# Extension profiles and the coverage gate Joomla extensions store media references in very different ways: sometimes as a path in a column, sometimes deep in a JSON parameter tree, sometimes as a folder entry. For Media Organizer to search a foreign extension reliably, it has to know *where* that extension keeps its references. This knowledge sits in **profiles**. ## Profiles are data, not code A profile describes, for exactly one extension, which tables and columns can contain media references and how they are to be read. It is a data file — not program code. That has a practical advantage: profiles can be updated independently of the extension. When knowledge about another third-party extension is added, you do not need a new program — only new data.
Profiles are **not guessed**. Every one of them comes out of a documented procedure in which the actual data structure of the extension is examined and verified. An invented table or column name would be the most dangerous kind of error: it would make a file that is in use look orphaned.
Which profiles are currently available is shown in **Options → scanning** under *available profiles*. ## The coverage gate Now the decisive question: what happens with an installed extension for which there is *no*profile? Media Organizer could ignore it and hope. It does not. Instead it states: "for this extension I cannot rule out that it uses media" — and blocks deleting for good.
**Incomplete coverage blocks deleting for good and nothing else.** Scanning, reviewing, quarantine and restoring stay fully possible. All of that is reversible after all.
The notice appears at the top of the review view and names the extension concerned. ## How to establish coverage There are three clean ways: 1. **Wait or ask.** For common extensions, profiles arrive with updates. If one you need is missing: report it. 2. **Register the extension as media-free.** If an extension demonstrably stores no media references, enter its element (for example `com_example`) under **Options → scan – advanced → media-free extensions**. It then counts as covered. Under *detected media-free extensions* you find those already verified — you do not have to enter those yourself. 3. **Uninstall the extension** if you no longer need it anyway.
**"Media-free" is a claim you stand behind.** Only register an extension if you really know — not to get rid of the notice. That very entry helps decide whether a file may be deleted.
## The override — and why you should avoid it There is a switch that lifts the block: **Options → security & retention → override the deletion block on incomplete coverage**. It is deliberately built to be inconvenient: - Only **super users** may set it. - A **reason is mandatory** — no text, no override. - The override is **recorded in the audit log** together with the reason. It exists for the case where you know better than the software and stand behind that. It is not a shortcut for clicking the notice away. If you need it, the more honest question is usually: why is the profile missing — and would the route via "register as media-free" not be the right one? ## Custom fields: a common stumbling block Custom fields can contain media. Which field types those are is defined under **Options → scan – advanced → custom field media types**. The default covers Joomla's own media field as well as common field plugins. What matters is the automatism behind it: if media fields are *used* but not *searched*, deleting for good stays blocked. So if you use another field plugin that stores media, add its internal type name to this list. ## Where to go from here - [Configuration reference](https://docs.graup-it.de/books/media-organizer-en/page/configuration-reference) - [Quarantine, restoring, deleting for good](https://docs.graup-it.de/books/media-organizer-en/page/quarantine-restoring-deleting-for-good) Applies to version 1.2.0. [Deutsche Fassung](https://docs.graup-it.de/link/68)