Joomla! Explained: Your Step-by-Step Guide

Description

Master Joomla! hands-on, step-by-step, through easy, practical examples!

Joomla! now powers tens of millions of websites of every size and type. But many beginners find it confusing, and most Joomla! books are too complex to help. Joomla! Explained is the solution. Top Joomla! trainer Stephen Burge teaches everything beginners need to know--and nothing they don't need to know!

Joomla! Explained requires absolutely no experience with Joomla! content management, website construction, programming, scripting, or even HTML. Stephen Burge has taught thousands of beginners--and thousands more who've experimented with Joomla! but haven't mastered it yet. Nobody knows more about guiding Joomla! users up the learning curve--from confusion to results!

You'll master Joomla! one easy step at a time, through a complete hands-on case study. Burge presents crystal-clear visuals, explanations, and analogies--all extensively tested with real Joomla! beginners. This book's quick, easy coverage includes

* Understanding what Joomla! does and how it works

* Installing the latest version of Joomla

* Navigating your site's visitor and administrator areas

* Mastering workflows that make site creation easy

* Adding text, images, links, and formatting

* Creating efficient, usable navigation

* Providing contact forms, ad banners, and link directories

* Using modules to enable site registration and search

* Adding voting and other smaller plug-in features

* Quickly changing site designs with Joomla! templates

* Finding, choosing, installing, and using extensions

* Building both business and personal sites, step by step

* Giving customized access to different types of users

* Managing site versions in multiple languages

* Efficiently administering, backing up, and updating sites

CONTENTS:

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xvi

About the Author xvii

Chapter 1 Joomla! Explained 1

The What, When, Where, and Who of Joomla 2

 Why Joomla? 2

 How Much Is Joomla? 3

 What Does the Joomla Name Mean? 3

 How Many Versions of Joomla Are There? 4

 Who Uses Joomla? 5

This Book Explained 8

 What You'll Need 8

 What This Book Covers 8

 This Book Is Concise 10

 This Book Is Active 10

 This Book Uses Specific Examples 10

What's Next? 12

Chapter2 Joomla! Installations Explained 13

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 14

Choose the Best Place to Install Joomla 14

 Your Computer 14

 A Web Server 15

Choose the Best Way to Install Joomla! 16

Install Joomla Automatically 16

Install Joomla Manually 22

 Step 1: Create a Database 23

 Step 2: Download the Joomla Files and Upload Them to Our Web Server 26

 Step 3: Complete the Joomla Installation by Connecting the Database and Files Together 29

Get Help If You're Stuck Installing Joomla! 36

What's Next? 37

Chapter3 Joomla! Sites Explained 39

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 39

Understand the Two Areas of a Joomla Site 39

 Visitor Area 40

 Administrator Area 40

Understand the Administrator Area of Your Joomla Site 41

Things You'll See All the Time in Joomla 44

 Language 44

 Page Layouts 44

 Individual Page Layouts 46

Understand the Visitor Area of Your Joomla Site 49

Make Your First Joomla Site Changes 50

 Changing Your First Article 50

 Changing Your First Template 53

What's Next? 55

Chapter4 Joomla! Content Explained 57

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 57

Step 1: Categorize 57

Step 2: Add 61

Step 3: Show 66

The Joomla CASh Workflow - Why Do It This Way? 71

Practicing the CASh Workflow 72

 Step 1: Categorize 73

 Step 2: Add 73

 Step 3: Show 73

What's Next? 76

Chapter5 Joomla! Content Editing Explained 77

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 77

Formatting Your Text 77

 Bold, Italic, Underline, and Strikethrough 78

 Aligning Your Text 80

 Bullet Points and Indentation 82

 What if I Made a Mistake? 84

Adding Images to Your Content 85

 Categorize Images 86

 Add Images 88

 Show Images 90

 What If I Made a Mistake? 92

Adding Links to Your Content 94

 Internal Links 94

 External Links 96

 What If I Made a Mistake? 97

 Internal Article Links 98

 What If I Want to Remove a Link? 101

Choosing Your Article Options 101

 Publishing Options 102

 Article Options 103

 Global Options 104

 Metadata Options 106

Practicing Joomla Content 108

 Airport 108

 Bus Station 110

 Train Station 112

What's Next? 114

Chapter6 Joomla! Menus Explained 115

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 115

Why Do you Need Menus? 115

Step 1: Categorize Your Menu Links 116

Step 2: Adding Your Menu Links 118

 If You Already Have the Links 119

 If You Haven't Already Created the Links 120

Step 3: Showing Your Menu Links 121

Practicing the CASh Workflow with Menus 123

 Transport Menu 124

 Festivals Menu 126

 About Joomlaville Menu 127

More Advanced Layout Options Using Menus 128

Putting It All Together in a Blog Layout 129

 Categorize 130

 Add 130

 Show 131

 Selecting the Options 132

Putting It All Together in a List Layout 134

 Categorize 135

 Add 135

 Show 136

 Selecting the Options 136

What's Next? 138

Chapter7 Joomla! Components Explained 141

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 141

Banners Component 142

 Setting Up an Advertising Banner 142

Contacts Component 146

 Categorize 147

 Add 148

 Show 149

 Options 149

Messaging Component 151

News Feeds Component 154

 Categorize 154

 Add 155

 Show 155

Redirect Component 157

Search Component 158

 Options 160

Web Links Component 161

 Categorize 161

 Add 161

 Show 162

 Banners 163

 Contacts 166

 News Feeds 170

 Web Links 172

 Cleaning Up the Menu Links 175

What's Next? 181

Chapter8 Joomla! Modules Explained 183

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 183

Understanding Modules 183

Creating New Modules 188

Changing the Order of Modules 192

Changing Which Pages Modules Appear On 196

Change When Modules Appear 202

Practice 205

 Categorize 205

 Add 205

 Show 205

 Position 207

 Order 207

 Menu Links 207

 Time and Date 209

What's Next? 211

Chapter9 Joomla! Plug-ins Explained 213

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 213

The Plug-in Manager 213

Authentication Plug-ins 214

Content Plug-ins 216

Editors and Editors-XTD Plug-ins 220

Search Plug-ins 223

User Plug-ins 224

Extension, System, and Other Plug-in Types 226

What's Next? 228

Chapter10 Joomla! Templates Explained 229

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 229

Understanding Templates 229

Changing Templates 233

Changing Template Options 236

Different Designs and Layouts for Different Pages 240

 Different Templates on Different Pages 240

 Different Template Styles on Different Pages 241

Practice 244

What's Next? 246

Chapter11 Adding Joomla! Extensions Explained 247

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 247

Research Components, Modules, and Plug-ins 247

 Find the Right Category 248

 Evaluate an Individual Extension 255

Install Components, Modules, and Plug-ins 259

 Install a Module 259

 Install a Plug-in 264

 Install a Component 267

Find and Install Templates 273

 Find a Free Template 273

 Find a Commercial Template 281

Practice 284

 Install a Component 284

 Install a Module 285

 Install a Plug-in 285

What's Next? 286

Chapter12 Putting It All Together: Personal Site 289

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 289

Step 1: Installation 290

 One-Click Installation 290

 Manual Installation 291

Step 2: Content 293

 Categorize 293

 Add 294

 Show 296

Step 3: Components, Modules, and Plug-ins 298

 Default Component: Contacts 298

 Installed Component: Photo Gallery 299

 Default Module: Most Read Content 303

 Installed Module: SP Weather 304

 Default Plug-in: Load Module 305

 Installed Plug-in: ITPSocial Buttons 307

Step 4: Templates 308

What's Next? 314

Chapter13 Putting It All Together: Business Site 315

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 315

Step 1: Installation 316

Step 2: Content 316

 Categorize 316

 Add 318

 Show 319

Step 3: Components, Modules, and Plug-ins 321

 Default Component: Contacts 321

 Installed Component: Zen Portfolio 321

 Default Modules: Most Read Content 324

 Installed Module: GTranslate 325

 Default Plug-in: User Profile 327

 Installed Plug-in: JPlayer 327

Step 4: Templates 330

What's Next? 335

Chapter14 Joomla! Users Explained 337

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 338

What People Can See: Joomla's Access Levels 339

Method 2: What Users Can Do: Joomla's User Groups 347

Method 3: Creating Your Own Access Controls 350

 Setting Up a New User Group 350

 Creating a Chief Editor for Our Site 356

What's Next? 360

Chapter15 Joomla! Languages Explained 363

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 364

Step 1: Installation 364

Step 2: Content 372

 An Example of How Translation Works 372

 Categorize 373

 Add 375

 Show 375

Step 3: Extensions (Components, Modules, and Plug-ins) 377

 Components 377

 Modules 378

Step 4: Templates 379

What's Next? 380

Chapter16 Joomla! Site Management Explained 381

Things You Can Do After Reading This Chapter 381

Updating Your Site 381

 An Overview of Joomla Version Numbers 382

 What Version Do I Have? 384

 How Do I Get Notified About Updates? 384

 How Do I Update? 385

Updating Your Extensions 387

Disabling or Uninstalling Your Extensions 391

Additional Measures to Protect Your Site 392

Backing Up Your Site 396

 Backups Made by Your Hosting Company 396

 Backups Made by You 396

Global Configuration 400

 Taking Your Site Offline 401

 Metadata Settings 402

 Changing Your Site's URLs 403

 Making Your Site Run Faster 407

 Staying Logged In for Longer 409

What's Next? 409

Index 411