A complete reference for the Options screen at Components → JoomSchool → Options — every tab, every field, what it controls and the recommended baseline for a new school.
Overview
JoomSchool stores all of its global preferences in Joomla's standard component options. There is no separate "settings" view inside JoomSchool itself. Everything from the school's name and address through the currency, the PDF font, the email notification triggers and the role-based permissions is configured from this single screen. Changes you make here apply immediately the next time a page is rendered.
The Options screen is divided into fourteen tabs. The first three (Setting, Header, Footer) describe the school and how its identity appears on PDFs and printed documents. The next group (ID Card, Account, Payment, PDF) configures specific outputs and integrations. The remainder (Exams, Results, Notifications, PMS, Attachments, Demo, Permissions) toggle features on and off.
Where to find Options
There are two paths to the same screen:
- Components → JoomSchool → Options (the gear icon in the toolbar of any JoomSchool list view).
- System → Manage → Extensions → JoomSchool → Options (longer, but works from anywhere).
Both open the same form. Click Save, Save & Close, or Cancel at the top after editing.
Setting tab
The basic identity of the school. Most schools fill in this tab during the first hour of using JoomSchool and rarely revisit it.
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome Message | "Thank you for using our school management applications !" | Displayed on the dashboard when a user logs in. |
| Schools Name | "Schools/Collage Name" | Shown in the top navigation bar of the frontend portal and on every printed document. Change this first. |
| Schools Address | "12345 Vincent Place" | Used on header, footer and ID card outputs. |
| Schools Email | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | Used on contact information blocks. Change to your school's address. |
| Schools Phone | 999 9999 | Phone number on contact blocks. |
| Schools Fax | 999 9999 | Fax number on contact blocks. |
| Schools Website | (empty) | Your school's main website URL. |
| Show Menu | Yes | Whether the JoomSchool top navigation bar is rendered on the frontend. Set No if you embed JoomSchool inside a custom Joomla template. |
Header tab
Configures the header area printed at the top of result sheets, ID cards, fee invoices and other PDF outputs.
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Header Height | 25% | Vertical share of the page taken up by the header. |
| Schools/Collage Logo | administrator/components/com_joomschool/photo/logo.png |
Path to the logo image. Replace with your school's logo. |
| Logo Position | Left | Left / Center / Right alignment within the header. |
| Show School Name | Yes | Print the school's name in the header. |
| Show School Address | No | Print the address. |
| Show School Email | No | Print the email. |
| Show School Phone | No | Print the phone. |
| Show School Fax | No | Print the fax. |
| Show School Website | No | Print the website URL. |
| Custom Text | (empty) | Free-text block printed alongside the contact details (motto, accreditation, etc.). |
| Header Background | #3ab9ac | Solid colour used as the header backdrop. |
| Header Text | #ffffff | Text colour used in the header. |
| Show Background Image | No | If Yes, the colour is replaced by an image. |
| Header Background Image | (empty) | The image to use when Show Background Image is Yes. |
Footer tab
Mirrors the Header tab, but for the footer of printed documents.
The fields are the same names with _in_footer suffixes (Footer Height, Show Footer Logo, Footer Logo, Footer Logo Position, Show School Name / Address / Email / Phone / Fax / Website in footer, Custom Text, Footer Background, Footer Text, Show Background Image in footer, Footer Background Image). Defaults match the header except for the height (10% vs 25%).
Schools commonly use the header for the school name + logo and the footer for the address, contact details and a custom text line such as "Established 1965 — Excellence in education".
ID Card Setting tab
Controls the layout of student and teacher ID cards.
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Authority Name | (empty) | Name of the person whose signature appears on the card (e.g. the principal). |
| Authority Signature | (empty) | Image of the signature. |
| Background Image | (empty) | Optional background graphic for the card. |
| Header Custom Text | (empty) | Text printed at the top of the card. |
| Show School Name / Address / Email / Phone / Fax / Website | Most default to No (only Show School Name is Yes by default) | Toggles for the corresponding contact fields on the card. |
Account tab
Maps JoomSchool roles to Joomla user groups and access levels, and defines the academic year range visible in dropdowns.
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Students Account | Yes | Whether students can have accounts (and therefore whether the Students role exists in JoomSchool). |
| Students Group | 140001 | The Joomla user group used for students. |
| Teachers Account | Yes | Whether teachers can have accounts. |
| Teachers Group | 140002 | The Joomla user group used for teachers. |
| Parents Account | Yes | Whether parents can have accounts. |
| Parents Group | 140003 | The Joomla user group used for parents. |
| Year Range Start | 2015 | Earliest year shown in academic-year dropdowns. |
| Year Range End | 2025 | Latest year shown in academic-year dropdowns. |
If you ever restore the database to a different Joomla install whose group IDs differ from the JoomSchool defaults, change the three group IDs here so role detection keeps working.
Payment tab
Currency settings and the default online payment gateway.
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Default payment method | (set by you) | Pulled from the list of enabled JoomSchool payment plugins (e.g. PayPal, Offline). If the list is empty, enable the relevant plugins under System → Manage → Plugins. |
| Currency Code | USD | The 3-letter currency code (USD, EUR, GBP, ...). |
| Currency Sign | $ | The character or symbol used in the UI. |
| Currency Decimal | 2 | Number of decimals to show. |
| Currency Position | Before | Show the symbol Before or After the amount (e.g. $100.00 vs 100.00$). |
PDF tab
Controls how PDF outputs (result sheets, invoices, reports) are rendered by the bundled DOMPDF library.
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Orientation | Portrait | Page orientation. |
| Paper Size | A4 | A4, A5 or B5. |
| Font | Courier | Choose from Courier, Helvetica, Times, DejaVu Sans, Firefly (Unicode) and Unifont (Unicode). |
For non-Latin scripts (Arabic, Devanagari, CJK), pick Firefly (Unicode) or Unifont (Unicode) — the other fonts can produce garbled output.
Exams tab
A single toggle controls how many exams appear on result sheets at once.
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Display All Exams | No | When Yes, the result page lists every exam in the academic year. When No, only one exam is shown at a time and the user picks which one with the toolbar Exam Switcher. |
Results tab
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Enable Results for Teacher | Yes | When Yes, teachers can see students' exam results on the frontend. When No, results are hidden from teachers. |
Notifications tab
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| When user receive a new private message | Disabled | When Enabled, JoomSchool emails the recipient any time a private message is sent to them. |
PMS tab
PMS stands for Private Messaging System. This tab controls one mass-messaging permission.
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Allow private messaging to sections | Disabled | When Enabled, teachers can compose a single private message addressed to every student in a section, instead of one student at a time. |
Attachments tab
Limits for file uploads (announcements, biodata documents, etc.).
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Allowed File Format | zip,pdf,jpg,png,jpeg,doc,docx,xls | Comma-separated list of accepted extensions. |
| Max File Size | 10 | Maximum size in megabytes per file. |
| Upload Number | 5 | Maximum number of files attached to a single record. |
PHP's own upload_max_filesize and post_max_size directives must be at least as large as Max File Size, otherwise the limit you set here is silently overridden by PHP.
Demo tab
Used to install or remove the bundled sample data set. Only enable on a development or staging site — never on a production site with real student data.
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Enable Demo Mode | No | Set Yes to expose the demo controls on the dashboard. |
| Demo Student User | (empty) | Choose which Joomla user becomes the demo student account. |
| Demo Teacher User | (empty) | Same for the teacher account. |
| Demo Parent User | (empty) | Same for the parent account. |
| Demo Password | DemoPass123! | Initial password assigned to the demo accounts. |
Permissions tab
Standard Joomla per-group ACL controls. The form lists each Joomla user group and offers Allow / Deny / Inherit toggles for each JoomSchool action: Configure, Access Component, Create, Delete, Edit, Edit State, Edit Own.
The default rules grant administrators full control and let everyone else see the public frontend portion. Tighten the rules if you want, for instance, to forbid teachers from creating new student records.
Saving and applying
JoomSchool reads its configuration on every page load — there's no extra cache to clear. The moment you click Save, the next user request sees the new values. The exception is the Joomla page cache, which can briefly hold a stale version of cached pages; if you have System Cache or Page Cache plugins enabled, clear them via System → Maintenance → Clear Cache after a configuration change.
Recommended baseline for a new school
A sensible starting configuration for a typical school is:
- Setting tab — fill in the school's real name, address, email, phone, website. Leave Show Menu = Yes.
- Header tab — upload your logo, set Show School Name = Yes, Show School Address = Yes; pick a header background colour that matches your school branding.
- Footer tab — set Show School Address = Yes, Show School Phone = Yes; add the school motto in Custom Text.
- ID Card tab — set Authority Name to the principal's name; upload their signature image.
- Account tab — leave the default group IDs unless your install has a conflict; set Year Range Start to the earliest year you have records for, Year Range End to about 5 years ahead.
- Payment tab — set Currency Code, Currency Sign and decimals to match your country.
- PDF tab — choose Firefly (Unicode) if your school's primary language uses non-Latin scripts.
- Notifications tab — enable "When user receive a new private message" so people don't miss replies.
- Permissions tab — verify Teachers cannot delete students, Parents can only Read.
Save, then go on to creating classes, teachers and students.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Currency symbol still shows $ everywhere after changing it. | A page-level cache is serving the old version. | Clear Joomla cache; hard-refresh the browser. |
| The Default payment method dropdown is empty. | The JoomSchool payment plugins (PayPal, Offline) are not enabled. | System → Manage → Plugins → search "joomschool" → enable. |
| Frontend portal shows the placeholder "Schools/Collage Name". | The Setting tab has not yet been saved. | Open Options, set Schools Name to the real name, save. |
| PDF result sheets render question marks for non-Latin characters. | The selected PDF font does not support that script. | PDF tab → Font → Firefly or Unifont. |
| Permissions changes do not take effect for one specific user. | Joomla's group cache is stale. | Log the user out and back in, then clear cache. |
| Teachers can still see results despite "Enable Results for Teacher" being No. | Browser cached the menu. | Hard-refresh; if persists, log out and back in. |