Joomla Extensions for Joomla 5 & 6 | Lightweight & Free

Customisable shortcut cards for the Joomla administrator dashboard.

TDCLab Launcher is an administrator module for Joomla 5 and 6 that displays a grid of shortcut cards linking to components, views, or external URLs. Build a personalised admin dashboard with grouped, colour-coded shortcuts that help you and your clients get to the right place fast.

Requirements

Joomla 5.x or 6.x
PHP 8.1+

Installation

Download the latest release from extensions.thedesigncompany.co.nz.
In your Joomla administrator, go to System > Install > Extensions.
Upload the mod_tdclab_launcher-v*.zip package and click Upload & Install.
Navigate to Content > Administrator Modules and find TDCLab Launcher in the list.
Assign the module to a position (e.g. cpanel) and configure as needed.

Module Options

The Module Options tab controls the overall layout and behaviour of the card grid.

Grid Columns

Sets the number of columns in the card grid. Choose from 2, 3 (default), 4, or 6 columns. The grid automatically collapses to 2 columns on tablets and 1 column on mobile.

Show Descriptions

Controls how card descriptions are displayed:

Hover (Tooltip) (default) — Descriptions appear as a browser tooltip when hovering over a card.
Inline — Descriptions are displayed beneath the card title as smaller grey text.
None — Descriptions are hidden entirely.

Enable Search

When enabled, a search box appears above the card grid. Typing in the search box filters cards in real time by title or group name. Cards that don't match are hidden, and empty group headings are automatically removed.

Module Title

The module uses Joomla's standard Title field and Show Title toggle (on the Module tab) to display a heading above the cards. Set the title to something like “Dashboard” or “Quick Links” and toggle Show Title to Yes to display it.

Shortcut Cards

The Shortcut Cards tab is where you define your cards. Each card is a row in a repeatable subform. You can add, remove, and drag to reorder cards.

Card Fields

Each card has the following fields:

Group

An optional section heading. Cards with the same group name are displayed together under a shared heading. Leave blank for ungrouped cards.

For example, giving three cards the group “Content” and two cards the group “Users & Access” will render them in separate sections with those headings.

Title

The card's heading text. This is the main label displayed on the card and is required.

Link

The URL the card links to. You can either:

Select from the dropdown — Choose any installed component and its submenu items directly from a dropdown. The dropdown lists all admin menu items grouped by component.
Enter a custom URL — Select “Custom URL” from the dropdown and type a relative admin URL (e.g. index.php?option=com_content&view=articles) or a full external URL (e.g. https://example.com).

Icon

The icon displayed on the card. Click Browse to open a visual icon picker showing all available Joomla admin icons. Click an icon to select it, or use the search field to filter icons by name.

You can also type an icon class directly into the text field (e.g. icon-file-alt, icon-cog).

Description

Optional text providing more context about the card's purpose. How it's displayed depends on the Show Descriptions setting in Module Options (hover tooltip, inline text, or hidden).

Badge

Optional short text displayed as a coloured pill beside the card title. Useful for labels like “New”, “Beta”, or a version number.

Badge Style

The colour scheme for the badge:

Info (blue)
Success (green)
Warning (yellow)
Danger (red)

Accent Colour

An optional colour that adds a left border and tinted icon background to the card. Use the colour picker to choose, or leave blank for a plain card. Cards sharing a group often look best with the same accent colour.

Open In

Controls whether the link opens in the same window (default) or a new tab. Cards set to open in a new tab display a small external link icon beside the title.

Visible To

Restrict the card to specific user groups. Select one or more groups from the list. Only users belonging to at least one of the selected groups will see the card. Leave blank to show the card to all admin users.

This is useful for hiding advanced or sensitive shortcuts from content editors while keeping them visible to administrators.

Presets

The Presets tab provides ready-made sets of common Joomla shortcuts. Presets are merged with your custom cards — preset cards appear before any manually defined cards.

Available Presets

Core Content

Four cards linking to the most common content management areas:

Card	Link	Icon	Accent
Articles	com_content > Articles	file-alt	Blue
Categories	com_categories	folder-open	Blue
Media Manager	com_media	images	Blue
Fields	com_fields	puzzle-piece	Blue

Core System

Eight cards covering user management, site structure, and configuration:

Card	Link	Icon	Accent
Users	com_users > Users	users	Green
User Groups	com_users > Groups	users-cog	Green
Menus	com_menus	list	Purple
Modules	com_modules	cube	Purple
Plugins	com_plugins	plug	Purple
Global Configuration	com_config	cog	Red
Templates	com_templates	paint-brush	Red
Languages	com_languages	comments	Red

All Core Shortcuts

Combines both presets into a single set of 12 cards.

Tips and Examples

Client Dashboard

Create a focused dashboard for a client by adding only the cards they need:

Articles, Categories, and Media under a “Content” group
A link to their template style editor under “Appearance”
An external link to their hosting control panel in a new tab

Set the module title to “Welcome” and toggle Show Title to Yes for a friendly greeting.

Multi-Role Setup

Use the Visible To field to create a single module instance that adapts to different users:

Show all cards to Super Users and Administrators
Restrict “Global Configuration” and “Plugins” to Administrators only
Show only “Articles” and “Media Manager” to content Editors

Multiple Module Instances

You can create several instances of TDCLab Launcher and assign them to different admin positions or pages. For example:

A “Quick Links” module in the main dashboard with general shortcuts
A “Content Tools” module on a custom admin page with content-specific links

Using Badges

Badges are handy for flagging cards:

“New” (info) on a recently installed component
“Beta” (warning) on an extension still being tested
“Urgent” (danger) on something that needs attention

Automatic Updates

TDCLab Launcher includes a built-in update server. When a new version is released, it will appear in System > Update > Extensions alongside your other Joomla updates. Click Update to install the latest version automatically.

Changelog

v1.0.1

Removed the separate Module Heading field in favour of Joomla's native Module Title
Fixed card descriptions not visible in inline mode
Description visibility now driven by CSS for more reliable switching
Added update server for automatic update notifications

v1.0.0

Initial release
Customisable shortcut cards with repeatable subform
Component link dropdown with submenu support
Visual icon picker with search
Card grouping with section headings
Accent colours with colour picker
Badge system with four colour styles
ACL-based card visibility
Three description modes: hover, inline, none
Real-time card search/filter
Three built-in presets: Core Content, Core System, All Core
Responsive grid layout (2/3/4/6 columns)
Accessible keyboard navigation and reduced motion support

Support

For questions, bug reports, or feature requests, visit extensions.thedesigncompany.co.nz or contact info@thedesigncompany.com.

Licence

GNU General Public License version 2 or later. See GNU GPL v2.

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