Posts Tagged ‘Joomla’

Joomla articles without menu items

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Sometimes you need additional articles in your Joomla website that don’t have direct access through your menus. In example you want to provide an ‘additional resources’ link within an article, or perhaps you just want an article for internal use that does not have a public link. Here are the simple steps to make this article linkable from within another article or module in your site, or from another website.

First create a new menu and call it “hidden” or something useful for yourself to remember. Do not create a corresponding module for this menu, alternatively you can create a module but mark it as ‘registered’ or ’special’ so it will not be seen by the public.

Using this new menu you can create links to articles, or any other available menu item choice. When you create the menu item there is a field called “Link” that is automatically populated when you create the item. This is the relative URL of the page (add http://yourdomain.com/ in front of it for a complete URL to use on another site). If you are using Joomla SEO settings, you can use the alias field to create user friendly links to this menu item.

Note: Though this menu is not published, you can still set your modules to show or not to show on the pages of this menu, or you could even create a different template for these pages.

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Posted in Joomla, tips | No Comments »

Learning something new

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

Had an interesting conversation with someone tonight. He said “I don’t even know how to turn a computer on.” After talking to him for a bit, he shared that he would like to learn how to use a computer, but nobody has shown him how.

I shared that I would be happy to set a time to help him get started, I had quite a few similar students while I was in New Orleans. I also shared that like anything it takes practice. Earlier that day, I was reading a Hanes Manual. Anyone who has worked on cars is familiar with this book, it has step by step instructions and illustrations showing how to dis-assemble and re-assemble every part of a vehicle. About 6 years ago, when I was travelling around in an old vehicle I was not at all intimidated to dig in with this book and fix virtually any problem the car may throw at me. Today, I experienced intimidation looking at the book. I still have the same skills, but as I haven’t done it in quite a few years, it felt very different. Computers are the same way. As long as you continue to give it a set amount of time each day, or at least each week, it gradually becomes easier. I thing learning any new skill is like this. No matter how intimidating it may seem, with practice, one day you’ll look back and wonder what was so intimidating.

I suppose the most important thing is overcoming any intimidation and taking those first steps. I remember some of the folks in New Orleans, and other places where I have taught computer use, I can say from experience, those that learn the fastest, and make the most solid progress are those that try things. They say things like “Ok, let’s see what happens if I do this…” Whereas those that make the slowest progress are those that say “I’m worried if I try that I might break something.”

So I say go for it, obviously make sure that you back things up, or ask somebody to do this for you, and then just start clicking on links, and hitting buttons and see what happens. This can be applied to trying a computer for the first time, or trying to use a new Joomla website, or fixing a car for that matter, you wont learn if you don’t try.

Now, if you find that what you’re doing is not getting the right results, reach out and ask someone what else to try, don’t ask them to do it for you, just let them tell you about it so that you can do it yourself. Even if somebody told you how to do something, you can still celebrate the victory of having done it by yourself.

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Posted in The Latest, tips | 1 Comment »

Why Joomla (CMS)

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

While working in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, there was demand for a lot of new websites to raise awareness and funds for the rebuilding effort. Through trial and error I learned that a content management system (CMS) was the best way to help my new clients interact and present themselves on the internet.

Upon arrival in New Orleans as a web designer I realized that I could easily become overwhelmed with the amount of work. The first organization I began work with already had a website running on Drupal. They asked for my assistance with the site so I dug in and learned more about content management systems. I had seen and heard about CMS websites, but until then had always coded static sites in html and css. The downside of websites such as I had been working with is that clients had to either learn html, or contact me every time they needed something edited.

So, the combination of the what could become overwhelming workload in New Orleans and this introduction to CMS, Most non-techies avoid learning html like cats avoid leashes. I soon saw the great benefit of my many New Orleans clients using a CMS. Each client was different. Each client had different needs. With a CMS I was able to streamline all of my clients into a content management system that could be tailored to each individual client’s needs. At the same time I was able to avoid cats, leashes and frustrated clients on the outer rim of html learning curves.

CMS websites, are also often called – for good reason – . Once designed and configured the website is built in such a way that anyone who is provided access can use a simple wysiwyg editor (or MS Word, open office, or any other rich text editor) and make updates and manage the website. The use of CMS means that clients can take ownership of their websites in a day to day fashion, leaving us time to roll out the clients’ broader design ideas.

Designers involved with CMS websites add features such as calendars, forms, photo galleries. All of these new features can be easily accessed and updated by clients. Upon looking at the extensions available I soon realized that my CMS websites could accomplish so much more than my previous statically designed websites. This is why I have converted almost all of my previous clients websites over to Joomla.

Now finally we get to the title of this blog Why Joomla.. Drupal (the first CMS I learned) is very powerful. However, over time and with help of friends (Thanks Nick!) I came around the use of Joomla as my primary CMS. I have seen that Joomla has an easier user interface within demo sites. For this reason Joomla is less intimidating than Drupal for my clients.

I have since realized that with Joomla there is a huge variety of available templates. I have learned how to apply my html and css skills to create custom templates and even take a client’s existing website and convert it to Joomla. In this way the site visitors see no difference, but the client can easily log in and edit their site.

I am happy to report that the sites we rolled out in New Orleans have been met with great success. Though we still help with content updates on some sites, other clients have thrived with their new sites. I love to my clients’ sites and see all the new and changing content! These clients contact us for support, design changes, or to add new features. In this way we are left with more time to build and work on new sites.

The CMS movement is radically changing how we as designers interact with our clients and how our clients ultimately interact with the world.

Thanks to Sean David Hobbs for editing this article

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Posted in Joomla, Joomla Add-ons, LDW Clients, The Latest, collective, web | No Comments »

Message to GPL and Open Source developers.

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Thought I’d spend a few minutes tonight giving thanks to all the developers of great software like Joomla and Wordpress,  and all of their fantastic extensions and beautiful templates that have so helped us move forward in our goal to help people set up great looking and very functional websites. Many of these resources come to us under the GPL or General Public License.

Since migrating to content management websites, we have been able to plug into all the great resources that have been made available to anyone who would like to develop a website. We used to develop our sites in html and css which meant that we, like other web developers held the control over the website. If a client wanted to learn these languages, they could take over their site and start creating and editing themselves, but this really was not practical so the client felt at mercy to the designer, and it limited the amount of work we could take on. Now, that we have made our move to open source content management systems, we can help the client build the website themselves, and as their organization grows, they have the means to grow their website without having to turn back to us, the designers. We remain available, but our goal is that the client will take control of their own website.

This would not be possible if it were not for all the great work that has been done by so many writers of code that have developed the content management systems, and the huge variety of resources to create so much more than just a website.

Always keep in mind that these folks need to feed their families, be sure to visit their sites, support their other services, make a donation, or at least give them thanks. Look for the credits links on our websites for a list of resources that went into building the site.

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Posted in Joomla, Joomla Add-ons, The Latest | No Comments »

How to pick a Joomla template

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

A good template provides a solid base for your site. The closer the template is to your final vision, the smoother the rest of your web construction will go. Picking a Joomla template can be difficult, as there are thousands of these things out there. I’ve picked three this week, and that’s enough for a little while! Still, it gets easier each time. Here are a few pointers that helped me streamline the process.

First, make sure you’re choosing the right kind of template. I spent a couple hours looking for a template for my dad’s church website before I realized I’d been browsing Joomla 1.5 Legacy templates… but we want a Joomla 1.5 template, and there is a difference. Legacy templates were built for Joomla 1.0 but can be made to work in 1.5 using a plug-in. It’s better to find a template native to 1.5; things will work better in the long run.

It also made choosing easier when I had an idea of what I wanted before I started looking. For one site, I knew I wanted a dark template, one column, and no banner. These three attributes significantly narrowed an otherwise overwhelming list of 3,000 possible templates. (To see the template I chose, visit www.lowthiandesign.com,)

Alternatively, you can first find a template that you like and then develop your layout around it. I find this more burdensome than the above method, but I am sure it works well for some. This may be a good tactic if you are unable to come up with a good layout beforehand. The template demo sites spark ideas and let you know what is possible with each template.

Sometimes you will find a template you like, but you have to pay to remove the developer’s watermark. If the template is exactly what you are looking for, and you have the cash, then by all means buy it. They usually cost between $25 and $65. Otherwise, free and open source templates are great alternatives. To find these, you need to make sure your template of choice is licensed as free or open source. One such license to look for is GNU GPL.

Finally, here are my favorite places to look for templates: tinyurl.com/lowthian2 and bestofjoomla.com. Good luck and happy picking!

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Posted in Joomla, Joomla Add-ons, The Latest | 2 Comments »

Comparing how three Joomla editors handle images, text, code and cofiguration.

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

Each Joomla editor has its pros and cons. Though We haven’t tried them all here at LDW, there are three that we use regularly. I will compare how JoomlaFCK, JCE and TinyMCE handle images, text, code and configuration.

Images:

FCK is my first choice as an image editor. It offers many options the other editors lacked. For instance, with FCK you can search/upload photos from your local machine to the server from within the WYSIWYG. Once uploaded you can search the server for an image and add it to your article. You can resize an image and preview the text wrap after the resize. And adding links to your photo is simple with FCK.

Tiny MCE has the slimmest layout. No extra options here: the editor does not allow you to load from your local machine, you can’t search the server, instead you must know a photo’s exact URL in order to display it. It’s clearly my last choice for images.

JCE has image preview and resizing options, and you’re able to search and upload for images from your local machine. JCE is comparable to FCK, but I find FCK more intuitive, plus it has a few more options.

Text:

JCE is my first choice for adding content and editing text. The icon layout is very clear and the default WYSIWYG offers all the tools that I usually need, omitting seldom-used ones. If there is something I need that JCE does not have there are additional plug-ins available as well.

Tiny MCE offers the clearest layout with no extras to get in your way. It offers no way to add from Word or add in plain text, but could be a great editor for people who are only adding text and who are not familiar with the other editors and their extras.

FCK offers template choices, background colors, spell check, emoticons, rows, columns, and much more. A very good choice for people familiar with Word and/or Open Office who would like to utilize tools such as tables, columns, rows and layout templates.

Source Code:

All of the editors offer an easy way to edit source—it’s a three-way tie.

So which is the best editor for clear, clean, standard compliant code? Sorry to say, this is an open source shortcoming. All the choices fall short of this goal. Out of the three editors, the worst one is Tiny MCE. The other two offer plain text and paste from Word options, and FCK also offers a blockquote button and some options to turn off auto-formatting, which helps with the code. As to which editor does the least damage, JCE and FCK are a toss-up.

Plug-in Configuration:

JCE offers many great configurations under components. You can choose to not let the editor clean up html It also uses gzip. The best thing is the plug-ins. You can enable and disable whichever plug-ins you want the editor to use, and even install new open source or proprietary plug-ins for JCE. The customization options seem endless. As a result, the user is able to create their preferred, most useful WYSIWYG. A+!

Tiny MCE is my second choice for configuration capabilities. It has many options for the buttons you do or don’t use, though even with all of them enabled, it’s still a slim editor. You can choose to clean code or not.

With FCK, what you see is truly what you get as far as configuration is concerned. I did find a couple of nice features: you can turn off auto-formatting for source code, and you can set default directories for your images.

Results, in a nutshell:

If you want to add some content, use JCE.

If you want to add an image, use FCK.

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Posted in Joomla, Joomla Add-ons, The Latest, web | 1 Comment »

Joomla Flash Uploader broke…

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Flash uploader was a nice way to upload multiple images at the same time. Unfortunately when Flash 10 was released, it stopped working. Therefore if a site has the ‘enable flash uploader’ option set to yes, the button does not work and therefor nothing happens when you click on it.

You need to go to the Global Configuration, System Tab and disable it.

This leaves you with the ability to just upload one file at a time. JCE has a nice image uploader that still allows you to choose multiple images. It can be downloaded here (I would recommend uninstalling JCE first and then installing the ‘Single installation package.’

The buttons don’t have that MS Office look that you may be used to with JoomlaFCK, but the image uploader has a lot of nice features and a great look. It also allows you to use the image button with the other wysiwyg buttons rather than going to the bottom. If you are a LDW client, we can set this up for you, just let us know if you’d like to try the switch.

Another option is to downgrade your Flash version to version 9 which for Windows, as of now you can still get here. Be sure to read the readme.html file, and I would recommend uninstalling flash 10 first. I haven’t tested this package yet as I am on an Ubuntu machine, so leave a comment if you try it.

Apparently we are not alone, other flash uploaders for other types of software also stopped functioning and Adobe knows about the issue, so hopefully the next version of Flash will have fixed this issue.

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Posted in Fixes, Joomla, Joomla Add-ons | 1 Comment »