Working with a Joomla installation.
THE CONFIGURATION
configuration.php holds the database name, user, password, host and table prefix.
Joomla also stores absolute file paths there: the log and temporary directory paths. These must be corrected after a migration, or the site fails.
THE TABLE PREFIX
Joomla generates a random prefix at installation rather than using a fixed default.
Check configuration.php for the actual value before running any query.
KEY TABLES
Content for articles Users and user group mapping for accounts Extensions for installed components Session for active sessions Assets for the permissions structure
THE ASSETS TABLE
Holds the permission hierarchy. Corruption here produces permission errors that are difficult to diagnose.
Joomla has a rebuild function for it under the article manager.
CREATING A SUPER USER
When locked out, a super user can be added directly to the users table and mapped to the correct group in the user group mapping table.
Both rows are required; adding only the user does nothing.
SESSIONS
The session table can grow large. Clearing it logs everyone out and is otherwise harmless.
