Introduction

A regular view of a Download has an icon image indicating the type of file in the Download.  An example sybol is pdf symbol01which indicates that the file in the Download is a pdf file. Actually jDownloads has three sets of symbol files: Iconset 1pdf symbol01 ; Iconset 2 pdf symbol0 icon set2 and the original set. pdf symbol0 originalicon set.
By default jDownloads uses Iconset 1. Changing to one of the other Iconsets and adding your own icon are described below.

The scheme works by jDownloads taking the extension part of the file, such as pdf, in the Download and then searching in the active icon set for an image called 'pdf.png'.  If the search is unsuccessful then image 'unknown.png', unknown png, is used.
Also note that the original set has several 'diverse' images that are useful elsewhere for specific purposes.

It is recommended that that either Iconset1 or Iconset2 is used for showing the Download file type graphically.

Selecting Icon set to use

To select which icon set to use go to the V4 button control panel blue then select V4 button options white (near top right). Then select the V4 button pictures and buttons tab tab and scoll down to the File type symbols heading section.

Use the 'Select File Type Icon Set' pulldown
select icon setto select the icon set to be used.  When the Downloads are viewed all the icons  shown will now come from the selected set.
File type symbols section

You may select the size of the symbols by using the height and width selectors.

jDownload will match the sizes choosen with actual size of the image and maintain the correct aspect ratio.
Symbol size heightSymbol size height
If the file extension image cannot be found, then the Symboll selected in the 'Replacement File Type Symbol for Downloads' is used.  The default symbol is the unknown.png image as illusrated opposite.  You may of course select other symbols by using the pull down button.
replacement symbol

Adding Own Symbols

There are two methods of adding extra symbols.

1. uploading them with either FTP or the web site control panel into Joomla directory "/images/jdownloads/fileimages/flat_1"
or "/images/jdownloads/fileimagesflat_2"  as appropriate.

2. upload the symbol file directly in the Additional Data section when creating/editing a Download in the backend.

In both cases you will need to search the web for an appropriate png image file.  If you look at the png files in each directory you will see they both have a simple style.  It is of course possible to edit the one of the existing png files and add it to the existing set.


ColinM June 2024, May 2025

What is jDownloads?

jDownload trans

jDownloads is an extensive Download Manager for the Content Management System Joomla. It is a free GPL Extension with many special features!

Despite the many options, it is easy to use as it integrates seamlessly into the Joomla administration and has the familiar structure and appearance of the Joomla core components. This makes familiarisation much easier.

Get a first overview by taking a look at the list of the most important functions here or visit the new jDownloads Demo installation with some application examples to see what is possible with this download manager. However, this demo only contains the most frequently used functions, as a complete overview is not possible due to the many variations and options. It therefore only shows a few possibilities as an initial overview.

Makes your downloads management easy!

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