View Builder for Joomla
Introduction
A powerful system plugin for Joomla that allows developers and administrators to customize extension views and forms directly from the website frontend (and backend) by automatically generating template overrides.
Joomla View Builder System Plugin
🌟 Features
- In-Context Editing: Edit view files directly where they are rendered.
- Safe Overrides: Automatically creates template overrides in
templates/[your_template]/html/. Never modifies core files directly. - Syntax Validation: Checks PHP syntax before saving to prevent "White Screen of Death" errors.
- Access Control: Restrict usage to specific user groups (default: Super Users).
- Flexible Activation:
- Frontend only
- Frontend & Backend
- Or via
tp=1URL parameter (Template Preview mode)
- Easy Revert: One-click revert to delete the override and restore the original view.
🚀 Installation
- Download the plugin package.
- Install via the Joomla Extension Manager.
- Enable the plugin
System - View Builder.
⚙️ Configuration
Go to System > Plugins > System - View Builder.
| Option | Description |
| :--- | :--- |
| Active | Control where the builder is active (Disabled, Frontend, Frontend & Backend, or via ?tp=1). |
| Mode | On Page (default): drag handles and edit buttons directly on block wrappers in the page. Popup: hover labels with edit/builder popups. |
| Allowed Groups | User groups permitted to use the tool (Default: Super Users). |
| Excluded Components | Comma-separated list of components to ignore. |
🛠 Usage
- Login to the frontend (or backend) with a user in an allowed group.
- Ensure the plugin is Active.
- Navigate to the page you want to modify.
- The View Builder overlay will appear, allowing you to select and edit view elements.
- Make your changes in the code editor and hit Save.
- The plugin uses secure AJAX requests to handle file operations.
- If a PHP syntax error is introduced, the system will prevent the save and alert you.
🏗 Architecture
The plugin utilizes a modern Joomla 5/6 architecture:
- Autoloader Interception: Uses
ViewOverrideLoaderto hook into Joomla's view loading mechanism. - Event Driven: Subscribes to system events like
onBeforeCompileHeadfor asset injection andonAjaxViewbuilderfor handling API requests. - Web Asset Manager: standard Joomla Web Asset Manager for loading CSS/JS resources.
⚠️ Requirements
- Joomla 4.0+ / 5.x / 6.x
- PHP 7.4 or higher recommended
🥷 Author
Developed by Hikari Software.
Visit us at www.hikashop.com.
📄 License
GNU General Public License version 2 or later.
Copyright (C) 2026 Hikari Software. All rights reserved.
View Builder for Joomla
- Version:
- 1.2.1
- Developer:
- Hikari Software Team
- Last updated:
-
Feb 08 2026
11 hours ago - Date added:
- Jan 27 2026
- License:
- GPLv2 or later
- Type:
- Free download
- Includes:
- p
- Compatibility:
- J4 J5 J6
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