diff --git a/services/updateserver/joomla.go b/services/updateserver/joomla.go
index 39981f0590..82febe9615 100644
--- a/services/updateserver/joomla.go
+++ b/services/updateserver/joomla.go
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ func resolveExtensionMetadata(ctx context.Context, repo *repo_model.Repository,
 		Element:       strings.ToLower(repo.Name),
 		DisplayName:   fmt.Sprintf("%s - %s", repo.Owner.Name, repo.Name),
 		ExtType:       "component",
-		TargetVersion: "(5|6)\\..*",
+		TargetVersion: "6\\..*",
 	}
 
 	// Manifest is the source of truth for extension metadata.
@@ -192,8 +192,8 @@ func resolveExtensionMetadata(ctx context.Context, repo *repo_model.Repository,
 		log.Error("resolveExtensionMetadata: GetRepoManifest for repo %d: %v", repo.ID, err)
 	}
 	if manifest != nil {
-		if manifest.ElementName != "" {
-			m.Element = manifest.ElementName
+		if elem := manifest.FullElementName(); elem != "" {
+			m.Element = elem
 		}
 		if manifest.PackageType != "" {
 			m.ExtType = manifest.PackageType
@@ -318,6 +318,7 @@ func GenerateJoomlaXML(ctx context.Context, repo *repo_model.Repository, require
 
 		// Load attachments for download URLs.
 		if err := rel.LoadAttributes(ctx); err != nil {
+			log.Error("GenerateJoomlaXML: LoadAttributes for release %d (tag %s): %v", rel.ID, rel.TagName, err)
 			continue
 		}
 
@@ -361,11 +362,13 @@ func GenerateJoomlaXML(ctx context.Context, repo *repo_model.Repository, require
 		if version == "" {
 			version = rel.TagName
 		}
+		// Append channel suffix only if the version doesn't already
+		// contain one (e.g. "1.2.3-rc2" already has "-rc").
 		suffix := stream.Suffix
 		if suffix == "" {
-			suffix = channelSuffix(ch) // fallback for Joomla defaults
+			suffix = channelSuffix(ch)
 		}
-		if suffix != "" {
+		if suffix != "" && !versionHasChannelSuffix(version) {
 			version = version + suffix
 		}
 
@@ -380,13 +383,12 @@ func GenerateJoomlaXML(ctx context.Context, repo *repo_model.Repository, require
 			infoURL = meta.SupportURL
 		}
 
-		// Joomla <client> element: admin-side extensions use "administrator",
-		// site-side extensions use "site". Packages, components, libraries,
-		// and files are admin-side by default.
-		client := "site"
+		// Joomla <client> element: 0 = site, 1 = administrator.
+		// Packages, components, libraries, and files are admin-side.
+		client := "0"
 		switch extType {
 		case "package", "component", "library", "file":
-			client = "administrator"
+			client = "1"
 		}
 
 		u := xmlUpdate{
@@ -436,8 +438,9 @@ func GenerateJoomlaXML(ctx context.Context, repo *repo_model.Repository, require
 	return append([]byte(xml.Header), output...), nil
 }
 
-// versionRegex matches semantic version patterns like 1.0.0, 02.29.04, etc.
-var versionRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`(\d+\.\d+(?:\.\d+)?)`)
+// versionRegex matches semantic version patterns with optional pre-release
+// suffixes, e.g. 1.0.0, 02.29.04, 1.2.3-rc2, 1.0.0-beta1.
+var versionRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`(\d+\.\d+(?:\.\d+)?(?:-(?:dev|alpha|beta|rc)\d*)?)`)
 
 // extractVersion finds a version number from a tag name or release title.
 // Tries: (1) strip common prefixes for version-style tags, (2) regex match for embedded versions.
@@ -447,13 +450,10 @@ func extractVersion(s string) string {
 	v = strings.TrimPrefix(v, "v")
 	v = strings.TrimPrefix(v, "release-")
 	v = strings.TrimPrefix(v, "release/")
-	// Strip channel suffixes.
-	for _, suffix := range []string{"-dev", "-alpha", "-beta", "-rc", "-development", "-release-candidate"} {
-		if idx := strings.Index(strings.ToLower(v), suffix); idx > 0 {
-			v = v[:idx]
-			break
-		}
-	}
+	// Do not strip channel suffixes (e.g. -rc2, -beta1) here.
+	// The caller appends stream suffixes only when the version
+	// doesn't already contain one, preserving the original
+	// pre-release number for correct Joomla version comparison.
 	// If result looks like a version (starts with digit), use it.
 	if len(v) > 0 && v[0] >= '0' && v[0] <= '9' {
 		return strings.TrimSpace(v)
@@ -467,6 +467,17 @@ func extractVersion(s string) string {
 	return ""
 }
 
+// channelSuffixRegex matches a pre-release channel suffix at the end of a
+// version string, e.g. "-rc", "-rc2", "-beta1", "-dev". Anchored to avoid
+// false positives like "-devtools".
+var channelSuffixRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`(?i)-(dev|alpha|beta|rc)\d*$`)
+
+// versionHasChannelSuffix checks if a version string already ends with a
+// pre-release channel suffix (e.g. "-rc2", "-beta1", "-dev").
+func versionHasChannelSuffix(version string) bool {
+	return channelSuffixRegex.MatchString(version)
+}
+
 // channelSuffix returns the version suffix for a channel.
 func channelSuffix(channel string) string {
 	switch channel {