What is core-hacking?

Joomla is designed for flexibility and modularity. It provides several layers to change the way content gets displayed and organized. You can customize content display in Global Configuration, Menu item type and parameters, or use a mambot to hide/show,replace, highlight text strings, author names, etc.

However, there are some things you just can't change using the administration backend. These changes can only be made by manually editing the Joomla PHP source files.

Many people also modify component, module or mambot PHP code to get the desired results

 Do I need core-hacking?

Core-hacking is required for some components to work. (Mambelfish is the only example i have in mind right now). You should only use it if you have no other alternatives. The Joomla core files are overwritten during a Joomla version upgrade. You need to re-hack the code after an upgrade, and you don't know if it's going to work with the new version. Use with caution on "live" sites.

First of all, you need to know that hacking the core files may affect overall Joomla/Mambo behaviour, as well as component/module/mambot functionality. Afterall, this is what you want when you decide  to core-hack Joomla.

Related articles(beta):

• Joomla PHP: extending config.xml with plugins
• Sed find and replace in folder

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