Installation
Next Boards installs like any other Joomla extension: one ZIP file, uploaded in the Joomla administrator.
Before you start
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| Joomla | 4.4, 5.x or 6.x |
| PHP | 8.1 or newer |
| Database | MySQL or MariaDB, in a version your Joomla release supports. PostgreSQL is not supported. |
Joomla 4.4 itself still runs on older PHP versions; Next Boards does not, and the installer stops with a message when the site is on PHP 8.0 or older, or on a Joomla older than 4.4.
Take a backup of your site first, as before installing any extension.
Download
Download pkg_nextboards_vX.Y.Z.zip from your account on nextsoftware.dev, under your purchases. Do not unzip it.
The file is one package that contains the Next Boards component and its three plugins.
Install
- Sign in to the Joomla administrator as a Super User.
- Go to System → Install → Extensions.
- On the Upload Package File tab, drag the ZIP file into the upload area, or browse to it.
- Wait for the message that the package was installed.
The installer does the rest by itself:
| What | Details |
|---|---|
| Database tables | Created with the prefix of your site. |
| Plugins | Task - Next Boards, System - Next Boards Session and Installer - Next Boards Update Helper are installed and enabled. |
| Scheduled tasks | Four tasks are created under System → Scheduled Tasks: notification e-mails (every 5 minutes), due reminders (every 15 minutes), scheduled automations (every 15 minutes) and a daily clean-up. |
| Starting data | A Default workspace, and two roles: "Board creator" for the Registered group and "Workspace manager" for the Manager group. |
Open Next Boards
Go to Components → Next Boards. The boards page opens. Continue with the Quick Start.
After installing
Three things are worth five minutes on a new site:
- Check the scheduler. E-mails and reminders need Joomla's Scheduled Tasks to run. See Scheduled tasks.
- Decide who may create boards. By default every registered user can. See Access and permissions.
- Enter your download key so that Joomla can fetch updates: open System → Update Sites, find the Next Boards entry and paste the key from your nextsoftware.dev account into its Download Key field.
Upgrading
Updates appear under System → Update → Extensions once your download key is entered. Select Next Boards and click Update.
You can also upgrade by hand: install the newer pkg_nextboards_vX.Y.Z.zip the same way as the first time. Joomla recognises the existing installation and updates it in place.
Either way your boards, cards, files and settings are kept, and changes to the database are applied automatically. After an update, people who have Next Boards open see a notice that a new version is ready, with a Reload now button.
Uninstalling
- Go to System → Manage → Extensions.
- Search for "Next Boards", tick the entry of type Package, and click Uninstall.
Uninstalling removes the component, its plugins, its scheduled tasks and all of its database tables. The boards are gone for good. Export the boards you want to keep first, with Board settings → Import / Export → Export JSON, and copy media/com_nextboards/attachments/ if you need the uploaded files.