Joomla! 1.6: A User’s Guide

Barrie M. North has more than 20 years of experience with the Internet as a user, designer, and teacher. He has spent more than 8 years in the education field, becoming steadily more involved in web technology, teaching web design classes to students and technology integration to teachers. Most recently, he worked as an IT consultant for two new schools pioneering the use of technology. As well as web design, he has provided web marketing/SEO, usability, and standards compliance expertise to his clients. He is a founder of Joomlashack.com, one of the oldest and most popular Joomla template providers, and a founder of SimplWeb.com, a service that provides easy-to-use, turnkey Joomla hosting for those new to Joomla. He also maintains a blog about all things Joomla at CompassDesigns.net. When not working, he can frequently be found on the Joomla community boards, and he has written many free tutorials for using Joomla. His combination of Joomla expertise, educational skills, and engaging writing has produced a book accessible to everyone.

The Best Easy-to-Use Guide to Joomla! - The World's No.1 Open Source Content Management System If you want to build sophisticated websites that can be easily edited and updated, you need to master Joomla. Now there's an easy-to-read, easy-to-use guide to Joomla for every site manager, administrator, and developer. Leading Joomla consultant Barrie North covers all you need to get results: installation, administration, site organization, template development, content updates, and a whole lot more.

You'll find tips, tricks, and troubleshooting solutions, as well as three start-to-finish case studies. New to Joomla? No problem! This book starts with the simplest design and system concepts and builds your expertise step-by-step. You'll rapidly master Joomla's power, even if you have no content management, scripting, or CSS expertise.

Experienced with Joomla? You'll turn to this book constantly for its authoritative, plain-English, example-rich Joomla 1.6 reference content. - Understand content management, what Joomla does, and how its components fit together - Build Joomla sites from scratch and systematically customize them to your needs - Create modern pure CSS Joomla 1.6 templates using popular grid frameworks - Use Joomla 1. 6's nested categories to organize content and articles - Create dynamic pages and effective navigation - Work with Joomla modules and components - Learn how to optimize your Joomla sites for search engines - Follow three start-to-finish case studies: building a school website, a small business site, and a blog - Identify the most valuable Joomla extensions and add-ons: find them and use them.

Preface xvii Acknowledgments xxv About the Author xxvi Chapter 1: Content Management Systems and an Introduction to Joomla! 1 What Is a Content Management System? 2 Static Web Pages 2 Web Pages with CSS 3 Dynamic Web Pages 4 Open Source Software 7 History of Joomla! 8 The Joomla! Community 9 Third-Party Extensions Development 9 Joomla!'s Features 9 Elements of a Joomla! Website 11 Content 11 Templates 13 Modules 14 Summary 14 Chapter 2: Downloading and Installing Joomla! 17 How to Install Joomla! 18 Obtaining the Latest Joomla! File Package 18 Joomla! Package Naming Conventions 20 Creating a MySQL Database 21 Unpacking the Joomla! Package 21 Unpacking Joomla! on a Local Desktop Computer 21 Unpacking Joomla! on a Hosting Account 25 Running the Joomla! Installation Wizard 26 Getting to the Joomla! Installer 26 Step 1: Language 26 Step 2: Pre-Installation Check 27 Step 3: License 28 Step 4: Database Configuration 29 Step 5: FTP Configuration 30 Step 6: Main Configuration 30 Step 7: Finish 33 Summary 34 Chapter 3: Joomla! Administration Basics 35 What Are the Frontend and Backend of a Joomla!-Powered Website? 36 The Menu Bar 38 The Toolbar 38 The Workspace 40 Administrator Functions in the Menu Bar 40 The Site Submenu 41 Users Menu 45 The Menus Menu 48 The Content Menu 49 The Components Submenu 53 The Extensions Menu 54 The Help Menu 58 View Site 59 Summary 60 Chapter 4: Content Is King: Organizing Your Content 63 How Does Joomla! Generate Web Pages? 64 How Joomla! Organizes Content Articles 66 Uncategorized Articles 67 Categories 67 A Sample Hierarchy 69 Creating the Widget Inc. Website with Uncategorized Content 70 Creating Content Articles 72 Creating Menu Items 75 The Featured Article Component 80 Creating the Widget Inc. Website with Categories 85 Creating Categories 86 Creating Content Article 86 Creating Menu Items 90 Linking to Components 92 "Read More" Links and Individual Pages 95 Module Content 97 Summary 100 Chapter 5: Creating Menus and Navigation 103 How Menu Modules Work 104 What Menu Items Do 105 Creating a Menu Item 106 Where Does a Menu Item Link? 107 What Does a Page Look Like After a Link Is Followed? 108 Blog Layout 109 Blog Layout Parameters 110 List Layout for a Blog 114 Category List Advanced Options 114 Managing Menu Modules in the Module Manager . 116 Show Title 116 Position 118 Access 118 Menu and Module Class Suffixes (Advanced Options) 118 Menu Assignment 118 Summary 119 Chapter 6: Extending Joomla! 121 Extensions 122 Installing Extensions 123 Managing Extensions 125 Components 126 Core Component 127 Third-Party Components 128 Modules 128 Module Display 128 Core Modules 130 Third-Party Modules 132 Plug-ins 133 Core Plug-ins 133 Third-Party Plug-ins 134 Templates 134 Core Templates 134 Third-Party Templates 134 Summary 135 Chapter 7: Expanding Your Content: Articles and Editors 137 WYSIWYG Editors 138 Managing WYSIWYG Editors 139 Other Third-Party Editors 142 Creating and Managing Articles 143 Managing Content Through the Backend 144 Adding Content from the Backend 146 Inserting Images into Content 153 Category Descriptions 156 Managing Content Through the Frontend 159 Creating a Frontend User Menu 159 Limiting Access to Menus by User Level 163 Authors 165 Editors 167 Publishers 169 Article Checkin Summary 171 Chapter 8: Getting Traffic to Your Site 175 Start at the Beginning: Site Goals 176 Organic Traffic (SEO) 177 Introduction to Google 180 Creating Keywords 181 Keywords and Domain Name 184 Designing Your Site for Organic Traffic 184 Advanced SEO Techniques 192 Referral Traffic 196 Google PageRank 196 Other Link-Building Strategies 198 Internal Linking 199 Pay Per Click Traffic 202 How Google AdWords Works 203 Joomla! and AdWords 205 Email Traffic 207 Third-Party Hosted Email Solutions 209 Joomla! SEF Extensions 210 Quick Start SEO for Joomla! 210 Summary 210 Chapter 9: Creating Pure CSS Templates 213 What Is a Joomla! Template? 214 The Localhost Design Process 216 Localhost Server Options 217 W3C and Tableless Design 218 Semantically Correct Code 219 Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) 220 Creating a Simple Template: 960TemplateTutorialStep1 220 Template File Components 221 The Joomla! Page Body 231 Using CSS to Create a Tableless Layout: CSSTemplateTutorialStep2 234 Default CSS 239 Modules in Templates 241 Menus in Templates 246 Hiding Columns 250 Making a Real Joomla! 1.6 Template: 960TemplateTutorialStep3 256 Slicing and Dicing 256 Header 257 The Banner/Message Module 257 Column Backgrounds 258 Flexible Modules 260 Typography 261 Summary 263 Chapter 10: Creating a School Site with Joomla! 265 Why Do You Need a School Website? 266 Students 266 Teachers and Administrators 267 Parents 267 Potential Students and Their Parents 267 What Features Do You Need on a School Site? 268 Downloading and Installing a School Template 268 Fresh Template Features and Positions 270 Configuring a Logo 271 Configuring the Search Box 271 Configuring the Main Horizontal Drop-Down Menu 272 Organizing Content on a School Website 274 Creating the Menus 279 Building Out Content 283 Creating Subnavigation 284 The Academics Submenu 285 Creating News Links for a Section 287 Setting Up the Footer Area 289 Setting Up the Home Page 291 Adding Basic Functionality to a School Website 293 User Registration 293 Events Calendar 295 Downloadable Documents 295 Staff Directory 295 Email Newsletter 296 RSS 297 Random Image Sitemap 298 Extending the School Website Beyond the Basics 298 Summary 300 Chapter 11: Creating a Restaurant Site with Joomla! 301 Why Does a Restaurant Need a Website? 302 What Features Does a Restaurant Website Need? 302 Downloading and Installing a Restaurant Template 304 Organizing the Content on a Restaurant Website 306 Building Content Articles with Lorem Ipsum 309 Setting Up the Home Page 310 Home Page Alternative to the Featured Article Manager 310 Creating Menus 311 Creating Footer Content 316 Creating Module Teaser Blocks 317 Using Stock Imagery 319 Extending a Restaurant Website 321 Image Gallery: JPG Flash Rotator 2 322 Email Marketing 323 Google Maps 323 Summary 323 Chapter 12: Creating a Blog with Joomla! 325 What Is a Blog? 326 Why Have a Blog? 327 What Options Are There for Blogging? 327 What Features Are Needed on a Blog Site? 328 Downloading and Installing a Blog Template 330 Optimus Template Features and Positions 331 Configuring the Logo 332 Configuring the Main Horizontal Drop-Down Menu 334 Organizing Content on a Blog 335 Organizing a Blog Within a Larger Site 335 Organizing a Standalone Blog 336 About Tagging 338 Creating the Menus 338 Adding Dynamic Modules 342 Adding Static Modules 345 Adding Basic Functionality to a Blog 346 Flexible Layout 346 Browser-Based Editing 347 Automated Publishing 347 Categories 347 Search Engine-Friendly URLs 347 Comment Systems 348 Syndication Feeds 348 Email Notification 350 Search 350 Extending a Blog Website Beyond the Basics 351 Forums 351 E-commerce 352 Summary 353 Appendix A: Getting Help 355 Community Forums 355 Help Sites 356 Getting Help from Google 356 Appendix B: A Guide to Joomla! 1.6 ACL 357 Appendix C: A Quick Introduction to SEO 359 Keyword Use in Title Tag 359 Anchor Text of Inbound Link 359 Global Link Popularity of Site (PageRank) 359 Age of Site 360 Link Popularity Within the Site 360 Topical Relevance of Inbound Links and Popularity of Linking Site 360 Link Popularity of Site in Topic Community 361 Keyword Use in Body Text 361 File Size 361 Clean URL 362 Utilize Your Error Pages 362 What's Not Here? 362 Appendix D: Installing WampServer 363 Index 371