List Manager Tutorial

List Manager turns any database table into a searchable, filterable, exportable list that you can publish on the front end of your Joomla site — with no programming. This first tutorial is a tour of the component so you know where everything lives.

Opening the component

Log in to the Joomla administrator and open Components → List Manager. You land on the list of lists — one row per table that List Manager manages.

The top toolbar

• Database Options — create or edit a real MySQL table from the interface (add columns, change types) without touching phpMyAdmin.
• Add — register a new list. You pick an existing table (or one you just built with Database Options) and give it a name.
• Quick Setup — build a whole list (fields, data layout, form layout, pagination and advanced settings) from an existing table in one step. See the Quick Setup wizard.
• Copy — duplicate the configuration of a selected list.
• Delete — remove the list configuration (the data table is kept).
• Delete Database table — drop the underlying MySQL table. Use with care.
• Historic — browse the change log kept for lists that have history enabled.
• Add Sample Data — installs a demo lm_authors table so you can try the component immediately.
• Options — component-wide permissions and defaults.

The list grid

Each row shows the list Name, its Database Table and an Info/Comments note. Click the name to open the Table/List Configuration screen, which is the hub for everything else: fields, front-end display, filters, export and so on.

Tip: the environment used throughout these tutorials is a Joomla 6 site at /administrator with two demo lists — Author (a simple contact directory) and Properties (a real-estate listing with filters and a detail view). The screenshots come from that site.