Joomla! has grown a lot since the initial release of Mambo, then Joomla! 1.0. Joomla! is now in release 2.5, and in this lesson we will cover the differences between 1.0, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, and 2.5.
Welcome to the Joomla! content management system. In this chapter we will explore Joomla! and compare it to other types of websites and other types of content management systems.
About Joomla!
So what exactly is the Joomla! content management system? In this lesson we will explore what Joomla! is and why you might want to use it.
In this lesson we will discuss the difference between the dynamic Joomla! CMS environment and a static HTML page, since sometimes you may have to chose between the two.
Joomla! has grown a lot since the initial release of Mambo, then Joomla! 1.0. Joomla! is now in release 2.5, and in this lesson we will cover the differences between 1.0, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, and 2.5.
Joomla! can be installed easily and quickly either on your home computer or on a server/host. In this chapter we'll go over the different options that you have depending on where you want to install the Joomla! CMS.
Joomla! Installations
Before installing Joomla! on a host, you will need to set up your host's cPanel. In this lesson we'll go through the steps involved.
If you would like to install Joomla! locally on your computer, this lesson covers the steps necessary to install WAMP and then put Joomla! on your local computer.
After preparing Joomla! either locally or on a host, you can proceed to the actual Joomla! installation. This lesson walks you through the process step by step.
Joomla! has many different configuration options. Some of the options have changed between different version of Joomla!, and in this chapter we will discuss those differences.
Joomla! Configuration Options
In this lesson we will get into the administrator page of Joomla! and review the Joomla! Control Panel. The Control Panel is the "home base" of Joomla! - understand this, and you will be on your way.
The global configuration settings have been changed in release 2.5. In this lesson we'll review the various settings and where they can be found in Joomla! 2.5.
In order for people to edit your front end, or enter the back end, you need to create user IDs. In this lesson we will go over the different parameters that can be set for users.
Joomla! is built on content, and you need to organize your content properly to get the most benefit out of your Joomla! environment. This chapter looks at the different organization strategies and how to build your content properly.
Adding Content to Joomla!
Joomla! 2.5 is based on a category structure where each category can be nested multiple times. In this lesson you'll learn how to create categories and modify them in Joomla!
Links to other websites are an important element of your articles. These can be handled in different ways, and in this lesson we will explore the various options.
If you want just a teaser of your article displayed on your blog's main page, you will want to use the Read More option in your articles. In this lesson you'll see how to add this option and how to use it on your site.
Joomla! comes with a basic editor, but usually you will want one that offers more options, such as the JCE editor. In this lesson you'll see how to install and use the JCE editor.
The Menu Manager controls the main links in your Joomla! site and it is the key to navigation within your website. In this chapter we'll take a detailed look at this complex component.
The Menu Manager
The menu system in Joomla! allows you to create multiple menus, for example a footer menu, user menu, and top menu. In this lesson you'll see how to do this effectively.
In Joomla!'s Menu Manager, you can open up any particular item and make changes. In this lesson we'll look at the example of our blog's home page and see how changing its parameters in Joomla! affects the appearance of the page.
Of the various menu item types Joomla! offers, the Article type is the one you'll use most often. In this lesson we'll look at the different parameters that you can define for an Article menu item.
If you want your website to link to an external website, either on a new page or within your Joomla! framework, the External URL and Wrapper menu item types allow you to do this. In this lesson you'll see how easy it is to make your menu items link to an external website.
The Category List menu item type lets you list all the articles in a specific category. There are several parameters that can be set with this type of menu item, and in this lesson we will review all of them.
People often want to control the sequence of menu items in Joomla!. In this lesson you'll see how to change the sequence of menu items and how to nest them within each other.
The Joomla! website comes with some core extensions that are included with Joomla! out of the box. In this chapter we'll look at a couple of these extensions: the Contact Manager and the Web Links Manager, which are very popular and easy to use and can be very important to the success of your website.
Components
If you have a list of staff members or contacts that you want to add to your Joomla! site, you can use the Contact Manager. The Contact Manager allows you to display information about any specific contact and include a "contact us" form that is generated automatically. You'll see how it works in this lesson.
If your site needs to display multiple links to external websites, the Joomla! core Web Links Manager will give you all of that and more. You can organize the links by category and include a description, title, and link for each site that you want listed.
Modules are "mini programs" that can be displayed in various places around your website. To use them properly you need to understand the positions that are offered to you in your template and some basic functionality of the core modules. This chapter will teach you what you need to know.
The Module Manager
In this lesson we'll look at the various locations where you can place modules on your website. Each template has different positions, and you will see how you can determine the positions, then how you can put the module in that spot.
If you would like to display freeform text/HTML or even a single image in a module position on your site, the Custom HTML module gives you that flexibility. This is a powerful tool, because you can determine what pages on your site will display this "text/code," and in this lesson you'll see how it works.
One advantage of Joomla! is the ability to make pieces of your system dynamic. With the Latest News and Newsflash modules, you can add intelligence to your site, displaying the title of your article in a module position just by adding the article to a specific category. This means that you don't have to manually create links all over your site, as you'll see in this video.
Since Joomla! is a content management system, the template is separate from your data. This means that you can alter your template as much as you want, and your data remains the same. You can choose to use a template that comes with core Joomla! or look elsewhere for a commercial or free template; this chapter will review all of the different options.
The Template Manager
Joomla 2.5 comes out of the box with a great core template that you can work with for your website. In this lesson we'll explore the different features that come with the core template; it may do everything you need, saving you the trouble of looking for another template.
If you don't want to use the template that comes with Joomla!, there are many different template companies that offer alternatives. What are the differences between the companies and what should you look for when selecting your template? This lesson explains.
Once you have selected a new template to work with you need to install it. In this lesson we'll walk through the process of installing a template and adding some basic customizations to it.
Joomla! lets you install many different tools, components, modules, and plugins outside of "core Joomla!". In this chapter you'll learn how to find the right tool for your purposes and see some sample tools and how to use them.
Adding More to Joomla!
The Joomla! extensions directory has over 8,500 different extensions that you can install on your website. In this lesson you'll learn how to sift through all this and determine what extension would be best for you.
This lesson looks at Akeeba Backup, an amazing free tool that you should install on any Joomla! site you work on. With Akeeba Backup you can quickly make a backup of your entire site, including the files and the database. Then, if you ever need to, you can take that entire backup and put it elsewhere.
If you have more than three images that you want to display on a page, an image gallery is always the best way to go. In this lesson you'll see how to install a simple image gallery, upload your images into the correct folder, and display the gallery on your site. You will be amazed at how easy this really is!
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