Using Joomla Ron Severdia and Kenneth Crowder foreword by Louis Landry Beijing Cambridge O'REILLY Farnham Kbln Sebastopol Taipei Tokyo
Table of Contents Foreword xvii Preface xix 1. An Overview 1 Using a CMS: Static Versus Dynamic 1 A Brief History of Joomla 1 Why Open Source and the GPL? 2 The Future 2 Joomla 1.0.x: End of Life 3 Summary 3 2. Quick Start 5 Quick Install 5 Installing joomla Using Fantastico 6 System Requirements 8 Add Sample Content or Not 9 Some Basic Terminology 10 Frontend Versus Backend 10 Extensions 10 Site Content 12 Summary 12 3. A Tour of the Administrator Panel 15 Control Panel 16 Administrator Menus 17 Site 17 Menus 18 Content 19 Components 19 Extensions 20 v
' Tools 21 Help 21 Administrator Modules 22 Main Toolbar 23 Article Filtering and Display 23 Summary 23 4. Global Configuration 25 Site 25 Site Settings 26 Metadata Settings 26 SEO Settings 27 System 27 System Settings 27 User Settings 27 Media Settings 28 Debug Settings 29 Cache Settings 29 Session Settings 30 Server Server Settings 30 Local Settings 31 FTP Settings 31 Database Settings 31 Mail Settings 32 Summary 33 30 5. Preparing Your Content 35 Planning, Creating, and Organizing Your Content 35 Sections, Categories, and Articles 35 Section Manager Overview 36 Creating Sections 36 Publishing and Unpublishing Sections 37 Copying Sections 38 Category Manager Overview 39 Creating Categories 40 Publishing and Unpublishing Categories 40 Copying Categories 42 Moving Categories 43 Uncategorized Sections and Categories 43 Summary 44 vi Table of Contents
6. Creating Content 45 Articles As Building Blocks 45 Creating Articles 46 The WYSIWYG Editor 47 Customizing Articles 48 Article Publishing and Unpublishing 50 Scheduled Publishing and Unpublishing 51 Article Parameters 53 Article Parameters Hierarchy 53 Global Article Parameters 54 Basic Article Parameters 56 Advanced Article Parameters 57 Page Functions: Print PDF, Email to a Friend, and Print Page 60 Prevent Code from Being Stripped Out of the Editor 60 Global Check-in 62 Article Manager Filtering and Ordering 63 Filtering Articles 63 Ordering Articles 64 Permissions 65 Section Permissions 65 Category Permissions 65 Article Permissions 66 Archiving Articles 66 Archiving an Article 66 Unarchiving an Article 67 Trashing Articles 67 an Trashing Article 67 Restoring Trashed Articles 67 Permanently Delete Trashed Articles 68 The Front Page Manager 69 Ordering Front Page Articles 71 Removing Front Page Articles 72 Frontend Versus Backend Editing 72 Edit an Article on the Frontend 72 Submitting Content on the Frontend 73 Submit a New Article on the Frontend 75 Submit a New Web Link on the Frontend 75 Summary 77 7. Menus 79 Menu Structure Versus Content Structure 79 Menu Manager 80 Menu Item Manager: Menu Item Types Explained, Controlling Layout 82 Table of Contents vii
Menu Item Parameters 90 Menu Item Details 90 Parameters (Basic) 92 Parameters (Advanced) 93 Parameters (Component) 94 Parameters (System) 97 Menu Modules: Parameters 98 Module Parameters 99 Advanced Parameters 101 Other Parameters 101 Menu Module: Split Menus 102 Built-in Site Map 105 Create the Site Map 105 Add Your Site Map to an Article Using the Content Load Module Plug-in 106 Using ItemID to Create Internal Links 106 Menu Trash 106 Restore Menu Items 107 Permanently Delete Menu Items 107 Summary 108 8. Components 111 Extending Joomla with Extensions and Compatibility 111 Built-in Components: Banners, Contacts, News Feeds, Polls, Search, and Web Links 112 Banners 112 Contacts 113 News Feeds 114 Polls 116 Search 117 Web Links 118 Other Built-in Components in the Extension Manager 119 Third-Party Components: Mow to Install 121 Summary 122 9. Modules 123 The Module Manager 123 Built-in Frontend Modules 123 Article Modules 124 Component Modules 125 Feed Modules 125 User Modules 125 Other Modules 125 vili Table ofcontents
Creating Modules 126 Assigning Modules 126 Duplicating Modules 128 Deleting Modules 128 Moving Modules 128 Creating a Menu Module 128 Creating a Custom HTML Module 130 Built-in Administrator Modules 131 Navigation Modules 131 User Modules 132 News Modules 132 Other Modules 132 Showing a Module Inside an Article 133 Installing Third-Party Modules 134 View All of the Module Positions 135 Summary 135 10. Plug-ins 137 The Plugin Manager 137 Plug-in Types 138 Built-in Plug-ins 141 Third-Party Plug-ins: How to Install 149 Summary 150 11. Templates 151 The Template Manager 151 Installing and Assigning Templates 152 Installing a Template Package File 152 Uploading Template Files 154 Removing a Template 155 Assigning the Default Template 157 Assigning a Template to Specific Site Sections 157 Template Folder Structure 158 Editing Templates 159 Editing with the Template Manager 159 Edit Using an External Editor 161 Adding Images 161 Anatomy of a Template File 162 JDOC Statements 165 Template Conditionals 166 Module Chrome 167 Template Parameters 168 Template Overrides (MVC) 171 Table of Contents Ix
Summary 172 12. User Manager 173 User Manager 173 Adding and Editing Users 175 User Details 176 Parameters 177 Contact Information 177 User Registration 178 Login Module 178 Creating an Account 179 Forgot Your Password? 179 Forgot Your Username? 180 Recover Your Admin Password 180 The Easy Way 181 The Hard Way 181 User Permissions 181 Summary 183 13. Media Manager 185 The Media Manager 185 Navigating Views and Managing Media 185 Uploading and Deleting Media 186 Uploading Media 186 Deleting Media 189 Using Media in Your Articles 189 Adding an Image 190 Changing an Image 191 Removing an Image 192 Summary 193 14. Languages 195 The Language Manager 195 Finding and Installing Languages 196 Installing Other Languages 196 Assigning a Language Pack to the Site or Administrator 196 Assigning a Language Pack to a Single User 199 Creating a Language Pack 200 Other Language Options 204 JoomlFish 205 Summary 206 x Table of Contents
15. Extension Manager 207 Installing Extensions 207 Upload Package File 207 Install from Directory 208 Install from URL 209 Troubleshooting 209 Uninstalling Extensions 210 Upgrading Extensions 210 Summary 211 16. Tools 213 Global Check-in 213 Clean Cache 214 Purge Expired Cache 215 Read/Write Private Messages 217 Write Private Messages 217 Read Private Messages 218 Private Messaging Configuration 219 Mass Mail 220 System Info 222 Summary 222 17. Hands-on: Converting a Site to Joomla 223 Designing Your Website 223 Finding Zones in Your Design 223 Preparing the HTML and CSS 225 Hands-on Walkthrough 227 Insert the Joomla Tags 227 Set Up the Template XML File 229 Uploading Your Template 230 Summary 231 18. Extending Your Site: Recommended Solutions 233 E-Commerce: Set Up a Simple Online Storefront Using VirtueMart 233 Store Frontend 234 Administrator Backend 237 Creating a Product Category 238 Adding a Product 240 Other Extension Options 242 Blog: Blogging Functionality Built In 242 Calendaring/Event Management: Manage and Share Online Calendars with JCal Pro 243 Creating a Calendar 244 Table of Contents xi
Creating a Calendar Menu Item 245 Creating Event Categories 246 Adding an Event 247 Adding a Mini-Calendar 248 Other Extension Options 250 Forms: Create Custom Forms to Collect and Store Information with bfforms 250 Field Types 251 Submit Actions 253 Layout 255 Final Thoughts 255 Other Extension Option 255 Photo Gallery: Set Up an Online Photo Gallery Using Phoca 255 Adding a Category 259 Uploading an Image 260 Other Extension Options 260 Document Library: Create Online Document Storage Using RokDownloads 261 Creating a Folder 261 Uploading a File 262 Creating a Menu Link 263 Latest Downloads List 264 Other Extension Options 266 Reviews: Create an Online Review System Using JReviews Express 266 Setting Up Review Sections and Categories in Joomla 266 Setting Up Review Criteria 267 Setting Up a Review Category in JReviews 268 User Reviews on the Frontend 269 Configuration and Access Options 270 Other Extension Option 271 Building a Community: Extend User Profiles and Functions with Community Builder 272 a Creating User List 273 Adding a Profile Tab 274 Adding Profile Fields 275 Other Extension Option 280 Podcasting: Publish Podcasts on Your Site and on itunes with the Podcast Suite 280 How a Podcast Works 280 Setting Up Podcast Suite 280 Create a Podcast Category 283 Create a Podcast Menu Item 283 Upload Your Podcast Audio File 284 xii Table of Contents
Publish Your Podcast 285 Setting Up Your itunes Channel 286 More Parts 287 Other Extension Options 287 Discussion Forum: Set Up an Integrated Discussion Forum Using Kunena 287 Synchronize Your Users 290 Create a Menu Link to Your Forum 290 Setting Up a Forum Category 290 Add a Moderator 292 Integration 293 Other Extension Options 294 Site Backup/Migration: Perform Backups and Migrate Your Site Using JoomlaPack 294 Getting to Know the Interface 295 Backing Up Your Website 296 Restore Your Website 296 But Wait, There's More! 297 Final Thoughts 298 Other Extension Options 299 Power Search: Powerful Site Searches with JXtended Finder 299 Set a Up Search Filter 300 a Search Box 301 Adding Search Options 302 Reindexing Your Content 303 Other Extension Options 303 Content Tagging: Organize and Connect Related Content Using JXtended Labels 303 Planning and Creating Your Labels 304 Labeling Your Articles 305 Creating a Tag Cloud 305 Other Extension Options 306 Comments: Set Up User Comments Using JXtended Comments 306 Other Extension Options 309 Summary 309 19. SEOandSEF 311 What Is SEO and SEF? 311 Search Engine Optimization 311 Search Engine-Friendly URLs 312 Blocking Search Engines 313 Lowering Your Page Rank 314 Keywords and Metadata 314 Table of Contents xiii
SEF URLs and Creating Custom URLs 316 Error Pages 317 SEO and SEF Resources 318 Summary 319 20. Security 321 Importance of Security and the JSST 321 Best Practices 321 Keep Joomla Updated 322 Subscribe to Security Update 322 Backup Often 322 Stay on Top of New Vulnerabilities 323 Uninstall or Unpublish Unused Extensions 323 Strong Passwords 323 Create a New Super Administrator User 324 Do Not Use jos_ As Your Database Prefix 325 Database and Super Administrator Passwords Should Not Be the Same 325 User Permissions 325 Help-+System Info 326 Do Not Use PHP 4 327 Register Globals 328.htaccess 328 SEF URLs 329 robots.txt 329 Directory Permissions 329 Backup Often 330 More Information 330 Summary 330 21. Joomla 1.6 and Beyond 331 Changes and Improvements 331 Article Manager 331 Extension Manager 332 Menu Manager 333 Interface Enhancements 333 ACL and User Permissions 334 Other Improvements 337 Extension Compatibility 337 Migrating to Joomla 1.6 338 Summary 338 22. Getting Involved 339 Write or Translate a Tutorial or Documentation 339 xiv Table ofcontents
Test or Add a Comment to an Issue Report 339 Develop an Extension or Template 341 Join a Joomla Working Group 341 Help Out at a Joomla Event 342 Contribute in Other Ways 343 Summary 343 A. Installing and Upgrading 345 B. Choosing the Right Extensions 357 C. Developing for Joomla 361 D. Tips and Tricks 365 Index 371 Table of Contents xv