurable retention.
• 🌐 Publish live data on your site — turn a saved SELECT into a read-only, searchable view rendered on the public front end.
• 🔁 Import, export & migration — move data in and out with SQL dumps and CSV, per table or whole database, without leaving Joomla.

💡 Benefits

• 🔐 Database access without the blast radius — fine-grained, Joomla-native profiles mean operators touch only the connections, tables and operations you allow.
• 📜 A real audit trail — every insert, update, delete, structure change, import, export and SQL run is logged, with before/after snapshots on row edits.
• 🛡️ Core tables protected by default — Joomla's auth, access and extension tables are write-protected for everyone, Super Users included — so a stray edit can't break the site.
• 🔑 Credentials kept safe — stored connection passwords are encrypted at rest, and the SQL console can be locked read-only or hidden per profile.
• 🧰 One tool, many engines — MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL and SQLite through a single editor, on the battle-tested Doctrine DBAL abstraction layer.
• ⚙️ Configurable without code — connections, profiles, audit policy and security limits are all driven from the admin UI.
• 🔄 Upgrade-safe & open source — GPL licensed, namespaced Joomla 4 / 5 / 6 MVC on PHP 8.1+, delivered through Joomla's native update channel.

🧩 Features

🗄️ Database Editor

Browse, edit and manage data across any connected database.
- Object tree — connections, databases, tables and views in a single navigable tree
- Paginated table browse — sort, filter and page through any table with bound-parameter safety
- Type-aware row editing — insert, update and delete through drawer forms that render the right widget per column
- Multi-engine — MySQL/MariaDB, SQLite and PostgreSQL, all verified end-to-end

💻 SQL Console

Write and run raw SQL with full editor comfort.
- CodeMirror editor — SQL syntax highlighting, autocomplete and bracket matching
- Query history — recent statements kept per browser for one-click re-run
- Read-only mode — flip the console to explore safely; write statements are rejected
- Inline errors — database errors reported next to the statement that caused them

🏗️ Structure Editor

Modify schema with confidence — preview before apply.
- Columns, indexes & foreign keys — a full DDL editor with type-aware widgets per engine
- Preview then apply — see the exact SQL diff before it runs
- Create, drop, rename, truncate — engine-correct DDL on every supported platform
- Safe on SQLite & PostgreSQL — structure edits wrap in a transaction to survive table rebuilds

🔌 Connections Manager

Attach and manage external databases alongside the Joomla DB.
- Multiple drivers — MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL and SQLite descriptors
- Encrypted passwords — libsodium secretbox storage keyed off the Joomla site secret
- Test before save — a live connection check from the admin panel
- SQLite allow-list — stored SQLite files are confined to a configured base directory, out of the web root

🔐 Access Control

Joomla-native access control that goes beyond on/off.
- Profiles — permission sets covering connections, databases, tables and operations
- User & group assignments — assign profiles to individual Joomla users or whole user-groups
- Layered enforcement — always-on PHP service-layer gating plus core-table protection
- SQL-console gate — a per-profile switch hides the console and refuses the API endpoint

📜 Audit Trail

Every mutation recorded — answer "who changed what, when".
- Before/after snapshots — row state captured on every insert, update and delete
- Full coverage — CRUD, SQL, structure, import, export and config changes all logged
- Per-profile policy — choose which operations to record, whether to log failures, and retention
- Filtered viewer — a searchable grid with facets and a before/after detail drawer

🔄 Export & Import

Move data in and out without leaving the admin.
- SQL dump — per-table or whole-database exports with engine-correct quoting
- CSV export — honours the active browse filter
- SQL script import — a statement-aware splitter handles multi-statement files
- CSV import — header-mapped column import

📊 Data Views

Publish read-only database views on the Joomla front end.
- Saved SELECT views — define a base query once, reuse it as a named, browsable view
- Guided builder — a step wizard takes you from connection to query to a published view
- Front-end rendering — surface query results on the public site, opt-in per connection
- Validated & access-scoped — base queries are validated and visibility is gated per view

🛡️ Security

Next DB is a database tool, so it is built security-first and follows Joomla's security best practices throughout.

• 🔒 Behind the Joomla admin, always — every request requires an authenticated Joomla session and a valid security token; there is no separately reachable database entry point.
• 🧯 Safe SQL by construction — everything Next DB generates uses prepared statements with bound parameters and proper identifier quoting.
• 🔑 Credentials never exposed — connection passwords are encrypted at rest, never echoed back to the browser, and scrubbed out of error messages.
• 🕵️ Redacted audit records — sensitive values such as passwords, secrets and tokens are redacted before audit snapshots and recorded SQL are stored.
• 🧱 Hardened by default — Joomla core tables are write-protected, request sizes are capped, and stored SQLite files are confined to a safe directory outside the web root.
• ✅ Continuously verified — an automated test suite and static analysis run on every change, exercised against real MySQL and PostgreSQL servers.

🔗 Resources

📚 Documentation - https://www.nextsoftware.dev/documentation/next-db
📝 Changelog - https://nextsoftware.dev/changelogs/next-db