joomla component/module/plugin parameters

gistfile1.php

Plugin parameters from inside a plugin

$param = $this->params->get('paramName', 'defaultValue'); 
Plugin parameters from outside a plugin

$plugin = &JPluginHelper::getPlugin('exampleType', 'example');
$pluginParams = new JParameter($plugin->params);
$param = $pluginParams->get('paramName', 'defaultValue'); 
Module parameters from inside a module

$param = $params->get('paramName', 'defaultValue'); 
Module parameters from outside a module

$module = &JModuleHelper::getModule('example');
$moduleParams = new JParameter($module->params);
$param = $moduleParams->get('paramName', 'defaultValue'); 
Component parameters from inside a component

$componentParams = &JComponentHelper::getParams('com_example');
$param = $componentParams->get('paramName', 'defaultValue'); 
Component parameters from outside a component

$componentParams = &JComponentHelper::getParams('com_example');
$param = $componentParams->get('paramName', 'defaultValue'); 
Template parameters from inside a template

$param = $this->params->get('paramName'); 
Template parameters from outside a template

jimport('joomla.filesystem.file');
$mainframe = &JFactory::getApplication();
$params = $mainframe->getParams(JFile::read(JURI::root() .'/templates/template_name/params.ini'));
$param = $params->get('paramName', 'defaultValue'); 
Template parameters from an included file outside the Joomla framework

// Get params.ini relative to the current file location (use your own relative path here)
$paramsFile = dirname(__FILE__) . '/../../params.ini';

// Only continue if the file exists
if(file_exists($paramsFile)) {
// Get contents from params.ini file
$iniString = file_get_contents($paramsFile);

// Escape double quotes in values and then double-quote all values (because Joomla doesn't do that for us..)
$iniQuoted = preg_replace('/=(.*)\\n/', "=\"$1\"\n", addcslashes($iniString, '"'));

// Parse the ini string to an associative array
$iniParsed = parse_ini_string($iniQuoted);
} else {
$iniParsed = '';
}

// Set params to obtained values or empty array
$params = (!empty($iniParsed)) ? $iniParsed : array();

// Get param value from array
$param = $params['paramName'];