Hello everyone,
I'm currently using jDownloads on a Joomla 4 website for managing downloadable files, and so far everything has been working smoothly.
Now I'm planning to add a separate custom-built interactive tool to the same website. Unlike downloadable content, this tool will process user input and display dynamic results directly on the page. It won't modify or extend jDownloads itself, but both systems will exist within the same Joomla installation and likely share parts of the menu/navigation structure.
Before moving forward, I wanted to ask for some advice from people who have experience with similar setups.
-Are there any common issues when running custom PHP-based tools alongside jDownloads?
Is it better to isolate custom functionality through separate components/modules/plugins?
-Any recommendations for avoiding conflicts with content plugins, template overrides, or future jDownloads updates?
-Are there Joomla best practices for keeping third-party extensions and custom tools cleanly separated?
I'm mainly trying to make sure the setup stays maintainable and update-friendly over time.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or experiences you can share.