Should I change the way I include javascript into Joomla? If yes, why and how?

Question

I use a lot of javascript on my site. It works and has passed crossbrowser testing, but the thing is the javascript files are being included within Joomla articles. I’ve read that this is the wrong way to go about it, but I don’t know why and am not sure of a better way to do it (I believe one reason had to do with the javascript not being included in the head of the webpage).

IMPORTANT I’ve considered including the javascript in the template, but each Joomla article can be vastly different. While I try to be consistent with articles in similar categories this isn’t always possible. If I were to include the javascript into the template I would need to create a different template for each category type and then I’d still need to include the odd script into a few articles.

Perhaps I should include the javascript via custom html modules? I’m not really sure what benefit this would provide over the current method.

QUESTIONS

• Should javascript not be included via joomla articles? If yes, why?
• How would you include javascript in this situation? Remember that each article can use vastly different js.

EDIT1

I'm particularly interested in how people would recommend I add the javascript to Joomla in my situation.

Answer 1

If you're including the JavaScript as a user and customized to your article, then it's fine. Especially if it is different for each article.

However if you happen to repeat the same JavaScript code in multiple articles, then there may be better solutions like an alternative article layout.

You can read more about alternative layouts here: http://docs.joomla.org/Layout_Overrides_in_Joomla. Basically you copy the orginal layout file to your template like you would do to override it. But then you rename the file to a new name. This new layout can then be selected as an alternative layout for an article. You then can add the JavaScript to that layout and reuse it for each article you want.

Another way would be to use either the custom module or any of the available plugins/module which allow to add assets to the site. However personally I think I would use alternative layouts.

If we are speaking about extension developers who ask the users to include JavaScript code in the articles, then those developers should be fired :-)

Answer 2

Articles are for content, not source code.

Rule of thumb, different content in different places.

If I have to quickly include Javascript, I would recommend NoNumber Sourcerer: http://www.nonumber.nl/extensions/sourcerer

DRY principle, don't repeat yourself. Create modules with the Javascript code, and include it with {loadposition module-position}

Answer 3

Should javascript not be included via joomla articles? If yes, why?

I would advise gently against using JS straight up in articles...

• Not user-friendly - many editors will wipe out JS written inline (maybe not when you're using it, but when your lower-permission users do who aren't allowed to save articles with code in them...)
• Can't combine / minify (without additional plugins / components) - it also adds extra weight to a site (can't combine scripts together) and minifying / unminifying it to make changes is inefficient and time-consuming
• Blocking behaviour - JS in the body will block until it's finished. If it's complex, you may have users waiting for it to complete for the rest of the page to load
• And, of course, it's ugly - whilst it's not the worst thing in the world, it's also the hackiest of hacky solutions given the many, many different ways Joomla has to include JS on a page.

How would you include javascript in this situation? Remember that each article can use vastly different js.

I'm curious - what requires every article to have 'vastly different JS'? Surely there must be generalizations you can make?