HC - Social Media (Joomla Module)

HC - Social Media is a modern Joomla module designed to provide a structured, flexible and professional way to manage and display social media links within Joomla websites. It was developed following Joomla 4+ architectural standards, ensuring long-term maintainability, clean separation of responsibilities and compatibility with future platform updates.

This module goes beyond a simple list of links. It is a structured system focused on layout flexibility, per-item customization and clean rendering without compromising performance or code organization.

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Architecture and Design Principles

• Clean architecture based on Dispatcher + HelperFactory
• Strict separation between data processing and rendering
• Layout files responsible only for HTML output
• Helper layer responsible for normalization and validation
• Modular CSS separated per layout
• Fail-safe rendering approach
• Structured project organization prepared for future evolution

The module ensures safe updates without breaking changes and maintains consistency across Joomla versions.

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Available Layouts

• default – Institutional and balanced presentation
• minimal – Ultra clean and compact display
• inline – Horizontal row with optional separators
• boxed – Clickable card-style blocks
• stacked – Vertical tiles (icon above / text below)

Each layout includes its own dedicated CSS file, keeping visual structure isolated and maintainable.

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Per-Item Customization

Each social media item can optionally use individual CSS Variables when customization is enabled.

Supported variables:

• --hc-bg
• --hc-text
• --hc-border
• --hc-bg-hover
• --hc-text-hover
• --hc-border-hover
• --hc-border-width
• --hc-radius
• --hc-py
• --hc-px
• --hc-shadow
• --hc-transition

This approach allows advanced styling control without modifying layout files.

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Technical Specifications

• Compatible with Joomla 4.x, 5.x and 6.x
• Compatible with PHP 8.0+
• Joomla Update System ready (Update Server included)
• Dependency Injection architecture
• Parameter normalization layer
• Basic sanitization and validation
• Device visibility control (all / desktop / mobile)
• SVG, image and CSS class icon support
• Clean and maintainable code structure

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Roadmap

Planned improvements include:

• Native WhatsApp integration inside the module
• Dedicated phone number and predefined message fields
• Optional highlighted WhatsApp layout
• Accessibility improvements (ARIA refinements)
• Color preset system
• Extended customization options

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Author

• https://hirleicarlos.github.io/
• prof.hirleicarlos@gmail.com