Article Layout Options and Display Settings in Joomla 6

Joomla 6 offers flexible options to control how your articles appear on the frontend. You can customize the article layout, control what information is displayed (like author or date), and even set different layouts for different categories or menu items.

1. Understanding Article Layouts

Each Joomla article can be displayed using different layouts, defined by your template or by menu settings. The layout determines how titles, images, and metadata appear to visitors.

• Single Article: Displays one full article.
• Category Blog: Shows multiple articles in a blog-style layout.
• Category List: Displays articles in a simple list view.

You can assign these layouts through your menu items or override them via the template system.

2. Accessing Article Display Options

To control display options globally:

• Go to Content → Articles → Options.
• This opens the global settings panel for all articles.

Changes here apply to all articles unless overridden at the category or menu level.

3. Global Article Display Settings

Inside the Options panel, you’ll find settings like:

• Show Title: Display or hide article titles.
• Linked Titles: Make article titles clickable in lists.
• Show Intro Text: Show the introductory text before “Read More”.
• Show Category: Display the category name under the title.
• Show Author: Display the article author.
• Show Create Date / Modify Date / Publish Date: Control which dates are visible.
• Show Hits: Display the number of times the article has been viewed.
• Show Tags: Display assigned tags under the article.

You can set each to “Show”, “Hide”, or “Use Global” depending on your needs.

4. Setting Category-Level Options

Each category can have its own layout and display settings:

• Go to Content → Categories.
• Open the category you want to edit.
• In the Options tab, adjust the display preferences (titles, author, images, etc.).

This is useful when, for example, your “News” category needs a blog layout while “Tutorials” uses a cleaner single view.

5. Menu Item-Level Display Control

You can override both global and category settings using menu items:

• Go to Menus → [Your Menu].
• Open a menu item (like “Blog”).
• In the Options tab, configure how articles appear on that page.

Common overrides include number of columns, intro text display, and article info position (above or below content).

6. Using Images and Links Tab

Each article has an Images and Links tab where you can define:

• Intro Image: Shown in blog or list view.
• Full Article Image: Shown in the single article view.
• Link A/B/C: Optional extra links under the article.

These allow you to manage visual consistency without touching HTML.

7. Customizing Layout via Template Overrides

For deeper control, developers can create template overrides of article layouts. This lets you rearrange HTML structure or add custom fields while keeping updates safe.

See our earlier guide: Template Overrides Made Easy in Joomla 6.

8. Article Info Position

In Global Options or Menu Item Options, look for “Article Info Position”. This determines where metadata (author, date, category) appears:

• Above — displayed before the article body.
• Below — displayed after the content.
• Split — shows some data above and some below.

9. Displaying Read More Buttons

You can control how “Read More” behaves:

• Use the <hr id=\"system-readmore\" /> tag in the article editor to split intro and full text.
• Enable “Show Read More” in Article Options to display a clickable link.

10. Summary

Joomla 6 gives you total control over how your articles are displayed. Whether you want a simple blog layout or a highly customized design, the built-in display options make it easy to achieve a clean, professional look.

Next, we’ll cover Managing Categories and Organizing Your Content.