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Harsha Gomes
Submitted by Harsha Gomes on Wed, 08/18/2010 - 14:49
Posted on 2010-08-29 11:01 pm by Harsha Gomes
How to Add a New Joomla WYSIWYG Editor
It is no secret that the editor you first see when using Joomla isn't very powerful. It looks like this:
In this article we'll show you how to install an editor with improved features. It's called JCE (Joomla Content Editor). You can see there's at least 25% more options, and when you use them, you'll see they're much better:
- Step 1: Go to JoomlaContentEditor.net. You won't need a subscription for anything we're recommending.
- Step 2: Go to Downloads >> Editor >> Joomla! 1.5x
- Step 3: Find the file that has the label "Single installation package for Joomla! 1.5.x". At the time of writing this is "com_jce_157_156_package.zip"
- Step 4: Download this file to your desktop.
- Step 5: In the administration area of your Joomla site, go to Extensions >> Install / Uninstall and upload the file.
- Step 6: Go to Site >> Global Configuration and choose JCE in the field "Default WYSIWYG Editor".
- Step 7: Now when you go to an article, you'll see the new, improved editor.
What Are the Big Improvements You Will See?
- Improved image control. Click the picture of a tree (third from right on bottom row)
- Easier linking. Select some text and click the chain link (fifth from right on second row)
- Pasting from Word. Clean up that ugly text using the W button (middle of second row)
Creating Tables inside Joomla Articles
Now let’s see how to create tables inside Joomla articles using JCE (Joomla Content Editor).
Getting Started
Open an article and put your cursor in the article where you'd like the table to be.
Insert a New Table
Click your mouse on the "Inserts a new table" button in the third row of your JCE Editor.
Choosing the Table Options
You'll see a pop-up looking like this. The first thing to do is choose the number of columns and row for your article. Cell padding is the amount of space INSIDE each cell. Cell spacing is the amount of space BETWEEN each cell. Border will set a line around the outside of the whole table. Width and height allow you set fixed dimensions for the table otherwise the table will adjust to fit the content inside. When you're done, click insert.
Writing inside the Table
Click your mouse inside the table cells and start typing.... You should end up being able to fill in all the cells you need:
Modifying Your Table
You'll notice that when your table is selected, many new buttons along the 3rd row will light up. These are extra options for modifying our table. From left to right they are:
- delete table
- table row properties
- table cell properties
- insert row before
- insert row after
- delete row
- insert column before
- insert column after
- delete column
- split merged table cells
- merge table cells
The next article will discuss about more useful tips in Joomla.
Posted on 2010-05-31 03:36 am by Harsha Gomes
Blog style view - Daily blogs
This
Joomla layout override article shows you how to modify the blog style
views for articles to show the "day" date above all the articles posted
in the same day. After that, each article on the same day will just
display the time they were posted as shown in the screenshot. 
We are going to do our layout override example on the "category" view in com_content - that's the component that controls the way all your articles display on your site. We don't want to modify the original files because we risk losing our changes each time we upgrade the Joomla source files. So what we do is copy the original blog layout file to a layout override folder in the default template you are using for your Joomla site, as follows:
Copy:
/components/com_content/views/category/tmpl/blog_item.phpto:
/templates/rhuk_milkyway/html/com_content/category/blog_item.phpOpen the new blog layout override file, blog_item.php, in your favourite editor and change the top of the layout override file to the following:
<?php // no direct access
defined('_JEXEC') or die('Restricted access');
// Set up some variables
$fDate = JHTML::_('date', $this->item->created, '%B %d, %Y');
// Remember which dates we have used
if (!isset($this->usedDates)) :
$this->usedDates = array();
endif;
// Have we already shown it?
$showDate = !isset($this->usedDates[$fDate]);
// Now set that we've used it
$this->usedDates[$fDate] = true;
?>
What we are doing in this block is storing a new, formatted "day" date in the variable
$fDate. You can change the way for date looks by changing the third argument. See the PHP Manual for strftime
for other things you can add to the formatted date (you want to
concentrate on the table with all the letters with a %-sign in front of
them - it's a bit weird but just go with it).Next we are setting up an internal view variable called
userDates
to track the dates that we have displayed. After that we work out if we
are to show the date and put that in a variable called $showDate.To start putting this together, find
<table> tag a few lines down. If we are displaying the date, we will be adding a new row to the table, as follows:
That will display the "day" date above the first article in the "day".
Lastly we want to change the article date that is displayed to only show the time. Go down one hundred or so lines in the override file and find this line:
<?php echo JHTML::_('date', $this->item->created, JText::_('DATE_FORMAT_LC2')); ?>
You need to change it to this:
<?php echo JHTML::_('date', $this->item->created, '%H:%M %Z'); ?>You can adjust any of the code in the layout override outlined above to suit your own requirements or your own template. Most templates won't be displayed with in a table (generally considered bad form nowadays) so you won't have to worry about putting the "day" date in a table row. Place it in a div or whatever other tag you are happy with. Likewise, change the h3 tag to whatever suits.
The Joomla "section" and "frontpage" views can also be altered in a similar fashion with separate layout override files. For best results you would use a single column display. It might look at bit weird in two or more columns. I've zipped all the Joomla layout override files for easy download. To install them, unzip the files into the /html/ folder in your default Joomla template. Remember to backup any files and folders that already exist (just in case).
Your valuable comments after reading this article will be highly appreciated. Also, if you have any issues in joomla you could email to harsha@vishmitha.com or Supporting Forum to get the assist.
The next article will discuss about Database in Joomla.
Posted on 2010-04-29 02:35 am by Harsha Gomes
Layout Overrides: Popup Login Box
Login
boxes can take up valuable space on your web site, or just detract from
the overall feel of the site. A popular technique for addressing this
problem is to show a modal popup login box. The idea is that you
replace the page hungry username and password fields with a "login"
link that, when clicked, opens a modal popup login box. This can all be
achieved out-of-the-box with Mootools and Joomla layout overrides.In this Joomla development article we will be using two simple layout overrides for the login module and the user component’s login page. Our first step is to create is to copy the native layouts to the layout override folder in the active template.
Copy:/modules/mod_login/tmpl/default.phpto:
/templates/template_name/html/mod_login/default.phpand copy:
/components/com_user/views/login/tmpl/default_login.phpto:
/templates/template_name/html/com_user/login/default_login.phpWhere template_name is the folder name for the default template used on your site. If you use more than one template, linked to menu items, then you will need to create the layout overrides for each template. Your folders should look something like the image to the side.
Open the login module layout override first (
/html/mod_login/default.php). Replace the code with the following listing:
<?php // no direct access
defined('_JEXEC') or die('Restricted access'); ?>
<?php if ($type == 'logout') : ?>
<form action="index.php" method="post" name="login" id="form-login">
<?php if ($params->get('greeting')) : ?>
<div>
<?php if ($params->get('name')) : {
echo JText::sprintf( 'HINAME', $user->get('name') );
} else : {
echo JText::sprintf( 'HINAME', $user->get('username') );
} endif; ?>
</div>
<?php endif; ?>
<div align="center">
<input type="submit" name="Submit" class="button" value="<?php echo JText::_( 'BUTTON_LOGOUT'); ?>" />
</div>
<input type="hidden" name="option" value="com_user" />
<input type="hidden" name="task" value="logout" />
<input type="hidden" name="return" value="<?php echo $return; ?>" />
</form>
<?php else :
JHtml::_('behavior.modal', 'a.login');
?>
<script type="text/javascript">
window.addEvent('domready', function() {
// Decorate the login windows to use a modal.
$ES('a.login').each(function(a){
a.setProperty('rel', '{size: {x: 175, y: 225}, ajaxOptions: {method: "get"}}');
if (a.getProperty('href').contains('?')) {
a.setProperty('href', a.getProperty('href')+'&tmpl=component');
} else {
a.setProperty('href', a.getProperty('href')+'?tmpl=component');
}
});
});
</script>
<p>
<a href="<?php echo JRoute::_('index.php?option=com_user&view=login'); ?>"
class="login" title="<?php echo JText::_('LOGIN') ?>">
<php echo JText::_('LOGIN') ?></a>
•
<a href="<?php echo JRoute::_( 'index.php?option=com_user&task=register' ); ?>">
<?php echo JText::_('REGISTER'); ?></a>.
</p>
The display for the module when logged in is unchanged. But when not logged in only two links will be displayed: the login link and the register link. On the login link, a class of "login" has been applied. A small amount of unobtrusive Javascript has been used to add a modal popup on any anchor tags with a class of "login". This technique degrades gracefully in the event that Javascript is disabled (so on a handheld device, clicking on the link will just take you to the normal login page).
Before we started, the login box will have looked something like the following image.
Open the login module layout override first (
/html/com_user/login/default_login.php).
Where the login description is being displayed, wrapped it in and if
block to only display if it is being shown in a popup, as follows:
<?php if (JRequest::getVar('tmpl') != 'component') :?>
<div>
<?php echo $this->image; ?>
<?php if ( $this->params->get( 'description_login' ) ) : ?>
<?php echo $this->params->get( 'description_login_text' ); ?>
<br /><br />
<?php endif; ?>
</div>
<?php endif; ?>
The tmpl request variable is reserved in Joomla. If it
has a value of "component" then we know that the outer site template is
not being displayed (this happens in several places in Joomla, such as
the "print" view in articles).The final result will look something like the following image after we click on the "Login" link:
/html/ folder in your default Joomla template. Remember to backup any files and folders that already exist (just in case).Your valuable comments after reading this article will be highly appreciated. Also, if you have any issues in joomla you could email to harsha@vishmitha.com or Supporting Forum to get the assist.
The next article will discuss more about Layout Override in Joomla.
Posted on 2010-02-23 07:38 am by Harsha Gomes
Joomla! 1.5 Using Typography
This month article provides detailed instructions for using the
Typography styles included in the template on your site. If you would
like to see all of the Typography styles in action, check out the
appropriate place on the demo site.Most templates have their own set of content styles, known as Typography. Typography can come in a number of varying and diverse formats, ranging from simple text modifications to image insertions. Typography improves the look and layout of your website and gives it life. This article will take you through the necessary steps to adding typography to your Joomla! content.
Inserting Typography with the HTML Editor
To insert the Typography into your content, you must use the HTML
feature of all Joomla! content editors. The article will outline the
steps in which does this with the default Joomla! content edit,
TinyMCE. Please be aware, even though there are other content editors
available, all are basically the same and the steps with be just as
effective if you are using another content editor.Please note that the following article will show you how to insert HTML (typography) into Static Content, the same procedure is apparent for Content Items and Custom Modules.
- Login to the Joomla! Administration Control Panel. Either, use the Administrator link on your mainmenu when you are logged into the Frontend of your website or use the direct web address of the Administrator Control Panel, www.yoursite.com/administrator. Enter the Administrator's Username and password.
- Navigate to the Article Manager. Once you have logged in, hover over the Content link on the top taskbar, scroll down to Article Manager.
- The Article Manager When you selected the Article Manager link, you will be sent to the Article Manager control panel. Select either Edit or New, depending on whether you want to add typography to an existing or new item.
- The HTML icon To add typography to your content, you must enter the HTML mode of the Content editor. In the TinyMCE 2.0 editor, this is an icon called "HTML", in some other content editors; it is a tab but will be clearly marked for easy navigation. Push the icon to enter HTML mode.
- The HTML Editor A popup will appear with your content in HTML format, in the following screen shot, you will see the above screenshot's text in HTML coding. You must do all of your editing here for typography.
- Inserting Typography In this case, we will be using the Info span style for the example text. You will not see the effects in the content editor; all style affects are only visible on the Frontend of your Joomla! Website.
- The Result The following screenshot shows you the end result of inserting the HTML code into the content.
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be offered to all our valuable readers. VDigitEco is a free Joomla
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W3C compliant. Click here to download it.
Posted on 2009-12-28 12:39 am by Harsha Gomes
Vishmitha (www.vishmitha.com), is a web hosting and designing company registered in Singapore.The founder of Vishmitha.com is Harsha Gomes who has over 10 years of experience in Computer Programming, Network Administration, and Database Management & Web developing. He has also severed in several State and Private Organizations such as CINTEC, Ministry of Economic Reforms and Science and Technology, and Path Finder Holdings.
Its
mission is to make web hosting and designing affordable and provide
outstanding customer support with a fast and reliable network.
Vishmitha’s network is consistently monitored 24/7 by both an in-house
staff and a third party monitoring company in USA.Vishmitha does not overload servers. Most of the web hosting providers are trying to add more and more accounts to their servers to increase the profits, and that way the servers become overloaded and overcrowded which results in slow opening of web sites, downtime and bad service. Vishmitha has a strictly set limit on the number of accounts per server to ensure that the server will not be overloaded and sites will open quickly at all times. Hence the clients will be happy with the services, and once they experience our services they will never look for another web hosting company.
Our servers are located in one of the best data centres and networks in the world. We have done a thorough investigation before choosing the data center we will work with, and now all our servers are located at the following locations worldwide which allow us maximum flexibility and access to our equipment.
USA - Starfield Technologies - Arizona, GNAX data centre – Atlanta, SoftLayer data centre - Texas
UK- Blue Square
SINGPORE - Qala data centre
Our servers are powerful and reliable. That is the reason why we use Intel Xeon Quad core servers with a minimum of 4GB RAM memory and 100Mbit/s connectivity. All servers have a minimum of 4 drives configured in RAID10 format and hardware raid controllers for maximum reliability. That means our server will remain functioning even if 2 drives fail at the same time (1 drive from each raid1 sub-array in the RAID10 array). That also means you will not lose data. This configuration provides a lot of power for your web sites and they will open quickly at all times.
All servers and all services on them such as http, mysql, e-mail, cPanel, ftp are monitored 24/7 by our technical representatives. All services on each of our servers are being monitored every minute and we are alerted if a service goes down so we fix it immediately. We always understand first if there is a problem with any service on any of our servers which will give you the assurance that your server is taken care of and you could sleep at night knowing your web site is in good hands.
Backups are important with us. At Vishmitha you get free daily and weekly backups. Most providers provide only daily or only weekly backups as an option. We provide both. Moreover, we provide 7 backup points for the last 7 days. That's right. You can choose to restore from 7 restore points for the last 7 days. On top of it, you can restore your account yourself at any time of the day completely free of charge via your control panel - cPanel. We use R1soft backups on all our servers and they are integrated into cPanel so that our clients can restore data at anytime without contacting us.
Satisfaction is guaranteed. All of our clients are happy with our services. You can become one of them too by giving us a try and experience the quality web hosting services we provide.
Web Designing
Vishmitha web designs are an innovative and forward thinking web design, content management consultancy.We specialize in the development of professional Valid XHTML, CSS, W3C standard website designs, template conversions plus the implementation of custom tailor made web site solutions for Joomla!
We are a dedicated, friendly and approachable team of professional web designers with over 6 years commercial experience using and developing web sites plus high quality templates for Joomla.
We have access to a wealth of creative and development web designer skills from around the world who share a set of common goals and values based on the following.
- Development of high quality, eye-catching and innovative custom Joomla website designs.
- To help individuals and small to medium sized businesses to make use of the full potential Joomla has to offer to establish a presence on the internet.
- Deliver cost effective open source web site solutions based on our clients’ needs and requirements.
- Provide a approachable and friendly service offering support and guidance to all our clients.
- Deliver projects on time and in budget.
Posted on 2009-12-26 08:24 am by Harsha Gomes
Joomla! SEO Tips and Tricks
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) may sound complicated and expensive,
but there are a number of things you can do to improve your search
engine ranking that won't have you spending a cent or tearing your hair
out. Here the 10 SEO tips and tricks for your Joomla sites.1) Don't install any sample data when you set up a Joomla! site.
When you launch your Joomla! Site, it's very easy to forget to delete all the demo articles that come with it. That will give you pages, links and newsfeeds that are irrelevant to your topic. Delete your sample data and don't forget to empty your trash as well!
2) Your Site Name should be your site's name.
There can be a temptation to cram as many keywords as possible into the "Site Name" field. It doesn't help and when users register at your site, they get an email saying "Welcome to Widgets, Buy Widgets, Cheap Widgets, Bargain Widgets!" You don't want that.
3) Turn off your PDF links.
When we analyze Joomla! Sites, we often find PDFs ranking higher than the original pages. Because PDF pages have no menu links, they're a dead-end. Users can't move from the PDF to the rest of your site. So turn off those links.
4) Don't waste your site's link juice with lots of social bookmarking links.
Let’s face it, very few pages have a chance to hit the Digg home page or do well on Reddit, so only place those buttons on your best articles. Your visitors appreciate clean, uncluttered pages -- and so do search engines.
5) Redirect the www and non-www versions of your site to the same place.
All you need to do is add this little piece of code to your .htaccess file.
Note: Replace MyDomain with your domain name and .com with your domain extension.
## Can be commented out if causes errors.
Options FollowSymLinks
# mod_rewrite in use
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^MyDomain\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.MyDomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^.*MyDomain\.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.MyDomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]
6) Turn on your cache.Options FollowSymLinks
# mod_rewrite in use
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^MyDomain\.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.MyDomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^.*MyDomain\.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.MyDomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]
Search in Google and you'll see a size for each site. Smaller, faster sites are more popular with visitors and with Google. One easy way to make your site act small and load faster is to turn on your cache in Global Configuration.
7) Enter a full description for all your sections and categories.
These pages are great for organizing your site... and for improving Page Rank. If you organize your sections and categories carefully, your site becomes very easy for both people and search-engine spiders to navigate.
8) Less is often more
Having thousands of Joomla! pages indexed in Google isn't always a good thing, especially if those pages don't bring value. Some components, for example, can produce lots of extra pages that are completely worthless. One easy way to check if your site is putting garbage on Google is to search for site:mydomain.com. If you find pages that don't have good content, you might want to remove them.
9) Empty your global configuration metadata.
I'm sure you're all big fans of Joomla! But I'm equally sure that "Joomla! - the dynamic portal engine and content management system" doesn't describe your site. Take it out.
10) Be confident.
Joomla! is a fantastic software that allows you to easily create lots of high quality pages that are great for your SEO. If you keep a close eye on your site and take the time to learn how Joomla! Works, there's no reason why you shouldn't have top-flight search engine rankings!
Things not to introduce for your joomla web site.
Do not include hidden text within your web site. Some web masters have
being known to include hidden text or targeting keyword to move up the
rankings. Basically they hide the text from the real user i.e (white
text on a white background) and so on. Google can spot this and will
penalize your web site.Loading pages with keywords avoid spamming the search engines by including lots of keywords which have little relevance to the content of you web site or make no sense if a real user was to visit and read the content on your web site.
Avoid Doorway pages. Do not use doorway pages i.e - individually optimization pages for specific search engines.
Avoid cloaking involves dynamically generating thousands of keyword rich web page's using server side scripts which only the search engine Bots can see but the end user cannot. Some Webmasters have introduced this approach to gain a high ranking which may work in the short term but in the long term it will fail and your site ( domain ) will be banned or removed from the index.
Avoid automated submission web sites. You may have seen many SEO sites selling services which include submitting your Joomla web site to hundreds of search engines, FFA link farms and directories. If you do decide to use this service you could get banned for “spamming the search engines” I would strongly advise you avoid using such sites but instead manually submit your site to the relevant search engines Google, Yahoo, MSN and so on. Another approach is not to submit your site directly to the search engine but let them find you. This involves creating a linking strategy based on exchanging links with sites that are both established and have a good Page Rank. The Bot will then index the high ranking site and follow your link therefore indexing your web site.
So... What to do?
Create high quality keyword rich contentWhen writing content for your Joomla web site create it for users not search engines. Focus on creating content which is relevant to your web site i.e if you run a Joomla template site then focus on writing content for joomla templates. Also make use of your targeted keywords within the content and use H1 and H2 "bold" to highlight and reference keyword phrases. Use hyperlinks to reference the relevant web sites and also use anchor text.
Linking strategy
Think about who your target audience and web sites who have a similar interest to the service or content you are offering via your web site. Do your research, Search Google, Yahoo, MSN or visit the communities and build up a list of sites with similar interests. For example if you run a Joomla web site dedicated to Joomla open source then build up a relationship with other sites based on exchanging web links with them or news articles. Also when submitting your web link to a web site make sure the title and keywords relating to the web site are referenced in the web link, news article.
Title, description and Metatags
Joomla incorporates some very useful functionality which compliments your content to ensure the title, description and metatags are relevant to each specific document. Make sure you make use of the functionality available within Joomla.
For example once you have written your news item complete the following.
- Associate the news item with the relevant news category.
- Click on the Meta Info tab.
- In the description field enter a relevant, clear and concise Meta description which clearly reflects the content of the news item.
- In the keywords field you may need to add additional keywords.
The site Title Tag play's one of the most important roles in achieving a high ranking web site. Search engines including Google, Yahoo, MSN and AltaVista place a lot of focus on the site title tag. From the Global configuration option via the Joomla Administrator you can change the site name, Global Site Meta Description, Global Site Meta Keywords.
Think about the following when creating your site title.
- Ensure the site title is specific and relevant to the content of your web site.
- Your site title ideally should be between 64 and 66 characters which make it Google friendly. Yahoo will accept up to 120 characters as per the W3 standards
- Add one or more of your targeted keywords in the site title.
- Write a brief description which clearly reflects the content of your web site
- The Meta description should be between 170 characters or 200 characters
- Include one or more of your targeted keywords which are included in your site title and keywords.
Some Search engines do not give as much weight to the keyword metatag as the site title or site description but it is recommended that you make use of it.
- Avoid keyword stuffing i.e repeating your keywords.
- Add your one or more targeted keywords contained in your site title, site content within your Global Site Meta Keywords.
- Place your targeted ( most important ) keywords at the start of your Global Site Meta Keywords which give the keyword more weight.
We highly appreciate your valuable comments after reading this article. Also, if you have any issues in joomla you could email to harsha@vishmitha.com or Supporting Forum to get our assist.
Posted on 2009-11-26 03:30 am by Harsha Gomes
Setting up your Joomla website Menus
One of the first things you do after your Joomla installation is to
configure your menus. Joomla menus are fairly straight forward to
configure. Here we’ll give a small rundown of how Joomla menus work
Joomla Native Menus
Joomla comes along with a number of menus (when you install the
sample data) to get you started (Top menu, Main menu, User menu). Each
menu is basically is made up a list of menu items, (each with their own
unique parameters), and a module which is used to display the contents
of this menu. It is important to understand this relationship between
each menu and its corresponding module; the module is where the menu
“lives” and is used to display the menu in the template position where
you want it to be displayed.
The Menu Manager (Menus > Menu Manager) is the where one can create any additional menus required. When creating a new menu, the Title name will be used as the name of the main menu module which will be used to display the menu.
Menu items
Once a new menu item has been created, you can edit the menu items
in the menu. This is done by going to Menus menu and selecting the menu
item .e.g Menus > Main Menu.Here you can add / edit / delete / publish / unpublish menu items to this particular menu. Menu items can be created to articles, to the front page, to any new components, to search etc. The different kinds of menu items will not be described here.
Parent / Child menu items
Typically one would want to create a hierarchy in the menu. You can
do this by creating items as children of other menu items. This is done
by choosing a Parent, when creating the new menu item.
Displaying the menu
Once our module has been defined with the menu items, we now choose
the position where we want to display it. To do this, we need to refer
to the previous section where we explained the relationship between a
menu and its module. As we explained earlier, each menu has a
corresponding module which is used to display it. Therefore, we now
need to go to the Modules, and set the parameters for the current menu
module.Thus go to Extensions > Module Manager. To find only the menu modules, you can select type to mod_mainmenu. This will only display the menu modules. You can now click on the menu name. e.g Main Menu and set the parameters of the module, including the position in the template where you want the menu to be displayed. You’ll have the standard module parameters on the left, such as whether to display the title of the module, whether it is enabled, and which position / order. On the right you have parameters which are specific to the menu, i.e. what style to use for the menu and a number of parameters which are specific to the current menu module. Explaining each parameter is beyond the scope of this article.
So that was a very brief intro to Joomla Native menus. If you find any of this unclear, we’d love to hear from you. We highly appreciate your valuable comments after reading this article. Also, if you have any issues in joomla you could email to harsha@vishmitha.com or Supporting Forum to get our assist.
The next article will discuss about SEO in Joomla.
Posted on 2009-10-28 03:25 am by Harsha Gomes
Creating a website using Joomla
Creating a Section
First of all navigate to Content > Section Manager button.
You will then be displayed with a list of Sections or a blank list like this:
To create a new Section click the New button on the top right of the page.
This will display a form into which you could input the required Section data.
Fill in the name you want for your section and switch the Published box to yes.
When you're happy with the data added, click the Save button.
Creating a Category
Next we will teach you how to set up a Category within a Section. Navigate to Content > Category Manager.
You will then be displayed with a list of Categories like this:
To create a new Category click the New button on the top right of the page.
This will display a form into which you can input the required Category data.
Fill in the name you want for your section and switch the Published box to yes.
Select the Section you just created from the Drop-down menu.
When you're happy with the data added, click the Save button.
Creating an Article
Next teach you how to create an Article.
Articles are the main way of displaying content using Joomla.
To create an article navigate to Content > Article Manager
You will then see a list of current articles displayed, click the New button to take you to the article creation screen.To create an article navigate to Content > Article Manager
You can now give your article a Title, Section and a Category. Also set an alias whether it set to the front-page or not.
Now enter the content into the text area and click the Save button.
Creating a Menu Item
After you've created an Article navigate to the Menus > Main Menu button.You will then be displayed with a list like this:
You now need to click the New button. You will then be displayed with a menu.
Click Internal link > Articles > Article Layout.
You shall then be directed to a Menu Item creation screen.
Enter the menu button Title and click the Select article button to display a list of articles you have created.
Select the Article you want to use and click the Save button to save the menu.
We highly appreciate your valuable comments after reading this article. Also, if you have any issues in joomla you could email to harsha@vishmitha.com or Supporting Forum to get our assist.
The next article will discuss more about Site Management in Joomla.
Posted on 2009-09-30 03:11 am by Harsha Gomes
Joomla SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.
It is a great way to make our web “read” by the search engine. Many web
owners hire SEO professional to optimize their web. But for the Joomla
1.5 users, they should be happy because of this version, Joomla had
improved better features for SEO. There are three techniques for SEO in Joomla, they are Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URLs, mod_rewrite (only for Apache), and suffix.
If you want to apply SEO, you should choose at least SEF option. If you
want to use mod_rewrite, SEF option must be selected. It is much better
if we use suffix too. With suffix, in the end of the URL will be added
.html. Available combinations for SEO in Joomla are:
- SEF
- SEF + suffix
- SEF + mod_rewrite
- SEF + mod_rewrite + suffix (recommended)
http://blog.digit.com/joomla15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=27
- For the SEF option, the URL will be:
- <pre>http://blog.digit.com/joomla15/index.php/joomla-overview
ttp://blog.digit.com/joomla15/index.php/joomla-overview.html
Compare if we use Apache mod_rewrite, the result is shown below:
http://blog.digit.com/joomla15/joomla-overview
If we use mod_rewrite, URL will look nice and tidy without "index.php". Html extension can be appended by choosing suffix option. The resultis shown below:
http://blog.digit.com/joomla15/joomla-overview.html
SEO Implementation in Joomla! 1.5
SEO Implementation in Joomla 1.5 is very easy.
SEO Implementation in Joomla 1.5 is very easy.
- Login to Joomla back-end as super administrator.
- Choose menu Site > Global Configuration.
Joomla! 1.5 SEO Settings
Remember
If you want to implement option number two (Use Apache mod_rewrite),
the web server should be Apache and also the mod_rewrite module should
keep active. After that rename htaccess.txt in the Joomla root
directory to be .htaccess >If you get error message while implementing SEO option number two, try to edit .htaccess file, find this line:
Options +FollowSymLinks
Add "#" character. So the line will be:
#Options +FollowSymLinks
Restart your Apache web server.
Rename htaccess.txt to be .htaccess in Windows
In default Joomla 1.5 installation, there is a file named htaccess.txt. This file will be used useing Joomla SEO that is option Use Apache mod_rewrite. Before it can be used, this file should be renamed to .htaccess. In Linux OS, this case is not a big problem; because it allows creation this kind of file (file name is started with “dot” character). For Windows user this case is a problem, because Windows doesn’t allow creation this kind of file. If we force it, a warning will appear like shown below:
Error while renaming htaccess.txt to .htaccess
In order to rename htaccess.txt to .htaccess, we could do it through command prompt. Syntax:
ren [htaccess.txt directory]\htaccess.txt .htaccess
Example:
ren DaGu\htdocs\joomla15\htaccess.txt .htaccess
That’s it!We highly appreciate your valuable comments after reading this article. Also, if you have any issues in joomla you could email to harsha@vishmitha.com or Supporting Forum to get our assist.
The next article will discuss more about Site Management in Joomla.
Posted on 2009-07-31 04:37 am by Harsha Gomes
Converting HTML Template to Joomla Template
Today we discuss how a HTML Template converts to Joomla Template.
Converting a HTML template to a Joomla template is not as hard as you
think. Only five easy steps and you can create and use your Joomla
template.Why you want to learn this? Because perhaps you stumble into beautiful free html templates while browsing on the net and really want to use it for your joomla based website.
Step 1
Prepare your template. The template should be (X) HTML&CSS compliant. There are lot of HTML templates on the Internet, just search them by using Google. Templates in Joomla are filed under a directory named templates. Ensure the HTML file, images and CSS file are inside one single directory created under templates folder. For example, take a look at the Joomla template structure below:
Joomla Template Directory Structure
Joomla will search index.php inside the template directory. So, rename the index.html file to index.php.
Step 2
Replace the HTML code before the body tag of your HTML file with this code.
<?php
// no direct access
defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );
?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" >
<head>
<jdoc:include type="head" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/system/css/system.css" type="text/css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/system/css/general.css" type="text/css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/your_template_name/your_css_directory/your_css_file.css" type="text/css" />
</head>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/your_template_name/your_css_directory/your_css_file.css" type="text/css" />
Change “your_template_name” to the name of your template, “your_css_directory” to name of your css directory, and the last, change “your_css_file.css” to the name of your css file. If you have more than one css file, you should declare them one by one.// no direct access
defined( '_JEXEC' ) or die( 'Restricted access' );
?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" >
<head>
<jdoc:include type="head" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/system/css/system.css" type="text/css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/system/css/general.css" type="text/css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/your_template_name/your_css_directory/your_css_file.css" type="text/css" />
</head>
You should notice at this code:
<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/your_template_name/your_css_directory/your_css_file.css" type="text/css" />
If you have some javascript files, you should declare them with the same way.
The template contains the various files and folders that make up a Joomla template. These files must be placed in the /templates/ directory of a Joomla installation in their own folder. So if we had two templates installed, our directory would look something like the following:
/templates/digit
/templates/vmjoom
Note that the directory names for the templates must be the same as the name of the template, in this case element and vmjoom. Obviously they are case sensitive and shouldn't contain spaces.
Step 3
The default Joomla template has a few module positions such as breadcrumb, left, right, top, user1, user2, user3, user4, footer, debug, and syndicate. The joomla module positions are shown below.
Joomla Module Position
To create a module position, we need to place this code <jdoc:include type=”modules” name=”your_module_position_name” /> to appropriate position. The name attribute is the module position name. The snippet code to create a module position is:
<div id="header_r">
<div id="logo"></div>
<jdoc:include type="modules" name="top" />
</div>
<div id="logo"></div>
<jdoc:include type="modules" name="top" />
</div>
After that, you need to place a component. The code is shown below.
<jdoc:include type="component" />
If you need to include message, you only need to include this code:
<jdoc:include type="message" />
Step 4
Create a manifest file. You need to create a manifest file to list all files you used. If you don’t create it, it will cause error while installing your template. Here is the sample of a manifest file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE install PUBLIC "-//Joomla! 1.5//DTD template 1.0//EN" "http://dev.joomla.org/xml/1.5/template-install.dtd">
<install version="1.5" type="template">
<name>your_template_name</name>
<creationDate>20/07/2009</creationDate>
<author>Harsha Gomes</author>
<authorEmail>harsha@vishmitha.com</authorEmail>
<authorUrl>http://vishmitha.com</authorUrl>
<copyright></copyright>
<license>GNU/GPL</license>
<version>1.0.0</version>
<description>template description goes here</description>
<files>
<filename>index.php</filename>
<filename>templateDetails.xml</filename>
<filename>template_thumbnail.png</filename>
<filename>images/arrow.png</filename>
<filename>images/logo.png</filename>
<filename>css/template.css</filename>
</files>
<positions>
<position>breadcrumb</position>
<position>left</position>
<position>right</position>
<position>top</position>
<position>user1</position>
<position>user2</position>
<position>user3</position>
<position>user4</position>
<position>footer</position>
<position>debug</position>
<position>syndicate</position>
</positions>
</install>
<!DOCTYPE install PUBLIC "-//Joomla! 1.5//DTD template 1.0//EN" "http://dev.joomla.org/xml/1.5/template-install.dtd">
<install version="1.5" type="template">
<name>your_template_name</name>
<creationDate>20/07/2009</creationDate>
<author>Harsha Gomes</author>
<authorEmail>harsha@vishmitha.com</authorEmail>
<authorUrl>http://vishmitha.com</authorUrl>
<copyright></copyright>
<license>GNU/GPL</license>
<version>1.0.0</version>
<description>template description goes here</description>
<files>
<filename>index.php</filename>
<filename>templateDetails.xml</filename>
<filename>template_thumbnail.png</filename>
<filename>images/arrow.png</filename>
<filename>images/logo.png</filename>
<filename>css/template.css</filename>
</files>
<positions>
<position>breadcrumb</position>
<position>left</position>
<position>right</position>
<position>top</position>
<position>user1</position>
<position>user2</position>
<position>user3</position>
<position>user4</position>
<position>footer</position>
<position>debug</position>
<position>syndicate</position>
</positions>
</install>
Don’t forget to enlist all your files used in your newly made template inside files tag. If you missed, the files won’t be copied to Joomla template directory during installation process. Positions tag is used to declare the position name used in your template.
Step 5
Package it. You may create a thumbnail of your template before packing it. It should have 206px width and 150px height. And finally compress your template to a zip file and your template is ready to go. Don’t forget to test it before sharing it to the Internet in case you feel like it.
We highly appreciate your valuable comments after reading this article. Also, if you have any issues in joomla you could email to harsha@vishmitha.com or Supporting Forum to get our assist.
The next article will discuss about Site Management in Joomla.
Posted on 2009-06-29 12:13 pm by Harsha Gomes
Working with Components
A number of components have been installed on your site for increased functionality. In this section you will learn how to work with those components to add a Contact Us page and a Poll. Using these components is optional and can be applied to your site when and if you desire. The components do not have to be added in any particular order. If you do not wish to apply the component functionality to your site at this time, skip this section.Contact us page
1. From the control panel in the back end of your site, and the row of menu items across the top, choose Components < Contacts < Contacts.
2. Type in a Name and select the category, Contacts.
3. Type in the Information you want for your contact at your discretion.
4. From the Contact Parameters section on the right hand side, choose to hide or show the fields listed.
5. Click on the Email Parameters section and modify as desired.
6. When satisfied, click the Save button.
7. In order for your Contact component to show on the front end of your site you must publish the menu link that has already been established for it.
a) From the Control Panel and the row of menu options across the top, choose Menus < Main Menu (Supported, Managed and Custom sites may choose another menu option to place the Contact category in).
b) Locate the menu item Contact Us .
c) Click on the red x under the Published column
to turn it into a green checkmark. This will effectively publish the
menu item so it will appear in the menu listing on the frontend of your
site.
8.Go to the front end of your site. Refresh the window and see your Contact Us link.Polls
A poll is added to your site by first creating the poll then module for it to display in on the front end of your site.
Create a Poll
1. Login to your administration site
2. From the Control Panel and the horizontal Menu Bar, choose Components < Polls
3. Click the New button
4. Under the Details section, type in a Title (ie. What do you like about our site?) for your poll and choose 'published'
5. Under the Options section, type the options to the question (ie. nice layout, easy to use....)
6. Click the 'Save' button
Create a Module for Poll
1. From the Control Panel and the horizontal menu bar, go to Extensions < Module Manager
2. Click the 'New' button
3. From the selection listed, choose 'Poll'
4. Click the next button
5. In the 'Details' section, type in a Title for your poll and choose a position for your polls module using the module layout diagram as your guide
6. From the 'Parameters' section, choose the poll you created from the 'poll' dropdown box
7. Click the 'Save' button
Go the front end of your site. Refresh and see your poll.
The Module positioning of your
Joomla website is defined by the Joomla template you currently use.
Below you can see a screenshot that represents the basic items, added
by the default Joomla template. This will help you understand better
the structure and key concepts of a Joomla website Module positions and
how to change it.
Some of the most commonly used position names are top, user1 to user6, left, right, header, footer, breadcrumb, and newsflash.
1. In the "top" position of the Joomla website the "Banners" and "NewFlash" modules are placed by default.
The Banners module allows you to upload images that link to a desired URL. You can define your banners from Components -> Banners and then display the selected items by publishing the "Banners" module from the Extensions -> Module Manager page in your Joomla administrative area.
The Newflash module displays a single random article, or a number of articles in a horizontal or vertical configuration. From your Joomla administration area you can select a category of articles that will be displayed by this module.
2. The "Top menu" module is published into the "user3" position by default. You can easily create and manage menus from the Menus->Menus Manager page. You can then set your "Top menu" module to display the menu you have just created.
3. The "Breadcrumbs" module is placed into the "breadcrumb" position. It is a convenient navigation method which displays the current page you are on and the full "path" to it. If you are in a page called "Sample Page" that is under the main menu, the "Breadcrumbs" will display Home -> Sample Page. Using Breadcrumbs is very useful especially when you have multi-level menus.
4. The "Search" module is published in the "user4" position of the template. It gives your users the option to search within the content of your website.
5. Several modules are published into the "left" position of the template. In this position you can publish vertical menus, login forms and many other modules depending on your particular needs.
6. The "Latest News" module is published into the "user1" position of the template. It displays the most recently added articles from the selected category or from all categories. In addition, you can specify the number of displayed articles depending on your preferences.
7. The "Popular" module is published into the "user2" position of the template. It will display a selected number of articles that are visited the most. You can either select a category from which the articles will be displayed or you can set the module to display the most visited articles in the entire site.
8. This is the main part of your website. Here are the newest articles you have set to be displayed on the front page.
9. A "Polls" module is published into the "right" position of the template. You can create the actual polls from the Components -> Polls page in the administrative back-end of your Joomla application. Once you have created your Polls, you can choose which one to be displayed on your website by editing the preferences of the "Polls" module from the "Module manager".
10. "Banners" and "Footer" modules are displayed in the "footer" position of the template. You can use the "Footer" module to display useful links, your copyright and other useful information at the bottom of your page.
Viewing Joomla 1.5 Module Position in browser
To know module position in a Joomla template, we only need to append a query string tp=1. For a example:http://localhost/joomla/index.php?tp=1
Adding Content Using Modules
In addition to the primary content area on your site which displays articles, you have several module positions available to display information.
A module position is a designated space in which you can put content. Module positions are generally smaller spaces suitable for advertisements or announcements. The module positions on your site are labelled in the layouts above:
When there is no content in any one module position, the position collapses freeing space for main page content or other modules. To add module and position it:
Now login to your administration site;
From the control panel and the horizontal menu bar at the top, choose Extensions < Module Manager
-
Click the 'New' Button You will see
that there are number of module types you can choose from some of the
module types are formatted for specific components like polls or
Newsfeeds. Other modules perform specific functions. Mouse over each
one for a description of the module type.
- If you wish to create a custom module in which you can insert text, an image or html code, choose the module type, Custom HTML
-
Type in a name for the module
-
Choose yes or no to show the title of your module
- Choose the position in which the module will display. Refer to the site layout above to see which positions are available and where they are located on your site.
-
In the text box below, type in the text or insert the image by clicking
on the insert image icon at the bottom left of the text box. This will
display all the images from those you have previously uploaded into the
Stories folder of the media manager.
- Click the 'Save' button on the top right.
We highly appreciate your valuable comments. Also if you have any issues in joomla you could email to harsha@vishmitha.com or Supporting Forum to get our assist.
The next article will discuss about working with Joomla Templates.
Posted on 2009-05-27 06:22 am by Harsha Gomes
Accessing Your Web Site
You have just received notice that your new Joomla website is available to work on and you are wondering, "how do I begin?'Let's begin by opening up your site.
a) The frontend
Type your url into the address bar of your web browser as below:
http://yourdomain.com
http://localhost/joomla for a local installation>
Your site will look like this:
>b) The backend (administration site)
Important Note: For best results always use Mozilla Firefox web browser when doing site administration. Firefox is a free download available at: getfirefox.com >
In a new window or tab, open up the backend of your site by typing your url with the suffix, /administrator into the address bar of your Mozilla Firefox web browser as follows:
http://yourdomain.com/administrator/
http://localhost/joomla/administrator/ for a local installation
This is where you, the administrator, will develop and edit your website.
The menu bar at the top of the administration site (the row of words beginning with 'Home') and various button links arranged in two rows below is where you will access the features and functions of your site to create and make changes.
It will look like this:
From the row of menu items along the top, choose Site < User Manager
- Click on the user, Administrator
- Type in a new password. The password must be a minimum combination of six letters and numbers. No spaces and no special characters.
- Click the Save Button.
You are now ready to develop your website. For best results follow each of the steps outlined sequentially.
Proceed to Step 1
Step 1: Change Your Site Name>
The name of your website displays in the title bar of your browser, the copyright at the bottom of your site, and a few other miscellaneous places. Your site is presently named Digit.lk. To change your website name:
- Login to the backend of your site using the username and password you have set up for yourself.
-
From the control panel, click on the 'Global Configuration' icon
(last icon on the bottom row).
in the 'Site Name' text box, type in the name of your organization
- (blog name, company, etc)
- Click the Save button.
Step 2: Choose Your Site Colours and Header Options>
Site Header (Logo)
The header position is at the very top of your site where your name is. You have the option to create a header image for your site and place it in that position. It will replace current joomla logo is in the illustration below.
Here are the parameters for creating a header
-
Create a name with (mw_joomla_logo.png) image and save it on your computer.
A recommended height would be between 75px and 298px according to the current sample template. -
From the FTP programme or in your local folder, open the ‘Template’ folder in your joomla installation.
Click on the 'images' folder in default template (rhuk_milkyway).
http://localhost/joomla/templates/rhuk_milkyway/images/
- Upload and overwrite ‘mw_joomla_logo.png’
The image will automatically display in the header space of your site.
If not visible please clear your browser cookies.
Site Colours
Now decide which colours will best match your header and reflect your organization.
1. From the administration site, go to: Extensions < Template Manager.>
2. Click on the template name, rhuk_milkyway'.
3. From the parameters section, select the colour scheme of choice.
Go to the frontend of your site. Refresh the page and see your changes.
Revisit the parameters if desired to make further changes.
Proceed to Step 3.Revisit the parameters if desired to make further changes.
Step 3: Adding Content to Your Site Using Articles
Next you will learn how to create content (articles) on your site and link them to menu items.Articles are contained within Categories and then Sections, or they are 'uncategorized'. To best understand this concept, think of a Section as a filing cabinet, a Category is a drawer within the filing cabinet and an article is a document in the drawer. Uncategorized articles are
The Articles you create can either be designated to "show" on the front page (the page that shows when your site opens) or be linked to menu items (other pages of your site).
The next steps will help you create a section, a category, an article and finally a menu link. You will also learn how to have your article "show" on the front page.
Sections
-
From the control panel in the administration site, click on the Section Manager icon.
- You will see that there is one section already there called 'news'. You might decide that one section is adequate to start or that you would like to create another one. If this one is sufficient skip to Categories below.
- To create a new Section. Click the New button. Type in a Title. Click the Save button.
Categories
- From the control panel in the administration site click on the Category Manager icon.
-
You will see there is one category already there called Miscellaneous.
You might decide this one category is adequate to start. If so skip to
the next section called Articles.
- To create a new Category, click the New button. Type in a title for the category. Click the save button.
Articles
Now you are ready to add articles (content). The Control Panel in the administration site click on the Add New Article icon.
1.Type in a Title for the Article.
2. Choose a Section and Category for the Article to go in, or choose Uncategorized.
3. At this point you will choose if you want your article to appear on the front or home page of your site, or if you want your viewers to click on a menu item to access the article. If you want this article to be on the front page of your site, Click "yes" on the "show on front page" option. If you want this article to be linked to a menu item under the Main Menu, click "no".
4.Type the content of your article in the text box below the text editing tools. You may also copy/paste content into the text box but please be aware that when copy/pasting anything other than plain text - such as tables, lists or text with unusual fonts - from another application such as MS Word, you will most likely experience formatting issues. For this reason we recommend that you produce articles with lists or tables directly in the text box rather than copying them from other sources. Feel free to utilize the Text Editing Tools to enhance your content.
5. If you would like to insert an image into your article, please see the directions in the section called Inserting Images.
6. Click the save button when you have completed your article.
Menu Links
If you have created an article and not chosen to show it on the front page, you will need to create a menu link so that the article will be accessible on the front end of the site by clicking on a menu item.From the Control Panel and the row of menu options across the top,
choose Menus < Main Menu (Supported, Managed and Custom sites may choose other menu options to link the article to).>
1. Click the New button.
2. Click on the word, Articles then Article Layout>
1. Type in a title for your menu link. Make the title the same as the article name that you are linking it to.
2. In the Parameters - Basic box, click on the Select button.
3. Choose the article you want to link to from the selection.
- Click the Save button.
You have now created a Section, Category and Article with a link to a menu item. Go to the frontend of your site. Refresh the window and see your addition.
Editing Sections, Categories, Articles and Menu Items.
You may edit the names and/or content of Sections, Categories, Articles and Menu Items at any time by going to the administration site and clicking on the appropriate item.Proceed to Step 4
Step 4: Reordering Front Page Content and Menu Items>
At this point you have developed one or more front page articles and one or more articles linked to menu items. In this step you will learn how to reorder these items.
Front Page Articles
Any of the articles that you have designated to "show" on the front page can be rearranged so that they show in a particular order on the front end of your site.
1. From the control panel in the back end of your site, click on the Front Page Manager icon. You will see all of the articles currently on the front page of your site.
2. Under the Order column, order by number each of the articles in the order you wish them to appear. Then click the little Save icon next to the word Order.
Menu Items
1. From the control panel in the backend of your site, and the row of menu items along the top, click on Menus < Main Menu. You will see all of the menu items currently showing in the menu bar of your site on the left hand side.
We highly appreciate your valuable comments. Also if you have any issues in joomla you could email to harsha@vishmitha.com or Supporting Forum to get our assist.
The next article will discuss about working with Components and Modules.>
Posted on 2009-04-28 05:02 am by Harsha Gomes
Out of the box, Joomla! does a great job of managing the content needed
to make your Web site live. But for many people, the true power of
Joomla! lies in the application framework that makes it possible for
developers all around the world to create powerful add-ons that are
called Extensions.
An Extension is used to add capabilities to Joomla! that do not exist
in the base core code. Here are just some examples of the hundreds of
available Extensions:
A Component is the largest and most complex of the
Extension types. Components are like mini-applications that render the
main body of the page. An analogy that might make the relationship
easier to understand would be that Joomla! is a book and all the
Components are chapters in the book. The core Article Component (com_content), for example, is the mini-application that handles all core Article rendering just as the core registration Component (com_user) is the mini-application that handles User registration.
Many of Joomla!'s core features are provided by the use of default Components such as:
Banner
The “Banner” component allows the user to manage banners by Categories and Clients. The “Banners Manager” has three tabs, “Banners,” “Clients,” and “Categories.” Each banner is managed individually with various parameters for essential information such as “Impressions Purchased” and “Click URL.”
Newsfeeds
The “Newsfeeds” component enables the most recent articles from external web sites feeds (e.g. RSS) to be linked to for further reading.
Polls
The “Polls” component displays a list of all active (published or unpublished) polls on your site. “Polls” are easily managed with parameters such as “Lag” (time between votes) and “Options” for which visitors may vote.
Search
The “Search” component provides statistics on searches performed using the Joomla! Search Plugin. The component provides the statistics as a simple list containing “Search Text” compared to “Times Requested,” and by default sorted by “Times Requested.”
Weblinks
The “Weblink” component lists and provides management controls for controlling Web Links displayed in the Front-end of the web site. A Component will manage data, set displays,
provide functions, and in general can perform any operation that does
not fall under the general functions of the core code.
Components work hand in hand with Modules and Plugins to provide a rich variety of content display and functionality aside from the standard Article and content display. They make it possible to completely transform Joomla! and greatly expand its capabilities.
A more lightweight and flexible Extension used for page
rendering is a Module. Modules are used for small bits of the page that
are generally less complex and able to be seen across different
Components. To continue in our book analogy, a Module can be looked at
as a footnote or header block, or perhaps an image/caption block that
can be rendered on a particular page. Obviously you can have a footnote
on any page but not all pages will have them. Footnotes also might
appear regardless of which chapter you are reading. Similarly Modules
can be rendered regardless of which Component you have loaded.
Modules are like little mini-applets that can be placed anywhere on your site. They work in conjunction with Components in some cases and in others are complete stand alone snippets of code used to display some data from the database such as Articles (Newsflash) Modules are usually used to output data but they can also be interactive form items to input data for example the Login Module or Polls.
Modules can be assigned to Module positions which are defined in your Template and in the back-end using the Module Manager and editing the Module Position settings. For example, "left" and "right" are common for a 3 column layout.
Displaying Modules
Each Module is assigned to a Module position on your site.
If you wish it to display in two different locations you must copy the
Module and assign the copy to display at the new location. You can also
set which Menu Items (and thus pages) a Module will display on, you can
select all Menu Items or you can pick and choose by holding down the
control key and selecting multiple locations one by one in the Modules
[Edit] screen
Note: Your Main Menu is a Module! When you create a new Menu in the Menu Manager you are actually copying the Main Menu Module (mod_mainmenu) code and giving it the name of your new Menu. When you copy a Module you do not copy all of its parameters, you simply allow Joomla! to use the same code with two separate settings.
Archived Content
The “Archived Content” module allows the positioning of a display of Content Items that have been Archived by a Publisher or above. The Content Items are available behind a Month/Year directory list.
respective components. Both can be configured to display specific items on specific pages.
The “Custom HTML” module allows the creation of a custom module. “Custom HTML” modules may contain any HTML based content, including text, images and links.
Breadcrumbs
The “Breadcrumbs” module allows the addition of breadcrumbs to the websites front-end.
Breadcrumbs are a navigation aid commonly used in user interfaces. The breadcrumbs give users a way to keep track of their location within the web site.
Footer
The “Footer” module shows the Joomla! Copyright information in the following form.
“Copyright © YYYY [Site Name Here]. All Rights Reserved.”
Login
The “Login” module displays the required fields to login, without navigating to a new page. Default visible fields include “Username,” “Password,” and “Remember Me.”
Menu
The “Menu” module displays a menu that is defined from within the Menu Manager. All Joomla! web sites have a “Main Menu” which cannot be deleted. The “Menu” module allows new menus to be displayed in other positions.
Most Read&Latest News
Both the “Most Read” and “Latest News” modules display a list of links to either the most read articles or the most recently added articles.
News Flash
The “Newsflash” module displays Content Items from a specific Section/Category list. Standard module parameters such as “Menu Assignment” and “Details” are available.
Polls
The “Polls” module is the front-end display mechanism for the “Polls” component. Together, the “Polls” module and component can be configured to show specific polls on specific pages.
Random Image
The “Random Image” module displays a random image from the contents of a specific image folder. This folder is set via the parameters dialogue. Standard module parameters such as “Menu Assignment” and “Details” are available in addition to certain “Advanced Parameters.”
Related Items
The “Related Items” module utilises the meta-data associated with each piece of content. The module will display content items with the same keywords, and therefore of a similar subject, giving the user added value to the amount of detail that are able to obtain from a web site.
Search
The “Search” module provides the user with the ability to instantly perform a basic search from their current location and to be taken directly to the results. This removes the need to navigate to a search dialogue.
Sections
The “Sections” module shows a list of all Article Sections configured in the your web sites
database. If the parameter “Show Unauthorised Links” is set to No, the list will be limited to the Sections the User's access level permits them to see.
Statistics
The “Statistics” module displays a basic list of information about the server and Joomla!
Installation. Information displayed includes Server OS, PHP Version, MySQL Version, Time, Caching, GZIP, Members, Content, Weblinks, and Content View Hits.
Syndicate
The “Syndicate” module displays a pictorial list of all the Feed types that are available for the web site. The module works in conjunction with the Syndicate Component where the actual feed details are configured.
Who's Online
The “Who's Online” module provides a basic display of the number of Guests (Unregistered Visitors) and how many members (registered users that are logged in) are connected to the web site at the time the web page was queried.
Wrapper
The “Wrapper” module wraps another web page directly into the website at a specific location determined by the module position. The web page is inserted as an inline frame into the web site layout template.
One of the more advanced Extensions for Joomla! is the
Plugins. In previous versions of Joomla! Plugins were known as Mambots.
Aside from changing their name their functionality has been expanded. A
Plugin is a section of code that runs when a pre-defined event happens
within Joomla!. Editors are Plugins, for example, that execute when the
Joomla! event onGetEditorArea occurs. Using a Plugin
allows a developer to change the way their code behaves depending upon
which Plugins are installed to react to an event.
Authentication (Joomla!, LDAP, OpenID, GMail)
The “Authentication” plugins add different form of user authentication to your site.
The Joomla! Authentication plugin involves initially registering at the web site and then
confirming your identity through a confirmation email.
The OpenID and GMail Authentication plugins use pre-existing databases to authenticate the user. By signing in with a GMail or OpenID account, steps will be eliminated from the registration process.
GeSHi is an Open Source syntax highlighter program that helps illustrate different code languages such as PHP, JavaScript, HTML, each in a different colour, to assist with the readability of a code entry in a Content Item. This code entry must be encased within a <pre>...</pre> element that defines a block of preformatted code.
Email Cloaking
The Email Cloaking plugin adds a layer of security to email addresses contained inside Content Items and Contacts. The plugin uses JavaScript to effectively hide the email address when an email address appears.
Editors (TinyMCE 2.1&XStandard Lite for Joomla!)
Both the TinyMCE 2.1 and the Xstandard Lite for Joomla! plugins are WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors. They allow for the creation of Content Items and editing descriptions among other tasks.
Legacy
The “Legacy” Plugin adds Legacy support for Joomla! 1.0. This Plugin allows existing
components, mambots, templates and modules to function in Joomla! 1.5.
By default, the “Legacy” Plugin is disabled, but can be enabled if required.
Editors-XTD (Image, Page break, Read more)
These Plugins add important functionality to the front-end for viewing content and the back-end for enabling and configuring this functionality.
The Image Editor-XTD Plugin displays a button to make it possible to insert images into an Article. The button causes a popup to be displayed allowing you to configure the image's properties, and to upload new image files.
The Page break Editor-XTD Plugin provides a button to enable a page break to be inserted into an Article. A popup allows you to configure the settings to be used, such as “Title.”
The Read more Editor-XTD Plugin enables a button to be available that allows you to easily insert the “Read more...” link into an Article.
Rating
The “Search” Plugin adds the functionality of a reader rating system to the Content Items in the Front-end of the web site. This is the sequence of 5 image objects that are “lit up” in accordance with the selections made by the Users in the Front-end.
By default, this Plugin is not enabled.
Search (Categories, Newsfeeds, Sections, Contacts, Content, Web links)
The various “Search” Plugins enable the Search component to search all types of content on your website. The different plugins are for each type of content, allowing the enabling and disabling of searching the different types of content.
SEF
The “SEF” Plugin adds Search Engine Friendly functionality to the URL links of content items. It operates automatically once published and enabled in the Global Configuration. The plugin operates directly on the HTML code and does not require special tagging to be added by a user.
XML-RPC (Blogger API&Joomla! API)
The “XML-RPC” (Extensible Markup Language – Remote Procedure Call) Plugin adds XML-RPC functionality to Joomla!
The “XML-RPC Blogger API” allows third party applications, such as w.bloggar, to talk to Joomla!, giving the user the ability to remotely edit, add, delete and publish content items.
The “XML-RPC Joomla! API” adds further Joomla! specific functionality through compliant third party applications.
span style="font-size: 14px; ">
New to Joomla! 1.5 and perhaps the most basic and critical
Extension is a Language. Joomla! is released with multiple Installation
Languages but the base Site and Administrator are packaged in just the
one Language en-GB - being English with GB spelling
for example. To include all the translations currently available would
bloat the core package and make it unmanageable for uploading purposes.
The Language files enable the entire User interfaces both Front-end and
Back-end to be presented in the local preferred language. Note these
packs do not have any impact on the actual content such as Articles.
More information on languages is available from the Joomla! help site: Language Packs and Localised Releases http://help.joomla.org/content/view/1651/243/
..Templates
A RHUK Milkyway
design of this template makes it very lightweight and fast.
The template has three parameters for setting the “Colour Variation,” “Background Variation,” and “Template Width.”
The “Beez” template is a template that has been designed with particular attention to the
standard conformable code, accessibility and flexibility.
This template is an example to demonstrate the new accessibility features in Joomla! 1.5. It
serves as a basis and can be modified and extended as much as you wish.
We highly appreciate your valuable comments. Also if you have any issues in joomla you could email to harsha@vishmitha.com or Supporting Forum to get our assist.
The next article will discuss about Joomla Administration.
- Dynamic form builders
- Business or organisational directories
- Document management
- Image and multimedia galleries
- E-commerce and shopping cart engines
- Forums and chat software
- Calendars
- E-mail newsletters
- Data collection and reporting tools
- Banner advertising systems
- Paid subscription services
- and many, many, more
Types of Extensions
There are five types of extensions:- Components
- Modules
- Templates
- Plugins
- Languages
..Components
A Component is the largest and most complex of the
Extension types. Components are like mini-applications that render the
main body of the page. An analogy that might make the relationship
easier to understand would be that Joomla! is a book and all the
Components are chapters in the book. The core Article Component (com_content), for example, is the mini-application that handles all core Article rendering just as the core registration Component (com_user) is the mini-application that handles User registration.Many of Joomla!'s core features are provided by the use of default Components such as:
Banner
The “Banner” component allows the user to manage banners by Categories and Clients. The “Banners Manager” has three tabs, “Banners,” “Clients,” and “Categories.” Each banner is managed individually with various parameters for essential information such as “Impressions Purchased” and “Click URL.”
The “Contacts” component allows the user to manage a Contacts directory with regard to the contacts within the web site.
Newsfeeds
The “Newsfeeds” component enables the most recent articles from external web sites feeds (e.g. RSS) to be linked to for further reading.
Polls
The “Polls” component displays a list of all active (published or unpublished) polls on your site. “Polls” are easily managed with parameters such as “Lag” (time between votes) and “Options” for which visitors may vote.
Search
The “Search” component provides statistics on searches performed using the Joomla! Search Plugin. The component provides the statistics as a simple list containing “Search Text” compared to “Times Requested,” and by default sorted by “Times Requested.”
Weblinks
The “Weblink” component lists and provides management controls for controlling Web Links displayed in the Front-end of the web site.
Components work hand in hand with Modules and Plugins to provide a rich variety of content display and functionality aside from the standard Article and content display. They make it possible to completely transform Joomla! and greatly expand its capabilities.
..Modules
A more lightweight and flexible Extension used for page
rendering is a Module. Modules are used for small bits of the page that
are generally less complex and able to be seen across different
Components. To continue in our book analogy, a Module can be looked at
as a footnote or header block, or perhaps an image/caption block that
can be rendered on a particular page. Obviously you can have a footnote
on any page but not all pages will have them. Footnotes also might
appear regardless of which chapter you are reading. Similarly Modules
can be rendered regardless of which Component you have loaded.Modules are like little mini-applets that can be placed anywhere on your site. They work in conjunction with Components in some cases and in others are complete stand alone snippets of code used to display some data from the database such as Articles (Newsflash) Modules are usually used to output data but they can also be interactive form items to input data for example the Login Module or Polls.
Modules can be assigned to Module positions which are defined in your Template and in the back-end using the Module Manager and editing the Module Position settings. For example, "left" and "right" are common for a 3 column layout.
Displaying Modules
Each Module is assigned to a Module position on your site.
If you wish it to display in two different locations you must copy the
Module and assign the copy to display at the new location. You can also
set which Menu Items (and thus pages) a Module will display on, you can
select all Menu Items or you can pick and choose by holding down the
control key and selecting multiple locations one by one in the Modules
[Edit] screenNote: Your Main Menu is a Module! When you create a new Menu in the Menu Manager you are actually copying the Main Menu Module (mod_mainmenu) code and giving it the name of your new Menu. When you copy a Module you do not copy all of its parameters, you simply allow Joomla! to use the same code with two separate settings.
Archived Content
The “Archived Content” module allows the positioning of a display of Content Items that have been Archived by a Publisher or above. The Content Items are available behind a Month/Year directory list.
Banners and Feed
respective components. Both can be configured to display specific items on specific pages.
The “Custom HTML” module allows the creation of a custom module. “Custom HTML” modules may contain any HTML based content, including text, images and links.
The “Breadcrumbs” module allows the addition of breadcrumbs to the websites front-end.
Breadcrumbs are a navigation aid commonly used in user interfaces. The breadcrumbs give users a way to keep track of their location within the web site.
Footer
The “Footer” module shows the Joomla! Copyright information in the following form.
“Copyright © YYYY [Site Name Here]. All Rights Reserved.”
“Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License.”
Login
The “Login” module displays the required fields to login, without navigating to a new page. Default visible fields include “Username,” “Password,” and “Remember Me.”
Menu
The “Menu” module displays a menu that is defined from within the Menu Manager. All Joomla! web sites have a “Main Menu” which cannot be deleted. The “Menu” module allows new menus to be displayed in other positions.
Most Read&Latest News
Both the “Most Read” and “Latest News” modules display a list of links to either the most read articles or the most recently added articles.
News Flash
The “Newsflash” module displays Content Items from a specific Section/Category list. Standard module parameters such as “Menu Assignment” and “Details” are available.
Polls
The “Polls” module is the front-end display mechanism for the “Polls” component. Together, the “Polls” module and component can be configured to show specific polls on specific pages.
Random Image
The “Random Image” module displays a random image from the contents of a specific image folder. This folder is set via the parameters dialogue. Standard module parameters such as “Menu Assignment” and “Details” are available in addition to certain “Advanced Parameters.”
Related Items
The “Related Items” module utilises the meta-data associated with each piece of content. The module will display content items with the same keywords, and therefore of a similar subject, giving the user added value to the amount of detail that are able to obtain from a web site.
Search
The “Search” module provides the user with the ability to instantly perform a basic search from their current location and to be taken directly to the results. This removes the need to navigate to a search dialogue.
Sections
The “Sections” module shows a list of all Article Sections configured in the your web sites
database. If the parameter “Show Unauthorised Links” is set to No, the list will be limited to the Sections the User's access level permits them to see.
Statistics
The “Statistics” module displays a basic list of information about the server and Joomla!
Installation. Information displayed includes Server OS, PHP Version, MySQL Version, Time, Caching, GZIP, Members, Content, Weblinks, and Content View Hits.
Syndicate
The “Syndicate” module displays a pictorial list of all the Feed types that are available for the web site. The module works in conjunction with the Syndicate Component where the actual feed details are configured.
Who's Online
The “Who's Online” module provides a basic display of the number of Guests (Unregistered Visitors) and how many members (registered users that are logged in) are connected to the web site at the time the web page was queried.
The module can be set to display the names of the Members who are logged in.
The “Wrapper” module wraps another web page directly into the website at a specific location determined by the module position. The web page is inserted as an inline frame into the web site layout template.
..Plugins
One of the more advanced Extensions for Joomla! is the
Plugins. In previous versions of Joomla! Plugins were known as Mambots.
Aside from changing their name their functionality has been expanded. A
Plugin is a section of code that runs when a pre-defined event happens
within Joomla!. Editors are Plugins, for example, that execute when the
Joomla! event onGetEditorArea occurs. Using a Plugin
allows a developer to change the way their code behaves depending upon
which Plugins are installed to react to an event.Authentication (Joomla!, LDAP, OpenID, GMail)
The “Authentication” plugins add different form of user authentication to your site.
The Joomla! Authentication plugin involves initially registering at the web site and then
confirming your identity through a confirmation email.
The OpenID and GMail Authentication plugins use pre-existing databases to authenticate the user. By signing in with a GMail or OpenID account, steps will be eliminated from the registration process.
By default, only the Joomla! Authentication plugin is enabled.
GeSHi is an Open Source syntax highlighter program that helps illustrate different code languages such as PHP, JavaScript, HTML, each in a different colour, to assist with the readability of a code entry in a Content Item. This code entry must be encased within a <pre>...</pre> element that defines a block of preformatted code.
Email Cloaking
The Email Cloaking plugin adds a layer of security to email addresses contained inside Content Items and Contacts. The plugin uses JavaScript to effectively hide the email address when an email address appears.
Editors (TinyMCE 2.1&XStandard Lite for Joomla!)
Both the TinyMCE 2.1 and the Xstandard Lite for Joomla! plugins are WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors. They allow for the creation of Content Items and editing descriptions among other tasks.
Legacy
The “Legacy” Plugin adds Legacy support for Joomla! 1.0. This Plugin allows existing
components, mambots, templates and modules to function in Joomla! 1.5.
By default, the “Legacy” Plugin is disabled, but can be enabled if required.
Editors-XTD (Image, Page break, Read more)
These Plugins add important functionality to the front-end for viewing content and the back-end for enabling and configuring this functionality.
The Image Editor-XTD Plugin displays a button to make it possible to insert images into an Article. The button causes a popup to be displayed allowing you to configure the image's properties, and to upload new image files.
The Page break Editor-XTD Plugin provides a button to enable a page break to be inserted into an Article. A popup allows you to configure the settings to be used, such as “Title.”
The Read more Editor-XTD Plugin enables a button to be available that allows you to easily insert the “Read more...” link into an Article.
Rating
The “Search” Plugin adds the functionality of a reader rating system to the Content Items in the Front-end of the web site. This is the sequence of 5 image objects that are “lit up” in accordance with the selections made by the Users in the Front-end.
By default, this Plugin is not enabled.
Search (Categories, Newsfeeds, Sections, Contacts, Content, Web links)
The various “Search” Plugins enable the Search component to search all types of content on your website. The different plugins are for each type of content, allowing the enabling and disabling of searching the different types of content.
SEF
The “SEF” Plugin adds Search Engine Friendly functionality to the URL links of content items. It operates automatically once published and enabled in the Global Configuration. The plugin operates directly on the HTML code and does not require special tagging to be added by a user.
XML-RPC (Blogger API&Joomla! API)
The “XML-RPC” (Extensible Markup Language – Remote Procedure Call) Plugin adds XML-RPC functionality to Joomla!
The “XML-RPC Blogger API” allows third party applications, such as w.bloggar, to talk to Joomla!, giving the user the ability to remotely edit, add, delete and publish content items.
The “XML-RPC Joomla! API” adds further Joomla! specific functionality through compliant third party applications.
span style="font-size: 14px; ">
..Languages
New to Joomla! 1.5 and perhaps the most basic and critical
Extension is a Language. Joomla! is released with multiple Installation
Languages but the base Site and Administrator are packaged in just the
one Language en-GB - being English with GB spelling
for example. To include all the translations currently available would
bloat the core package and make it unmanageable for uploading purposes.
The Language files enable the entire User interfaces both Front-end and
Back-end to be presented in the local preferred language. Note these
packs do not have any impact on the actual content such as Articles. More information on languages is available from the Joomla! help site: Language Packs and Localised Releases http://help.joomla.org/content/view/1651/243/
..TemplatesA RHUK Milkyway
design of this template makes it very lightweight and fast.
The template has three parameters for setting the “Colour Variation,” “Background Variation,” and “Template Width.”
The “Beez” template is a template that has been designed with particular attention to the
standard conformable code, accessibility and flexibility.
This template is an example to demonstrate the new accessibility features in Joomla! 1.5. It
serves as a basis and can be modified and extended as much as you wish.
The next article will discuss about Joomla Administration.
Posted on 2009-03-28 03:37 am by Harsha Gomes
Hello there! Today, we are going to walk you through setting up your
first Joomla! Website. This article quickly leads you through
installing Joomla 1.5. It details both a local installation for testing (if you do not have a Joomla hosting account or have a slow internet connection) and a real web server installation.
Joomla is a complex series of PHP scripts that run on a web server. When you browse a Joomla site, these scripting are being generated on the fly and creating what you see on the pages of the site. The key words here are web server.
There is something else you can do first. You can actually run a web server on your local computer, in other words, your desktop or laptop. This is known as having a localhost. It may sound like I just contradicted myself from the previous paragraph, but not quite. You can’t "run" Joomla itself on your own computer, but you can install a localhost web server for it to "run on".
What you need to pull this off is some software that runs Apache, PHP and MySQL on your computer. These are the same software packages that power websites.
Developing your website locally before actually uploading to your host makes sense for a large number of reasons. Before actually going live you need to:
Wamp Server also has a tray icon to manage your server and its settings.
Once Wamp Server is installed, you can add other releases by downloading them on this website. They will then appear in the Wamp Server menu and you will be able to switch releases with a simple click.
With a left click on Wamp Server's icon, you will be able to:
- manage your Apache and MySQL services
- switch online/offline (give access to everyone or only localhost)
- install and switch Apache, MySQL and PHP releases
- manage your servers settings
- access your logs
- access your settings files
- create alias
With a right click :
- change Wamp Server's menu language
- exit
Click on the link "Localhost" in the Wamp Server menu or open your browser and open the http://localhost address.
Now open a browser and go to localhost(no "www")
You should see the following page:
If you are not seeing this then you should stop and figure out why. You have to get this page before you can proceed. The WAMP site has some helpful troubleshooting FAQ's and a forum.
To install Joomla!, you need the source code. Download the Joomla_1.5.zip package (Current version 1.5.9) and save it on your system.
Installing Joomla through a Web Browser
If you have got this far that means you have unzipped the Joomla package to either a remote web host or your local computer. Now for the fun stuff!
There are a number of options open to you in this process:
Using your browser of choice (Firefox of course), navigate to the location of all the localhost/Joomla. You will see the first installation screen.
A critical part in the installation process, this checks if all the minimum system requirements are met.
The first set are required minimums, if they are red (not met) then you need to find a new environment (change hosts), talk them into changing their environment (upgrading PHP for example). Note that the last item is a permissions issue on a file (configuration.php) that is much easier to rectify. This file is created at the end of the installation with its customized values. You can usually change permissions through the Cpanel provided by your host. This tool is generally an industry standard.
The second set is recommended settings. If you don't meet them you can still install Joomla but it may create problems with functionality and security.
If you are working with the Wamp Server under Windows, your screen should like the previous screenshot. Click on Next and you are in the licensing step.
After you read this license click on Next.
Enter the following parameters in a local Wamp Server installation:
Host Name: localhost
User Name: root
Password: leave this empty—but be aware of the security risk!!
Now select a Database Name. An unlimited number of databases can be set up in a local Wamp Server environment since the user root has the right to do that. In an active environment with a provider, you presumably will have a set allocation of databases and the access data for the databases are usually preset.
Because of this, We can also enter a name of a database that does not exist yet in the installer. Here digits is the database name used.
The first part of the configuration has to do with the name of your website. This name appears in the header of the browser window when somebody accesses your website. This name is also used in other places, for example, with confirmation emails to registered users. We have chosen the name Digit.lk for our example site.
In the second part, you are asked to enter the paths of the website, the administrator email address, and the administrator password. This will be the first user in the site and automatically gets that super administration status. Write the password on a piece of paper (but don't stick it on the monitor or the keyboard!).
In the third part the Main Configuration page determines how you will insert content into your site. You have two choices:
Now click on the Next button and your data are stored.
Before proceeding to view the results of your efforts you need to
open the root directory of your Joomla! installation and delete the
Installation Directory (highlighted in the following image)
The installation is now complete and you have a choice between the buttons Site (to view your homepage) and Admin (administration interface). To take a look at your newly created homepage, click on Site. If you haven't deleted the installation directory as of yet, you will get a friendly reminder to delete it and to check out your page after you've done that.
The next article will discuss Core Features of Joomla.
Joomla is a complex series of PHP scripts that run on a web server. When you browse a Joomla site, these scripting are being generated on the fly and creating what you see on the pages of the site. The key words here are web server.
Running and Testing Joomla without a Hosting Account
You cannot download Joomla and try to run it on your computer like
an exe file. It has to have a web server, which means you need to have
a hosting account.There is something else you can do first. You can actually run a web server on your local computer, in other words, your desktop or laptop. This is known as having a localhost. It may sound like I just contradicted myself from the previous paragraph, but not quite. You can’t "run" Joomla itself on your own computer, but you can install a localhost web server for it to "run on".
What you need to pull this off is some software that runs Apache, PHP and MySQL on your computer. These are the same software packages that power websites.
Developing your website locally before actually uploading to your host makes sense for a large number of reasons. Before actually going live you need to:
- Learn how to administer and deploy a Joomla! website
- Brand the template you have chosen
- Organise your sections and categories appropriately
- Ensure that any 3rd party components you will install will not break any other parts of your site. You also need to ensure that are correctly and fully configured
- Configure email settings, contacts, registration / login settings, decide on users which will be given front-end / back-end access
- Lots of other settings to ensure that your site has been fully optimized
- LAMP (Linux) - Most Linux distributions come with a pre-configured LAMP server.
- WAMP (Windows) - For more information, visit http://www.wampserver.com/en/index.php
- MAMP (Macintosh) - For more information, visit http://www.mamp.info
- XAMPP (Multi-platform) - Not for live sites. For more information, visit http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html
Wamp Server
Wamp Server is a Windows web development environment. It allows you
to create web applications with Apache, PHP and the MySQL database. It
also comes with PHP MyAdmin and SQLite Manager to easily manage your
databases.Wamp Server also has a tray icon to manage your server and its settings.
Installing Wamp Server
Double click on the downloaded file and just follow the
instructions. Everything is automatic. The Wamp Server package is
delivered with the latest releases of Apache, MySQL and PHP.Once Wamp Server is installed, you can add other releases by downloading them on this website. They will then appear in the Wamp Server menu and you will be able to switch releases with a simple click.
Functionalities
Wamp Server's functionalities are very complete and easy to use so we won't explain here how to use them.With a left click on Wamp Server's icon, you will be able to:
- manage your Apache and MySQL services
- switch online/offline (give access to everyone or only localhost)
- install and switch Apache, MySQL and PHP releases
- manage your servers settings
- access your logs
- access your settings files
- create alias
With a right click :
- change Wamp Server's menu language
- exit
How to start Wamp Server
When you install Wamp Server, a "www" directory is created (generally c:\wamp\www).Click on the link "Localhost" in the Wamp Server menu or open your browser and open the http://localhost address.
Now open a browser and go to localhost(no "www")
You should see the following page:
If you are not seeing this then you should stop and figure out why. You have to get this page before you can proceed. The WAMP site has some helpful troubleshooting FAQ's and a forum.
Joomla! 1.5 Installation
Download &Unzip Joomla!To install Joomla!, you need the source code. Download the Joomla_1.5.zip package (Current version 1.5.9) and save it on your system.
Unzipping the files
You need to unzip, or unpack the Joomla files you have onto your
server. If you are running as a localhost, your server would be the
WAMP directory mentioned above. If you are on a web host, you will need
to upload the file and then unpack it. Use your file manager to upload
the zip file to public_html (or whatever you have on your host).Installing Joomla through a Web Browser
If you have got this far that means you have unzipped the Joomla package to either a remote web host or your local computer. Now for the fun stuff!
There are a number of options open to you in this process:
- This may simply be http://localhost/joomla for a local installation, or http://www.yourdomain.com for a remote installation.
- If you have installed Joomla! in a sub directory of your Web root then you will need to add that directory to the end of the address for example http://localhost/joomla/test or http://www.yourdomain.com/joomla
- If you have installed Joomla! as a sub-domain on a remote host this might appear as http://www.joomla.yourdomain.com
Using your browser of choice (Firefox of course), navigate to the location of all the localhost/Joomla. You will see the first installation screen.
Step 1: Language Selection
Choose Language is the first of a total of seven installation steps. Select the desired language and click on the Next button.
Step 2: Pre-Installation Check
Next, you will see the Pre-Installation check. This check should help you determine whether your server environment is suitable for a Joomla! installation.A critical part in the installation process, this checks if all the minimum system requirements are met.
The first set are required minimums, if they are red (not met) then you need to find a new environment (change hosts), talk them into changing their environment (upgrading PHP for example). Note that the last item is a permissions issue on a file (configuration.php) that is much easier to rectify. This file is created at the end of the installation with its customized values. You can usually change permissions through the Cpanel provided by your host. This tool is generally an industry standard.
The second set is recommended settings. If you don't meet them you can still install Joomla but it may create problems with functionality and security.
If you are working with the Wamp Server under Windows, your screen should like the previous screenshot. Click on Next and you are in the licensing step.
Step 3: Licence
Every piece of software is licensed under certain conditions. Joomla! uses the GNU/GPL licence, version 2.0.After you read this license click on Next.
Step 4: Database Configuration
In the fourth step, Database Configuration, your database
parameters are queried. You can set up as many databases as required in
Wamp server environment and you have a MySQL user with the name root
(without a password). The user root is the MySQL administrator and can
do everything in the MySQL system. An installation without a password
is a significant security risk. In the beginning, locally, in order to
get the system up and running as quickly as possible, this is not a
problem.Enter the following parameters in a local Wamp Server installation:
Host Name: localhost
User Name: root
Password: leave this empty—but be aware of the security risk!!
Now select a Database Name. An unlimited number of databases can be set up in a local Wamp Server environment since the user root has the right to do that. In an active environment with a provider, you presumably will have a set allocation of databases and the access data for the databases are usually preset.
Because of this, We can also enter a name of a database that does not exist yet in the installer. Here digits is the database name used.
Step 5: FTP Configuration
In order to stop problems with access rights and a possibly
activated PHP Safe Mode in their track, you have the option of using
PHP's FTP functions for uploading and handling of files starting with
Joomla! 1.5. This is not necessary in the local Wamp Server
installation. But if you install Joomla! on the virtual web server of a
provider, enter here the FTP data that your provider has given to you.
If your provider permits these functions, it is advisable from a
security perspective to set up different FTP accounts for yourself as
user and for Joomla! and to activate the Joomla! FTP account only for
the respective Joomla! Directory.
Step 6: Configuration
This main step of the configuration is divided into three parts.The first part of the configuration has to do with the name of your website. This name appears in the header of the browser window when somebody accesses your website. This name is also used in other places, for example, with confirmation emails to registered users. We have chosen the name Digit.lk for our example site.
In the second part, you are asked to enter the paths of the website, the administrator email address, and the administrator password. This will be the first user in the site and automatically gets that super administration status. Write the password on a piece of paper (but don't stick it on the monitor or the keyboard!).
In the third part the Main Configuration page determines how you will insert content into your site. You have two choices:
-
Install Sample Data
This installs the default Joomla content that you have probably seen all over the web with Welcome to Joomla. Note that is also includes all the menus, navigation links and sections/categories. If you are learning how to use Joomla this is highly recommended. Its easier to adapt and revise than to start from scratch. -
Migration from previous versions
This is a special function that is part of a process to migrate a Joomla site running on 1.0 to 1.5 and requires a special component to do so.
Now click on the Next button and your data are stored.
Step 7: Completion
The seventh and final step congratulates you on a successful
installation. Let us congratulate you as well. There is a notice in
bold text that prompts you to delete the installation directory. Take
good heed of this notice, because your Joomla! website will not run
without this step.The installation is now complete and you have a choice between the buttons Site (to view your homepage) and Admin (administration interface). To take a look at your newly created homepage, click on Site. If you haven't deleted the installation directory as of yet, you will get a friendly reminder to delete it and to check out your page after you've done that.
The next article will discuss Core Features of Joomla.
Posted on 2009-02-18 01:49 am by Harsha Gomes
Many types of websites can be built and maintained more easily using a Content Management System (CMS). A CMS provides a web-based interface for creating and organizing content. The content is stored in a database, and then consistently presented according to a set of templates and preferences, which eliminates the need to handcraft each page in HTML. Joomla! is a popular, easy-to-use, open-source CMS built in PHP. It has near-limitless functionality, thanks to its community of extension developers.
What is JOOMLA?
You have made the most important choice so far, by selecting Joomla! 1.5 as your choice of CMS. Joomla! is currently one of the most popular and effective Open Source projects and has won a number of prestigious awards in its short, but illustrious existence.
Joomla! 1.5 is the second, main incarnation of the Joomla! series of releases. The original Joomla! 1.0 series being a direct derivative of the Mambo CMS which many of the current Joomla! Developers helped create. Joomla! 1.5 is a major step forward from 1.0, with many new features and a far more integrated framework.
From a Business point of view:
- It allows you to manage your website and empower others within your company to contribute, administer, etc.
- It provides a platform that is open to almost any specific need
From a Development Point of View:
- JOOMLA! Shouldn’t be just viewed as a way to administer content. It provides a framework from which to build any application you may need.
- Because of its flexible templating engine, a re-design of your site won’t constitute a complete re-do of every web page. Simply change the template and a few minor things and you will have a whole new look.
- Joomla’s framework includes many features such as built in security, user management, easy extendibility…..thus enabling the development of your site to stay focused on your specific needs / applications.
- Joomla has a well documented framework and a very active community
Open Source
A lot of people think “second class” when they hear “open source”.
This is probably justifiable depending on what they have used.
However, Joomla! ranks within the premium products of the Open Source
community; showcasing a world-class team of developers and a thriving
community.Building a system from scratch similar to Joomla would cost tens of thousands of dollars. Thus by selecting Joomla as your CMS / Development, you eliminate large chunks of start-up costs and lets your budget focus specifically on the immediate need of your site / application.
Joomla is the most popular GPL (General Public License) CMS in the world. Its community can be found in almost every country, and the system is translated in many languages including Sinhala, Tamil, and can be used to fit almost any need.
Joomla Features
The Joomla! CMS is no rookie in the market! It has been deployed by companies and organizations such as United Nations, Harvard University,
Citibank (Financial institution intranet - Not publicly accessible) to
provide their website backbone. Joomla’s content publishing allows you
to quickly create content for websites, control access to your
documents, administer user created content, and more.The modules in Joomla provide easy to move blocks of code. Moving something on your site now doesn’t require you to change every page on your site.
The Joomla components allow you to install mini-applications in your site; thus allowing you to install applications such as e-commerce / shopping carts, photo galleries, form builders, forums, and more!
The user manager provides extendible control over registered and special users from simple public access, to control over authors, publishers, and administrators.
The following is a listing of Joomla! features in point form:
- Completely database driven site engines
- News, products or services sections fully editable and manageable
- Topics sections can be added to by contributing authors
- Fully customisable layouts including left, centre and right menu boxes
- Browser upload of images to your own library for use anywhere in the site
- Dynamic Forum/Poll/Voting booth for on-the-spot results
- Runs on Linux, FreeBSD, MacOSX server, Solaris and AIX
Extensive Administration:
- Change order of objects including news, FAQs, articles etc.
- Random Newsflash generator
- Remote author submission module for News, Articles, FAQs and Links
- Object hierarchy - as many sections, departments, divisions and pages as you want
- Image library - store all your PNGs, PDFs, DOCs, XLSs, GIFs and JPEGs online for easy use
- Automatic Path-Finder. Place a picture and let Joomla! fix the link
- News feed manager. Choose from over 360 news feeds from around the world
- Archive manager. Put your old articles into cold storage rather than throw them out
- Email-a-friend and Print-format for every story and article
- In-line Text editor (WYSIWYG) similar to Word Pad
- User editable look and feel
- Polls/Surveys - Now put a different one on each page
- Custom Page Modules. Download custom page modules to spice up your site
- Template Manager. Download templates and implement them in seconds
- Layout preview. See how it looks before going live
- Banner manager. Make money out of your site
Technical Requirements for Joomla!
You will need to ensure the following minimum requirements are in place before installing the Joomla- PHP 4.2.x or above - http://www.php.net
- MySQL 3.23.x or above - http://www.mysql.com
- Apache 1.13.19 or above - http://www.apache.org
ü Do not use PHP 4.3.9, 4.4.2 or 5.0.4. These releases have known bugs that will interfere with installation. Zend Optimizer 2.5.10 for PHP 4.4.x also has serious bugs and you should ask your host to upgrade to a newer version.
ü Joomla is not yet compatible with MySQL 6.x.
ü In order to use SEO URLs, you will need to have the Apache mod_rewrite extension installed.
Joomla is optimized for Apache, but also runs on Microsoft IIS (though not officially supported). Depending on your setup, you may need the following:
Microsoft URL Rewrite Module - Required for SEO URLs only. For more information, click here. For information about using ISAPI, click here.
- PHP 5.2 - Installation instructions
-
MySQL 5.1 - Installation instructions
-
Apache 2.2 - Installation instructions
- FastCGI - Download for IIS6.Download for IIS7
We trust you will enjoy the process and can then look forward to tailoring Joomla! to your own specific requirements.
Installing and using Joomla! is generally straight forward, getting your perfect Web site takes a lot more effort but there is much, as you will discover, that has been done to make the process easier along the way.
The next article will discuss installation of Joomla!
