FG Package Manager

A native Joomla admin component that discovers, installs, updates and uninstalls the FG series of GitHub extensions - no manual "Install from URL" per extension, no separate catalog to maintain by hand.

How it works

• Discovery: every GitHub repo under a configured owner/org that carries a specific GitHub topic (default FGcodework / fg-joomla-extension) is tracked automatically. Tag a new repo with that topic and it shows up here on the next refresh - no reinstall needed.
• Compatibility: reads each repo's own updates.xml (the same file Joomla's native "Find Updates" already uses), matching the running Joomla and PHP version. A repo with a subfolder build split (e.g. a separate Joomla 6-native build under joomla6/) is tried automatically if the root file doesn't cover the current Joomla version.
• Install / Update / Uninstall: uses Joomla's own core installer (Installer::install() / ::update() / ::uninstall()) - the same mechanism as Extensions › Manage.
• Enable / Disable: toggles #__extensions.enabled directly, mirroring the green check / red circle on Joomla's own Extensions: Manage screen.
• Settings: one click to a plugin's edit screen or a component's own admin screen, where Joomla has a well-defined target for one.
• Changelog preview: expands the latest CHANGELOG.md entry inline, with a link to the full file on GitHub.

Requirements

• Joomla 5.0 or newer (including Joomla 6)
• PHP 8.1 or newer, with the cURL extension enabled

Both are checked automatically at install time - installing on something older fails with a clear message instead of a PHP fatal error later.

Installation

1. Download the latest release ZIP from the Releases page.
2. Extensions → Install → Upload Package File.
3. Open Components → FG Package Manager, then Options to set the GitHub owner/org and topic (pre-filled with sensible defaults).

Configuration

Setting	Default	Description
GitHub Owner/Org	FGcodework	The GitHub account to search within
GitHub Topic	fg-joomla-extension	Only repos tagged with this exact topic are tracked
Cache Duration	30 minutes	How long fetched updates.xml/CHANGELOG.md data is cached
HTTP Timeout	10 seconds	Timeout per request when fetching from GitHub

Adding an extension to the list

1. Give the GitHub repo the topic fg-joomla-extension (repo page → the gear next to About).
2. Make sure the repo has an updates.xml in its root (or in a joomla6/ / similar subfolder for a separate build) with a <downloadurl> and, ideally, a <sha512> of the release ZIP.
3. Optional: add a logo as assets/logo.webp (fallback assets/logo.png), 512×512 with transparent corners. It is loaded from the repo's default branch; without it the list shows a letter tile.
4. Press Refresh in the component - the extension appears in the list.

Update All

Update All installs every pending update one after another; this component itself is always updated last. It asks PHP for extra execution time and, if the host's limit is still too tight, stops before starting an update that wouldn't fit and lists the ones left over - press Update All again to finish.

Permissions

Action	Required permission
View the list, Refresh	core.manage
Install, Update, Update All, Enable/Disable	core.manage
Uninstall, Options	core.admin

The component can't uninstall or disable itself from its own list.

Security

• Every action is protected by Joomla's CSRF token and the permissions above.
• Download URLs must be HTTPS and on a GitHub host (allowlist), and the ZIP is verified against the sha256 / sha384 / sha512 checksum from the repo's updates.xml when one is published.
• Nothing is installed without an explicit click (or Update All confirmation).

Troubleshooting

• The list is empty - check Options: owner/org and topic must match the repos' GitHub topic exactly (this component itself is always shown).
• Data looks stale - Refresh bypasses the cache; the cache lives in Joomla's cache folder (cache/com_fgextensionmanager) and expires after the configured number of minutes.
• A status says "Not compatible" - the repo's updates.xml has no entry for your Joomla/PHP version; the version shown in muted text is the newest the repo publishes.
• A logo is missing - a repo without assets/logo.* (or a temporary GitHub throttle) shows a letter tile; the logo is retried once automatically.

License

GNU General Public License v2.0 or later - see LICENSE.txt.