jDownloads 4.x frontend layout breaking when trying to link external download mirrors

[Rohan78]

Hey everyone,

I'm currently configuring jDownloads 4.x on a Joomla 5 site where we offer a directory of system utilities, and I've run into a frustrating issue with how external download links are rendering on our frontend download pages.

We want to keep some of our files hosted on our local server, but for our higher-traffic items, we prefer redirecting users to an external mirror. For instance, we have a landing page set up for a popular scripting tool where users go to get the latest download executor package. When I set the file download source as an external link in the jDownloads backend, the button displays, but the layout wraps incredibly weirdly on mobile viewports. Instead of a clean download button, the external URL text overflows outside of the container box, making the layout look completely broken on phones.

Along with the layout breaking, I am having a secondary issue with the download tracking statistics. Whenever a user clicks the button for our externally mirrored files, the jDownloads counter doesn't seem to register the click or increment the download count at all. It tracks local file downloads perfectly fine, but external link clicks seem to completely bypass the internal logging.

Has anyone else ran into this layout alignment bug when dealing with external link styling in jD4, and is there a specific override I need to add to my custom CSS file to stop the external link text from spilling out of the button container?

[ColinM]

Hi
1. Which Layout(s) are you using? Also does it 'distort' on both Android and IOS based phones?

2. The Download information is held on your server, but the downloadable file may be located either on the normal server or on another server.
For this the relevant Downloadable files marked as External or are you relying on the mirror? See the options in the Files Data section.

Best wishes
ColinM

[Arno]

Hi,
thanks for the report.

Before we can suggest a reliable fix, please provide exact technical details first:
- exact Joomla version (full number)
- exact jDownloads version (full number)
- active jDownloads layout name (and whether it is core or template override)
- link type used in the file record (external file, mirror 1/2, direct/summary mode)
- screenshot of the broken frontend output (desktop + mobile)
- relevant log/error output, if available

Without these details, we cannot diagnose the layout/rendering and counter behavior safely.