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 — through a modern React editor backed by Doctrine DBAL, 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 on the public front end that can refresh itself, print cleanly and work on phones.
• 🔁 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
- Auto-refresh — keep a view up to date on a timer, updating the whole view or only marked fields, with optional highlighting of changes
- Visitor toolbar — search, shareable links, column chooser, rows per page and fullscreen, switchable per view
- Clean printouts — print the current page or all matching rows, without the site template
- Built for phones — rows become easy-to-read cards, with simple sorting and filters
- Joomla menu & SEO — honors page heading, browser title, meta description and robots, with canonical links and social tags

🛡️ 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://nextsoftware.dev/documentation/next-db
📝 Changelog - https://nextsoftware.dev/changelogs/next-db