The Joomla Images and Links Tab, Revisited - 👀 WMW 336

Written by: Shahbaz Latif Created: 06 May 2026

Category: Watch Me Work Live Streams

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Watch me Work Live Streams

I'll be honest — I've avoided the Images and Links tab in Joomla articles for years. I always reached for something I thought was easier and never really gave the tab a fair shake.
Today I want to fix that. I'm going to open it up in Joomla 6, work through what's actually in there, and add it — reliably this time — to my Joomla toolbox.
What we'll cover:
• Intro Image vs. Full Article Image — what each one actually outputs
• The "alt empty for decorative" toggle and why it matters for accessibility + SEO
• Captions, float, and CSS class fields — when to use them vs. handling it in the body
• Link A / Link B / Link C — the three external link slots most people forget exist, and creative ways to put them to work
• How the tab plays with template overrides and blog/featured layouts This is a hands-on, unscripted session — I'll share what I find as I find it.
If you've been hand-coding things into article bodies that this tab could have done for you, you'll probably want to watch.
About Cybersalt We help Joomla site owners get their sites built right, kept secure, and running fast — hosting, maintenance, and one-off help when something breaks.
→ https://www.cybersalt.com About Watch Me Work Live, unedited screen-share sessions every Wednesday. Real work, real decisions, real fixes — no script.

00:00:00 – Intro, Sponsors & Setup
00:04:12 – Joomla Article Images: Intro vs. Full Images
00:12:27 – Custom CSS for Image Styling (user.css)
00:21:36 – Image Alt Text, Captions & AI Articles
00:33:30 – Mod_articles Module: Image Display
00:41:15 – The Links Tab: Where & How to Use Article Links
00:48:39 – Menu Item Overrides & Custom Link Styling
00:57:27 – Live Coding: "Skip First N Articles" Plugin
01:36:20 – Bonus Features: Email Alerts, Ditto Demo & Image Order
02:34:00 – Norwegian Language & Version 1.1 Update Test
02:46:05 – Wrap-Up, Thanks & Blessing

Summary

1. Stream Kickoff & Topic Introduction:
Tim opens the stream, welcomes the community, shares a Chamber of Commerce tour photo, and introduces the day's topic: exploring the Images and Links tabs in Joomla articles.

2. Staging Site & Blog Data Setup:
A staging site is set up for safe testing, blog sample data is installed, and Tim shares news about Claude/SpaceX partnership enabling higher API limits.

3. Understanding Intro Images:
Tim inspects a default article, adds an intro image, and demonstrates how to fix image sizing and float issues using CSS left/right classes.

4. Custom CSS for Consistent Styling:
He creates a user.css file for persistent custom styling and shows how to make your own image class (like "Timmy") for reusability across articles.

5. Alt Text, Captions & Image Types:
The difference between alt text and decorative images ("no description") is explained, along with adding and styling captions. Tim also clarifies when to use Intro Image vs. Full Article Image.

6. The Links Tab Explained:
Tim dives into the Links tab—where those links actually appear on the front end—and shares strategic uses for article links like email forms, contact forms, and custom fields.

7. Menu Item Hierarchy Override:
A critical concept is covered: menu item settings override article settings. Tim explains the hierarchy and shows custom CSS for the links container.

8. Live Coding :
"Skip First N Articles" Feature: Tim live codes a new feature that lets users skip a specified number of articles before displaying. Claude analyzes options, Tim builds a plugin, and after fixing a wrong module target issue, the skip parameter works successfully.

9. Security Review & GitHub Release:
A security review finds no high or medium issues. The extension is published to GitHub as "Articles Module Max."

10. Bonus Features & Wrap-Up:
Tim adds an email alert feature for Joomla updates, demos the Ditto Clipboard Manager from a viewer suggestion, adds Norwegian language support (shoutout to Bjorn), tests version 1.1 update successfully, and wraps up with thanks and a blessing.

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