Manage Download Files in Joomla 3

What if you want to share small files (such as manuals or documents) with your visitors? Joomla does not provide this out of the box, however there is a tool that does this very simple and without hassle. In this article I will give you a step-by-step guide on how to manage files in Joomla.

First, you MUST to download and install the following three extensions. Please make sure Phoca Download 3 Extension is the last one you install:
Sign into Joomla as an Administrator:
Install the extensions. If you don’t know how to install an extension in Joomla 3, please read this article.
Right after installing Phoca Download 3 , you will be taken to the Phoca Download Control Panel, where you can see all the options available:
To upload a new file or multiple files, first you need to create a category. On the control panel menu, click on “Categories”:
Click on “New” to create a category:
Add a title, Alias, and description of the category. Then Click on “Save and Close”:
Go back to the Phoca Download Control Panel and click on “Files”.
To upload a file, click on New:
Add a title, alias and category. In order to upload a file, you must click on “Select Filename”. This will display a new window where you can select or upload a file:
Then click on “Save and Close” to create the file:
After the file has been uploaded, you can publish it on an article. Go to menu “Content -> Article Manager -> Add New”
Add a title and description to the article:
To add the file uploaded, click on the Phoca Download File located below the Editor:
A new window will be displayed where you can select to link a file, a category or a file list. In this case, we will select a link to a single file:
Now, you can select the file that you want to publish, in this case our small pdf manual. After selecting the file, click on “Insert Code”:
Click on “Save and Close” to publish the file:
And that’s it! The file will be published!