Joomla configuration.php file changes over time

by Brad Markle

13 Minutes, 6 Seconds to Read

Table of Contents

In this tutorial:

Sample Config Files Changelog

Joomla’s configuration.php file has changed quite a bit over time. Some of the changes can cause compatibility concerns with upgrades to newer versions. I came across a change in Joomla 3.2 that has caused some problems with email.

To help others troubleshoot problems possibly caused by configuration.php conflicts, I installed every major version of Joomla and examined the configuration file. Here, you can see example configuration.php files per version of Joomla, and you can also reference a table that shows every variable included through the years.

Sample Joomla Configuration Files

Click the buttons below to see the configuration.php file for the corresponding Joomla version. If you would like to see all of the variables listed in a table, click here.

Joomla Version: 1.0.15 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.5 3.0 3.1 3.2

Joomla 1.0.15

 <?php
 if(!defined('RG_EMULATION')) { define( 'RG_EMULATION', 0 ); }
 $mosConfig_offline = '0';
 $mosConfig_host = 'localhost';
 $mosConfig_user = 'db_user';
 $mosConfig_password = 'db_pass';
 $mosConfig_db = 'db';
 $mosConfig_dbprefix = 'jos_';
 $mosConfig_lang = 'english';
 $mosConfig_absolute_path = '/home/userna5/public_html';
 $mosConfig_live_site = 'https://example.com';
 $mosConfig_sitename = 'Site Name Goes Here';
 $mosConfig_shownoauth = '0';
 $mosConfig_useractivation = '1';
 $mosConfig_uniquemail = '1';
 $mosConfig_offline_message = 'This site is down for maintenance.
 Please check back again soon.';
 $mosConfig_error_message = 'This site is temporarily unavailable.
 Please notify the System Administrator';
 $mosConfig_debug = '0';
 $mosConfig_lifetime = '900';
 $mosConfig_session_life_admin = '1800';
 $mosConfig_session_type = '0';
 $mosConfig_MetaDesc = 'Joomla - the dynamic portal engine and content management system';
 $mosConfig_MetaKeys = 'Joomla, joomla';
 $mosConfig_MetaTitle = '1';
 $mosConfig_MetaAuthor = '1';
 $mosConfig_locale = 'en_GB';
 $mosConfig_offset = '0';
 $mosConfig_offset_user = '0';
 $mosConfig_hideAuthor = '0';
 $mosConfig_hideCreateDate = '0';
 $mosConfig_hideModifyDate = '0';
 $mosConfig_hidePdf = '0';
 $mosConfig_hidePrint = '0';
 $mosConfig_hideEmail = '0';
 $mosConfig_enable_log_items = '0';
 $mosConfig_enable_log_searches = '0';
 $mosConfig_enable_stats = '0';
 $mosConfig_sef = '0';
 $mosConfig_vote = '0';
 $mosConfig_gzip = '0';
 $mosConfig_multipage_toc = '1';
 $mosConfig_allowUserRegistration = '1';
 $mosConfig_link_titles = '0';
 $mosConfig_error_reporting = -1;
 $mosConfig_list_limit = '30';
 $mosConfig_caching = '0';
 $mosConfig_cachepath = '/home/userna5/public_html/cache';
 $mosConfig_cachetime = '900';
 $mosConfig_mailer = 'mail';
 $mosConfig_mailfrom = '[email protected]';
 $mosConfig_fromname = 'Site Name Goes Here';
 $mosConfig_sendmail = '/usr/sbin/sendmail';
 $mosConfig_smtpauth = '0';
 $mosConfig_smtpuser = '';
 $mosConfig_smtppass = '';
 $mosConfig_smtphost = 'localhost';
 $mosConfig_back_button = '1';
 $mosConfig_item_navigation = '1';
 $mosConfig_secret = 's3ZJL6akojubS7el';
 $mosConfig_pagetitles = '1';
 $mosConfig_readmore = '1';
 $mosConfig_hits = '1';
 $mosConfig_icons = '1';
 $mosConfig_favicon = 'favicon.ico';
 $mosConfig_fileperms = '';
 $mosConfig_dirperms = '';
 $mosConfig_helpurl = 'https://help.joomla.org';
 $mosConfig_multilingual_support = '0';
 $mosConfig_editor = 'tinymce';
 $mosConfig_admin_expired = '1';
 $mosConfig_frontend_login = '1';
 $mosConfig_frontend_userparams = '1';
 $mosConfig_itemid_compat = '0';
 setlocale (LC_TIME, $mosConfig_locale);
 ?>

Change Log

Below you will find a table showing the variables contained within Joomla's config file based upon the Joomla version. A red ✗ means that variable was not included, and a green check mark ✓ means it was included.

Please note that in Joomla 1.0, the variable names began with $mosConfig. For the purposes of this table, $mosConfig has been removed from those variable names.

Joomla Version 1.0.15 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.5 3.0 3.1 3.2
$offline ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$host ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$user ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$password ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$db ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$dbprefix ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$lang ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$absolute_path ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$live_site ✓ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$sitename ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Joomla Version 1.0.15 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.5 3.0 3.1 3.2
$shownoauth ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$useractivation ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$uniquemail ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$offline_message ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$error_message ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$debug ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$lifetime ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$session_life_admin ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$session_type ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$MetaDesc ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Joomla Version 1.0.15 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.5 3.0 3.1 3.2
$MetaKeys ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$MetaTitle ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$MetaAuthor ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$locale ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$offset ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$offset_user ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗
$hideAuthor ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$hideCreateDate ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$hideModifyDate ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$hidePdf ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
Joomla Version 1.0.15 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.5 3.0 3.1 3.2
$hidePrint ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$hideEmail ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$enable_log_items ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$enable_log_searches ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$enable_stats ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$sef ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$vote ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$gzip ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$multipage_toc ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$allowUserRegistration ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
Joomla Version 1.0.15 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.5 3.0 3.1 3.2
$link_titles ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$error_reporting ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$list_limit ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$caching ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$cachepath ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$cachetime ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$mailer ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$mailfrom ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$fromname ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$sendmail ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Joomla Version 1.0.15 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.5 3.0 3.1 3.2
$smtpauth ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$smtpuser ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$smtppass ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$smtphost ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$back_button ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$item_navigation ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$secret ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$pagetitles ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$readmore ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$hits ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
Joomla Version 1.0.15 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.5 3.0 3.1 3.2
$icons ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$favicon ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$fileperms ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$dirperms ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$helpurl ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$multilingual_support ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$editor ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$admin_expired ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$frontend_login ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$frontend_userparams ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
Joomla Version 1.0.15 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.5 3.0 3.1 3.2
$itemid_compat ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$legacy ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$debug_lang ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$dbtype ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$xmlrpc_server ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
$ftp_host ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$ftp_port ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$ftp_user ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$ftp_pass ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$ftp_root ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Joomla Version 1.0.15 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.5 3.0 3.1 3.2
$ftp_enable ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$cache_handler ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$sef_rewrite ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$sef_suffix ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$feed_limit ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$log_path ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$tmp_path ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$session_handler ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$access ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$smtpsecure ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
Joomla Version 1.0.15 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.5 3.0 3.1 3.2
$smtpport ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$unicodeslugs ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$display_offline_message ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$offline_image ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$captcha ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$robots ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
$MetaVersion ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✓
$mailonline ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓
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