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Joomla!

for Professional Writers

Joomla 1.5

Issue 2

Matt Majeske
Joomla! for Professional Writers: Joomla! 1.5
The information in this book is subject to change without notice. The author shall in no event
be liable for any loss of business, loss of use or data, interruptions in business or for damage
of any kind arising from any defect or errors in this publication.
The Joomla! name and logo are registered trademarks of Open Source Matters, Inc. All other
trade names referenced in this book are the service marks, trademarks, or registered trade-
marks of their manufactures and belong to their respective owner(s).
This book may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the author.
Copyright © 2010, 2011 Matt Majeske. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to thank my wife, Laura, and daughter, Isabella, for their
patience and for allowing me to work on this book in my “spare time” over the last two years.
I would like to thank Don Miller, fellow Joomla wrangler, who, while tearing out his hair over
the enigmatic “module,” suggested I write about modules in a book on Joomla; thus, giving
me the idea to write this book. I also would like to thank Matt Bingham for introducing me to
Joomla and explaining how I could build a portable server with XAMPP Lite on a USB flash
drive. And last, but not least, I would like to thank Open Source Matters and the Joomla devel-
opment community for creating such a great publishing tool.

Notes
I missed my deadline for completing this book by twelve months. My job and family life
always took precedence. The result is that I am publishing a book on Joomla 1.5 as Joomla 1.6
nears completion. On the bright side, now that it’s written, I won’t need two years to update it
for Joomla 1.6.
I am self-publishing this book, which means every sentence is my own, raw prose. I spell
checked each chapter at least twice, and spent $50 to print a hard copy for proofing, but it has
not been reviewed by a professional editor. You will, most likely, encounter a few typos and,
possibly, a few sentences that leave you scratching your head. But, I have done my best to
ensure that it is free from glaring spelling and grammar errors.
I have also done my best to ensure the procedures in this book are technically accurate. I
installed every piece of software mentioned in this book numerous times and tested every
parameter to verify the results during the writing process.

About the Author


Matt Majeske has worked as a technical writer for over 14 years and has a college degree in
professional writing. During his career, he has filled the positions of contractor, employee,
team lead, and manager. But, more importantly, he learned about Joomla when using it as a
publishing platform for a technical writing department. His goal is to teach you how to transi-
tion from your word processors and desktop-publishing tools to writing and publishing on the
web with Joomla.
Contents
About the Second Issue .............................................................................................. ix
Planned Updates for Joomla 1.6..................................................................................ix
Enhancements in Joomla 1.6.......................................................................................ix
Introduction .................................................................................................................. xi
What is Joomla? ..........................................................................................................xi
How Does it Work? ......................................................................................................xi
What Does it Cost? .....................................................................................................xii
What are its Limits? ....................................................................................................xii
How Does it Compare to Similar Tools? .....................................................................xii
Who Should Read this Book? .................................................................................... xiii
How this Book is Organized.......................................................................................xiv

Part I. Building the System

Chapter 1. Choosing a Server Environment............................................................... 1


Using a Joomla Hosting Provider................................................................................. 1
Using a Traditional Hosting Provider ........................................................................... 2
Building Your Own System .......................................................................................... 2
Using a USB Flash Drive ..................................................................................... 3
Using a Personal Computer ................................................................................. 3
Using a Server ..................................................................................................... 4
Chapter 2. Installing the Server Software................................................................... 7
Installing XAMPP Lite on a USB Flash Drive............................................................... 7
Installing XAMPP on Windows................................................................................... 16
About XAMPP’s Security Settings ............................................................................. 24
Chapter 3. Installing and Configuring Joomla! ........................................................ 27
Downloading and Installing Joomla 1.5 ..................................................................... 27
Preparing to Install Joomla on a Local System .................................................. 27
Preparing to Install Joomla on a Hosted System ............................................... 30
Installing the Joomla Software ........................................................................... 33
Removing the Installation Directory ................................................................... 41
Accessing the Administrative Back End..................................................................... 45
Configuring Essential Server Settings ....................................................................... 46
Selecting a Time Zone ....................................................................................... 46
Connecting to a Mail Server ............................................................................... 48
Backing Up Your Joomla Site .................................................................................... 50
Using Language Packs .............................................................................................. 50

Part II. Preparing the Publishing Envornment

Chapter 4. Organizing Your Site................................................................................ 53


Joomla Templates...................................................................................................... 53
Switching to the JA_Purity Template ......................................................................... 55
Customizing the JA_Purity Template......................................................................... 57

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Contents

Organizing Your Content ........................................................................................... 63


Organizing Your Site by Product Type ............................................................... 64
Organizing Your Site by Document Type ........................................................... 65
Organizing News Platforms and Journals .......................................................... 65
Creating Sections....................................................................................................... 65
Creating Categories ................................................................................................... 68
Chapter 5. Creating Menu Systems and Configuring Page Layout ....................... 71
Creating Menu Systems............................................................................................. 71
Organizing Your Menus...................................................................................... 72
Creating Section Menus ..................................................................................... 83
Creating Category Menus .................................................................................. 95
Splitting Menus Between Two Menu Modules ......................................................... 106
Chapter 6. Managing User Access .......................................................................... 113
Creating a Login Module.......................................................................................... 114
User Self-Registration.............................................................................................. 118
Managing User Sessions ......................................................................................... 119
Restricting Access to All Content............................................................................. 120
Creating User Accounts for Customers (Registered Users) .................................... 122
Creating User Accounts for Writers ......................................................................... 124
Authors ............................................................................................................. 124
Editors .............................................................................................................. 125
Publishers......................................................................................................... 125
Creating User Accounts for Administrators .............................................................. 125
Managers ......................................................................................................... 126
Administrators .................................................................................................. 127
Super Administrators........................................................................................ 128
Creating a User Account Maintenance Menu .......................................................... 129
Creating a Contact List Menu .................................................................................. 131
Displaying a List of Online Users ............................................................................. 145
Chapter 7. Managing Media Folders and Files....................................................... 149
Using the Media Manager........................................................................................ 150
Viewing Folder Content on the Server’s File System ....................................... 152
Changing the Folder View Layout Style ........................................................... 152
Working with Image and Multimedia Folders ................................................... 153
Working with Image and Multimedia Files........................................................ 155
Configuring the Media Manager............................................................................... 156
Managing Media Folders and Files Directly on the File System .............................. 160
Managing the Server’s File System with eXtplorer .................................................. 160
Downloading and Installing eXtplorer............................................................... 161
Working with eXtplorer ..................................................................................... 164
Chapter 8. Configuring the Article Feature Set...................................................... 171
Types of Features Available for Your Articles .......................................................... 172
Article Distribution Features ............................................................................. 172
Article Navigation Features .............................................................................. 173
Metadata .......................................................................................................... 174

iv Joomla! for Professional Writers


Contents

Feature Inheritance.................................................................................................. 175


Configuring Article Features .................................................................................... 176
Global Feature Configuration ........................................................................... 176
Menu-Level Feature Configuration................................................................... 189
Article-Level Feature Configuration.................................................................. 192

Part III. Writing and Publishing with Joomla!

Chapter 9. Switching to the Joomla Content Editor (JCE).................................... 197


Using TinyMCE ........................................................................................................ 197
Using JCE with TinyMCE......................................................................................... 198
Downloading and Installing JCE .............................................................................. 198
Administering JCE ................................................................................................... 201
Chapter 10. Writing and Publishing from the Back End ....................................... 203
Styling Your Articles................................................................................................. 204
Creating and Editing Articles.................................................................................... 205
Working in HTML ..................................................................................................... 215
Front Page Publishing.............................................................................................. 218
Establishing a Front Page Publishing Policy .................................................... 219
Publishing Articles on Your Site’s Front Page.................................................. 219
Chapter 11. Working with Images ........................................................................... 221
Preparing to Insert Images....................................................................................... 221
Inserting Images ...................................................................................................... 226
Performing Advanced Image Styling Tasks ............................................................. 229
Creating Rollover Effects ......................................................................................... 233
Chapter 12. Working with Tables ............................................................................ 235
Inserting Tables ....................................................................................................... 235
Performing Advanced Table Styling Tasks .............................................................. 239
Chapter 13. Working with Links .............................................................................. 243
Linking to External Sites .......................................................................................... 243
Linking to Other Articles........................................................................................... 245
Linking to Category Menus ...................................................................................... 246
Linking to Contacts .................................................................................................. 247
Adding Web Links .................................................................................................... 248
Performing Advanced Link Styling Tasks ................................................................ 249
Chapter 14. Writing and Publishing from the Front End....................................... 253
Creating a Front End Article Submission Menu ....................................................... 254
Writing and Submitting Article’s from the Front End ................................................ 260
Editing and Publishing Articles................................................................................. 263
Importing Documents from Other Writing Tools....................................................... 265
Chapter 15. Paginating and Chunking Articles...................................................... 267
Inserting Page Breaks.............................................................................................. 268

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Contents

Working with UberPageBreak .................................................................................. 272


Chunking Articles ..................................................................................................... 277
Chapter 16. Managing the Archive Process ........................................................... 279
Archiving Articles ..................................................................................................... 279
Making the Archive Available from the Front End .................................................... 281
Creating an Archived Article List Menu ............................................................ 283
Creating an Archived Content Module ............................................................. 288

Part IV. Adding More Content and Navigation Features

Chapter 17. Enhancing Your Site with Modules .................................................... 295


Module Positions on the JA_Purity Template .......................................................... 296
Breadcrumbs............................................................................................................ 298
Footer and Copyright Notice .................................................................................... 303
Section List .............................................................................................................. 306
Search...................................................................................................................... 309
Syndicate ................................................................................................................. 313
Related Articles ........................................................................................................ 316
Latest News ............................................................................................................. 320
Most Read Content .................................................................................................. 324
News Flash .............................................................................................................. 328
Polls ......................................................................................................................... 334
Random Images....................................................................................................... 338
Custom Content (HTML) Module ............................................................................. 342
Wrapper for External Websites ................................................................................ 346
Chapter 18. Advertising with Banners .................................................................... 351
Uploading Banner Images ....................................................................................... 352
Creating Banner Categories .................................................................................... 353
Creating Banner Clients........................................................................................... 354
Creating Banners ..................................................................................................... 355
Creating Banner Modules ........................................................................................ 358
Configuring Global Banner Parameters ................................................................... 362
Chapter 19. Publishing External Content with News Feeds ................................. 365
Creating News Feeds .............................................................................................. 366
Creating News Feed Menus .................................................................................... 371
Creating a Single Feed Layout Menu............................................................... 372
Creating a Category Layout Menu ................................................................... 377
Creating a Category List Layout Menu............................................................. 380
Configuring Global News Feed Parameters ............................................................ 383
Chapter 20. Publishing Links to External Sites ..................................................... 389
Creating Web Links.................................................................................................. 390
Creating Web Link Menus........................................................................................ 395
Creating a Category List Layout Menu............................................................. 396
Creating a Web Link Category List Layout Menu............................................. 401

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Contents

Creating a Web Link Submission Layout Menu ............................................... 405


Configuring Global Web Link Parameters................................................................ 408

Part V. Adding Interactive Content

Chapter 21. Working with Multimedia Content ...................................................... 415


Working with eLearning Video ................................................................................. 415
Uploading eLearning Video to the Server ........................................................ 415
Linking to eLearning Video from Your Articles ................................................. 416
Adding Standard Video and Audio to Your Articles ................................................. 418
Downloading and Installing AVReloaded ......................................................... 419
Uploading Video and Audio to the Server ........................................................ 421
Adding Local Video to Your Articles ................................................................. 422
Adding Local Audio to Your Articles ................................................................. 423
Adding Remote Video to Your Articles ............................................................. 425
Chapter 22. Creating and Conducting Surveys ..................................................... 427
Downloading and Installing Fabrik ........................................................................... 428
Preparing to Conduct a Survey................................................................................ 430
Creating a Simple Survey ........................................................................................ 431
Creating the Survey Group .............................................................................. 431
Creating the Survey Elements ......................................................................... 433
Creating the Survey Form ................................................................................ 441
Creating the Survey Menu ............................................................................... 445
Viewing the Survey Results ..................................................................................... 446
Viewing the Results from Joomla’s Back End .................................................. 446
Displaying the Results in Charts ...................................................................... 448
Publishing the Raw Results on Joomla’s Front End ........................................ 452
Securing XAMPP....................................................................................................... 455
Password-protecting MySQL and XAMPP............................................................... 455
Restarting the Apache and MySQL Services........................................................... 458
Accessing XAMPP and MySQL ............................................................................... 459
Backing up Your Site with Akeeba Backup............................................................ 463
Installing Akeeba Backup......................................................................................... 463
Configuring Akeeba Backup .................................................................................... 465
Manually Backing Up Your Site ............................................................................... 466
Restoring Your Site.................................................................................................. 470
Backing Up Your Site with JoomlaPack................................................................... 470
Installing Language Packs....................................................................................... 477
Downloading and Installing Language Packs .......................................................... 477
Assigning Language Packs to User Accounts ......................................................... 478
Changing Your Site’s Default Language.................................................................. 480
Securing Article Submission ................................................................................... 481
Identify the Target User Groups............................................................................... 481

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Contents

Choosing an HTML Filtering Strategy ...................................................................... 482


Creating an HTML Filter........................................................................................... 482
Changing the Joomla! Logo .................................................................................... 487
Creating a Logo Image ............................................................................................ 487
Uploading a Logo Image to the Server .................................................................... 487
Uploading the Logo to a Local System............................................................. 487
Uploading the Logo to a Hosted System.......................................................... 489
Customizing the Copyright Notice .......................................................................... 491
Local Server Customization ..................................................................................... 491
Remote Server Customization ................................................................................. 495
References................................................................................................................. 503
Index........................................................................................................................... 505

viii Joomla! for Professional Writers


About the Second Issue

In this issue of Joomla! for Professional Writers, I updated the instructions that explain how to
install Joomla 1.5, which changed when Joomla 1.6 was released. In addition, I fixed a few typos
that I noticed after uploading the first version. But the bulk of the book remains unchanged.
The purpose of this book is to teach you how build a publishing platform with Joomla 1.5. Joomla
1.6, however, was released for General Availability (GA) on January 10, 2011. It includes several
major feature enhancements that make this book obsolete. In fact, the enhancements, which I
describe below, include changes to the database that I believe will prevent anyone with a Joomla
1.5 system from being able to upgrade it to 1.6. At this point, I must caution you against installing
Joomla 1.5 and recommend doing so only for learning purposes.

Planned Updates for Joomla 1.6


I am currently updating this book for Joomla 1.6. My goal is to complete it by early summer in
2011. At the time of this writing, many of the third-party software extensions documented in this
book have not been updated for Joomla 1.6. I am hoping the extension developers release
compatible versions in the upcoming months, which will allow me to adhere to a reasonable
publishing schedule.

Enhancements in Joomla 1.6


The biggest enhancement, in my opinion, in Joomla 1.6 is the addition of nested categories and the
removal of the “section” as the main content organization unit. In Joomla 1.6, you perform all
content organization and nesting tasks with categories.
Some of the other enhancements to Joomla 1.6 include the following1:
• Menus reflect your category hierarchy. That is, you don’t have to create your own hierarchy
when building menu systems.
• Joomla’s administrative back end is formatted with a new template named BlueStork. While
the back end layout in Joomla 1.6 is very similar to the layout in 1.5, the BlueStork template
includes a new color scheme and icons.
• The JA_Purity template, which serves as the foundation for most of the procedures in this
book, is not included in Joomla 1.6. However, Joomlart, which is the template design
company that created the JA_Purity template, has released a new, much improved version that
is now named the JA T3 Framework2. I plan on explaining how to install the JA T3
Framework in the next version, which will act as the framework for most of the book’s
instructions.

1.For an official list of the enhancements in Joomla 1.6, see the feature list at the following address:
http://www.joomla.org/announcements/general-news/5348-joomlar-16-has-arrived.html
2.To learn more about the JA T3 Framework, see the JA T3 Framework wiki at the following address:
http://wiki.joomlart.com/wiki/JA_T3_Framework_2/Overview

Joomla! for Professional Writers ix


About the Second Issue

x Joomla! for Professional Writers


Introduction

Across the professional writing spectrum, we are rapidly transitioning from hard-copy publishing
to web-based publishing. Newspapers are failing with the advent of web-based news outlets, which
give readers more choices than they had with their local papers. Those that survive are moving
online while scrambling to determine how to remain profitable with an online distribution model3.
In the corporate world, many of us in the technical writing and instructional design professions
have long since abandoned the practice of printing manuals. To save money, we replaced them with
HTML and PDF-based documents, wikis, and eLearning tutorials that we publish on corporate
Internet and intranet sites. But, though our document distribution methods have changed, many of
us continue working with word processors and desktop-publishing tools that were developed for
hard-copy publishing and distribution.
While the companies developing our tools are aware of the shift to web-based publishing, and
enhance their products with features that allow us to convert our documents to more web-friendly
formats, the results are, generally, tools that output static, self-contained files that we must still
upload to web servers. And, when the web pages comprising a document require updates, we are
faced with the time-consuming, multi-step process of updating the original version in it’s native,
proprietary file format, exporting it as HTML, and re-uploading it to the web server.
This book explains how to build web-based writing and publishing platforms with a tool called
Joomla. For those of you already publishing documents on company Internet and intranet sites,
Joomla will eliminate the tedious document exporting, re-formatting, and general massaging many
of you face during the publishing process. For those you who would like to publish on the web, but
have never done so, Joomla is be best tool for getting started.

What is Joomla?
Joomla is a web-based content management system (CMS). Web CMSs are fully-functional, web-
based software platforms that non-technical users can install, configure, and administer
themselves. That is, you do not need to know HTML, or have any programming skills, to manage
a CMS. As a CMS, Joomla is endlessly flexible and can be used to build many types of commercial
websites, storefonts, and corporate intranet sites. But, at its heart, Joomla is an exceptional writing
and publishing platform.

How Does it Work?


With Joomla, you perform all writing and publishing tasks using tools in a browser window. When
saving your written content, Joomla stores it in a database. And, when users access your content,
Joomla retrieves it from the database and displays it on your site. If these are new concepts, they
could seem slightly alarming at first. Using Joomla means changing how you work on a daily basis

3.Regan, Tom. “Newspaper failures are old news. It’s time to focus on solutions.” The Christian Science
Monitor, 11 March 2009: n. pag. Web.

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Introduction

and change, in general, can be intimidating. As professional writers, we have been working with
word processors and desktop publishing tools on our computers since we abandoned stand-alone
word processing machines in the 1980s. Now, we are moving from our computers to the Internet
and server-side data storage.
If you have ever written an article for a blog or wiki, you know that writing with a browser-based
text editor is different from writing with a word processor. I believe those of you who have never
written in this environment will find that, while the process is different, it is not difficult. The many
similarities between word processors and web-based text editors should allow you to easily
transition from one to the other. In fact, most web-based text editing tools are as sophisticated, in
terms of the text formatting options they offer, as our expensive word processors and desktop
publishing tools.

What Does it Cost?


Joomla is open-source software, which means the development team freely-distributes the source
code and the software (it’s free). In addition, all third-party software documented in this book is
free. However, like any software, you need hardware on which to install and run it.
In Joomla’s case, the hardware you require depends on how you want to deploy your site (I describe
how to pick a platform in Chapter 1, “Choosing a Server Environment”). For example, you may
want to build a publishing platform on a company intranet. In this case, you can install it on a
powerful PC, or on a server in your company’s IT server room or data center, which means your
cost is the price of the hardware. If you want it to be accessible from the Internet, you could use a
commercial hosting company, which means your cost is the price of a monthly web hosting fee.

What are its Limits?


According to the “Joomla secrets” page4 on the Joomla documentation site, the MySQL database,
which houses the articles published on a Joomla website, can store over 4 billion articles. Even if
you never performed article cleanup and maintenance tasks, it would be a long time before you had
to worry about reaching the limit. In fact, the computer hosting it would probably run out of storage
space before you reached the article limit in the database.

How Does it Compare to Similar Tools?


In 2006, the product development organization at a company where I was working adopted an
open-source wiki as their writing platform for technical specifications. Eventually, I noticed how
much more efficient it was for the developers to write and publish directly on the company intranet
with a wiki than it was for those of us in the documentation group to write and publish articles using
our traditional desktop publishing tools. To learn more about wikis, I installed and tested a couple
of wiki platforms on a spare computer.

4.You can find the Joomla secrets page at the following address on the Joomla documentation site:
http://docs.joomla.org/Joomla_secrets

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Introduction

During the evaluation process, I found that wikis are efficient, but they are not very good writing
platforms. Most lack chunking and pagination features and only include bare-bones text editors,
which means you either need to know HTML or you have to learn wiki markup to perform text
formatting tasks. And, as soon as you start writing an article with a wiki, it becomes available for
everyone to consume. There is no “drafting” mechanism. While it was not a problem for our
developers to leave articles in various incomplete and draft states on the wiki during the writing
process, I thought this would not be a good practice for a corporate publishing platform.
Next, I started learning about open-source CMSs. A coworker found a very helpful article, The
Open Source CMS Market Share Report5, which was written by Ric Shreves in the summer of
2008. In the report, Ric performed a market-share analysis on 19 of the most prominent open-
source CMSs. While Ric’s study was not intended to prove which platform was the best, it did
identify the ones that were leaders in rate of adoption, which he measured through statistics he
gathered on product downloads, installations, third-party support, and brand strength, which he
determined by looking at factors like search engine visibility, popularity, and reputation (quantified
via awards, ratings, and social bookmarking). From his investigation, Ric concluded that Drupal,
Joomla, and WordPress had the largest presence in the CMS market. Ric conducted and published
additional studies in 2009 and 2010 in which he arrived at similar conclusions about the top CMSs.
I also learned of the opensourceCMS site at http://www.opensourcecms.com, which houses over
250 CMS platforms for free evaluation. In one afternoon, I was able to test many types of web-
based systems; though, I focused mainly on Joomla, Drupal, and WordPress. I quickly ruled out
WordPress, because it seemed more geared toward blogging. And, when comparing Joomla and
Drupal, I thought Joomla’s writing environment, including its writing tool (the TinyMCE text
editor), was far superior to Drupal’s. Based on my research and limited comparisons, I decided
Joomla would make the best writing and publishing platform for our technical writing department.
At some point while I was researching and testing wikis and CMSs, I realized that if we chose one
as our writing and publishing platform, we would no longer need our desktop publishing tools,
which I thought was pretty exciting. If you adopt Joomla, I hope you will be as excited as I was to
transition from writing on your computer to writing and publishing directly on the web.

Who Should Read this Book?


This book is for anyone who writes professionally, or is learning about professional writing, who
would like to build a web-based publishing platform. For example, if you are a technical writer or
instructional designer, you can use Joomla to write and publish technical manuals, user manuals,
and training guides. You can also embed eLearning video and other types of browser-compliant,
interactive media in your published content. If you write for a small corporate marketing
department, you can use Joomla as a publishing platform for your company’s marketing material.
If you are a journalist, or work for a small-town newspaper, you can use Joomla as a web-based
news platform. Whether you write for a corporation, a newspaper, or you perform any other type
of professional writing, Joomla will meet your needs for a high-quality, web-based writing and
publishing platform.

5.You can find the full PDF version of Ric’s 2010 report at the following address:
http://www.waterandstone.com/book/2010-open-source-cms-market-share-report

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Introduction

How this Book is Organized


This book includes 22 chapters grouped into five parts. It also includes five appendices.
Part I, Building the System, explains how to install and configure the software that comprises your
Joomla system. It includes the following chapters:
Chapter 1, Choosing a Server Environment
Decide whether to use a Joomla hosting provider, a traditional hosting provider, or build your
own in-house Joomla server.
Chapter 2, Installing the Server Software
For those of you who choose to build your own server, learn about XAMPP and how to install
it on either a Windows-based computer or a USB flash drive.
Chapter 3, Installing and Configuring Joomla!
Learn how to download and install Joomla, configure a few essential settings, and read about
the importance of performing regular site backups.
Part II, Preparing the Publishing Environment, includes chapters intended to help you create a
well-organized site. It comprises the following chapters:
Chapter 4, Organizing Your Site
Organize your site and select a layout template. The template you choose determines your site’s
appearance and how Joomla displays information on it.
Chapter 5, Creating Menu Systems and Configuring Page Layout
Add menu systems to create paths to the content published on your site. Menus determine page
layout for menu landing pages.
Chapter 6, Managing User Access
Learn who can access content on your site, how to create user accounts for those who require
access to restricted content, and how to create and manage user accounts for authors.
Chapter 7, Managing Media Folders and Files
Ensure the media you upload to the server for your documents, like graphics, is well organized
and easy to access.
Chapter 8, Configuring the Article Feature Set
Add navigation features, like paging and “Read More” links to your documents and
distribution features, like the PDF generator. And, display data with your documents, such as
author names and publishing dates.

xiv Joomla! for Professional Writers


Introduction

Part III, Writing and Publishing with Joomla!, tells how to write, publish, and organize documents
on your Joomla site and includes the following chapters:
Chapter 9, Switching to the Joomla Content Editor (JCE)
Install the Joomla Content Editor (JCE), which includes a more current version of the
TinyMCE text editor, as well as many advanced text formatting features.
Chapter 10, Writing and Publishing from the Back End
Understand how to perform writing, editing, and publishing tasks from Joomla’s administrative
back end.
Chapter 11, Working with Images
Learn how to manage the images in your articles and perform other tasks like adding image
maps and creating image rollover effects.
Chapter 12, Working with Tables
Insert tables into your articles and perform advanced styling tasks like applying table border
and background colors and using background images.
Chapter 13, Working with Links
Insert links to a variety of sources, including links to external websites, links other articles on
your site, links to other menus on your site, and links to author contact information.
Chapter 14, Writing and Publishing from the Front End
Learn how to write and publish documents from your site’s front end, as well as how to import
documents written in other tools.
Chapter 15, “Paginating and Chunking Articles”
Paginate long documents to help users quickly find information. And, learn how to chunk long
documents, like books, at the chapter and section levels.
Chapter 16, Managing the Archive Process
Remove outdated documents from your site while retaining them in the database by archiving
them. Enable users to access your archived articles for reference.
Part IV, Adding More Content and Navigation Features, covers additional features available for
enhancing your site, and comprises the following chapters:
Chapter 17, Enhancing Your Site with Modules
Add other types of navigation and content display features to your site.
Chapter 18, Advertising with Banners
For those of you who are building a corporate publishing platform, learn how to display
advertising banners for your own products. If you are building other types of publishing
systems, like marketing or news platforms, you can display advertising banners for paying
customers.

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Introduction

Chapter 19, Publishing External Content with News Feeds


Learn how to publish syndicated articles from external websites on your site.
Chapter 20, Publishing Links to External Sites
Publish lists of links to external websites.
Part V, Adding Interactive Content, explains how to add multimedia elements to your articles and
how to deploy surveys from your site. Part V includes the following chapters:
Chapter 21, Working with Multimedia Content
Learn how to add multimedia features like eLearning tutorials, video, and audio to your
articles.
Chapter 22, Creating and Conducting Surveys
You can conduct surveys to capture information about the articles published on your site, such
as whether readers find them helpful, how to improve them, and if they are being read. Learn
how to install Fabrik, which is an application builder for Joomla, and use it to deploy
documentation surveys on your site.
Appendices. You can find additional information on managing your Joomla site in the following
appendices:
Appendix A. Securing XAMPP
If you built an in-house Joomla publishing platform that you are deploying on a company
intranet, read this appendix to learn how to secure XAMPP.
Appendix B. Backing up Your Site with Akeeba Backup
You must back up your site regularly to ensure you can restore it in the event of a hardware or
software failure. This appendix explains how to install and use Akeeba Backup to back up your
site.
Appendix C. Installing Language Packs
If a registered user speaks a language other than the one installed as your site’s default
language, install a language pack and assign it to his or her user account.
Appendix D, Securing Article Submission
If you are concerned about authors either intentionally or unintentionally attacking your site
with HTML tags in their articles, create an HTML filter that prevents them from submitting
specific tags.
Appendix E, Changing the Joomla! Logo
Learn how to replace the Joomla logo in the JA_Purity template header with a custom logo.

xvi Joomla! for Professional Writers


Part I. Building the System
Chapter 1. Choosing a Server
Environment
Joomla runs in a server environment that includes a web server, the MySQL database server, and
the PHP script interpreter. If you are new to the technical side of websites, the thought of building
or acquiring this type of server environment may seem daunting. However, many web hosting
companies specialize in hosting Joomla websites and provide all required server software.
Obtaining the necessary environment is neither as difficult, nor unobtainable, as it may seem.
In this chapter I explain why you might use a Joomla hosting provider and give some advice on
selecting one. I also explain how to prepare to install Joomla on an existing website for those of
you who already have a website hosted by a “traditional” provider (that is, they don’t specialize in
hosting Joomla sites). And, for those of you who want to build your own server environment, I
describe some of the different types of systems you can build for an in-house Joomla platform.

Using a Joomla Hosting Provider


Many commercial hosting companies provide easy-to-use Joomla installation packages, like
Fantastico, that you can launch from a web-based control panel to install Joomla yourself, or they
may even install it for you. Here are a few reasons why you might use a Joomla hosting provider:
• You or your IT department do not have room in the budget to purchase a high-performance
web-server for hosting a Joomla publishing site.
• You want your Joomla documentation site to be accessible from the Internet and your
company does not have the ability to host a corporate website.
• You are new to website technology and you do not feel confident attempting to build your
own server.
I recommend doing some research before selecting a Joomla hosting provider. To get started,
search the Internet for “Joomla hosting reviews.” You can find a variety of websites where people
post reviews about Joomla hosting companies they are either currently using, or that they have used
in the past. One site I like is Joomla Hosting Reviews ( http://www.joomlahostingreviews.com).
When installing Joomla on a hosted site, you must supply a registered domain name. For those of
you who are new to web hosting, I recommend selecting a company that registers and maintains
domain names for its customers. Most companies provide this service and let you request a domain
name when signing up.
If you decide to use a Joomla hosting provider, you do not need to follow the instructions in
Chapter 2, “Installing the Server Software.” Instead, you should install Joomla according to your
hosting provider’s instructions. However, after installing Joomla, you should go to the “Accessing
the Administrative Back End” section on page 45. You can follow the remaining instructions in
Chapter 2.

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Choosing a Server Environment

Using a Traditional Hosting Provider


You may already have a website with a traditional hosting provider, or you may find a provider you
like better than the available Joomla hosting providers. Most hosting companies have unix-based
servers, which means they use the Apache web server and, most likely, provide PHP and MySQL.
In this case, check with your provider to verify that their server software meets the following,
minimum requirements1 for Joomla:
• PHP: version 4.3.10
• MySQL: version 3.23
• Apache: version 1.3
If you plan to install Joomla on a web server hosted by a traditional provider, do the following to
prepare for the installation process:
• Acquire a registered domain name for your site and ensure that it is associated with your
hosted web server. Try using a company that registers and maintains domain names for its
customers.
• Request that your hosting provider create a MySQL database for your system. Some hosting
companies allow you to create your own database through an administrative console. If you
create one yourself, be sure to record both the database name and the password for the root
(administrative) user, which you need when installing Joomla. If your hosting company
creates a database for you, request the database name and the name and password for the
administrative user account.
• Download and install an FTP client, like FileZilla (FileZilla is a free, opensource FTP client
you can download from http://filezilla-project.org), on your computer. You need an FTP client
to transfer the Joomla software to the web server.
Please note that some hosting companies may provide file transfer functionality through an
administrative console. In this case, you may not need an FTP client.
• Request FTP access to the remote server, as well as a user name and password for connecting
to it with your FTP client.
If you choose a traditional hosting provider, you’ll need to upload the Joomla software to the web
server and install it yourself. In this case, you don’t need to perform any of the tasks described in
Chapter 2. Instead, continue to Chapter 3, “Installing and Configuring Joomla!”

Building Your Own System


If you have some experience installing software, you may want to try building your own Joomla
system. By “system,” I am referring to the mix of hardware, operating system, and server software
on which your Joomla system runs. For example, if you only want to build a system for evaluation
purposes, you can use an environment with far fewer capabilities than one that would reside on a
company intranet.

1.This list comes from the Technical Requirements page on the Joomla website at the following address:
http://www.joomla.org/technical-requirements.html

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Choosing a Server Environment

I built two Joomla systems for a technical writing department: one was the original system on
which I learned how to use Joomla, where I figured out how to customize templates, and on which
I tested extensions and other features before installing them on our main system. The other was our
main Joomla site on the company intranet, where we wrote and published our technical documents.
Both systems operated on fairly powerful PCs in our lab running on the Windows 2003 Server
operating system.
When I was getting started, I read a couple of articles that recommended using two systems. They
suggested that you use one as a staging environment, which you could use for learning purposes,
and where you could test new features and extensions. Your staging environment could also act as
your backup system. And the other, of course, would act as your main publishing platform.
However, if you have neither the time nor the resources, you don’t have to build two Joomla
systems.

Using a USB Flash Drive


If you are reading this book because you want to learn how to use Joomla as a publishing platform,
but aren’t sure if you’ll make the leap to using it as a permanent solution, building a Joomla system
on a USB flash drive is a good way to try it without having to worry about cleaning up your hard
drive when you’re done. And, if you don’t have privileges for installing software on your computer,
a UBS flash drive may be your only option. Installing Joomla on a USB flash drive has other
benefits too. For example, you could use it as a portable demonstration system when you want to
try selling it as a corporate publishing platform to upper-management.
Installing the server environment and Joomla software on a flash drive is just like installing it on a
computer. The only difference between running Joomla on a UBS flash drive and running it on a
computer is that you have to manually start and stop the server software each time you insert or
remove the drive. The drawback to running it on a USB flash drive is that Joomla’s performance
is a little slower than when running on a computer.

Using a Personal Computer


If you think you might adopt Joomla as a publishing tool, and you want to build a system for
learning and testing purposes, it will perform a little faster if you can install it on your personal
computer, or, if you have a spare, a dedicated PC.
If you don’t have access to server-class hardware, a PC will work well for learning purposes. And,
if, like me, your site only needs to reside on a company intranet, you can get by using a powerful
PC as your permanent server platform, assuming you have adequate hard-drive space and regularly
back up your site.

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Choosing a Server Environment

Using a Server
If, after learning how to use Joomla, you decide it’s a good publishing solution, consider working
with your IT department to deploy a system on server-class hardware. Most IT departments will
want to install and configure the server software themselves, and possibly the Joomla software, to
ensure they provide a secure configuration. However, if you build a Joomla publishing system that
is to your liking on your own platform first, you should be able to easily re-create it on any Joomla
system installed by your IT department.

Choosing an Operating System


You can install Joomla on Windows, unix, and Mac OS X operating systems. For Windows-based
platforms, you’ll need to install all server software prior to installing Joomla. Most unix-based
operating systems already include the required server software, while Mac OS X includes Apache
and PHP.

Building a Windows-Based Server


Before installing Joomla on Windows-based operating systems and USB flash drives, you’ll need
to install all required server software. In Chapter 2, “Installing the Server Software” I explain how
to download and install a server package called XAMPP, which includes Apache, MySQL, and
PHP. The XAMPP installation process installs and configures all three server components on your
computer or flash drive.
To learn how to build your own Joomla system on a PC or server with a Windows-based operating
system, or a USB flash drive, continue to Chapter 2, “Installing the Server Software.”

Building a Linux-Based Server


If your computer has a unix-based operating system, like Linux, you probably have everything you
need to install the Joomla software. Most Linux systems come pre-packaged with Apache, MySQL
and PHP. You should verify that the versions of these components running on your computer are
compatible with Joomla’s minimum software requirements2 and upgrade them if not. If you are
building a unix-based Joomla site, you can skip Chapter 2 after verifying your software
environment and continue to Chapter 3, “Installing and Configuring Joomla!”

2.You can find the minimum software requirements for Joomla at the following address:
http://www.joomla.org/technical-requirements.html

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Choosing a Server Environment

Building a Mac OS X-Based Server


If you use a Macintosh with Mac OS X, Apache and PHP may already be running on it. You can
either install XAMPP to add MySQL to your server platform, or MAMP, which stands for
Macintosh, Apache, MySQL, and PHP. For information on the MAMP platform and installation
instructions, go to the MAMP website at http://www.mamp.info/en/index.html
After installing XAMPP or MAMP on your Mac, you can skip Chapter 2 and continue to Chapter
3, “Installing and Configuring Joomla!”

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Choosing a Server Environment

6 Joomla! for Professional Writers


Chapter 2. Installing the Server Software
If you want to try building your own Joomla system, whether on a USB flash drive or a PC, I
recommend using XAMPP or XAMPP Lite as your server platform. XAMPP is an acronym for
the following:
• X: A variable representing various operating systems - you can install XAMPP on Windows,
Linux, Mac OS X, and Solaris
• A: Apache web server
• M: MySQL database server
• P: PHP engine
• P: Perl engine
Apache Friends, an open-source development team, created XAMPP as a web application
development environment for personal computers. It enables programmers to develop software
without the need for server-class hardware. But, because they created XAMPP for PCs, they
disabled many security features that would otherwise secure a web server on the Internet. That
said, XAMPP is a great platform for a Joomla system that you plan on using as a learning and
testing environment, because it is easy to install and includes everything Joomla requires to operate
properly.
XAMPP Lite is a scaled-down version of the regular XAMPP platform that only runs on the
Windows operating system. Apache Friends have excluded a number of applications from XAMPP
Lite including the FileZilla FTP server and the Perl engine, neither of which are required by
Joomla.
This chapter explains how to install XAMPP Lite on USB flash drives for those of you who are
building small-scale Joomla systems for learning and testing purposes. It also explains how to
install XAMPP on PCs and servers for those of you building more-permanent systems. If you are
using either a Joomla hosting provider or a traditional hosting provider, you do not need to follow
the instructions in this chapter.

Installing XAMPP Lite on a USB Flash Drive


With its small footprint, XAMPP Lite is better for USB flash drives. When installed, it takes up
less than 200 MB of space. If you are building a Joomla system on a flash drive, use a 2 GB drive
or larger to ensure you have plenty of space for the server software, Joomla, and additional
extensions. Flash drives with smaller storage capacity run out of space faster.
The following sections explain how to download the XAMPP Lite software, install it, and start it
on a USB flash drive.

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Installing the Server Software

To download XAMPP Lite for a USB drive:


1. Plug your USB flash drive into an available slot on your computer.
2. Next, start a web browser and go to the Apache Friends website at the following address:
http://www.apachefriends.org

3. Click the XAMPP icon on the Apache Friends banner to open the XAMPP home page.
4. On the XAMPP home page, scroll down to the XAMPP for Windows section.
5. Click the XAMPP for Windows section title, which is also a link, to open the XAMPP for
Windows page.
6. Scroll down the page to the Jump-off point section:

Figure 2-1. Click the XAMPP Lite link.


7. Click the XAMPP Lite link to jump to the XAMPP Lite section:

Figure 2-2. Click the EXE (7-zip) link in the XAMPP Lite section.
8. In the XAMPP Lite section, click the EXE link to download the self-extracting version of the
application. When clicked, the link opens the SourceForge.net site, which houses the
XAMPP Lite software, in a separate browser window.
9. Depending on your browser, SourceForge.net may open a file download window, or display
a page where you must click to download the software. Save the file, which is named
xampplite-win32-1.7.3.exe at the time of this writing, to your USB flash drive.
10. When the file download process completes, close the file download window and exit the
SourceForge.net and Apache Friends websites.

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Installing the Server Software

To install XAMPP Lite on a USB flash drive:


1. Access your USB flash drive with Windows Explorer. If you saved the XAMPP Lite installer
somewhere other than your flash drive, access the folder containing the installation file. The
installation file has a name similar to the following:
xampplite-win32-1.7.x.exe

2. Double-click the installation file. If a Security Warning message opens, click Run to
proceed. The self-extracting archive window opens:

Figure 2-3. The XAMPP Lite for Windows installation window.


3. By default, the XAMPP Lite installer is configured to install the server software on your
computer’s C:\ drive. Click Browse to the right of the Destination folder field to open the

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Installing the Server Software

Browse for Folder window, as shown in Figure 2-4:

Figure 2-4. Select your USB flash drive with the Brows For Folder window.
4. Click the drive representing your USB flash drive to select it. Please note that XAMPP Lite
cannot function properly if you install it in a sub-folder on your flash drive.
5. Click OK. The XAMPP installer populates the Destination folder field with the drive letter
for your flash drive.
6. Click Install. The XAMPP installer extracts the files comprising the server software to the
USB flash drive, which may take several minutes. Refer to the Installation progress bar to
determine the installation status. When the installation process completes, the XAMPP List
installation window closes.
7. Next, a DOS window opens displaying a message asking whether it should add a XAMPP
Lite shortcut to your desktop, as shown in Figure 2-5:

Figure 2-5. XAMPP shortcut message.

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Installing the Server Software

8. Because you are installing XAMPP Lite on a USB flash drive, you should not add a shortcut
to your computer’s desktop. Type n (for “no”) at the cursor’s location and press Enter. Next,
a message opens prompting you to confirm that you want the XAMPP installation process to
configure the paths correctly, as shown in Figure 2-6:

Figure 2-6. Configure XAMPP Lite server paths.


9. By default, y (for “yes”) is selected. Press Enter to enable the installer to configure the paths.
Next, a message prompts you to confirm whether you want the installation process to
associate a drive letter with XAMPP Lite, as shown in Figure 2-7:

Figure 2-7. You must not associate a drive letter with XAMPP Lite on a USB flash drive.
You are installing XAMPP Lite of a USB flash drive, so you must type n (for “no”), which
means a drive letter is not associated with the paths configured for the server software.

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Installing the Server Software

10. Press Enter. The installation process displays several messages indicating it is relocating the
server software. When the path configuration process completes, a message indicates
XAMPP is ready for use, as shown in Figure 2-8:

Figure 2-8. XAMPP Lite is ready for use.


11. Press Enter. A message displays indicating the installation process set a time zone for your
server, as shown in Figure 2-9:

Figure 2-9. Time zone configuration message.

12 Joomla! for Professional Writers


Installing the Server Software

12. Press Enter to complete the configuration process. An options window opens, as shown in
Figure 2-10:

Figure 2-10. The XAMPP Lite options window.


13. Type x to exit the configuration process. The DOS window closes.

To start XAMPP Lite on a USB flash drive:


1. The XAMPP Lite installation process creates a folder named xampplite on your USB flash
drive. To start XAMPP Lite, first open the xampplite folder.
2. Locate and double-click the xampp_start.exe file in the xampplite folder. When started
manually, XAMPP Lite launches a DOS window.
3. Depending on your operating system’s security level, Windows may display two security
alert messages similar to the following:
• One message indicates the Apache HTTP server is attempting to start, like the example
in Figure 2-11:

Figure 2-11. Windows may try to stop the Apache web server from starting on the flash drive.

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Installing the Server Software

Click Unblock.
• The other message indicates that MySQL is attempting to start, like the example shown
shown in Figure 2-12:

Figure 2-12. Windows may try to stop the MySQL database server from starting on the flash drive.
Click Unblock.
4. To verify that the installation succeeded, start a web browser on your computer and go to
following address:
http://localhost

If running, the XAMPP splash page opens, like the example in Figure 2-13:

Figure 2-13. The XAMPP splash page opens the first time you access localhost with your browser.

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5. Click the desired language under the XAMPP logo. The XAMPP Lite homepage opens:

Figure 2-14. You can perform administrative tasks from the XAMPP Lite homepage.
If you were able to access the XAMPP Lite splash page and console, you have successfully
installed and started XAMPP Lite on your USB flash drive.
6. Close your web browser.
7. Continue to Chapter 3, “Installing and Configuring Joomla!.”

To stop XAMPP Lite on a USB flash drive:


1. You must stop XAMPP Lite before removing your USB flash drive from your computer.
First, open the xampplite folder on the flash drive.
2. Next, locate and double-click the xampp_stop.exe file. XAMPP Lite stops the Apache and
MySQL services running on the flash drive. You can now safely remove your flash drive
from the computer. Remember you must manually start or stop XAMPP Lite each time you
insert or remove your USB flash drive.

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Installing the Server Software

Installing XAMPP on Windows


According to the release notes that accompany XAMPP 1.7.3, which is the version available at the
time of this writing, XAMPP runs on the following Windows operating systems:
• Windows 2000
• Windows Server 2003
• Windows XP
• Windows Vista
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows 7
Do the following to prepare for the installation process:
• If you are installing XAMPP and Joomla on either a personal or spare computer, you must
have privileges for installing software on that computer. If you do not have administrative
privileges on your computer, and you cannot install software on it, then your only option is to
install XAMPP and Joomla on a USB flash drive. If, after learning how to use Joomla on a
flash drive, you decide to build a corporate publishing platform, work with your IT
department to deploy a system on a company server.
• To deploy your Joomla publishing site on your company’s intranet, request a static IP address
from your IT department and assign it to the computer on which you are installing XAMPP
(or, ask your IT department to perform this task). In addition, ask your IT department to map
this static IP address to a domain name (for example: yourcompany.documentation.com).
Users will find it easier to access your site with a domain name than an IP address. However,
if you are only installing Joomla for learning purposes, you do not need to assign a static IP
address to the computer hosting your site.
The following sections explain how to download and install XAMPP on a Windows-based
computer.

To download the XAMPP software:


1. Start a web browser to go to the Apache Friends website at the following address:
http://www.apachefriends.org

2. Click the XAMPP icon on the Apache Friends banner to open the XAMPP home page.
3. On the XAMPP home page, scroll down to the XAMPP for Windows section.
4. Click the XAMPP for Windows section title, which is also a link, to open the XAMPP for
Windows page.

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Installing the Server Software

5. Scroll down the page to the Jump-off point section and click the XAMPP link to jump to the
XAMPP section:

Figure 2-15. Click the XAMPP Link.


6. In the XAMPP for Windows section, click the EXE link to download the XAMPP installer:

Figure 2-16. Click the Installer link in the XAMPP for Windows section.
When clicked, the link opens the SourceForge.net site, which houses the software, in a
separate browser window.
7. Depending on your browser, SourceForge.net may open a file download window, or display
a page where you must click to download the software. Save the file, which is named
xampp-win32-1.7.3.exe at the time of this writing, to your computer.
8. When the file download process completes, close the file download window and exit the
SourceForge.net and Apache Friends websites.

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Installing the Server Software

To install XAMPP:
1. Navigate to the folder containing the XAMPP installation file.
2. Double-click the xampp-win32-1.7.3.exe file to start the installation process. If a Security
Warning message opens, click Run to proceed. XAMPP for Windows installation window
opens:

Figure 2-17. The XAMPP for Windows installation window.


3. By default, the XAMPP installer is configured to install the server software on your
computer’s C:\ drive. To install XAMPP on a different drive, click Browse to the right of the
Destination folder field to open the Browse for Folder window and select the desired drive.
Do not install XAMPP in a sub-folder. You must install it on the root of whatever drive you
select for installation.
4. Click Install to start the installation process. The XAMPP installer extracts the files
comprising the server software to the selected drive, which may take several minutes. Refer
to the Installation progress bar to determine the installation status. When the installation
process completes, the XAMPP List installation window closes.

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Installing the Server Software

5. Next, a DOS window opens displaying a message asking whether it should add a XAMPP
shortcut to your desktop, as shown in Figure 2-18:

Figure 2-18. Add a XAMPP shortcut to your computer’s desktop.


6. By default, y (for “Yes”) is selected. Press Enter to enable the installer to create a XAMPP
shortcut on your computer’s desktop. Next, a message opens prompting you to confirm that
you want the XAMPP installation process to configure the paths correctly, as shown in
Figure 2-19:

Figure 2-19. Configure XAMPP server paths.


7. By default, y (for “yes”) is selected. Press Enter to enable the installer to configure the paths.
Next, a message prompts you to confirm whether you want the installation process to

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Installing the Server Software

associate a drive letter with XAMPP, as shown in Figure 2-20:

Figure 2-20. You must associate XAMPP with a drive letter on your computer.
8. By default, n (for “No”) is selected. However, because you are installing XAMPP on a
computer, you must associate it with a drive letter. Type y (for “Yes”) at the cursor’s
location.
9. Press enter. The installation process displays several messages indicating it is relocating the
server software. When the path configuration process completes, a message indicates
XAMPP is ready for use, as shown in Figure 2-20:

Figure 2-21. XAMPP is ready to use.


10. Press Enter. A message displays indicating the installation process set a time zone for your

20 Joomla! for Professional Writers


Installing the Server Software

server, as shown in Figure 2-22:

Figure 2-22. Time zone configuration message.


11. Press Enter to complete the configuration process. An options window opens, as shown in
Figure 2-23:

Figure 2-23. Type 1 to start the XAMPP Control panel.


12. : Type x to exit the configuration process. The DOS window closes.

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Installing the Server Software

To start Apache and MySQL:


1. Double-click the XAMPP Control Panel icon on your desktop. The XAMPP Control Panel
opens, as shown in Figure 2-24:

Figure 2-24. The XAMPP Control Panel.


2. Click Start to the right of the MySql option to start the MySQL database server (always start
the MySQL server first). The XAMPP console starts the MySQL database.
3. Then, click Start to the right of the Apache option to start the Apache web server. The
XAMPP console starts the Apache web server.
4. When started, XAMPP displays a “Running” message next to the MySql and Apache options
on the XAMPP Console, as shown in Figure 2-25:

Figure 2-25. When you start MySQL and Apache, XAMPP shows their statuses as “Running.”
Click the close button in the upper-right corner to minimize the XAMPP control panel to the
task bar.
5. Next, start a browser and go to the following address:
http://localhost

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The XAMPP splash page opens, like the example in Figure 2-26:

Figure 2-26. The XAMPP splash page.


6. Click the desired language under the XAMPP logo. The XAMPP home page opens, as
shown in Figure 2-27:

Figure 2-27. The XAMPP home page.

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Installing the Server Software

From the XAMPP homepage, you can configure security settings and launch phpMyadmin, which
is a web-based front end for the MySQL database server, among other applications. The XAMPP
installation process is now complete. To learn about the XAMPP security console, where you can
secure your XAMPP system, continue to “About XAMPP’s Security Settings.”

About XAMPP’s Security Settings


I mentioned previously that a number of security settings are disabled in XAMPP by default to
provide developers with an accessible development platform. With its security weaknesses, you
wouldn’t want to deploy a XAMPP-based website on the Internet. You can, however, deploy a
XAMPP-based system on your company intranet if you enable its security features.

To view XAMPP’s security settings:


1. If you are not already looking at the XAMPP console, start a web browser and go to the
following address:
http://localhost

2. Click the Security link on the left side of the page. The XAMPP Security page opens:

Figure 2-28. The XAMPP security console shows unsecure components.

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3. Notice the following four unsecure settings in the Status column:


• The XAMPP console is unsecure. This means anyone who knows your computer’s IP
address can access the XAMPP console and inadvertently, or intentionally, change
settings.
• The MySQL administrative user account, root, does not have a password. This means
anyone could potentially access the database.
• PhpMyAdmin, which is the web-based front end for the MySQL database is unsecure.
This means someone could potential access your MySQL database with a browser.
• The PHP engine is not running in safe mode. Please note that it is not necessary to
secure PHP if your Joomla system is running on a company intranet. In fact, securing
PHP may disable some of Joomla’s features. For more information, see the safe mode
description at the following address:
http://www.php.net/features.safe-mode

If you installed XAMPP on a USB flash drive or on your personal computer for learning and testing
purposes, you do not need to enable these security settings. However, if you are deploying Joomla
on a company intranet, you should secure them. For instructions on securing XAMPP, see
Appendix A, “Securing XAMPP.”

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Installing the Server Software

26 Joomla! for Professional Writers


Chapter 3. Installing and Configuring
Joomla!
This chapter explains how to download and install the Joomla software on local and hosted
computers:
• If you are installing Joomla on a local, XAMPP-based computer, you will download the
software and copy it to the web server’s file system.
• If you are using a traditional hosting provider, you will download the software to your local
computer and then upload it to your hosted web server. Your provider may give you access to
a web-based site management console with a built-in file transfer tool. But, if not, you’ll have
to FTP the Joomla software to the server.
• If you are using a Joomla hosting provider, they will enable you to install Joomla with an
auto-installer, like Fantastico, from a web-based console. If you are using a Joomla hosting
company, follow their installation procedures. In other words, skip the installation procedures
in this chapter.

Downloading and Installing Joomla 1.5


Whether you are installing Joomla on a local or hosted web server, you must download the
software, which is bundled in a zip file, to your local computer from the Joomla website. After
downloading it, you must unzip the file, upload the software to a folder in the web server’s file
system, launch a browser, and perform the installation through an installation wizard.
Do one of the following:
• If you are installing Joomla on a local, XAMPP-based system, continue to “Preparing to
Install Joomla on a Local System” on page 27.
• If you are installing Joomla on a hosted web server, continue to “Preparing to Install Joomla
on a Hosted System” on page 30.

Preparing to Install Joomla on a Local System


If you are installing Joomla on a local computer or a USB flash drive, you will take the following
steps to prepare for the installation process:
1. First, you’ll need to log in on the computer where you installed XAMPP and download the
Joomla software, which is compressed in a .zip file. If you installed XAMPP on a USB flash
drive, remember to insert the flash drive in your computer and start XAMPP.
2. Next, create a folder in the web server’s file system for the Joomla software.
3. Finally, unzip the Joomla software into the folder you created in the web server’s file system.
The following sections explain how to perform each of these tasks.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

To download the Joomla software:


1. Log in on the computer where you installed XAMPP.
2. Start a web browser and go to the Joomla website at the following address:
http://www.joomla.org

3. On Joomla’s homepage, click the Download Joomla 1.5 link, as shown in Figure 3-1:

Figure 3-1. Downloading Joomla 1.5.


4. The Download Joomla! page opens. In the Download Joomla! 1.5.x section, locate the Full
Package option in the Version column. Click the corresponding ZIP link in the Download
column:

Figure 3-2. Download the Full Package version of the Joomla software.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

5. Save the zip file to the computer’s hard drive. Where you save the file is unimportant, as long
as you remember where you put it.
6. Close your browser when the download completes.

To create a folder for the Joomla software:


1. Start a file browser like Windows Explorer on the computer where you installed XAMPP.
2. Do one of the following:
• If you are installing Joomla on a local computer, navigate to the following folder (where
X represents the drive where you installed XAMPP):
X:\xampp\htdocs

• If you are installing Joomla on a USB flash drive, navigate to the following folder
(where X represents the drive letter assigned to your USB flash drive):
X:\xampplite\htdocs

3. Create a folder named joomla in the htdocs folder. Figure 3-3 shows the joomla folder I
created in under the htdocs folder in the XAMPP file system:

Figure 3-3. Create a joomla folder in the htdocs directory.


4. Next, locate the Joomla zip file you downloaded to your computer, which has a name similar
to the following:
Joomla_1.5.x-Stable-Full_Package.zip

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

5. Extract the contents of the zip file into the joomla folder you created in step 3. When the
extraction process completes, the joomla folder looks similar to the example in Figure 3-4:

Figure 3-4. The contents of the joomla folder after extracting the zip file.
6. Continue to “Installing the Joomla Software” on page 33.

Preparing to Install Joomla on a Hosted System


If you are building a Joomla system on a server provided by a traditional hosting provider,
preparing to install Joomla includes the following steps:
1. First, you’ll need to download the Joomla software, which is compressed in a .zip file, to your
local computer.
2. Next, you’ll need to create a folder on your computer and unzip the file containing the
Joomla software into it.
3. Finally, you’ll need to FTP the folder containing the Joomla software to the root of your web
server on the hosted server.

30 Joomla! for Professional Writers


Installing and Configuring Joomla!

To download the Joomla software:


1. Start a web browser on your computer and go to the Joomla website at the following address:
http://www.joomla.org

2. On Joomla’s homepage, click the Download Joomla 1.5 link, as shown in Figure 3-5:

Figure 3-5. Downloading Joomla 1.5..


3. In the Download Joomla! 1.5.x section, locate the Full Package option in the Version column
(do not download the upgrade package).
4. Click the corresponding ZIP link in the Download column:

Figure 3-6. Download the Full Package version of the Joomla software.
5. Save the zip file to the computer’s hard drive. Where you save the file is unimportant, as long
as you remember where you put it.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

6. Close your browser when the download completes.

To unzip the Joomla software on your computer:


1. After downloading the Joomla software, create a folder named joomla on your computer.
2. Extract the contents of the Joomla zip file, which has a name similar to
Joomla_1.5.x-Stable-Full_Package.zip, to the joomla folder you created in step 1.

To upload the Joomla software to a remote server:


1. Start your FTP client and connect to your remote web server, like the example shown in
Figure 3-7:

Figure 3-7. Connected to a remote web server with FileZilla.


2. Select the joomla folder on your computer and transfer it to the remote web server. With
FileZilla, you can either drag and drop the folder, or you can right-click it and choose Upload
to transfer it to the remote web server.
Please note that the file transfer process may take several minutes to complete. The file

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

transfer speed depends on variables like the speed of your Internet connection.
3. When the transfer process completes, disconnect and exit the FTP client.
4. Continue to “Installing the Joomla Software” on page 33.

Installing the Joomla Software


Before installing Joomla, have the following information ready for the installation process:
• If you installed XAMPP on a local computer, and you secured the database by setting a
password for the MySQL root user account, have this password ready. If you did not secure
XAMPP (for example you installed it on your work PC or a USB flash drive and decided not
to secure it), the MySQL root user account does not have a password.
• For a local server, you should decide on a name for your Joomla database (“joomla” is usually
a good name).
• For a remote server, have the hostname name of the MySQL database that you or your hosting
provider created available, as well as user name and password of the root (administrative)
user. Please note that your hosting provider could create a MySQL database on a separate
server (that is, it may not reside on the same server as your web server) with a unique host
name.
• A name for your Joomla site. Though you can change it later, you name your site during the
installation process.
• A password of your choice for Joomla’s Super Administrator user account, which you supply
during the installation process. After performing the installation, you use this password to log
in from Joomla’s administrative back end.
• An email address for the Joomla administrative user (for example, your personal email
address would work, if you will be administering the site). If you connect Joomla to a mail
server, the system can to email messages to this address.

To install Joomla:
1. For a local installation, start a web browser and go to the following address:
http://localhost/joomla

For a remote installation, type an address similar to the following:


http://yourdomainname/joomla

For example, if domain name for your remote server was publisher.net, you would type the
following:
http://publisher.net/joomla

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

The Joomla installation wizard launches in your browser and opens to the Language
selection page:

Figure 3-8. Select your desired language on the Choose Language page.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

2. After selecting the desired language, click Next to continue. The Pre-installation Check page
opens:

Figure 3-9. The pre-installation check verifies that you have a compatible version of the PHP engine.
The pre-installation check verifies that the PHP engine in your server environment is
compatible with the version of Joomla you are installing. It also checks how your PHP
engine is configured, which you can compare to the recommended PHP settings for Joomla.
If you installed the most current version of XAMPP, and you didn’t manually enable safe
mode, your system should be compatible and configured appropriately for Joomla.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

3. Click Next to continue. The License page opens:

Figure 3-10. Joomla uses the GNU General Public License.


4. Review the license information.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

5. Click Next to continue. The Database Configuration page opens. Figure 3-11 shows how I
completed the Basic Settings section for a local Joomla system:

Figure 3-11. Supply credentials for the root MySQL user and a name for your database.
6. Complete the fields in the Basic Settings section:
• Database Type: Whether you are installing Joomla on a local, XAMPP-based computer,
a USB flash drive, or on a hosted server, the database type will always be mysql, which
is selected by default.
• Host Name:
• If you are installing Joomla on a local, XAMPP-based computer or USB flash drive,
type localhost in this field.
• If you are installing Joomla on a hosted server, type the database server’s host name
in this field. For example, your hosting provider might provide a host name like
db12345.yourprovider.net, which you would type in this field.
• Username:
• If you are installing Joomla on a local, XAMPP-based computer or USB flash drive,
type root in this field
• If you are installing Joomla on a hosted server, type the root user name for the
database created by your hosting provider in this field.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

• Password:
• If you are installing Joomla on a local, XAMPP-based computer or USB flash drive,
and you did not secure your MySQL database by setting a password for the MySQL
root user account, leave this field empty. If you did set a password for the root user
account, type it in this field.
• If you are installing Joomla on a hosted server, type the password for the root user
account in this field. Note that this is the password for the user name you typed in
Username field.
• Database Name:
• If you are installing Joomla on a local, XAMPP-based computer or USB flash drive,
type a name for the database in this field. I recommend using a database name like
“joomla,” which is easy to find in the MySQL database server. Joomla creates the
database during the installation process.
• If you are installing Joomla on a hosted server, type the database name provided by
your hosting provider in this field. For example, your hosting provider could name
your database something like db12345, which you would type in this field.
7. Click Next to continue. The FTP Configuration page opens:

Figure 3-12. You can skip the FTP Configuration page as it does not apply to your configuration.
As the note on the FTP Configuration page indicates, if your server platform is running on
Windows, or on a USB flash drive attached to a Windows-based computer, you do not need
to enable the FTP layer. That is, do not select Yes in the Basic Settings section.

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8. Click Next to continue. The Main Configuration page opens:

Figure 3-13. Specify a name for your site and credentials for Joomla’s administrative user.

Joomla! for Professional Writers 39


Installing and Configuring Joomla!

9. Complete the following fields on the Main Configuration page:


• Site Name: Type a name for your Joomla site in the Site Name field. This name appeas
on web browser title bars and your site’s home page. You can change the site title later,
if desired, from Joomla’s administrative console.
• Your E-Mail: Type an email address you want to use as the email address for the
administrative user account. If you are building a corporate publishing site on a
company intranet, consider using your work email address. Please note that you must
connect Joomla to a mail server to enable it to send email, which I explain how to do in
“Connecting to a Mail Server” on page 48.
• Admin Password: Type a password you want to set for the administrative user account
for logging in to Joomla’s administrative console (which is also known as Joomla’s
“back end”). Remember to write down this password. This is the password for the super
administrator user account (named admin) for Joomla’s administrative back end.
• Confirm Admin Password: Re-type the password you created for the administrative
user.
10. Ignore the options in the section on loading sample data (do not click Install Sample Data).
Installing sample data in the database adds a number of articles and enable features that you
must delete and undo later. I strongly recommend not installing the sample data.
11. Click Next to continue. If you chose not to install the sample data, the following message
opens:

Figure 3-14. Click OK to acknowledge you are not installing sample data and proceed.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

12. Click OK to proceed. The Finish page opens:

Figure 3-15. You must move the installation directory from the Joomla file system.
On the Finish page, the installation wizard indicates Joomla is installed and the installation
process is complete. Notice that the Administration Login Details section shows the user
name for Joomla’s administrative user account is admin. However, before you can access the
administrative back end, or your homepage, you must remove the installation directory from
Joomla’s file system. Continue to “Removing the Installation Directory” on page 41.

Removing the Installation Directory


When you reach the Finish page, as shown in Figure 3-14, a message indicates you cannot view
your home page or the administrative back end until you remove the installation folder from
Joomla’s file system.

To remove the installation folder from a local system:


1. Leave your browser open at the Finish page (you can minimize it to your toolbar) - you return
to it in a moment. Access your computer’s file system with Window’s Explorer and locate

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

the installation folder in the Joomla directory structure:

Figure 3-16. Move the installation folder out of your web server’s directory.
2. Cut and paste the installation folder to a location outside of the XAMPP directory structure.
Please note that you do not need this folder or its contents in the future, and I recommend
deleting it.
3. Close Windows Explorer and return to the Finish page you left open in your web browser.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

4. Click the Site button located near the upper right corner of the page to access the homepage
for your Joomla website:

Figure 3-17. The default homepage of a newly-installed Joomla site.


You can access the homepage for your Joomla site at the following address on the computer
where you installed it:
http://localhost/joomla

If you or your IT department assigned a static IP address to the computer on which you
installed Joomla, you can access your Joomla site with its IP address from any computer on
your company’s network. For example, if you assigned 169.254.240.210 to the computer on
which you installed Joomla, you could access your Joomla site at the following address:
http://169.254.240.210/joomla

If your IT department mapped the static IP address assigned to the computer on which you
installed Joomla to a domain name, you can access your Joomla site with the name instead
of the IP address. For example, if your IT department mapped your computer’s static IP
address to “docs.yourcompany.com,” you could access your Joomla site at the following
address:
http://docs.yourcompany.com/joomla

5. The installation process is complete. Continue to “Accessing the Administrative Back End”
on page 45.

To remove the installation folder from a hosted system:


1. Close your browser window.
2. Start an FTP client and connect to your remote web server.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

3. Locate the installation folder in the Joomla file system on the remote server, like the example
in Figure 3-18:

Figure 3-18. Locate and delete the installation folder from the Joomla file system.
4. Click the installation folder to select it and then press Delete. If your FTP client displays a
message asking you to confirm that you want to delete the installation folder, as well as all
child folders and files, click Yes.
5. Start a browser, go to the registered address for your website, while adding “joomla” at the
end of the address like the following example:
http://yourdomain/joomla

For example, if the registered domain name for your site was docs.com, you would access
your Joomla site at the following address:
http://docs.com/joomla

The homepage for your site should look similar to the example in Figure 3-17 on page 43.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

Accessing the Administrative Back End


You perform all site configuration and administrative tasks from Joomla’s administrative control
panel, which is called the “back end.” For example, you will configure your site’s layout, install
software extensions, and create user accounts from the back end. You log to Joomla’s back end with
the super administrator user account.

To access Joomla’s administrative back end:


1. Do one of the following:
• If you installed Joomla on a local computer, open a web browser and go to the following
address:
http://localhost/joomla/administrator

• If you have a hosted server, open a browser and go to an address like the following:
http://yourdomainname/joomla/administrator

The Joomla Administration Login page opens:

Figure 3-19. The login page for Joomla’s administrative back end.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

2. Type admin in the Username field.


3. Type the password you created for the administrative user account during installation in the
Password field.
4. Click Login. Joomla’s administrative back end opens:

Figure 3-20. Manage your site from Joomla’s administrative back end.

Configuring Essential Server Settings


If your Joomla system runs on a commercially hosted web server, or your company’s intranet, you
should select the appropriate time zone for your server to ensure system-generated times are
accurate (it is set to Western Europe time by default). And, if you want to enable your Joomla
system to send email, you should connect it to a mail server.

Selecting a Time Zone


After installing Joomla, the time zone is set to Western Europe Time by default. Unless this time
zone is accurate for your system, you should change it to ensure Joomla assigns the correct time
and date to all documents you create and publish on your site.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

To select a time zone for your server:


1. Access Joomla’s administrative control panel and click the Global Configuration icon. The
Global Configuration page open showing site settings by default.
2. Click the Server link on the navigation bar to open the server settings page:

Figure 3-21. Configure server settings from the Global Configuration page.
3. Select the appropriate time zone for your server from the Time Zone list in the Local Settings
section.
4. Click Apply to save your settings.
5. To connect your system to a mail server, continue to “Connecting to a Mail Server.”
Otherwise, you can log out of the administrative back end and close your browser.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

Connecting to a Mail Server


While connecting your Joomla system to a mail server is not a necessity, a mail server could
provide a couple of benefits. One is the help it provides in delivering user account information.
When you create new user accounts, Joomla can send email messages to users containing their user
IDs and passwords, which saves the step of having to email user account information yourself.

Using sendmail on Linux-based Servers


By default, Joomla is configured to use PHP mail with sendmail as its mail transfer agent. Sendmail
is a built-in email system available on Linux operating systems. If you installed Joomla on a
commercially-hosted web server running Linux, a Mac, or you are using a Joomla hosting provider,
your system, most likely, can already send email. The default path for sendmail on Linux systems is
/usr/sbin/sendmail, which is the path Joomla uses to access sendmail. However, if you have a
traditional hosting provider, and sendmail is located at a different path, you must change Joomla’s
path to sendmail.

Using an SMTP Server on Windows Servers


If you installed Joomla on a Windows-based server on your company’s intranet, and you want to
enable it to send email, you must connect it to an SMTP mail server on your company’s network.
To prepare for the configuration process, ask your IT department for answers to the following
questions about the company’s SMTP mail server:
• Does the SMTP server require authentication for access?
• If the SMTP server requires authentication, what is the username and password of a user
account with privileges for connecting to it?
• What is the SMTP server’s host name or IP address?

To connect Joomla to a mail server on Linux systems:


1. Click Server on the Global Configuration menu bar to access the Server settings page.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

2. Locate the Mail Settings section:

Figure 3-22. Connect Joomla to a mail server in the Mail Settings section.
3. Complete the following parameters:
• Mailer: The PHP Mail Function option is selected by default. To use sendmail, select
Sendmail from the list.
• Mail from: This field is pre-populated with the email address you supplied when
installing Joomla. When Joomla sends email, it uses this as the sender’s email address.
You can change this address.
• From Name: This field contains the name of your Joomla Site, which means messages
appear to originate from it. You can change this name.
• Sendmail Path: If you selected either PHP Mail Function or Sendmail, ensure the path
to sendmail on your hosted server is accurate. If not, type the correct path for sendmail
in this field.
4. Click Save to save your settings and exit the Global Configuration module.

To connect Joomla to a mail server on Windows systems:


1. Click Server on the Global Configuration menu bar to access the Server settings page.
2. Locate the Mail Settings section.
3. Complete the following parameters:
• Mailer list: Select SMTP Server from the list.
• Mail from: This field is pre-populated with the email address you supplied when
installing Joomla. When Joomla sends email, it uses this as the sender’s email address.
You can change this address as required.
• From Name: This field contains the name of your Joomla Site, which means messages
appear to originate from it. You can change this name as required.
• Sendmail Path: This parameter does not apply to Joomla servers on Windows systems.

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Installing and Configuring Joomla!

You can leave the default setting in this field, which does not affect the mail system.
• SMTP Authentication: Select Yes if the SMTP mail server requires authentication, or
No if it does not.
• SMTP Username: If the SMTP server requires authentication, type the user name for an
account with privileges for accessing the server in this field.
• SMTP Password: If the SMTP server requires authentication, type a password for the
SMTP user account in this field.
• SMTP Host: Type the SMTP server’s host name or IP address in this filed.
4. Click Save to save your settings and exit the Global Configuration module.

Backing Up Your Joomla Site


One concern you may have about transitioning to a web-based writing platform like Joomla may
be uncertainty about loosing documentation if the system hosting your site has a hardware or
software failure. You should, however, take comfort in knowing that several third-party extension
developers have already considered this issue and have developed backup utilities.
You can, and should, regularly back up your Joomla database. Backing up the database enables you
to easily restore it in the event of a system failure. In fact, you can easily back up your entire Joomla
site (that is, you can backup the server’s files, graphics, and videos, as well as the database) with
the Akeeba Backup extension, which I explain how to do in Appendix B, “Backing up Your Site
with Akeeba Backup.” Installing a backup utility, and establishing a regular backup process, should
lessen any concerns you may have about potentially loosing content when moving to a server-
based publishing platform.

Using Language Packs


When you install Joomla, you select a default language for your site. Joomla displays labels on
features like button names in the default language. However, if some of your registered users speak
another language, you can install a language pack and assign it to their user accounts. For example,
if you selected English as the default language for your site, but some of your writers, who have
access to Joomla’s administrative back end, speak German natively, you could install a German
language pack and assign it to their user accounts. When they log in to the back end, Joomla
displays all menus, buttons, and other options in German. To learn how to download and install a
language pack on your site, see Appendix C, “Installing Language Packs” on page 477.

50 Joomla! for Professional Writers


Part II. Preparing the Publishing Envornment
Chapter 4. Organizing Your Site
Joomla’s article writing and publishing features are the reason my team and I adopted Joomla as
our document publishing platform and the reason you are reading this book. However, the key to
making the content you publish on your site easily accessible to readers is ensuring it is well
organized. All publishing-related activities build upon how you organize your site.
This chapter includes an explanation of Joomla templates, which provide navigation features that
tie directly to your organized content. Though Joomla comes pre-packaged with three templates,
the instructions in this book are tailored to the JA_Purity template in particular. But, applying
templates to a Joomla site is easy and, once you learn the basics, you can change your site’s
template to fit your needs.
The bulk of this chapter is dedicated to explaining how to create Joomla’s main organizational
units: sections and categories. Though not difficult to create from a technical perspective, you can
create both in a few clicks, the more difficult activity is deciding how to organize your site’s
sections and categories before creating them. To help, I am providing a few examples that I hope
give you ideas on organizing your site.

Joomla Templates
Most desktop publishing tools allow you to create custom page layout and paragraph styles for
your documents. For example, you can set page size and orientation, margin widths, create headers
and footers, set pagination (single or left and right) and page numbering (consecutive or chapter-
by-folio). And, you can create paragraph styles with custom attributes for indentation and spacing
as well as font type, size, and color, to name a few. You can save your custom layout and paragraph
styles in a template, which you can then apply to other documents so they have an identical
appearance. If you are a professional writer, you probably have experience applying templates to
your documents and you may have experience creating templates.
Joomla templates are similar in concept to document templates. They determine web page layout
and paragraph styles for an entire Joomla site. Many Joomla templates have headers and footers,
page margins, and a body for content. The layout of the body is usually more similar to a
newspaper’s layout, where information is partitioned in columns. While some product-oriented
sites organize content as a single page of data, many Joomla sites present information in two and
three columns.

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Organizing Your Site

Figure 4-1 show a two-column layout:

Figure 4-1. A two-column layout includes a navigation column and a content column.
Figure 4-2 shows a three-column layout:

Figure 4-2. A three column layout includes two navigation columns and a content column.
Joomla comes pre-packaged with three templates: rhuk-milkyway, beez, and JA_Purity. By
default, Joomla is associated with the rhuk-milkyway template. When you accessed your site for
the first time after installing the Joomla software, you saw Joomla as it looks when formatted with
the rhuk-milkyway template.

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Switching to the JA_Purity Template


In addition to page layout, templates also define the layout of Joomla’s menu system, which is
Joomla’s primary navigation tool. If you create a well-organized site, users access most published
content via the menus in your site’s menu system. With the rhuk-milkyway and beez templates, you
can create text-based, hyperlink menus that you can position in your site’s left and right navigation
columns. Figure 4-3 shows an example of the text-based menus you can add to a site formatted
with the rhuk-milkyway template:

Figure 4-3. A text-based menu in the left navigation column.


The JA_Purity template enables you to add cascading menus to a horizontal menu bar, like the
example in Figure 4-4, as well as the hyperlink menus in the left and right navigation columns:

Figure 4-4. A cascading menu on the horizontal menu bar.


Joomla has spawned a commercial template design industry. You can find many attractive Joomla
templates, both free and commercial, on the Internet and you can easily install them on your site.
If you have web design skills, you can try creating and installing your own template. For learning
purposes, however, I believe you will benefit the most from using the JA_Purity template. With
JA_Purity, you can create cascading menus on a horizontal menu bar, as well as link-based menus
in the left and right navigation columns.
All examples and configuration procedures in the remainder of this book are based on the
JA_Purity template. However, if you feel the JA_Purity template is not right for your site after
learning how to use it, you can easily switch back to one of the other pre-packaged templates, or
you can download and install a template from one of the many Internet-based template design
companies.

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To switch to the JA_Purity template:


1. Start a browser and log in to Joomla’s administrative back end at the following address
(remember to replace localhost with your domain name if you are accessing a remote server):
http://localhost/joomla/administrator

2. Select Templates from the Extensions menu on the menu bar. The Template Manager opens:

Figure 4-5. The Template Manager shows all available templates.


3. Select the option to the left of the JA_Purity template and then click Default. Notice the star
icon now displays in the Default column for the JA_Purity template:

Figure 4-6. The star icon indicates the default template.


4. Log out of Joomla’s administrative back end.

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5. Access your site’s homepage to see how it looks. Figure 4-7 shows a site formatted with the
JA_Purity template:

Figure 4-7. A Joomla site formatted with the JA_Purity template.

Customizing the JA_Purity Template


You can customize the JA_Purity template with different color schemes and layouts. You can also
replace the Joomla logo in the header with one of your own. However, to change the logo, you must
be able to upload an image file to the JA_Purity folder in Joomla’s file system. For now, consider
using a “text” logo (for example, your company’s name) instead of an image. After becoming more
familiar with how Joomla works, see Appendix E., “Changing the Joomla! Logo” on page 487 to
learn how to use an image logo.

To customize the JA_Purity template:


1. Start a browser and log in to Joomla’s administrative back end.
2. Select Templates from the Extensions menu on the menu bar. The Template Manager opens.
3. Click the JA_Purity link in the Template Name column. The Edit Template page opens.

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4. Change any of the following parameters in the Parameters section, as desired:

Figure 4-8. The Parameters section on the Edit Template page.


• Logo type: The Image option, which is selected by default, displays the Joomla logo in
the upper-left corner of the header, as shown in Figure 4-9:

Figure 4-9. The Joomla graphic on the JA_Purity banner.

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When you set the Logo type parameter to Text, Joomla displays the entries from the Logo
text and Slogan fields in the logo position, as shown in Figure 4-10:

Figure 4-10. Using logo text in place of a graphic.


• Logo text: If you set the Logo type parameter to Text, type the desired logo text in this
field. For example, you could use your company’s name as the logo text. Joomla
displays the logo text in the upper-left corner of the banner, as shown in Figure 4-10.
Joomla does not display the logo text if you leave the Logo type parameter set to Image.
• Slogan: If you set the Logo type parameter to Text, type the desired slogan in this field.
For example, you could use your company’s tag line as the slogan. Joomla displays the
slogan beneath the logo text, as shown in Figure 4-10. Joomla does not display the
slogan if you leave the Logo type parameter set to Image.
• Horizontal Navigation: The Suckerfish Menu style, which is selected by default, and the
JAMoo Menu, enable the JA_Purity template to display cascading, horizontal menu
systems. Figure 4-11 shows a horizontal menu styled with the Suckerfish menu:

Figure 4-11. A horizontal menu styled with Suckerfish.


• Font size: Select the desired font size, in pixels, for the text on your site. The default
template font size is 4 pixels.
• Template Width: Select the desired template width from the list. By default, the
template is configured to fluidly resize itself. To specify a custom, fixed width, select
Specified in pixels and then type the desired width in the Specified width field.
• Specified width: If you set the Template Width parameter to Specified in pixels, type the
desired template width in pixels in this field.

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• Header Themes: The Use Default option, which displays a black background for the
header and horizontal menu bar is selected by default. When you select blue, Joomla
applies a blue background to the header and menu, as shown in Figure 4-12:

Figure 4-12. The blue header theme.


When you select blue, Joomla applies a blue background to the header and menu, as
shown in Figure 4-13:

Figure 4-13. The green header theme.


• Background Themes: With this parameter, you can specify the brightness of background
highlighting for mouseovers and other elements. When set to Use Default, Joomla
displays subtle background highlighting for mouseovers on links, as shown in Figure 4-
14:

Figure 4-14. Mouseover highlighting for the default background theme.

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When set to lighter or purewhite, the background highlighting becomes brighter. Figure
4-15 shows the mouseover background on a link when the Background Themes
parameter is set to lighter:

Figure 4-15. Mouseover highlighting for the lighter bacground theme.


• Primary Elements: The color you select for this parameter applies to links and module
titles. For the example in Figure 4-16, I set the Primary Elements parameter to blue,
which resulted in blue links and a blue title for the Poll module:

Figure 4-16. Blue text on links an a module title.


Please note that the parameters in the Right modules collapsible function section apply
to modules positioned in your site’s right navigation column. Thought I haven’t
explained how to create modules yet, I am covering these parameters for reference. To
learn more about modules, see Chapter 17, “Enhancing Your Site with Modules,” on
page 295.

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• Right modules collapsible function: By default, any module you position in the right
column of your site is collapsible. Users can click the collapse arrow to collapse the
module, as shown in Figure 4-17:

Figure 4-17. Click the arrow to collapse a module.


To prevent users from being able to collapse modules, select the Disable option.
• Default status: If you enable users to collapse modules positioned in the right column of
your site, Joomla displays the modules in an expanded state by default. To configure
Joomla to display modules in a collapsed state by default, select the Collapse All option.
To view the module content, users must click the expand arrow next to the module title,
as shown in Figure 4-18:

Figure 4-18. When you collapse modules by default, users must expand them.
• Exclude Modules: To prevent Joomla from allowing users to collapse specific modules,
type the module ID in this field, separating each with a comma. You can find module
IDs in the ID column on the Module Manager.
5. Click Save to save your changes and exit the Edit Template page.
6. Access your site’s front end to see how your template changes look.

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Organizing Your Content


Before explaining how to organize your site, I need to define a couple of technical terms. The first
term you need to know is section. Sections are the top-level organizational units in which we group
related types of content. For example, you might choose to group all documents you create for a
specific product in its own section.
As a technical writer, I have spent much of my career writing manuals. The manner in which the
Joomla developers use the term section was confusing to me at first. A manual’s main
organizational unit is usually a chapter, which can be sub-divided into sections. Though “section”
is the right term to use when referring to distinct areas of content on a website (we obviously
wouldn’t call them chapters), I had to think of sections as the “chapters” of my documentation site.
The next term you should know is category. Categories group related types of content within
sections. Figure 4-19 shows categories falling under a section in a site’s organizational hierarchy:

Figure 4-19. Categories group related content within sections.


In Joomla 1.5, you cannot nest categories. However, category nesting is largely unnecessary,
because categories aren’t visible to end users - they simply act as containers for related types of
content in the database. Joomla’s real content nesting tools are its menus, which are linked to
sections and categories. By default, you can create menu hierarchies up to ten levels deep (menu
depth is configurable). Figure 4-20 shows a three-level horizontal menu:

Figure 4-20. You can create visual content hierarchies with Joomla’s menu system.
Think about how you would like to organize the content of your site before creating sections,
categories, and menus. A little planning can help you avoid the pain you will face if you have to
delete, change, and re-create poorly-thought-out sections, categories, and menus, which, as I found
while learning Joomla, will be your site development method if you just wing it.

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You should also decide what content you want to be publicly available and what content you want
only to be available to registered users, which means users must have user accounts and log in to
your site to see it. Our Joomla documentation site was on the company intranet, so the content in
almost all sections and categories was publicly available. Only technical writers had user accounts,
which we used to access Joomla’s writing and publishing features. If your Joomla documentation
site reside on the Internet, you may not want to make all content available to everyone.

Organizing Your Site by Product Type


If you are building a corporate publishing platform for a company that sells many types of
products, you might choose to organize the documents on your site by product type. You could
further organize your content by creating separate documentation categories for each section:

Figure 4-21. You can create different document categories for each type of product.
If your company sells product suites, each of which contains multiple products, you may want to
create a section for each product suite and a category for each product in the suite.

Figure 4-22. You can create categories for each product in a product suite.

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Organizing Your Site by Document Type


If your company only sells one or two products, you could organize the documentation on your site
by document type. For example, if you write installation guides, release notes, and user’s guides
for each release of a specific product, you might create a section for each type of document. Figure
4-23 shows a menu system created for a site organized by document type:

Figure 4-23. A menu based on document type, product, and version.

Organizing News Platforms and Journals


If you write for a newspaper or journal, consider organizing your site like your current hard-copy
publication. Review existing news sites and online journals for ideas on how other companies
organize their content. The Christian Science Monitor (at http://www.csmonitor.com), is an
example of a well-organized, nicely designed, and easy-to-use news site. Smashing Magazine (at
http://www.smashingmagazine.com) is great example of an online journal.

Creating Sections
If you did some planning, you may already have a list of sections you want to create for your site.
If you decide you need additional sections after working with Joomla for a while, you can create
them later, or you can modify existing sections to fit your needs. Please note that you don’t have
to create sections in a specific order. You can re-order sections after creating them.

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To create a section:
1. Log on to Joomla’s administrative console.
2. Select Sections from the Content menu. The Section Manager opens:

Figure 4-24. Create and update sections with the Section Manager.
3. Click New. The New Section page opens.
4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 4-25. Identify your section and make it available to users with the options in the Details section.
• Title: When users access each section of your site, they see the title you type in this field
at the top of the page. Section titles help users get their bearings in a website.
• Alias: Joomla automatically creates an alias based on the section’s title, so leave this
field empty.
• Published: By publishing a section, you are enabling people to see and access it on your
site. Unless you want to make the section unavailable for some reason, you should
publish it. Unpublished sections aren’t available to anyone, even registered users.

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• Order: This determines the section’s order in the section list on the Section Manager,
from the top to the bottom of the list.
You cannot specify a section’s order when creating it (notice there are no ordering
options to select). Each time you create a new section, Joomla adds it to the bottom of
the section list on the Section Manager. However, you can order sections with the Section
Manager after you create them. The order of the sections in the list determines the order
in which they display when you assign them to other components of your Joomla site,
like categories and articles. Section ordering should become more clear when you assign
categories to sections.
• Access Level: The section’s access level determines who can see the content you
publish for the section. The Public option allows anyone who can access your website to
see the section. The Registered option only allows users for whom you have created
user accounts and who can log in to your Joomla site see the section. The Special option
only allows users with “authoring” privileges to see the section.
In Chapter 6, “Managing User Access,” I go into more detail on why some content should
only be available only to registered and special users. However, if you planned ahead,
you may have already decided which sections you want to make publicly available and
which you only want to make available to registered users.
• Image: You can display a graphic on each section’s landing page. For example, if you
are organizing your site by product, you could display a product logo on each section’s
landing page. However, while Joomla’s developers provide a few generic images that
you can select from the Image list, any image you want to assign to a section must
reside on the server. If you want to skip ahead, you can find instructions on how to
upload images to the server in Chapter 7, “Managing Media Folders and Files.”
However, I recommend that you save this task for later.
• Image Position: If you select an image from the Image list, you can specify where it
displays on the section’s landing page by selecting a position from this list.
5. Next, provide a description of the section in the Details section:

Figure 4-26. Type brief, to-the-point descriptions of your sections in the Description editor.

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Type a brief description of the section using the text editor in the Description section. The
explanation you type here displays on the section’s landing page. For instance, if you are
creating a product-specific section, you might type a brief explanation of the product and the
types of documents you are writing for it. Please note that you don’t have to provide a section
description. You can configure your system to automatically list category content on a
section’s landing page.
Usability expert Steve Krug advises that whenever you include introductory text on your site
to keep “happy talk” (which he says often consists of “self-congratulatory promotional
writing” that doesn’t convey useful information) to the bare minimum.1 Readers want to go
directly to the content they’re seeking and won’t waste time reading verbose section
descriptions.
6. Click Save to save the new section and return to the Section Manager. The new section
displays in the Section Manager list. Joomla also displays a message indicating it saved the
section, like the example shown in Figure 4-27:

Figure 4-27. The Section Manager lists all sections you have created for your site.

Creating Categories
I mentioned previously that all categories are parallel in hierarchy under the section to which you
assign them in Jooma 1.5. However, this should not be a concern, because you can create
cascading, nested menus. That, while all categories have an equal hierarchy in the database, you
can nest them in your menus to create visual hierarchies.

1.In his book Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, Steve Krug says you can
find happy talk in the following places: “It’s the introductory text that’s supposed to welcome us to the site
and tell us how great it is, or to tell us what we are about to see in the section we just entered.” (Krug, 2006,
p. 46)

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To create a category:
1. On Joomla’s administrative console, select Categories from the Content menu. The Category
Manager opens:

Figure 4-28. Create and update categories with the Category Manager.
2. Click New. The New Category page opens.
3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 4-29. The options in the Details section are similar to the ones you completed for Sections.
You must associate each category with a section. Select the desired section from the Section
list. All other options in the Details area are the same as those for which you provided
information when creating a new section - they simply apply to categories in this case.
4. You can provide a brief description of your category in the Description section. Keep your
category description brief and to-the-point like your section descriptions.

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5. Click Save to save the new category and return to the Category Manager. The new section
should display in the Category Manager list. You should also see a message indicating
Joomla saved the category.

Figure 4-30. The Category Manager lists all categories and the sections to which they belong.

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Chapter 5. Creating Menu Systems and
Configuring Page Layout
When you create menus, you are creating links users can select to view the content of your site’s
sections and categories. However, the process of creating menus involves more than creating links
to content. You also specify how you want Joomla to display the content of the section or category
for which you are creating a menu. That is, when you create menus, you also specify page layout
for section and category landing pages. By “landing page” I am referring the page users see, what
they “land on,” when they select a menu option.
Jooma offers two layout styles for section and category landing pages: blog layout and list layout.
I have chosen to explain how to apply the list layout styles to sections and categories, which was
the style I used exclusively for my documentation sites, because, to me, they result in a more
organized and usable site. However, I have included illustrations of both types landing pages and,
if you feel the blog layout style would be more appropriate for your site, you can apply it to your
menus when creating them, or you can edit your menus and change their layout styles later.
This chapter explains how to create menu systems for your site, while at the same time configuring
how content will appear on the menu landing pages.

Creating Menu Systems


Menus are Joomla’s primary navigation feature. They enable users to access the articles in your
site’s sections and categories. If a section or category doesn’t have a menu, users won’t be able to
access its articles. The process of creating menus for your site’s sections and categories includes
the following steps:
1. First, create a menu system to hold your site’s menus (think of menu systems as containers
for your menus). You can add one or more menus to a menu system. In fact, you can create
a single menu system to hold all menus for your site.
When you create a menu system, Joomla automatically creates a menu support tool called a
“menu module.” Menu modules enable you to perform configuration tasks like positioning
menus at specific locations on your site, displaying images on them, and enabling them to
expand automatically, to name a few. For example, you can place a menu module (and,
therefore, the menus assigned to it) in the navigation columns on either the left or right side
of your site, or on a horizontal menu bar running across the top your site.
2. After creating a menu system and its supporting menu module, you must “turn on,” or
enable, the menu module and perform the necessary menu configuration tasks.
3. Finally, you create the individual menus for each section and category of your site.

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Organizing Your Menus


There are two approaches to organizing your site’s menus. The first is to create a single menu
system to hold all menus for your site. For example, if you organized the content of your site in
three sections named “Technical Documents,” “User Documents,” and “Quick Reference,” you
might create a single menu system named “Documentation” and build menus for each section of
your site in that menu system.
The main issue with using a single menu system is that it has a single menu module, like the
example illustrated in Figure 5-1:

Figure 5-1. A single menu system for all menus on your site.
In this scenario, all menus you create for the menu system are bound to the menu module’s position
on your site. For example, if you were to position the menu module in the right navigation column,
all menus associated with it would only display at that location. With the single-menu-system
configuration, you don’t have the flexibility of placing menus at other locations on your site.

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The other approach, which is the one I prefer, is to create separate menu systems (and, therefore,
separate menu modules) for each section of your site. This allows you to freely position menu
modules (and menus associated with them) at any of the module positioning locations on your site.
Figure 5-2 shows separate menu modules and menu systems:

Figure 5-2. Separate menu systems for each section of your site.
If you follow this approach, you could position one menu system on the horizontal menu bar at the
top of your site, another in the right navigation column, and a third in the left navigation column.
Or, you could position all on the horizontal menu bar, or all in the right or left navigation columns.
In the following sections, I explain how to create menu systems and configure their supporting
menu modules. And, later, I explain how to create the menus that display on your menu systems
for each section and category in your site. To organize your menu system like the example in Figure
5-2, you should start by creating separate menu systems for each section of your site.

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To create menu systems:


1. On Joomla’s administrative console, select Menu Manager from the Menus menu. The Menu
Manager opens:

Figure 5-3. Create and manage menu modules and menu items from the Menu Manager.
Notice the Menu Manager already includes a menu system named Main Menu. This menu
system includes a single menu that links to your site’s home page.
2. Click New. The New Menu page opens.

Figure 5-4. Complete the fields on the New Menu page to create a menu system.
3. Complete the fields on the New Menu page:
• Unique name: Type a unique name for menu system in this field (the name must be
“unique” in that you cannot reuse it for another menu system). Use lower case letters
and insert either a hyphen or underscore between words. If you use spaces and initial
caps, Joomla automatically inserts hyphens and converts the capital letters to lower case
when you save the module.
• Title: Consider duplicating the title of the section for which you are creating the menu
system. You can use initial caps and spaces in the title. Naming a menu system for a
specific section allows you to easily determine which menu systems contain the menus
for each section of your site.
• Description: If desired, type a brief description of the menu system’s purpose in this
field.
• Module Title: When you save the menu system, Joomla automatically creates a
supporting menu module, which it names according to what you type in this field. I

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recommend using the menu system’s name as its module title (that is, you would
duplicate what you typed in the Title field in the Module Title field). This naming
convention allows you to easily determine which menu system the menu module
supports.
4. Click Save to create the new menu system. The Menu Manager lists the new menu system
and displays a message indicating Joomla created it successfully:

Figure 5-5. The Menu Manager lists all menu modules.


5. Repeat steps 2 - 4 to create additional menu systems for each section of your site.
6. When you finish creating menu systems, you must enable and configure their supporting
menu modules.

To enable and configure menu modules:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.

Figure 5-6. Update and enable menu modules with the Module Manager.
2. In the Module Name column, click the title of a menu module you want to enable. The Edit
Module page opens.

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In the following steps, I explain how to use every parameter in each section of the Edit
Module page. However, it is only necessary to set the following parameters:
• In the Details section, set the Enabled, Position, and Access Level parameters.
• In the Module Parameters section, set the Always show sub-menu items parameter.
You can accept the default settings for all other parameters.
3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 5-7. The Details section for the menu module.


• Module Type: This is an uneditable field that identifies the type of module you are
creating (in this case, mod_mainmenu, which is the name for menu modules). Other
types of modules have different names. For example, login modules are named
mod_login.
• Title: This field is pre-populated with the title you typed in the Module Title field when
you created the menu system.
• Show Title: This parameter is not applicable to menu modules you position on the
horizontal menu bar and, therefore, you can leave the default selection unchanged.
However, this parameter does affect link-based menu systems, and other types of
modules.
• Enabled: Set this parameter to Yes, which means you can assign the menu module to a
menu.
• Position: To position the module on the horizontal menu bar at the top of your site, like

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the example in Figure 5-8, select hornav:

Figure 5-8. Select hornav to place menus on a horizontal menu bar.


The “left” and “right” positions create linked-based menu modules that reside in the
columns on either on the left or right sides your site.
• Order: This parameter specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list
on the Module Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site will see the menu assigned to the menu module. These are the same
access levels you set for sections and categories.
• ID: This is an uneditable field that shows the ID number Joomla assigned to the menu
module in the database, which is used to identify it internally.
• Description: This is an uneditable field that describes the module’s purpose.
4. By default, the All option is selected in the Menu Assignment section, like the example in
Figure 5-9:

Figure 5-9. By default, the menu you are creating is accessible from all other menus on your site.
Leave the All option selected if you want the menu module and its menus to be accessible
from all other menus on your site. To hide it from other menus, select one of the following
in the Menus section:

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• None: If you select None, the menu you are creating will not display anywhere on your
site. Use this option to create a “hidden” menu.
• Select Menu Items: When you select a menu on the menu bar, Joomla displays the menu
landing page. By default, you continue to see all other menus on the menu bar from a
menu landing page. For example, if I created a Joomla menu and a XAMPP menu, and I
selected a child menu named Technical Documents from the Joomla menu, I would still
see the XAMPP menu on the menu bar from the Technical Documents landing page.
However, you can limit a menu to only display on the menu bar for specific menu
selections. For example, I could prevent the XAMPP menu from displaying on the menu
bar when users select the Technical Documents menu. To enable a menu to only display
on the menu bar for specific menus, select the Select Menu Items option, and then select
the desired menus in the Menu Selection list.
Note that when you are configuring the first module for your site, mainmenu is the only
other option available in this list.
5. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 5-10. The Module Parameters section.


• Menu Name: The name of the menu for which you are configuring a menu module is
selected in this list by default.
• Menu Style: The List style, which is selected by default, is the only style appropriate for
a horizontal menu created for Joomla version 1.5 (selecting hornav from Position
section in the Details section creates a horizontal menu). That is, if you applied the
JA_Purity template to your site (or you installed a commercial template that allows you
to create cascading menu systems), you would not select the other options in this list.
• Start Level: Do not change the default start level of “0” in this field. You would only use
this parameter when splitting a multi-level menu system across two, separate menu
modules, which I explain in the “Splitting Menus Between Two Menu Modules” section
on page 106.
• End Level: Do not change the default end level of “0” in this field. This parameter also
applies to the menu splitting process.
• Always show sub-menu Items: Select Yes to enable all menu systems you assign to the

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module to automatically expand to show sub-menus when users mouse-over them. If


you don’t enable this option, users won’t see sub-menus until they click the parent
menu, which means they may never know the submenus exist (there is no guarantee
people will click a menu just to see what it does).
• Target Position: If you are using the JA_Purity template or a commercial template that
automatically positions the menus on your site, leave this field empty. According to the
Joomla documentation site1, this parameter takes Javascript values, in pixels, which
would normally be used to position a popup window. In this case, the values specify the
exact location of the menu on your site for custom templates. That is, you would only
use this parameter if you created a custom template and wanted to position the menu at
a specific location on it.
6. Complete the Advanced Parameters section:

Figure 5-11. The Advanced Parameters section.


• Show Whitespace: If you plan on viewing the underlying source code for the menu in
your browser (from the front page of your site), selecting Yes adds whitespace to the
source code (in the form of spaces and newlines) to make it more readable.
• Caching: By default, this option is set to Use Global, which means Joomla relies on
your site’s global caching settings, which are set on the System tab of the Global
Configuration page. Caching is enabled by default on Joomla servers, so unless you
turned it off, Joomla automatically caches this module.
With caching, the Joomla server a saves images of various features, which it can load into
users’ web browsers, instead of retrieving content from the database. The purpose of
caching is to improve the system’s performance.
• Menu Tag ID: An “id” is a standard HTML attribute you can use to identify elements
when you want to reference them via JavaScript to perform actions on them, or via CSS
to style them. According to the Joomla documentation site, if you type an ID in this
field, Joomla adds an ID attribute to the menu’s root UL tag.
• Menu Class Suffix: To apply custom styling to the menu, add the desired styles to the
template.css file, create a unique CSS class, and type the CSS class name in this field.

1.See the full explanation at the following address: http://docs.joomla.org/Screen.modulessite.edit.15

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The process of creating custom menu layouts is beyond the scope of this book and I
recommend leaving this field empty. If you’d like to learn how to do this later, you can
find a good tutorial at the following address on the Joomla documentation site:
http://docs.joomla.org/Tutorial:Using_Class_Suffixes_in_Joomla%21_1.5

• Module Class Suffix: I recommend leaving this field empty for now. To apply custom
styling to the menu module, you would perform the same tasks required to style a menu,
typing the module’s CSS class name in this field. See the explanation of the Menu Class
Suffix parameter for more information.
• Maximum Menu Depth: By default, this parameter is set to 10, which means you can
create menus up to 10 levels deep. To enforce a shallower menu hierarchy, type a
smaller number in this field, and to enable a deeper menu hierarchy, type a larger
number in this field.
7. Complete the Other Parameters section:

Figure 5-12. The Other Parameters section.


Please note that the parameters in the Other Parameters section allow you to apply styling
conventions to the menu associated with the menu module. However, you won’t be able
to see these parameters in action until you create a menu, which I haven’t explained how
to do yet. Consider reviewing the following parameter descriptions to get an idea of how
you can use them and return to this section later.

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• Show Menu Images: When set to Yes, Joomla can display images on the menu system
you create and assign to the menu module. Figure 5-13 shows an example of a menu
image on a section menu:

Figure 5-13. A menu image located to the left of the menu text.
• Menu Image Alignment: This parameter allows you choose where images appear on the
menu system assigned to the menu module, as well as text alignment (this is only
applicable when you set Show Menu Images to Yes). The default selection is Left,
which means Joomla left-aligns the menu images and text, like the example in Figure 5-
13. When you select Right, Joomla right-aligns the menu images and text. And, when
you select None, Joomla left-aligns the menu images, but allows the text to wrap
beneath the menu, like the example in Figure 5-14:

Figure 5-14. When you select None, menu text for long titles wraps beneath the menu image.
• Menu Image Link: If you set this parameter to Yes, Joomla hides the menu title text and
shows only the menu image. Figure 5-15 shows a menu image I created to replace the
menu title text:

Figure 5-15. When you set Menu Image Link to Yes, Joomla hides the menu text.
Consider using this parameter when you want to create a more-stylized menu showing
custom graphics in place of the menu title text.
• Expand Menu: When set to Yes, this parameter ensures that Joomla automatically
expands sub-menus when users mouse over a parent menu.
• Activate Parent: Use this option when applying custom menu styling to a menu via
CSS. Unless you are creating custom menu styles, which I don’t explain how to do in
this book, leave this parameter set to No.

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• Full Active Highlighting: Please note that this parameter is also related to custom menu
styling. You should leave it set to No unless you are styling a custom menu with CSS.
• Indent Image: This parameter is only applicable if you selected the Legacy - Vertical
option from the Menu Style list in the Module Parameters section. Select one of the
following:
• Template: This option, which is selected by default, uses the images specified in
the Joomla template associated with your site for indenting menus.
• Joomla! default images: Select this option to enable Joomla to use the images
provided with a Joomla installation for indenting menus.
• Use parameters below: Select this option to enable Joomla to use the images
selected in Indent Image 1 - 6 options to indent menus.
• None: Select this option if you do not want to use images to indent vertical menus
• Indent Image 1 - 6: This parameter is only applicable if you selected the Legacy -
Vertical option from the Menu Style list in the Module Parameters section. If you
selected Legacy - Vertical option, and you want Joomla to use images as spacers to
indent each menu item, select the desired images for each menu level from this list.
• Spacer: This parameter is only applicable if you selected the Legacy - Horizontal option
from the Menu Style list in the Module Parameters section. If you selected the Legacy -
Horizontal menu style, and you want to insert a spacer above menu items, type the
desired spacer character in this field.
• End Spacer: This parameter is only applicable if you selected the Legacy - Horizontal
option from the Menu Style list in the Module Parameters section. If you selected the
Legacy - Horizontal menu style, and you want to insert a spacer below menu items, type
the desired spacer character in this field.
8. Click Save to save your settings and close the Edit Module page. Notice that the Enabled
column now includes a green check mark.
9. Repeat steps 2 - 8 to enable the remaining menu modules.

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Creating Section Menus


Section menus reside at the top of the menu system hierarchy, so you must create section menus
first. Figure 5-16 shows the hierarchy of a two-level menu system:

Figure 5-16. An expanded menu system created for a section and its categories.
Joomla provides two layout options for section landing pages: Section Layout and Section Blog
Layout. If you are building a corporate publishing site, your audience won’t be looking for leisure
reading material. Instead, they will be looking for specific articles on specific products. The
Section Layout displays each category assigned to the section on the section landing page. With
this layout style, readers can quickly locate a desired article. Figure 5-17 shows an example of a
section landing page formatted with the Section Layout option:

Figure 5-17. A section landing page formatted with the Section Layout.

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The Section Blog Layout is a common layout style for online journals and news sites. It displays
all articles on the section landing page. With this layout, readers can skim titles and introductions
to decide which articles they want to read. Figure 5-18 shows a section landing page formatted with
the Section Blog Layout:

Figure 5-18. A section landing page formatted with the Section Blog Layout.
The following section explains how to create a section menu using the Section Layout format,
which means the section landing page will look similar to the example in Figure 5-17. If you follow
these steps and decide later that you would rather use the Section Blog Layout, you can easily edit
the menu and change its layout style.

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To create section menus with the Section Layout:


1. Select the name of a menu module for which you are creating a menu system from the Menus
menu. The Menu Item Manager opens:

Figure 5-19. Create and update menus with the Menu Item Manager.
2. Click New. The New Menu Item opens:

Figure 5-20. Create menus with the New Menu Item option.

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3. Click the Articles link to expand it and then click the Section Layout link, as shown in Figure
5-21:

Figure 5-21. When creating section menus, use options under the Section heading in the Articles section.
4. The New Menu Item page opens. Notice the Menu Item Type section identifies the layout
option you selected for the section landing page:

Figure 5-22. The Menu Item Type section identifies the layout style.

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5. Complete the options in the Menu Item Details section:

Figure 5-23. The Menu Item Details section.


• Title: The title you type in this field appears on the menu. Consider using a menu title
that matches the name of the section for which you are creating the section menu. For
example, if you are creating a menu that links to a section named Technical
Documents, use Technical Documents as the menu title:

Figure 5-24. Name your menu after the section for which you are creating it.
• Alias: Joomla automatically creates an alias based on the menu’s title, so leave this
field empty.
• Link: Contains the internal link associated with the menu item (in this case, it is a link
to a specific section).
• Display in: Select the menu module that contains the section menu you are creating.
• Parent Item: Since you are creating a menu for a section, it is a top-level item. When
you create category menus, you make them children of the section menu, or other
categories, in this list to create the menu hierarchy.
• Published: Select Yes, unless you do not want the menu to be accessible to users.

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• Order: Joomla places all menus at the bottom of the menu list by default. You can
rearrange the menu order after creating them.
• Access Level: The Public option allows anyone who can access your website to see
the menu. The Registered option only allows users for whom you have created user
accounts and who can log in to your Joomla site see the menu. The Special option only
allows users with “authoring” privileges to see the menu.
• On Click, Open in: Generally, you should select the Parent Window with Browser
Navigation option, which means that when a user clicks the menu you are creating, the
content displays in the same browser window. To launch content in a separate browser
window on top of the main window, you can select either of the other options.
6. Select values for the parameters in the Parameters (Basic) section, as desired, for the menu:

Figure 5-25. The Parameters (Basic) section for section menus.


• Section: Select the name of the section for which you are creating the menu.
• Description: This parameter is set to Hide by default. If you wrote a section description,
and you want it to display on the landing page, like the example in Figure 5-26, select
Show:

Figure 5-26. The section description on the menu landing page.

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• Description Image: This parameter is set to Hide by default. If you associated an image
with the section, and you want it to display on the landing page, like the example in
Figure 5-27, select Show:

Figure 5-27. The description image on the menu landing page.


• Category List - Section: This parameter is set to Show by default, which means Joomla
displays a list of all category menus created for the section on the section landing page,
like the example in Figure 5-28:

Figure 5-28. All category menus under the section menu.


• Empty Categories in Section: Indicate whether you want the section’s landing page to
list empty categories. Empty categories are categories for which you have not yet
written articles. If you haven’t written articles for a category, you may decide there is no
need to display a link to the empty category. Though, you could enable this parameter to
display an empty category as a “work in progress.”
• # Category Items: By default, this parameter is set to Show. If the Category List -
Section parameter is set to Show, Joomla displays the number of articles published for
each category, like the example in Figure 5-29:

Figure 5-29. The number of articles published for each category.

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• Category Description: By default, this parameter is set to Show. If the Category List -
Section parameter is set to Show, Joomla displays the category descriptions you wrote
for each category on the landing page, like the example in Figure 5-30:

Figure 5-30. The category descriptions written for each category.


7. Select values for the parameters in the Parameters (Advanced) section, as desired, for the
menu:

Figure 5-31. The Parameters (Advanced) section for section menus.


• Order: Select the order in which you want Joomla to display the category list on the
section’s landing page.
• Article Order: This option allows you to set the order in which articles display on
category landing pages. I recommend keeping the Default selection, which does not
change article order on category landing pages. You can configure article order for
categories later when you create category menus.
• Show a Feed Link: To syndicate articles and other content published for this section
menu, which means users can subscribe to it, set this parameter to Yes. When set to Yes,
Joomla creates an RSS feed link, accessible via feed icons on browser toolbars.

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When users click the feed link, Joomla allows them to subscribe to content on the
section menu.
8. If you applied the Section Layout style to the menu in step 4, you do not need to select values
for any of the parameters in the Parameters (Component) section, because they do not affect
the layout of the section landing page. That is, leave the parameters in this section set to “Use
Global,” as shown in Figure 5-33:

Figure 5-32. Leave the parameters in this section set to “Use Global” for the section menu.
The parameters in this section are only applicable when you select the Section Blog Layout
style. The blog layout style enables Joomla to display articles directly on the section landing
page. And, the parameters in Parameters (Components) section enable Joomla to display
metadata like author names, creation dates, etc. with your articles.
Please note that the parameters in this section are also available on the articles themselves,
as well as in the global article configuration manager (which is an article management tool
available through the administrative back end). If you apply the Section Blog Layout style
to a section menu, I recommend leaving the parameters in this section set to “Use Global”
until you are familiar with how to use them in conjunction with the parameters in the other
configuration locations. I explain how all parameters work together in Chapter 8,

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“Configuring the Article Feature Set,” which starts on page 171.


9. Select values for the parameters in the Parameters (System) section, as desired, for the menu:

Figure 5-33. The Parameters (System) section for section menus.


• Page Title: Joomla automatically uses the name you typed in Title field in the Menu
Item Details section as the page title for the section landing page. However, if desired,
you can override it by typing a page title in this field. This means Joomla displays the
title you type in this field on the section landing page, like the example in Figure 5-34:

Figure 5-34. The page title displays in the upper-left corner of the section landing page.
Please note that a title on the section landing page that differs from the menu title could
be confusing for your users. Steve Krug stresses the importance of clearly identifying site
content with the following statement: “It’s a fact: People won’t use your Web site if they
can’t find their way around it.” (Krug, 2006, p. 51) Even if your site only resides on a
company intranet and is only used by fellow employees, I encourage you to make it as
easy to use as possible.
• Show Page Title: This parameter is enabled by default, which means Joomla displays a
page title on the landing page (see the explanation of the Page Title field above).
• Page Class Suffix: You can format each section’s landing page with a unique layout
style. However, you would have to first add the desired styles to the template.css file,
then create a unique CSS class, and, finally, type the CSS class name in this field. The
process of creating custom page layouts for section landing pages is beyond the scope of
this book and I recommend leaving this field empty for now. If you’d like to learn how
to do this later, you can find an excellent tutorial on the Joomla documentation site at
the following address:
http://docs.joomla.org/Tutorial:Using_Class_Suffixes_in_Joomla%21_1.5

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• Menu Image: You can display images next to the section menu title text, like the
example in Figure 5-35:

Figure 5-35. An image on a section menu.


To display an image on a section menu, select one from the Menu Image list. Please note
that if you select an image from this list, you will not see it on the menu unless you also
enable menu images on the associated menu module. To learn how to enable menu
images for a menu module, see the explanation of the Show Menu Images parameter on
page 80.
To display a custom image on the section menu, you must upload it to the server, which
I have not explained how to do yet. To learn how, see the instructions on uploading
images to the server in Chapter 7, “Managing Media Folders and Files.”
• SSL Enabled: If you select On, Joomla uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for the section
landing page, which encrypts the data that transfers between the Joomla server and end
users. To this end, Joomla generates a security certificate based on the domain name of
the server on which Joomla is running. When users click the menu you are creating,
Joomla presents a security certificate, which the users’ browsers prompt them to install.
If security is a concern, consider buying and installing a security certificate from a
company like Thawte or VeriSign. I did not enable SSL on our documentation sites,
because they were on the company intranet and I wasn’t overly concerned with security.
10. Click Save to create the new section menu, which displays in the Menu Item list:

Figure 5-36. The Menu Item Manager lists section menus.


11. Repeat steps 2 - 10 to create additional section menus for other sections of your site.
To see how the new section menu you just created looks on your Joomla homepage, continue to
the “To view the section menus on your site:” section on page 94.

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To view the section menus on your site:


1. Access the homepage for your Joomla site. Notice the section menu you created displays on
a horizontal menu bar, which looks similar to the example in Figure 5-37:

Figure 5-37. A section menu on the horizontal menu bar.

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2. Though you haven’t written any articles yet, you can still click the menu to see the section
landing page. If you wrote a section description, it displays beneath the page title, like the
example in Figure 5-38:

Figure 5-38. When you click a section menu, Joomla displays the section landing page.

Creating Category Menus


Category menus behave exactly like section menus: they are links that, when clicked, display a
category’s content. The menu creation process for categories is almost identical to the process you
followed to create section menus. That is, you create both a menu that links to a category and
specify the page layout for the category’s landing page.

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Joomla provides two page layout options for category menus: Category List Layout and Category
Blog Layout. Figure 5-39 shows an example of a category landing page formatted with the
Category List Layout option:

Figure 5-39. A category landing page formatted with the Category List Layout.
The Category List Layout displays a list of the articles written for the category. Users can easily
scan the list to locate an article they want to read. In addition, the columns of information Joomla
displays in the article list is configurable and allows you to display different types of information
about the articles including titles, dates, hit counts, and author names, to mention a few.
If you write a lot of documents for a specific product, the article list layout is a good option, because
it provides an easily-scanned list of articles.

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Like the Section Blog Layout, the Category Blog Layout option is intended to give the category
landing page more of a blog feel. Figure 5-40 shows an example of a category landing page
formatted with the Category Blog Layout option:

Figure 5-40. A category landing page formatted with the Category Blog Layout.
For a corporate publishing site, I recommend using the category list layout over the blog layout
style. But, I’m not sure if one is really better than the other. In fact, the blog layout could be more
helpful in some instances, because readers can read document overviews, which might help them
decide which one to select. The blog layout style is much more common for online journals and
news sites.

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I only explain how to create a category menu with the list layout in this section. But, you can easily
edit your menus and switch to the Blog Layout style if it is more appropriate for your category
landing pages.

To create category menus:


1. Select the name of a menu module for which you have already created a section menu from
the Menus menu. The Menu Item Manager opens:

2. Click New. The New Menu Item page opens.


3. Click the Articles option under the Internal Link section.
4. Click the Category List Layout option in the Category section (or, if you want a category
landing page to have the blog layout style, select the Category Blog Layout option). The New
Menu Item page opens. Notice the Menu Item Type section identifies the layout option you
selected for the category landing page:

Figure 5-41. The Menu Item Type section identifies the category layout style.

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5. Complete the options in the Menu Item Details section:

Figure 5-42. Complete the Menu Item Details section to identify the category menu.
• Title: The title you type in this field appears on the menu. You should use a menu
name that matches the name of the category for which you are creating it. For
example, if you were creating menu for a category named “Documentation” you
would type Documentation in the Title field.
• Alias: Joomla automatically creates an alias based on the menu’s title, so you can leave
this field empty.
• Link: Contains the internal link associated with the menu item (in this case, it is a link
to a specific category).
• Display in: Select the menu module that contains the category menu you are creating.
• Parent Item: When you create your first category menu, only the section menu title is
available in this list, and you should select it as the category menu’s parent.
However, as you add other category menus, they also become available in this list. You can
select a category menus in this list as the parent for a category menu you are creating. This
enables you to create the menu’s overall hierarchy. Figure 5-43 shows how the hierarchy of

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a Parent Item list grows for a menu with multiple menu items:

Figure 5-43. An extended menu hierarchy in the Parent Item list.


• Published: Select Yes to make the available to site users. If you want the menu to
remain inaccessible to users, leave the default No selection.
• Order: Joomla places the menu item you are creating at the bottom of the menu list by
default. You can rearrange the order of your menus after creating them.
• Access Level: Select the privilege level you require of site users to see the menu.
These are the same privileges you set for sections and categories.
• On Click, Open in: Generally, you should select the Parent Window with Browser
Navigation option, which means that when a user clicks the menu you are creating, the
content displays in the same browser window. To launch content in a separate browser
window on top of the main window, you can select either of the other options; but, for
a documentation section, opening a new browser window might be confusing to users.
6. Select values for the parameters in the Parameters (Basic) section, as desired, for the menu:

Figure 5-44. The Parameters (Basic) section for category menus.


• Category: Select the name of the category for which you are creating the menu.
• # Links: Select the maximum number of article links you want Joomla to display in the
article list on the landing page. For example, if you select 5, Joomla only displays links
to 5 articles. If the number of articles exceeds the maximum number you set with this
option, Joomla displays article list navigation features beneath the article list, like the
example in Figure 5-45, which allows users to display subsequent pages of the contact

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list:

Figure 5-45. Article list navigation features.


• Table Headings: Indicate whether you want Joomla to display column headings on the
article link table. Figure 5-46 shows column headings on an article list:

Figure 5-46. Column headings on an article list.


• Date Column: Indicate whether you want Joomla to add a date column on the article
link table. Figure shows a date column in an article list:

Figure 5-47. A date column in an article list.


• Date Format: If you select Show for the Date Column parameter, you can enter a
specific date format in this field. If you leave this field empty, Joomla automatically
displays dates based upon the language file associated with your site. In the case of an
English language file, Joomla displays dates as follows:
day of week, day of month, month, year. For example: Thursday 14, January 2010.
• Filter: Indicate whether you want Joomla to hide or show an article filter option above
the article link table. When a category contains numerous articles, users can use the
Filter feature to search for articles that match specific filtering criteria. Figure shows the
article filter above an article list:

Figure 5-48. The article filter on an article list.


• Filter Field: Indicate whether Joomla should enable users to filter articles in the list by
article title, author name, or number of hits. The value you select determines the filter
field name. By default, Joomla is configured to filter on article titles. For example, if
you select Author, Joomla names the field Author Filter. If you select Hits, Joomla
names the field Hits Filter.

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7. Select values for the parameters in the Parameters (Advanced) section, as desired, for the
menu:

Figure 5-49. The Parameters (Advanced) section for category menus.


• Primary Order: Select the order in which you want Joomla to display articles in the
category list for the Category List Layout, or on the landing page for the Category Blog
Layout.
• Pagination: Indicate whether Joomla provides a page navigation feature with page
numbering on the category landing page, like the example in Figure 5-50:

Figure 5-50. Article list pagination.


Use this parameter when a category contains numerous articles and you limit the number
on each article list page using the # Links option in the Parameters (Basic) section.
• Display Select: Indicate whether you want users to be able to manually configure the
number of articles that display in the article list, like the example in Figure 5-51:

Figure 5-51. Enable users to select the number of articles they want to display in the article list.
• Show a Feed Link: To syndicate articles and other content you publish for this category
menu, which means users can subscribe to it, set this parameter to Yes. When set to Yes,
Joomla creates an RSS feed link, accessible via feed icons on browser toolbars.
When users click the feed link, Joomla allows them to subscribe to content on the
category menu.

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8. The options in the Parameters (Component) section allow you to configure which
distribution, navigation, and metadata features should display on your articles. For example,
you can use them to display metadata like author names, creation dates, etc. However, the
parameters in this section are also available on the articles themselves, as well as in the
Article Configuration Manager. For now, I recommend leaving all parameters in the
Parameters (Components) section set to “Use Global,” as shown in Figure 5-52:

Figure 5-52. Leave the parameters in this section set to “Use Global” for the category menu.
I explain how to use the parameters in this section together with the parameters on your
articles and in the Article Configuration manager in Chapter 8, “Configuring the Article
Feature Set,” which starts on page 171. When you are familiar with how to use the settings
in the three configuration locations together, you can edit your category menus and select
values in the Parameters (Component) sections as necessary.

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9. Select values for the parameters in the Parameters (System) section, as desired, for the menu:

Figure 5-53. The Parameters (System) section for section menus


• Page Title: Joomla automatically uses the name you typed in Title field in the Menu
Item Details section as the page title for the category landing page. However, if desired,
you can override it by typing a page title in this field. This means Joomla displays the
title you type in this field on the category landing page, like the example in Figure 5-54:

Figure 5-54. The page title displays in the upper-left corner of the section landing page.
• Show Page Title: This parameter is enabled by default, which means Joomla displays a
page title on the landing page.
• Page Class Suffix: If desired, you can format the landing page for the category menu
with a unique layout style. However, the process of creating custom page layouts is
beyond the scope of this book and I recommend leaving this field empty for now.
• Menu Image: You can use this parameter to display images next to the category title
text, like the example in Figure 5-55:

Figure 5-55. An image next to the title text on a category menu.


To display an image on a category menu, select one from the Menu Image list. Please
note that if you select an image from this list, you cannot see it on the menu unless you
also enable menu images on the associated menu module. To learn how to enable menu

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images for a menu module, see the explanation of the Show Menu Images parameter on
page 80.
To display a custom image on the category menu, you must upload it to the server, which
I have not explained how to do yet. To learn how, see the instructions on uploading
images to the server in Chapter 7, “Managing Media Folders and Files.” Otherwise, I
recommend saving this task for later.
• SSL Enabled: If you select On, Joomla uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for the
category landing page, which encrypts the data that transfers between the Joomla server
and end users. If security is a concern, consider buying and installing a security
certificate from a company like Thawte or VeriSign. However, if your documentation
site resides on the company intranet, you probably do not need to enable SSL.
10. Click Save to create the new category menu, which displays in the Menu Item list:

Figure 5-56. The Menu Item column shows the menu hierarchy.
In Figure 5-56, notice the Technical Documents menu is indented beneath the Joomla menu,
which shows their hierarchical relationship.

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Splitting Menus Between Two Menu Modules


You can build menu systems with deeply-descending hierarchies. Menu depth is only limited by
by each menu module’s Maximum Menu Depth field, which is set to a depth of ten levels by
default. However, building excessively deep menus can result in an unusable menu system. That
is, menus that extend too deeply can push beyond browser borders, making them inaccessible. To
prevent an extreme menu expansion scenario like this, you should consider establishing a
maximum menu depth policy for your horizontal menu bar. Figure 5-57 shows a fully-expanded,
three-level horizontal menu system:

Figure 5-57. A three-level horizontal menu system.


For organizational purposes, however, you may find it necessary to create an unusually deep menu
hierarchy, even beyond what you establish as a maximum depth for horizontal menus. The solution
in this case would be to split the menu system across two, separate menu modules positioned at
different locations on your site. For example, you could position the primary menu module (which
would contain the top three or four menu levels in the hierarchy) on the horizontal menu bar. You
could position the secondary menu module (which would contain the lower-level menus) in the
right navigation column. The second menu would only become visible to users when they selected
a parent menu on the horizontal menu bar and would consist of a link-based menu system.

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Figure 5-58 shows a five-level menu system split across two menu modules. The primary menu
module contains the first three menu levels from the menu hierarchy and is positioned on the
horizontal menu bar. The secondary menu module contains the remaining two menu levels and is
positioned in the right navigation column.

Figure 5-58. A menu system split across two menu modules positioned at different locations.
When users select the Installation Guides menu shown in Figure 5-58, Joomla displays the lower-
level menus (those that fall beneath the Installation Guides menu in the hierarchy) as a linked-
based menu in the right navigation column.

How I created the split menu system example:


1. To create the split menu system example in Figure 5-58, I first created a menu system and
placed its corresponding menu module on the horizontal navigation bar using the hornav
position.
2. I then added menus to the menu system. The resulting hierarchy descended five levels deep,

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like the example in Figure 5-59:

Figure 5-59. A menu system with a five-level menu hierarchy.


3. I wanted to limit the horizontal menu system to showing only first three menu levels, so I
edited its menu module and set the Start Level parameter in the Module Parameters section
to “0” (the start level must always be set to “0,”which tells Joomla to start with the first
menu) and the End Level parameter to “3,” like the example in Figure 5-60:

Figure 5-60. Specify menu depth with the Start Level and End Level parameters.
By setting the End Level to 3, I prevented Joomla from displaying the menus beneath
Installation Guides menu in Figure 5-59 (these are “children” of the Installation Guides
menu).

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4. Then, I created a new, secondary menu module. I set the following parameters in Details
section of the New Module page:

Figure 5-61. Custom settings for a secondary menu module.


• Title: Because I was creating a module that would contain a specific sub-set of menus
from the menu hierarchy, I named it for the types of menus it contained. In this case, I
titled it “Install Guides,” because all menus below the third level in the hierarchy (see
Figure 5-59 for reference) are children of the Installation Guides menu.
• Show Title: I didn’t want to display the menu title, so I set this parameter to No. When
set to Yes, the module title displays at the top of the menu system, like the example in
Figure 5-61:

Figure 5-62. The module title on the secondary menu system.


• Enabled: I set this parameter to Yes.
• Position: I selected “right” from the list to position the secondary module in the right
navigation column.

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5. I set the following parameters in the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 5-63. The secondary module only displays on the landing pages for the selected menus.
• Menus: First, I selected the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option, because I wanted
to assign the module to specific menus in the list. That is, I didn’t want the secondary
menu to be available for all menu systems, because it only contains menus related to
installation guides.
• Menu Selection: Then, I selected only those menus that were related to the links in the
secondary menu module. The secondary menu module displays on the landing pages of
the menus I selected in this list.
Please note that you should not select the Home menu under the mainmenu option in this
section. If you attempt to display a secondary menu module (containing lower-level
menus) on your site’s home page, it will be empty, because the homepage is the top of
the hierarchy. You should only select those menus related to the menus in your secondary
menu module (either its direct parent or child menus).
6. I set the following parameters in the Module Parameters section:

Figure 5-64. Select the menu system name and set the appropriate start and end levels.
• Menu Name: I selected the name of the multi-level menu system containing the menus I
am splitting across two menu modules.

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• Start Level: I want the secondary menu system to display all menu items from the third
menu item to the end of the hierarchy, so I typed “3” in this field.
• End Level: Because it is a five-level hierarchy, I typed “5” in this field. However, if I
had been unsure about the hierarchy level of the final menu item, I could have also
typed “0” in this field, which means Joomla displays all remaining menus in the
hierarchy.
7. Finally, I saved and exited the new menu module. When I selected the Installation Guides
menu from my site’s front end, Joomla displayed the secondary menu module containing the
lower-level menus like the example in Figure 5-59.

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Chapter 6. Managing User Access
When planning a Joomla publishing site, you should decide whether you want to restrict access
some, or even all, of the content you publish on it. If so, then you should secure the content, making
it accessible only to those users with user accounts. For example, you may not want competitors
to have access to certain kinds of technical information on a corporate publishing site. Remember
that you can restrict access to content at the section level, the category level, the menu level, and
the article level.
Joomla sites usually have three types of users: public users, which consists of everyone without a
user account who visits your site (that is, they don’t log in to see content), registered users, who
can log in to your site’s front end to either view or publish content (depending on their privileges),
and administrative users, who log in to the front end and back end of your site to perform both
publishing and administrative tasks.
This chapter contains explains how to manage all aspects of user access. It tells how to create user
accounts and add a login menu for those users who require access to restricted content. It also
explains how to add a self-maintenance menu that enables users to update their own user accounts.
And, it tells how you can add a contact list to your site that allows public users to communicate
with you, or other team members, about the site.

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Creating a Login Module


If you restrict access to content on your site’s front end, you must create a login module to enable
customers or employees to access it. In addition, writers can use it to log in and write articles from
the site’s front end. When I was the only writer posting content on a Joomla site, I found it helpful
to have a front-end login module. For example, if I noticed a typo when reviewing an article from
the front end, I could log in to quickly edit the article

To create a login module:


1. From Joomla’s administrative back end, select Module Manager from the Extensions menu.
The Module Manager opens showing the module list.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, locate and click the Login link. The Edit Module page opens.
4. Complete the options in the Details section:
• Title: Use a title like “Login” that clearly indicates the module’s purpose.
• Show Title: Indicate whether you want Joomla to display the module title from the Title
field. If you typed Login in the Title field, Joomla displays it on the login module, like
the example Figure 6-1:

Figure 6-1. Login title on the login form.


• Enabled: Select Yes, which should be selected by default.
• Position: Indicate where you want Joomla to place the login form on your site. Consider
selecting either the left or right options to place it in either the left column or the right
column of your site.
• Access Level: You must set this to Public, which is the default selection. If you don’t set
it to Public, nobody can see the login form.

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5. If you restricted access to menus for specific sections or categories of content on your site,
and you want to enable users who log in to see the restricted content, choose the Select Menu
item(s) from the List option in the Menus section. Then, select each restricted menu
containing restricted content in the Menu Selection list, like the example in Figure 6-2:

Figure 6-2. Select menus you want to be accessible to users when they log in.
Please note that if you restricted access to all content on your site, you should select the All
option in the Menus section to allow users who log in to see all content.
6. Complete the options in the Parameters section:

Figure 6-3. The login parameters section.


• Caching: According to the Joomla documentation site, Joomla doesn’t permit caching
for the Login module, and Never is the only available option.

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• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
on the Joomla documentation site.
• Pre-text: To provide users with an informational message1 above the login form, like
“Please log in,” type it in this field. Joomla displays the “pre-text” login messages above
the login module, like the example in Figure 6-4:

Figure 6-4. The pre-text message displays above the login form.
• Post-text: To provide users with an informational message below the login form, like
“Contact the administrator for a user account,” type it in this field. Joomla displays the
post-text login message at the bottom of the login module, like the example in Figure 6-
5:

Figure 6-5. The post-text message displays below the login form.
• Login Redirection Page: When users log in, Joomla displays your site’s home page by
default. However, the Login Redirection Page option allows you to redirect users to the
landing page of any other section or category menu on your site after logging in. To use
this feature, select the name of the section or category to which you are redirecting users
from the list.

1.Most people are familiar enough with web-based login forms that instructions on using them are probably
unnecessary. However, this could be a good place to display a message, like “Login for authors,” if you want
to communicate something specific about the login process.

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• Logout Redirection Page: By default, when users log out, Joomla ends their user
sessions (that is, they can no longer perform tasks available to them when logged in),
but continues displaying the last page they were viewing prior to logging out. If the last
page contains fields, buttons, links, or any other “selectable” options, users can continue
using them, even though they are logged out of the system. To prevent issues that could
arise from users being able to perform tasks after logging out, consider redirecting them
to an innocuous section of your site. For example, you could redirect them to the site’s
home page.
• Greeting: When enabled, Joomla displays a simple, username-based greeting (“Hi
username”) above the Logout button, like the example in Figure 6-6:

Figure 6-6. Joomla displays the greeting message when users log in.
• Name/Username: The option you select from this list displays above the field in which
users type their user names. The purpose of this option is to provide you with the ability
to labeling the field either “Username,” or “Name.”
• Encrypt Login Form: Do not select Yes unless you installed a security certificate on
your server for encrypted server communication via Secure Sockets Layer (SSL),
meaning users access your site via “https://,” which I do not explain how to do in this
book.
7. Click Save to save the login module, which displays in the Menu Manager list.

To test the login module:


1. Go to your site’s home page to verify that you see the new login form.
2. Log in with user name and password of the administrative account you use to access
Joomla’s administrative back end.

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User Self-Registration
With Joomla, you can allow public users to self-register, which means they can create their own
user accounts. This is a common practice for online journals and news platforms, which often let
users comment on published articles. However, if you are building a corporate publishing platform,
I don’t recommend providing a public commenting2 feature. If you do, be aware that user
comments can often be unprofessional, and that you will need to take cleanup measures from time-
to-time.
Joomla makes the user self-registration option available by default on the login form, as shown in
Figure 6-7:

Figure 6-7. The user self-registration feature resides on the user login form.

To disable user self-registration:


1. From Joomla’s administrative back end, select Global Configuration from the Site menu.
The Global Configuration manager opens showing the Site settings page.
2. Click the System link to view Joomla’s system settings.
3. Complete the options in the User Settings section:

Figure 6-8. Disable user self-registration in the User Settings section.

2.To capture feedback from your audience on a corporate publishing site, consider using surveys instead of
article commenting. The comments you capture with a survey won’t display on your site’s front. See Chapter
22, “Creating and Conducting Surveys” on page 427 for more information.

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• Allow User Registration: Set this option to No.


• New User Registration Type: This feature, which lets you set access levels for self-
registering users, is non-functional when you set the Allow User Registration option to
No.
• New User Account Activation: When set to Yes, Joomla emails a link to a URL on your
site where users can activate their user accounts. If you disable user self-registration,
and only plan on creating a few user accounts for team members, I recommend setting
this option to No.
• Front-end User Parameters: This option is set to Yes by default and I recommend
leaving Yes selected. This feature works in conjunction with a user self-maintenance
feature, which I explain in the “Creating a User Account Maintenance Menu” section on
page 129, that allows users to modify a few of their personal settings.
4. Click Save to save your changes and exit the Global Configuration manager.

Managing User Sessions


A user session is a period of time during which a user is logged in to your site. When users log in,
the login module provides a Log Out button they can click to log out and close their user sessions:

Figure 6-9. Users can click the Log Out button to close their user sessions.
If a specific, configurable period of time elapses during which users are inactive (that is, they are
not performing any actions on your site, like accessing or writing content), Joomla automatically
logs them out. For example, when users switch to other applications, but leave their browsers open
and idle for long periods of time, while remaining logged in, Joomla eventually logs them out. In
addition, when users forget to log out and, instead, close their browsers, their sessions remain open,
even though their browsers are no longer open, until the specified inactivity time period elapses
and Joomla logs them out.
Joomla provides a user session maintenance tool that allows you to specify how long to keep user
sessions open during periods of inactivity. However, you should guard against setting the inactivity
time period either too low or too high. For example, if you set it too low, Joomla may sense a
browser is inactive and log a user out when he or she is simply reading a long document. If you set
it too high, and users close their browsers forgetting to log out, they may find they are still logged
when attempting to access the site much later.

To configure user session settings:


1. On Joomla’s administrative console, select Global Configuration from the Site menu. The
Global Configuration manager opens showing site settings.

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2. Click the System link to view the system settings.


3. Complete the options in the Session Settings section:

Figure 6-10. Configure user session lifetime in the Session Settings section.
• Session Lifetime: The number you type in this field determines how long user sessions
can remain open during periods of inactivity. Keep in mind that if you set it too low,
Joomla may log users out before they are ready to exit your site. And, if you set it too
high, user sessions may remain active even though users have long since abandoned
their browsers.
• Session Handler: Joomla uses a database connection to identify users while they are
logged in to your site. This is the only available option for user session management.
4. Click Save to save your settings and exit the Global Configuration manager.

Restricting Access to All Content


The Joomla publishing platform I built for a technical writing department ran on a company
intranet and I wasn’t concerned about who might be reading the articles we published on it. Every
article we published on the site was openly available to everyone who could access it. Only writers
on the documentation team has user accounts, which allowed us to log in from Joomla’s front end
to write articles.
If you are planning on making your Joomla publishing site available on the Internet, you should
think about the kind of information you’ll be publishing on it and whether or not you want
everyone to have access to it. The easiest way to protect sensitive content is to only make it
available to users who can log into your site.
It is possible to restrict access to all content on your site. That is, you can hide your site’s content
behind the login form. This, of course, means all users require user accounts and must log in to
your site. The fastest and easiest way to hide your site’s content is to set the access level for all
menus to Restricted. When you restrict access at the menu level, all other elements of your site
become inaccessible, because they are only available through the menus.

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Figure 6-11 shows the homepage of a Joomla site for which I restricted access to all menus:

Figure 6-11. The home page of a Joomla site for which all menu access has been restricted.
The only content public users can see is the simple welcome message I posted on the site’s
homepage.

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Creating User Accounts for Customers (Registered


Users)
Your customers are the folks who access your site to read or view the content published on it.Users
only need user accounts if you’ve secured content on your site. If you don’t secure content on it,
users won’t need user accounts. Remember that if you want to allow users to log in to post
comments about articles on your site, you can enable the user self-registration feature. Allowing
anonymous users to self-register will save a lot of administrative time.

To create a registered user account:


1. On Joomla’s administrative console, select User Manager from the Site menu. The User
Manager opens showing the user account list:

Figure 6-12. The User Manager page.


2. Click New. The New User page opens.
3. Complete the options in the User Details section:

Figure 6-13. The User Details section.

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• Name: Type the user’s full name in this field, which displays in the user list on the User
Manager. Using a full name will help you differentiate among other users in the list if
you create accounts for multiple users with similar names.
• Username: Type a username you want the user to supply when logging in (he or she will
type it in the Username field on the Login form).
• E-mail: Type the user’s email address in this field, which must be valid if you connected
Joomla to a mail server. In this case, when you finish creating the user account, Joomla
sends an email containing the username and password to the address you supply in this
field. If you did not connect Joomla to a mail server, you must manually deliver the user
name and password to the user.
• New Password: Type a password for the user account in this field.
• Verify Password: Re-type the user’s password in this field. If the New Password and
Verify Password fields don’t match, Joomla displays an error message when you save
the user account.
• Group: You are creating a registered user account for a customer, which means you
should select the Registered option in the Group window (it is selected by default).
• Block User: To prevent the user from logging in to the site, set this option to Yes. You
probably won’t set it to Yes when creating a new user account, but you could use it to
deactivate a user account at a later time.
• Receive System E-Mails: Leave the default No selection. Enabling this option allows
Joomla to send system-generated email messages to this user, which would only be
appropriate for administrative users.
4. Please note that none of the options in the Parameters section are applicable to registered
users. This section contains options that apply to author and administrative user accounts.
5. Click Save to create the new user account, which displays in the User Manager list. Please
note that if your Joomla system is not connected to a mail server, it displays a message
indicating it could not email the user account information to the supplied email address
(“Could not instantiate mail function.”):

Figure 6-14. Joomla displays an error when the system is not connected to a mail server.
Even if Joomla is unable to connect to a mail server, and it displays the message shown in
Figure 6-14, it still creates user accounts for your site. You should, however, consider this
message a reminder that you must deliver user names and passwords to your users via
another method.

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Creating User Accounts for Writers


Joomla includes three user groups to which you can assign writers to create an authoring workflow:
Author, Editor, and Publisher. Review your current writing, editing, and publishing processes
before assigning roles to authors. If you are building a system for a large team with writers and
editors, you might use all three roles to create a more-complex authoring workflow with distinct
writing, editing, and publishing tasks like the following:
1. Writers with the Author role write and submit articles from Joomla’s front end.
2. Writers or editors with the Editor role review and edit articles as necessary to meet corporate
style and writing standards.
3. Writers or editors with the Publisher role publish articles to make them available on your
site’s front end.
If you are working with a small team, or you are the only writer in a small company, you may not
need an elaborate publishing process. In this case, you may only have a few user accounts with
high-level privileges. For example, you may choose to assign the Publisher role to all users to
enable them to write, edit, and publish their own articles.
To create user accounts for writers, follow the same steps you took to create registered user
accounts (see “To create a registered user account:” on page 122). In the Group list, select Author,
Editor, or Publisher (I explain the differences among the three groups in the following sections):

Figure 6-15. Authoring user groups.


Please note that users who belong to these authoring groups can only perform writing tasks from
your site’s front end. To enable a writer to perform administrative tasks from the back end, in
addition to performing standard authoring tasks, consider assigning him or her to one of the
administrative user groups explained in the “Creating User Accounts for Administrators” section
on page 125.

Authors
When you assign writers to the Author group, they have the ability to write and submit articles, but
not to edit or publish them. That is, users in the Author group cannot retrieve the articles they
submit to make changes and they are unable to make their articles display on the site. I personally
think the “Author” group is better suited for sites that are used in more of a blog fashion, or for sites
with content supplied by many writers in a large documentation team.

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Joomla displays the following message to writers in the Author group when they submit articles to
the site:

Figure 6-16. Article submission message for writers in the Author group.
If you assign the Author role to corporate writers, they have only one chance to write and proof an
article before submitting it. In this scenario, they will resort to using other tools during the drafting
process. Copying and pasting the final version into Joomla’s authoring tool will be the last step in
the writing process. This is not an ideal way to work and makes Joomla much less useful. For a
corporate platform, I recommend assigning the Editor role, at a minimum, to all writers who
contribute articles. This enable them to write and revise their articles in Joomla during the drafting
process and lessens the need for other writing tools.

Editors
If you are building a publishing platform for a large documentation team, and you want to control
what gets posted on it, assigning writers to the Editor group may be a better option than restricting
them to the Author group. As members of the Editor group, writers can draft their documents in
Joomla without having to rely on other documentation tools. Joomla allows editors to access their
documents as often as necessary to make changes. But, they cannot publish their articles, or those
written by anyone else.

Publishers
When you assign writers to the Publisher group, they can perform the same tasks as those in the
Author and Editor groups, with the additional benefit of being able to publish articles on the site.
If you are a member of a small documentation team, assigning everyone to the Publisher group is
probably the best approach. Team members can write and edit their own documents, keeping them
in the draft state as long as necessary before publishing them on the site.

Creating User Accounts for Administrators


Anyone with the ability to log in to Joomla’s administrative back end is an administrative user.
Joomla includes three administrative user groups: Manager, Administrator, and Super
Administrator. The functionality available to users in these groups increases as you move up the
hierarchy from manager to super administrator.
Any user for whom you create an administrative user account can log into Joomla’s site’s front end
and will have the same authoring privileges as users who belong to the Publisher group. To enable
a writer to perform administrative tasks, as well as writing and publishing content, assign him or
her to one of the administrative user groups.

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To create user accounts for administrative users, follow the same steps you used to create user
accounts for front-end users, while selecting the Manager, Administrator, or Super Administrator
user groups:

Figure 6-17. Administrative user groups.

Managers
When you assign users to the Manager group, they have the fewest administrative privileges. But,
they can perform many tasks from the back end, as well as writing and publishing articles from the
front end. Figure 6-18 shows how Joomla’s administrative console appears to users in the Manager
group:

Figure 6-18. Joomla’s administrative console as it appears to users in the Manager group.
The following is a list of the features to which users in the Manager group have access:
• Article Manager - You can perform all article maintenance tasks with the Article Manager,
including creating, editing, and publishing articles for yourself, as well as other users.
• Front Page Manager: You can write, edit, publish, disable, delete, and archive articles
assigned to the front page of your site with the Front Page Manager.
• Section Manager: With the Section Manager, you can perform all section maintenance tasks,
including creating, updating, and deleting sections.
• Category Manager: With the Category Manager, you can perform all category maintenance

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tasks.
• Media Manager: You can upload and manage various types of media like graphics and videos
with the Media Manager.
In addition, users in the Manager group can create and update menus for existing menu modules.
However, they do not have access to the Menu Manager and cannot create menu modules.

Administrators
Users you assign to the Administrator group have the same privileges as users in the Manager
group. Figure 6-19 shows how Joomla’s administrative console appears to users in the
Administrator group:

Figure 6-19. Joomla’s administrative console as it appears to users in the Administrator group.
In addition to performing the same tasks as Manager users, Administrator users have access to the
following, additional features:
• User Manager: With the User Manager, you can create, update, disable, and delete user
accounts.
• Extension Manager: You can install and uninstall third-party modules and plugins (feature
extensions), that enhance the functionality of your Joomla site.
• Module Manager: You can perform all module maintenance tasks, including creating,
updating, and deleting modules.
• Plugin Manager: You can enable, disable, and update plugins. Like modules, plugins are also
feature extensions you can turn on to add functionality to your Joomla site. Plugins often
accompany feature extensions and need to be enabled when installed.

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• Global Check In: You can check in items that are locked or “checked out.” A common use for
this feature is checking in articles that an author left open during his or her user session with
Joomla.
• Cache Manager: Joomla allows you to cache data for many modules on the server, which
means it creates files containing snapshots of the data it retrieves from the database to
improve your system’s performance. According to the Joomla documentation site3, if you
make major changes to your site, like installing and enabling a new template, or installing a
new language pack, your cache files could become out of date. You can use the Cache
Manager to delete cache files from the server.
• Purge Expired Cache: With the Cache Manager, you can delete all files cached for individual
modules and components on your site. The Purge Expired Cache option clears all expired
cache files on your site at the same time (it does not purge current cache files).

Super Administrators
The user account with which you currently log in Joomla’s administrative back end is a member of
the Super Administrator group. As a super administrator, you can perform all publishing and
administrative tasks for your site. Figure 6-20 shows how Joomla’s administrative console appears
to users in the Super Administrator group:

3.You can find an explanation of the cache manager at the following address:
http://docs.joomla.org/Screen.cache.15

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Figure 6-20. Joomla’s administrative console as it appears to users in the Super Administrator group.
In addition to performing the same administrative tasks Manager and Administrator users, super
administrators have access to the following additional features:
• Global Configuration: Enables you to configure system-wide settings that affect your entire
Joomla site.
• Language Manager: If you installed more than one language module, the Language manager
allows you to set a default language for both the front end and back end of your site.
• Template Manager: With the Template Manager, you can enable, disable, and edit the settings
in templates installed through the Extension manager.
• System email: With the system email functionality, you can send email messages to individual
users, to entire groups of users (for example, you can send email to all users in the Author
group), and read messages sent to your system from users.

Creating a User Account Maintenance Menu


You can provide all registered users (anyone with a user account) with a feature that allows them
to perform tasks like changing their user names, passwords, and email addresses. Adding a
maintenance feature like this to your site could potentially eliminate some of your administrative
work. That is, it would allow users to update their personal information instead of relying on you
to do it.
You can either create a new menu module for the user account maintenance menu, or you can add
it to an existing menu module, like the Main Menu. I prefer to create a stand-alone menu module
so I can place it wherever I want on the site (if you add it to an existing menu, its placement depends
on the placement of that menu). Figure 6-21 shows a user account maintenance menu placed
beneath the login menu:

Figure 6-21. User account maintenance menu.


Here are the steps I followed to create the user account maintenance menu shown in Figure 6-21:

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1. First, I created a menu module that I named “User Account Settings.”


2. When I enabled the new module with the Module Manager, I set the following parameters in
the Details section:
• Show Title: No
• Position: Left
• Access Level: Registered4
3. In the Parameters section, I set the Always show sub-menu items option to Yes.
4. Next, I moved the User Account Settings module beneath the Login module on the Module
Manager list, so it would display beneath the login form on the front end:

Figure 6-22. Moving modules on the Module Manager list.


5. After creating the menu module, I created the menu. I started by selecting User Form Layout
(this option creates the user account maintenance form) from the User section as shown in

4.You don’t have to make this feature available to everyone. For example, if you don’t feel comfortable en-
abling registered users to change their personal settings, you can set the access level to Special, which means
it is only available to users in the authoring user groups.

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Figure 6-23:

Figure 6-23. To create a user account maintenance form, choose User Form Layout.
6. I set configured the following parameters on the New Menu Item page:
• Title: “Change My Account Settings”
• Display In: User Account Settings
• Parent Item: Top
• Access Level: Registered
7. When I saved the new menu module and logged in, Joomla displayed a link to the menu,
which was titled “Change My Account Settings,” beneath the login form (as shown in Figure
6-21 on page 129).

Creating a Contact List Menu


If you are building a Joomla publishing site on a company intranet, users may find a list of writers
they can contact about the articles on the site helpful. For example, if you work with a team of
writers, each of whom documents a specific product, users might find it helpful to know who is
responsible for each product and how to get in touch with him or her.

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On the other hand, if you are building a Joomla site on the Internet, you might not want to provide
users with the names of individual content contributors. But, you may want to provide a generic
contact address for the overall site. In this case, you could provide a “Contact Us” link that users
can click to send comments to a department email address.
Creating and displaying a contact list on your site includes the following steps:
1. Create one or more contact categories. Contact categories are groups into which you can sort
contacts (people) for your site. For example, if you post documentation about three different
products to your site, and one or more writers are assigned to each product, you might create
three separate contact categories for each product. You would associate each writer with the
category for which he or she writes content.
2. Create a contact record for each person you designate as a contact. This includes supplying
personal contact information, like email addresses and phone numbers. You can also
associate a contact with a specific user account.
3. Create a contact module. Please note that you can add a contact menu to an existing module,
like the Main Menu module. I prefer to create a separate menu module, which allows me to
place the menu wherever I want on the site.
4. Create the contact list menu. When users select the contact list menu, Joomla displays a list
of contacts. Joomla allows you to format the contact list with one of two separate page
layouts: the Contact Category Layout and the Standard Contact Layout. If you will provide
users with a list of two or more contacts, I recommend using the Contact Category Layout,
which presents the contact list in a table. If you will only provide a single, generic contact,
use the Standard Contact Layout, which displays a single contact when users access the
menu.
Please note that you can find a variety of contact-related extensions on Joomla’s extension site. For
example, there are “columnist-style” extensions that enable Joomla to display a writer’s contact
information on each article her or she submits to the site, as well as links to his or her other articles.
While these types of extension would be helpful for online journals and news sites, they may not
add a lot of value to corporate publishing sites.
The following sections explain how to perform the steps listed above to add a contact list menu to
your Joomla publishing platform.

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To create a contact category:


1. From Joomla’s administrative back end, select Components > Contacts > Categories. The
Contact Details Category Manager opens:

Figure 6-24. The Contact Details Category Manager.


2. Click New. The New Category page opens.
3. Complete the fields in the Details section as necessary.
4. To include a description of the category for the contact list page, type one in the Description
field. Figure 6-25 shows where the contact category description appears on the contact list
page:

Figure 6-25. The contact category description on the contact list page.
5. Click Save to save the new contact category.

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To create a contact:
1. If you are still viewing the Category Manager, click the Contacts link to open the Contact
Manager page, or select Components > Contacts > Contacts on the menu bar. The Contact
Manager opens:

Figure 6-26. The Contact Manager.


2. Click New. The New Contact page opens.
3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 6-27. Complete the Details section on the New Contact page.
• Name: Type the contact’s full name in the Name field.
• Alias: Joomla automaticallys create an alias based on the Name field.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means Joomla makes the contact available
on your site when you save it.
• Category: Select one of the contact categories from the list.
• Linked to User: To link the contact to a specific user account, select one from the list.
• Order: Joomla automatically places each new contact at the bottom of the contact list on
the Contact Manager. You can reorder them on the contact list after creating them.

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• Access Level: The Public option allows anyone who can access your website to see the
contact. The Registered option only allows users for whom you have created user
accounts and who can log in to your Joomla site see the contact. The Special option only
allows users with “authoring” privileges to see the contact.
4. Supply information about the designated contact person in the Information section:

Figure 6-28. Supply contact informational in the Information section.


Please note that you can make contact information in any field in this section private by
hiding it with the options in the Contact Parameters section.

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5. Use the options in the Contact Parameters section to enable Joomla to hide or show the
contact information you supply in the Information section.:

Figure 6-29. Use the Contact Parameters section to hide or display data from the Information section.
6. The parameters in the Advanced Parameters section enable you to identify information on
the contact page with icons or labels:

Figure 6-30. The Advanced Parameters section for contacts.

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The Icons option is selected by default in the Icons/Text list. Figure 6-31 shows how Joomla
displays icons on the contact page:

Figure 6-31. Contact information with icons.


The following icons were selected for the example in Figure 6-31:
• Address Icon: con_address.png
• E-mail Icon: emailButton.png
• Telephone Icon: con_tel.png
• Mobile Icon: con_mobile.png
• Fax Icon: con_fax.png
To use text labels, select Text from the Icons/Text list. Figure 6-32 shows text labels on the
contact page:

Figure 6-32. Contact information with text labels.

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7. Complete the E-mail Parameters section:

Figure 6-33. You can enable users to send email messages to contacts from the contact page.
• E-Mail Form: This parameter is set to Show by default, which means Joomla displays
an email form on the contact page, like the example in Figure 6-34:

Figure 6-34. Enable the email form on the contact page to allow users to email you from your site.

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If you display an email form on the contact page, your Joomla site must be connected to
a mail server. If it is not connected to a mail server, Joomla cannot deliver email through
the form and you should select Hide to prevent Joomla from displaying the email form
on the contact page.
• Description Text: This is a description of the email form you are customizing for the
contact. This description does not display on the contact page on Joomla’s front end.
You only see this description when editing the contact.
• E-mail Copy: When enabled, Joomla displays an option that allows users to send a copy
of any email they submit to their own email addresses.
• Banned E-mail: You can supply a list of terms that you want Joomla to ban from being
sent through the site. Separate each term with a semi-colon (;). For example, if you
typed “meds;personal”in this field, Joomla would ban email addresses like
“meds@savings.com” and “info@personal.com.”
• Banned Subject: You can supply a list of terms, also separated with a semi-colon, that
appear in the subject fields of email messages to ban those messages from being sent
through the site. For example, “meds;personal” enables Joomla to ban messages with
“meds” and “personal” in the subject lines.
• Banned Text: You can supply a list of terms, also separated with a semicolon, that could
be included in the body of email messages to ban them from being sent through the site.
For example “meds;personal” enables Joomla to ban messages with content like “Get
cheap meds from us,” and “A personal message for you!”
8. Click Save to save the new contact.

To create and enable a contact list module:


1. On Joomla’s administrative console, select Menu Manager from the Menus menu. The Menu
Manager opens.
2. Click New to open the New Menu page.
3. Complete the fields on the New Menu page and click Save to save the new contact list
module.
4. After creating the new contact module, select Module Manager from the Extensions menu.
The Module Manager opens.
5. Locate and enable the new contact module.
6. Set the module’s positioning to where you want to place the contact menu on your site.
Consider placing it in either the left or right columns of the site or on the menu bar.

To create a contact list menu:


1. Select the contact module you created and enabled from the Menus menu. The Menu Item
Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Menu Item page opens.

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3. Do one of the following:


• If you are deploying your site on a company intranet, and you plan on poviding users
with multiple contacts, select the Contact Category Layout option from the Contacts
list:

Figure 6-35. Select the Contact Category Layout option to create a list of contacts.
• If you are deploying your site on the Internet, and you only want to provide a single,
generic contact through which public users can send comments and requests, you
should consider using the Standard Contact Layout option. If you select this page layout
style, Joomla displays a single contact like the example in Figure 6-34 on page 138.
Whether you select the Contact Category Layout option or the Standard Contact Layout
option, the New Menu Item page opens.

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4. Complete the Menu Item Details section:

Figure 6-36. The Menu Item Details section for the contact category menu.
• Title: The title you type in this field appears on the menu.
• Alias: Joomla automatically creates an alias based on the menu’s title, so leave this field
empty.
• Link: Contains the internal link associated with the menu item.
• Display in: If you created a separate menu system for the category menu, select it from
this list. Otherwise, select the desired menu system.
• Parent Item: If you created a separate menu system for the category menu, it is
automatically the top item in the menu hierarchy. If you selected a menu system created
for other menus, decide whether you want the category menu to be a child of another
menu, or whether you want it to be a top-level menu item.
• Published: Yes, unless you do not want the menu to be accessible to users.
• Order: Joomla places all menus at the bottom of the menu list by default. You can
rearrange the menu order after creating them.
• Access Level: The Public option allows anyone who can access your website to see the
menu. The Registered option only allows users for whom you have created user
accounts and who can log in to your Joomla site see the menu. The Special option only
allows users with “authoring” privileges to see the menu.

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• On Click, Open in: Generally, you should select the Parent Window with Browser
Navigation option (the default option), which means that when a user clicks the menu
you are creating, the content displays in the same browser window. To launch content in
a separate browser window on top of the main window, select either of the other
options.
5. Complete the Parameters (Basic) section:

Figure 6-37. The Parameters (Basic) section for the Contact Category Layout.
• Select Category: Select the contact category for which you are creating the contact list
menu from the list.
• # Links: Select the maximum number of contacts you want Joomla to display on the
contact list page. If the number of contacts exceeds the maximum number you set with
this option, Joomla displays contact list navigation features beneath the contact list, like
the example in Figure 6-38, which allows users to display subsequent pages of the
contact list:

Figure 6-38. Contact list navigation options.


• Contact Image: To associate an image with the contact list, you can either select one of
Joomla’s pre-packaged graphics, or, if you uploaded graphics to the server, one of your
own from the list. Figure 6-39 shows the contact image on the left side of the
description text.
• Image Align: If you select a contact image, indicate whether Joomla should place it on
the right or left side of the contact list description as shown in Figure 6-39:

Figure 6-39. Align the contact image on either the right or left side of the description.

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• Limit Box: Displays a list that allows users to select the number of contacts they want to
display in the contact list. The limit box displays above the contact list, as shown in
Figure 6-40:

Figure 6-40. The limit box displays above the contact list.
• Show a Feed Link: To syndicate the contact list, which means users can subscribe to it,
set this parameter to Yes. When set to Yes, Joomla creates an RSS feed link, accessible
via feed icons on browser toolbars. When users click the feed link, Joomla allows
them to subscribe to the contact list.
6. Use the parameters in the Parameters (Component) section to override any of the contact

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settings you configured on the individual contacts:

Figure 6-41. You can override individual contact settings with the Parameters (Component) options.

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7. The options in the Parameters (System) section are the same as those you completed for other
menus. Complete the options in this section as necessary.
8. Click Save to save the contact menu.

Displaying a List of Online Users


With Joomla’s “Who’s Online” module, you can display a count of the registered and non-
registered users currently using your site. You can also display a list of the login names of all
registered users currently logged on to your site, or you can display both a user count and login
names. In Figure 6-42, the “Whose Online” module displays both a user count and user names:

Figure 6-42. The “Who’s Online” list of registered and unregistered users.
This feature may be of more interest or use to those of you creating blogging sites. I’m not sure if
it would add much value to a corporate publishing platform or a news site.

To display a list of online users:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu on Joomla’s back end. The Module
Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the Who’s Online link. The Edit Module page opens.

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4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 6-43. The Details section for the Who’s Online module.
• Module Type: This is an uneditable field that identifies the type of module you are
creating (in this case, mod_whosonline, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: Type a title for the module in this field.
• Show Title: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which it means it displays the
module’s title above the online user list, like the example in Figure 6-42. To hide the
module’s title, select No.
• Enabled: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means users can see the module
when you save it.
• Position: Select the desired position from the list, excluding the hornav and user4
options.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the module. Select the desired access level in the list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 6-44. The Menu Assignment section for the Who’s Online module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Who’s Online module is
enabled for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module to specific
menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the Who’s Online module on the pages of
specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the desired
section or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 6-45. The Module Parameters section for the Who’s Online module.
• Caching: The only option available in the Caching list is “Never.” Generally, when you
enable caching for a specific feature, Joomla saves an image of the feature and loads it
on the page instead of retrieving content from the database, which improves your site’s
performance. However, because the list of online users changes each time a user logs on
or off, it is not practical for Joomla to cache the module.

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• Display: By default, # of Guests / Members is selected, which means the module


displays a count of the users currently accessing your site, like the example in Figure 6-
46:

Figure 6-46. Counts of the registered and unregistered users currently accessing your site.
To enable the module to display the login names of registered users currently using
your site, like the example in Figure 6-47, select Member names:

Figure 6-47. Login names for users currently accessing your site.
To enable the module to display both a count of the registered and unregistered
users currently accessing your site, as well as the login names of registered users,
like the example in Figure 6-42, select Both.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.
7. Click Save to save the Who’s Online module. The Menu Manager lists the new module and
displays a message indicating it was created.

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Chapter 7. Managing Media Folders and
Files
Early in my career, I learned the importance of organizing the image files that comprised the
graphics in my documents. For example, on more than one occasion, I faced the painful process of
sorting through hundreds of image files in a single folder to determine which were relevant to a
document and which were not when the previous owner never organized them. After a few time-
consuming image sorting sessions, I made a mental note to ensure I always took time to organize
image files for my documentation projects (I also learned it helps to use a logical file naming
convention).
As you may already know, you cannot embed graphics directly in web-based documents (you can,
of course, embed graphics in documents you create with some word processing tools). Graphics
are separate from other web page content. If you plan on publishing articles that contain graphics,
you’ll need to upload each article’s image files to folders on the server. To ensure that you don’t
end up with a single folder containing the images for every article published on your site, consider
establishing a file organization process before allowing writers to upload images to the server.
This chapter explains how to use the back-end version of the Media Manger1, which is Joomla’s
built-in file and folder management tool for image and multimedia files. It also explains how to
manage media folders directly on Joomla’s file system. In addition, I am including instructions on
installing eXtplorer, which is a third-party file management extension, for those of you with
Joomla systems residing on hosted servers and you do not have access to Joomla’s file system.

1.Joomla provides two versions of the Media Manager: a front-end version through which writers can upload
image files to the server, and a back-end version, which is only available to administrative users from Joom-
la’s administrative back end.

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Using the Media Manager


Joomla’s file system includes a directory named images that functions as the server’s primary
image and multimedia storage location. The server retrieves and displays images from this
directory and its sub-folders at various locations on the site, as well as in your articles. In addition,
the images directory contains a sub-folder named stories where writers can upload image files for
their articles. Figure 7-1 shows the images directory and the stories folder on Joomla’s file system:

Figure 7-1. The images directory is the image and multimedia file storage location on the server.
Joomla provides both front-end and back-end versions of the Media Manager. Writers can access
the front-end version through their text editors and use it to upload image files to the stories folder
on the server. However, they cannot create or delete folders with the front-end version of the Media
Manager. You must, therefore, perform all folder maintenance tasks with the back-end version.

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To access the back-end Media Manager:


Choose Media Manager from the Site menu on Joomla’s administrative back end. The Media
Manager opens:

Figure 7-2. Manage and organize image and multimedia content for your site with the Media Manager

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Viewing Folder Content on the Server’s File System


The Folders section of the Media Manager duplicates the folder structure of the images directory
on the server’s file system:

Figure 7-3. The Folders section duplicates the folder structure of the images directory.
The Media folder at the top represents the images directory on the server. All folders beneath the
Media folder are sub-folders in the images directory. Folders that contain sub-folders are identified
with an adjacent plus sign (like the stories folder in Figure 7-3). You can click the plus sign next
to a folder to expand it and view its sub-folders.
Notice that the path at the top of the Files section displays the full path to folder you select in the
Folders section. For example, Figure 7-4 shows the full path to the stories folder on a XAMPP-
based Joomla server:

Figure 7-4. The Files section displays the full path to the selected folder on the server.

Changing the Folder View Layout Style


The Media Manager provides two layout styles for the folders and files in the Files section: a
Thumbnail View and a Detail View. Use the layout links shown in Figure 7-5 to switch between
the two views:

Figure 7-5. You can change the layout style for the Files section.
By default, the Media Manager uses the Thumbnail View layout style to display content in the Files
section (see Figure 7-2 for an example of the Thumbnail View layout).

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If you select the Detail View layout option, the Media Manager displays the attributes of each
folder and file in separate data columns, as shown in Figure 7-6:

Figure 7-6. The Detail View displays the attributes of each file and folder in separate columns.

Working with Image and Multimedia Folders


The stories folder is the default image file storage location for articles on the server. This is where
writers upload image files for their articles. I recommend that you create sub-folders in the stories
folder to organize the images writers upload to it. For example, to publish a technical article on
building a Joomla server using the first few chapters of this book, I might create a folder named
“joomla-technical” in the stories folder with sub-folders for each technical task. Figure 7-7 shows
how the joomla-technical folder might look when accessed from the back-end version of the Media
Manager:

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Figure 7-7. An article-specific folder with sub-folders for organizing graphics.


While writing my article with a text editor on Joomla’s front end, I would be able to the upload
image files to the joomla-technical folder and its sub-folders.

To create folders on the server:


1. In the Folders section, click the stories directory to select it or, to create a sub-folder under
an existing folder, click the desired folder to select it.
2. Type the name of the new folder you want to create in the empty field to the right of the
images path field, as shown in Figure 7-8:

Figure 7-8. Type the name of the folder you are creating in the Files section
3. Click Create Folder. Joomla creates a folder using the name you supplied. The new folder
displays in the Files window.

To delete folders from the server:


1. Click the folder you want to delete to select it:

Figure 7-9. Select the folder you want to delete and click the adjacent Delete button.
2. Click the adjacent Delete button, as shown in Figure 7-9.

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Working with Image and Multimedia Files


You may not need to upload image files to the server through the back-end version of the Media
Manager very often if writers are uploading their own files through the front-end. However, you
must upload multimedia files, like videos, through the back-end, since the front-end only allows
them to upload image files.
In addition, to associate images with specific elements of your site, like sections, categories, or
menus, you can upload them to the server through the back-end Media Manager. For example, you
may want to associate a product logo with a specific section of your site, like the example in Figure
7-10:

Figure 7-10. You can upload and associate graphics with sections, categories and menus.

To upload files to the server:


1. In the stories folder, click on a sub-folder where you will upload an image or multimedia file
to select it. Please note that if you are uploading an image for a section, category, or menu,
you must place it directly in the stories folder (Joomla only allows you to select images in
the root of the stories folder for sections, categories, and menus).
2. Click Browse in the Upload File section. The Choose File to Upload window opens:

Figure 7-11. Locate and select the file you want to upload using the Select File to Upload window.

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3. Navigate to the folder containing the file you want to upload and select it.
4. Click Open. The path to the selected file displays in the adjacent path field:

Figure 7-12. Click Start Upload to upload a selected image file to the server.
5. Click Start Upload. Joomla uploads the file to the server. Please note that the maximum file
size you can upload is 10 MB by default. See the “Configuring the Media Manager” section
on page 156 to learn how to increase or decrease the maximum allowed file size for uploads.

To delete files from the server:


1. Locate and select the image or multimedia file you want to delete:

Figure 7-13. Select the file you want to delete and click the adjacent Delete button.
2. Click the corresponding Delete button, as shown in Figure 7-13.

Configuring the Media Manager


The Media Manager is a file management tool through which front-end and back-end users can
upload files to the server. At installation, the Media Manager supports a variety of file types and
sizes and provides a directory on the server into which users can upload their files. If necessary,
you can change any aspect of the Media Manager’s file management settings, including the types
of files it allows users to upload, the maximum size of the files it allows users to upload, the groups
of users who can access it, and even the folders into which users can upload files.
You can customize the Media Manager’s settings with the options in the Media Settings section of
the Global Configuration manager. However, the only settings I found I ever changed for the Media
Manager were supported file types and the maximum file upload size.

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To configure the Media Manager:


1. Select Global Configuration from the Site menu. The Global Configuration manager opens.
2. Click the System link to view the System Settings page where the Media Settings section
resides:

Figure 7-14. Configure the Media Manager via the options in the Media Settings section.
3. Configure the Media Manager with the following settings in the Media Settings section:
• Legal Extensions (File Types): This field lists all file extensions Joomla allows writers
and administrative users to upload to the server through the Media Manager. To allow
users to upload files with an extension not included in this list (for example, you might
want to allow writers to upload .mpeg files), add the extension to the list and separate it
from the others with a comma.
Notice this list includes both uppercase and lowercase versions of the same extension.
For example, you can find .bmp and .BMP in the list. If you think writers could upload
files with both uppercase and lowercase file extensions, you should add both versions in
this field.
Please note that if you allow users to upload image files with extensions other than those
in this list (.bmp, .gif, .jpg, and .png), you must also add them to the Legal Image
Extensions (File Types) field.
• Maximum Size (in bytes): This field sets the maximum file size for files users can
upload to the server through the Media Manager. The default maximum file size is
10,000,000 bytes, or 10 MB. The Upload File section on the Media Manager reflects the

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maximum file size:

Figure 7-15. The default maximum file size in the Update File section.
For example, to increase the maximum file size limit for the Upload File field on the
Media Manager to 20 MB, you would do so by typing 20000000 in the Maximum Size
field. When you saved your changes in the Global Configuration manager, the Upload
File section on the Media Manager would show 20M, like the example in Figure 7-16:

Figure 7-16. The new maximum file size in the Update File section.
• Path to Media Folder: This field specifies the path to the folder in which the back-end
version of the Media Manager enables users to upload files other than images to the
server, like videos (writers cannot upload multimedia files through the front-end
version). By default, the path is set to images2, which means users can upload
multimedia files to any folder in the images directory.
• Path to Image Folder: This field specifies the path to the stories folder on the server,
which is where Joomla enables users to upload image files with the front-end Media
Manager. The stories folder is a sub-folder in the images directory.
• Restrict Uploads: This option allows you to specify whether you want to restrict writers
who belong to user groups lower than Manager (that is, Author, Editor, and Publisher)
to only being able to upload images. That is, if you select Yes, which is the default
selection, writers cannot upload multimedia files from the front end.
• Minimum User Level for Media Manager: By default, the Author user group is selected
in this list. This means users in the Author user group and higher (Editors and
Publishers) can access the front-end version of the Media Manager with their text
editors. Use this option to restrict the front-end version of the Media Manager to writers
in a specific user group.
• Check MIME Types: A MIME type is a file format identifier for the Internet that was
originally used to identify the content of e-mail messages (MIME stands for

2.Notice that this field does not contain the full path to the images directory on the server’s file system. Joom-
la is “aware” of the full path, which you can see in the Files Section of the back-end version of the Media
Manager (see Figure 7-2 on page 151 for an example of where the Media Manager displays the full path to
the images directory).

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Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension), which has grown to support other file transfer
protocols. When you set the Check MIME Types option to Yes (the default setting),
Joomla uses either MIME_Magic, or Fileinfo (components of the PHP engine), to verify
the MIME type information in files users upload to the server through the Media
Manager. Allowing the system to check MIME types in uploaded files can help prevent
users from accidentally uploading files containing malicious content.
• Legal Image Extensions (File Types): By default, the Media Manager allows users to
upload files with the .bmp, .gif, .jpg, and .png extensions. To enable the Media Manager
to allow users to upload other image file types (for example, files with the .tiff
extension), add them to the end of the list, separating them from the others with a
comma (remember to also add them to the Legal Extensions field). When users upload
image files with extensions listed in this field through the Media Manager, Joomla
checks them for a valid image headers to verify they are really graphics.
• Legal MIME Types: A MIME type has two identifying parts: a type and a subtype. For
example, the MIME type for a GIF is image/gif, where image is the type and gif is the
subtype. The purpose of this field is to provide a place where you can list full MIME
types for the files users upload through the Media Manager. Identifying legal MIME
types enables Joomla to further verify that users are not uploading malicious content.
If you add extensions for additional file types to the either the Legal Extensions field or
the Legal Image Extensions field, you can add their full MIME types to the Legal MIME
Types field (separating them from the others with a comma). However, this is an
additional precaution and is not a required step for enabling the Media Manager to upload
additional file types. In fact, the following sentence, from the explanation of the Legal
Mime Types field on Joomla documentation site, is meant to discourage you from adding
MIME types to this field unless you are familiar with them: “It is recommended that you
do not touch this setting unless you know what you are doing.”3
You can find lists of MIME types on the Internet. I found one that probably contains most
of the MIME types you would use for a publishing system on Wikipedia at the following
address: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mime_type.
• Illegal MIME Types: You can specify a list of MIME types for files you want to prevent
the Media Manager from uploading to the server. By default, this field contains an entry
for the HTML MIME type, which prevents users from uploading HTML files.
Remember that, though Joomla is a web-based system, its content resides in a database
and is displayed in web browsers via PHP scripts (there is no static HTML content).
Therefore, writers should not upload HTML files to the server through the Media
Manager. Identifying HTML as an illegal MIME type is another way to prevent users
from uploading malicious content to the site. To reproduce content from an existing,
static HTML document in Joomla, you can copy and paste its content (text) from the
HTML file into Joomla’s front-end text editor and save it to the database.
Please note that the Joomla documentation site also warns against making entries in the
Illegal MIME Types field, unless you are familiar with MIME Types.

3.See the full description at the following address: http://docs.joomla.org/Screen.config.15

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• Enable Flash Uploader: The Flash Uploader is a more stylized version of the standard
file uploading feature available in the media manager. However, according to the
Joomla documentation site4, Flash Player version 10 causes issues for the Flash
Uploader and they recommend leaving this option disabled (that is, set to No).

Managing Media Folders and Files Directly on the File


System
The Media Manager should satisfy your file and folder management needs for the images directory.
However, as an administrative user, you may find it faster, from time-to-time, to work directly on
the server’s file system. For example, after creating a corporate Joomla publishing platform, I
wanted to import a few technical documents written in other tools that were full of graphics (screen
shots) organized in multiple folders. I found it much easier and faster to copy the folders containing
graphics from my computer directly to the stories folder on the server than manually creating the
folders and slowly uploading graphics to them through the Media Manager.
Your ability to copy folders containing graphics to your Joomla server depends on whether you can
access the server’s file system. For example, when I built the corporate Joomla site on a company
intranet, I could connect the Joomla server remotely. With a remote connection, I was able to share
drives and copy files and folders from my computer to Joomla’s file system. Another time, when I
had a Joomla system running on a commercially-hosted web server, I connected to it with FileZilla
and FTP’d folders containing graphics to the stories folder.

Managing the Server’s File System with eXtplorer


You may find yourself unable to directly access your Joomla server’s file system other than what
you can access through the Media Manager. In addition, you may not be able connect to it remotely
or via FTP (for example, maybe your IT department installed Joomla on a secure company server
to which they restricted all access, and they did not install an FTP server on it). If this is your
situation, you are limited to uploading one image file at a time to the server through the Media
Manager. If you attempt to import documents with lots of graphics, you will find this is a very slow
method for uploading graphics. The best solution to this issue is installing a third-party, explorer-
like file system management extension called eXtplorer.
eXtplorer has a moderate advantage over the Media Manager in that it allows you to upload seven
files at once to the server, with a total upload file size limit of 64 MB for a single upload attempt.
If you plan to convert documents from other tools to Joomla, you still face a time-consuming
upload process even with eXtplorer, if they contain lots of graphics. But, if you don’t have any
other means of accessing Joomla’s file system, this is a much better option than using the Media
Manager.
eXtplorer has one major drawback that you should consider before installing it on your Joomla
system: it provides access to the root folder of the web server on which Joomla is installed. While
this may not seem like an issue at first, you should know that anyone for whom you create an
administrative user account (whether Manager, or Administrator) can access eXtplorer from

4.Read the full description at the following address: http://docs.joomla.org/Flash_uploader_and_Flash_10

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Joomla’s administrative back end, and can access the web server’s entire file system. The danger
in this is that someone could inadvertently delete or corrupt an essential file or folder, which may
cause either the web server or Joomla to stop functioning properly. If you install eXtplorer, inform
other administrative users of the dangers of changing content in any folder other than what you
upload to the stories folder.
It is important to note that eXtplorer is not the only folder management extension you can install
for Joomla. There are others, like NinjaExplorer and Joomla Flash Uploader, but neither of these
extensions is remarkably better than eXtplorer. For example, while NinjaExplorer allows you to
upload ten files, it doesn’t provide the explorer-like user interface available in eXtplorer, which
makes it a little more difficult to use. And, though you can upload ten files simultaneously with
NinjaExplorer, it has the same 64 MB file upload limit as eXtplorer. The non-commercial version
of the Joomla Flash Uploader (that is, the free version) only enables you to upload 3 MB at one
time.

Downloading and Installing eXtplorer


eXtplorer is only accessible from Joomla’s administrative back end, which means it is not
accessible to front end users with authoring privileges. If an author needs multiple images uploaded
to the server for an article, you can do it with eXtplorer from the back end instead of making the
author upload them one-at-a-time through the media manager.

To download eXtplorer
1. Start a web browser and go to the eXtplorer download site at the following address5:
http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/joomlaxplorer/frs/

2. In the Files column on the JoomlaCode software download page, click the
com_extplorer_2.0.1.zip link in the product list:

Figure 7-17. Click the com_extplorer_2.1.0.zip link to start the download process.

5.If this address is no longer accessible, search for the eXtplorer extension in the Core Enhancements section
of the Joomla extensions site at http://extensions.joomla.org.

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The File Download window opens:

Figure 7-18. Click Save to save the com_extplorer_2.0.1.zip file to your computer.
3. Click Save. The Save As window opens:

Figure 7-19. Save the com_extplorer_2.0.1.zip file to a folder on your computer.


4. Select a folder in which to save the com_extplorer_2.0.1.zip file and click Save.
5. When the download process completes, click Close on the Download Complete window.

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To install eXtplorer:
1. From the computer on which you downloaded the com_extplorer_2.0.1.zip file, access
Joomla’s administrative back end.
2. Select Install/Uninstall from the Extensions menu. The Extension Manager opens:

Figure 7-20. Install the eXtplorer extension through the Extension Manager.
3. Click Browse. The Choose File window opens:

Figure 7-21. Locate and select the com_extplorer_2.0.1.zip file.

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4. Locate the and select the com_extplorer_2.0.1.zip file on the computer’s file system.
5. Click Open. The Choose File window closes. Notice that the Package File field displays the
path to the com_extplorer_2.0.1.zip file on the computer.
6. Click Upload File & Install. The installation process takes several moments. When it
completes, the Extension Manager displays a message:

Figure 7-22. The Extension Manager displays a message when the installation is complete.

Working with eXtplorer


You can perform the same image and multimedia file and folder management tasks with eXtplorer
that you can with the Media Manager. As I mentioned previously, eXtplorer displays the root folder
of the web server on which you installed Joomla. Unless you are familiar with web servers and
wish to customize your Joomla site beyond what I describe in this book, you should limit the tasks
you perform with eXtplorer to those involving the management of image and multimedia files in
the stories folder.
In the following sections, I explain how to access eXtplorer and perform basic folder and file
maintenance tasks. If you have ever used an explorer-like file management system, you will find
eXtplorer is not difficult to use. Please note I only explain how to perform the most basic tasks in
the following sections.

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To access eXtplorer:
1. From Joomla’s administrative back end, select eXtplorer from the Components menu.
eXtplorer launches in your browser:

Figure 7-23. eXtplorer is separate from Joomla.


The main eXtplorer window includes a directory tree and a contents pane:

Figure 7-24. Use the navigation pane to locate a folder and view it in the contents pane.

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The contents of the directories you select with the Directory Tree display in the contents
pane. Use the options on the toolbar to perform standard file and folder maintenance tasks:

Figure 7-25. Use the options on the toolbar to perform standard file and folder maintenance tasks.
2. Notice that user interface for eXtplorer is separate from Joomla. That is, when you access
eXtplorer from Joomla, a new, separate application launches in your browser. To return to
Joomla’s administrative back end, click the Back to Joomla! link:

Figure 7-26. Click Back to Joomla! to return to Joomla’s administrative back end.
3. Also, notice the message in the upper-right corner that mentions you can run eXtplorer in
FTP mode:

Figure 7-27. You can only run eXtplorer in FTP more if an FTP server is running on the computer
hosting your Joomla system.
If an FTP server were running on the server hosting your Joomla system, you could click the
ftp link in this message and access eXtplorer in FTP mode with a user account from the FTP
server. However, if an FTP server is not running on your Joomla system, you cannot use this
feature. If you are using eXtplorer, chances are you are doing so because an FTP server is
not running on the server hosing your Joomla site.
If an FTP server is running on the server hosing your Joomla site, I recommend installing an
FTP client on your computer (like FileZilla) and use it to upload files and folders to your
system instead of eXtplorer. You can upload entire folders and many files at once to your
Joomla server with an FTP client, which you cannot do with eXtplorer.

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To create a folder in the stories folder:


1. Navigate to the stories folder in the Directory Tree by expanding the following folders:
joomla > images > stories, as shown in Figure 7-28:

Figure 7-28. Navigate to the stories folder with the Directory Tree.
2. Click New File/Directory on the toolbar:

Figure 7-29. Click New File/Directory to create a new folder in Joomla’s file system.
The Create New File/Directory page opens:

Figure 7-30. Creating a new directory.


3. Type a name for the folder you are creating in the Folder name field. If the name consists of
two or more words, separate each word with an underscore.
4. Select Directory from the Type list.

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5. Click Create. eXtplorer creates the new directory, which displays under the stories folder in
the Directory Tree.
6. Repeat steps 2 - 5 to create other directories or sub-directories.

To upload image files to the server:


1. With eXtplorer’s Directory Tree, navigate to the folder into which you are uploading image
files (probably a sub-directory in the stories folder).
2. Click the desired folder to select it.
3. Click Upload on the toolbar:

Figure 7-31. Click Upload to upload files from your computer to a folder on the server.
The Upload files window opens:

Figure 7-32. The Upload files window.


4. Click Browse adjacent to the File 1 field. The Choose File window opens. Navigate to the
folder on your computer containing a file you want to upload and click on it to select it.

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5. Click Open. eXtplorer closes the Choose File window and displays the path to selected file
on your computer in the File 1 field:

Figure 7-33. The File 1 field displays the path to an image you are uploading to the server.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for the remaining File fields, as necessary, to select additional files to
upload to the server.
7. After selecting all image files you want to upload to the server, click Save. eXtplorer uploads
the selected files to the desired directory.

To delete image files from the server:


1. With the Directory Tree, navigate to the folder containing an image file you want to delete
from the server (probably a sub-directory in the stories folder).
2. Click the file you want to delete to select it.
3. Click Delete:

Figure 7-34. Click Delete to delete a selected file from the server.
eXtplorer deletes the selected file from the directory.

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Chapter 8. Configuring the Article
Feature Set
The phrase “article feature set” in the title of this chapter refers to features designed specifically
for enhancing the articles published on your site. For example, Joomla can display article
navigation features, like paging and “Read More” links, and distribution features, like a PDF
generator that allows users to convert your documents to PDF files. You can also enable it to
display the metadata stored with your articles in the database, like author names and dates. When
a user accesses an article, Joomla combines these features with your content to display a dynamic,
contextual document.
One of the nice things about Joomla is that it enables users with no knowledge of markup
languages to easily create and manage articles with sophisticated functionality. The same cannot
be said for sites built around static, HTML-based web pages created from word processor output.
It would take substantial effort and coding knowledge to duplicate Joomla’s configurable article
features for documents posted on a static company website.
This chapter explains the types of features with which you can enhance your articles, how and
where to enable them, and describes the benefits of each feature.

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Types of Features Available for Your Articles


You can enable and disable article features from several locations on Joomla’s administrative back
end. For clarity, and to give you insight into how they can enhance your articles, I am grouping
them into the following three categories, which are based on the roles they play for your articles:
article distribution features, article navigation features, and metadata. However, you will not find
them grouped in this manner in Joomla.

Article Distribution Features


One concern I had when researching CMSs and wikis as potential writing and publishing tools was
their content distribution limitations. Many provide only two options: the ability to publish content
on the sites themselves and the ability to syndicate it with RSS feeds. When I started comparing
CMSs, I found Joomla had far better and more diverse distribution features than any of the others:
• Web-based content distribution: Joomla’s primary publishing method is displaying the content
of your articles directly on your site.
• PDF distribution: This feature, which is enabled by default, allows users to save articles from
your site as PDF files. For example, our “articles” consisted of technical manuals, which we
previously distributed as PDF files on documentation CDs. This feature enabled users to save
articles to their computers in a familiar format. It also meant they could access and print our
articles (when saved locally) without an Internet connection, if necessary.
• Hard-copy print distribution: Joomla can generate printer-friendly articles (meaning they
maintain much of the layout and formatting from the site) that users can print to local and
networked printers.
• Email distribution: Users can email article links directly from your site to other users, which
enables them to self-distribute your articles.
• RSS feed distribution: You can enable RSS feeds to syndicate the content of specific sections
or categories of your site. Users can subscribe to them and publish feed links from your site on
their own sites, or download and read your content with a variety of tools, including mobile
devices.
Except for RSS feed functionality, Joomla’s article distribution features reside on each article’s
toolbar. An article’s toolbar displays options (usually in the form of buttons or icons) that users can
click to perform various tasks. Figure 8-1 shows article distribution features on an article’s toolbar:

Figure 8-1. Distribution features on an article’s toolbar.

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Article Navigation Features


You can configure Joomla to display the following types of navigation features:
• Intra-article navigation links: You can enable Joomla to display paging links that users can
click to navigate from one article to the next (but, only for articles belonging in the same
category), like the example in Figure 8-2:

Figure 8-2. Intra-article navigation links.


• Read More navigation links: To save space on category landing pages, you can insert a “Read
More” break after an article’s introductory paragraph. Joomla hides the rest of the content and
displays a link labeled “Read More” that users can click to access and read an entire article,
like the example in Figure 8-3:

Figure 8-3. Read More navigation link.


• Title-based navigation links for sections and categories: You can configure Joomla to display
metadata, like the titles of the sections and categories to which articles belong, on article
toolbars. And, you can enable Joomla to display these titles as clickable links, like the
example in Figure 8-4:

Figure 8-4. Hyperlinked section and category titles.

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Metadata
You can configure Joomla to display the following types of metadata for your articles, as illustrated
in Figure 8-5:
• Article titles
• The titles of the sections to which they belong
• The titles of the categories to which they belong
• Author names
• The dates and times they were created
• The dates and times they were last updated
• The number of times they have been accessed (also known as “hit count”), which only
displays on category landing pages
• User rating results (results of user-based voting on article quality)

Figure 8-5. Metadata displayed for an article.

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Feature Inheritance
To enable Joomla to display article navigation and distribution features and metadata, you can
configure parameter settings in one or more of the following three locations:
• On each article individually, which allows you to control the features and data that display on
each article
• At the section and category menu levels, which means they apply to all articles in those
sections and categories
• At the global level, meaning they to all articles published on your site, regardless of the
sections and categories to which they belong
When a user accesses an article on your site, Joomla follows these steps to determine what
parameter settings to apply to it and, therefore, what features to display for it:
1. First, it checks the parameter settings on the article itself. If Joomla finds you selected a value
for a parameter on the article, it applies the setting to the article and does not check the
parameter elsewhere (that is, it won’t check the same parameter in either the section or
category menus, or in the global configuration manager). For example, if you set the “Author
Name” parameter to Show on the article, Joomla displays the author’s name on the article,
even if you set the same parameter to Hide on a section or category menu, or in the global
configuration manager.
2. Next, Joomla checks the parameter settings on the section and category menus. If it finds you
selected a value for a parameter in one of these locations, it applies the setting to the article
and does not check the same parameter in the global configuration manager. For example, if
you did not select a value for the “Created Date and Time” parameter on the article, but you
set it to Show on the category menu, Joomla shows the article’s creation date and time, even
if you set it to Hide in the global configuration manager.
3. Finally, Joomla checks the parameter settings in the global configuration manager and
applies the settings for the remaining parameters to the article. For example, if you did not
select a value for the “Category Title” parameter on the article or menus, but you set it to
Show in the global configuration manager, Joomla displays the title of the category to which
the article belongs.

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Figure 8-6 illustrates the steps Joomla takes to determine what features to display for articles
published on your site:

Figure 8-6. Joomla checks settings on articles, then in menus, and finally in the Article Manager.

Configuring Article Features


When learning how to use Joomla’s article configuration parameters for a corporate publishing
site, I decided to enable features consistently among the site’s articles. That is, I didn’t want to end
up with a scenario where authors were identified on some articles, but not on others; or, where
Joomla was enabled to render PDF versions of some articles, but not all.
I decided every article should display the same information. This greatly simplified the
configuration process, because it meant I could set all parameters at the global level and largely
ignore the parameters on the articles themselves, as well as those on the section and category
menus. However, while this solution was perfect for my simple publishing scenario, it would not
be appropriate for a more complex site where you want to display different types of features and
metadata for different types of articles.

Global Feature Configuration


If you are building a platform similar to the one I created for a technical writing department, you
may benefit from using the global configuration manager as your sole feature management tool.
But, if your site is more sophisticated, I recommend that you first decide what features you want
to be available, in general, for all articles, or what features you don’t want to display for them, and
set those parameters at the global level. When you have global settings in place, you can override
them, as necessary, with the parameters at the menu and article levels for unique publishing
circumstances.
Please note that only super administrators have access to the global configuration manager. This
feature is not available to users who belong to any other user group. Before continuing to the next
section, log in to Joomla’s administrative back end with a user account belonging to the Super
Administrator group.

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To configure global article parameters:


1. Select Article Manager from the Content menu. The Article Manager opens:

Figure 8-7. The Article Manager with no articles.


2. Click Parameters on the Article Manager toolbar. The Articles Global Configuration window
opens, as shown in Figure 8-8:

Figure 8-8. Publishing settings in the global configuration manager.

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3. Select values for the following parameters in the Global Configuration section as required
for your site:
• Show Unauthorized Links: This parameter is set to No by default, which means
unregistered users cannot see links to articles and other content on your site that have
been assigned either the “Registered” or “Special” access level. If you set this parameter
to Yes, users can see links to this content; though, they cannot access it.
• Show Article Title: When set to Yes (the default setting), Joomla displays article titles
on category landing pages and, in cases where you selected the Section Blog Layout for
section menus, on section landing pages.
• Title Linkable: This parameter only applies to the landing pages of section and category
menus formatted with blog layouts (either the Section Blog Layout or the Category
Blog Layout). When set to Yes, Joomla displays article titles as hyperlinks that, when
clicked, display the full article. Figure 8-9 shows a “linkable” article title on a category
landing page:

Figure 8-9. A linkable article title on a category landing page.


• Show Intro Text: This parameter only applies to the landing pages of section and
category menus formatted with blog layouts and to articles in which authors inserted
Read More links (all text above a Read More link is considered the article’s introduction
text), like the example in Figure 8-10:

Figure 8-10. Introductory text above a Read More link on a category landing page.
This parameter is set to Show by default, which means Joomla displays an article’s
introductory text when users click the article’s Read More link to access the rest of the
article. When set to Hide, Joomla does not display an article’s introductory text when
users click the Read More link. In this case, they only see the remainder of an article.

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• Section Name: This parameter is set to Hide by default. If you set it to Show, Joomla
displays the titles of the sections to which articles are assigned on every article tool bar,
like the example in Figure 8-11:

Figure 8-11. The title of the section to which an article belongs on its toolbar.
• Section Title Linkable: If you set the Section Name parameter to Show, indicate
whether you want Joomla to display section titles on article toolbars as hyperlinks,
which users can click to jump to section landing pages. Figure 8-12 shows how Joomla
inserts a section title as a hyperlink on an article’s toolbar when you set the Section Title
Linkable parameter to Yes:

Figure 8-12. A section title inserted as a hyperlink on an article’s toolbar.


• Category Title: This parameter is set to Hide by default. If you set it to Show, Joomla
displays the titles of the categories to which articles are assigned on every article tool
bar, like the example in Figure 8-13:

Figure 8-13. The title of the category to which the article belongs on its toolbar.

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• Category Title Linkable: If you set the Category Title parameter to Show, indicate
whether you want Joomla to display category titles on article information bars as
hyperlinks, which users can click to jump to category landing pages. Figure 8-14 shows
how Joomla inserts a category title as a hyperlink on an article’s toolbar when you set
the Category Title Linkable parameter to Yes:

Figure 8-14. A category title inserted as a hyper link on an article’s toolbar.


• Author Name: This parameter is set to Show by default, which means Joomla displays
the names of the authors who wrote an article on every article’s tool bar. If you applied
the blog layout style to a section or category menu, Joomla display author names on
each article’s toolbar, like the example in Figure 8-15:

Figure 8-15. The name of an article’s author on the toolbar.


For category menus formatted with the Category List Layout, Joomla also adds an
Author column to the article list on the category landing page, like the example in Figure
8-16:

Figure 8-16. Author names in the article list on a category landing page.

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• Created Date and Time: This parameter is set to Show by default. Joomla displays
article creation dates and times on every article’s toolbar, like the example in Figure 8-
17:

Figure 8-17. An article’s creation date on its toolbar.


• Modified Date and Time: This parameter is set to Show by default. Joomla displays
article modification dates and times beneath published articles, like the example in
Figure 8-18:

Figure 8-18. The date on which an article was last modified.


• Show Navigation: This parameter is set to Hide by default. When set to Show, Joomla
displays < Prev and Next > navigation links at the bottom of every article, like the
example in Figure 8-19:

Figure 8-19. Navigate from one article to the next belonging to the same category.

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• Read more... Link: This parameter, which is set to Show by default, only applies to
articles that display on the landing pages of section and category menus formatted with
blog layouts. It enables Joomla to display Read More links for articles on section and
category landing pages, like the example in Figure 8-20:

Figure 8-20. An article’s Read More link.


• Article Rating/Voting: This parameter is set to Hide by default. When set to Show,
Joomla displays an article rating feature on every article, like the example in Figure 8-
21:

Figure 8-21. The article rating feature on an article.


I don’t recommend enabling the article rating feature for a corporate publishing site (it seems
more appropriate for a blog or online journal). To collect real feedback about the articles
published on your site, I recommend creating surveys with the Fabrik application builder.
For more information on Fabrik, see Chapter 22, “Creating and Conducting Surveys,” on
page 427.

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• Icons: This parameter is set to Show by default. Joomla displays document distribution
options on each article’s toolbar, like the options labeled in Figure 8-22:

Figure 8-22. Document distribution options displayed as icons.


When set to Hide, Joomla displays the names the document distribution options as text
links, as shown in Figure 8-23:

Figure 8-23. Document distribution options displayed as text links.


• PDF Icon: This parameter is set to Show by default. Joomla displays either a PDF icon
or text link on article toolbars (depending on the value you select for the Icons
parameter).
To generate a PDF file, users must right-click the PDF icon and choose Open in New
Window from the option menu. Joomla opens a File Download window with which users
can save the article in PDF format to their computers.
• Print Icon: This parameter is set to Show by default. Joomla displays either a print icon
or hypertext link on article toolbars (depending on the value you select for the Icons
parameter).
When users click either the Print icon or hyperlink, Joomla displays a printer-friendly
version of an article they can then print to a local or networked printer, as shown in Figure

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8-24:

Figure 8-24. Joomla displays a printer-friendly version of an article when users click the Print icon.
Users can click the Print icon or link on the printer-friendly version to open the Print
window, where they can select either a local or networked printer.
• E-mail Icon: This parameter is set to Show by default. Joomla displays either an email
icon or text link on article toolbars (depending on the option you set for the Icons
parameter). Please note that Joomla can only send email if it is connected to a mail
server (see “Connecting to a Mail Server” on page 48 for more information).

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When users click the email icon, Joomla displays the email form shown in Figure 8-25:

Figure 8-25. Joomla displays an email form when users click the email icon.
• Hits: This parameter, which is set to Show by default. Joomla adds a “Hits” column in
the article list on category landing pages, like the example in Figure 8-26:

Figure 8-26. Article hit count on a category’s article list.


The Hits column displays the number of times users access each article in the category.

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• For each feed item show: If you are syndicating the content of a section or category1,
you can enable Joomla to display either an article’s introductory text (if the article
includes a Read More link) or the entire text of the article in the feed link. If you
enabled a feed link for a section or category of your site, you insert Read More links in
your articles, and you select the Intro Text option, Joomla displays the article’s title and
introductory text above the Read More break on the RSS feed page, as shown in Figure
8-27:

Figure 8-27. An article’s introductory text on an RSS feed page.


If you enabled a feed link for a section or category, and you select the Full Text option,

1.That is, you enabled an RSS feed link for a section or category to share its content with other web sites or
users.

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Joomla displays the entire article on the RSS feed page, as shown in Figure 8-28:

Figure 8-28. The full text of an article on an RSS feed page.

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• Filtering options: TinyMCE, which is the name of Joomla’s writing tool, enables writers
to work on their articles in HTML. The filtering options in this section allow you to
control the types of HTML tags authors can submit in their articles, which can help
prevent both intentional and unintentional attacks on your site. By default, the Blacklist
option is selected for the Filter type, as shown in Figure 8-29:

Figure 8-29. Blacklist filtering is enabled by default.


The “blacklist” is a list of HTML tags that Joomla prevents all writers (except those
belonging to the Super Administrator group) from being able to upload to the site in their
articles. According to the Joomla documentation site2, the blacklist includes the
following tags:
applet, body, bgsound, base, basefont, embed, frame, frameset, head, html, id, iframe,
ilayer, layer, link, meta, name, object, script, style, title, xml

If you are building a corporate publishing platform that fellow employees will use to
write and publish documentation, the default blacklist filtering will probably meet your
security needs. However, if you are building a site through which the “public” will
submit articles, you can use the options in this section to further restrict the types of
HTML tags authors can submit in their articles, or you can eliminate HTML tag
submission altogether.
4. Do one of the following:
• If you believe the blacklist HTML filtering meets your security needs, click Save to
save your global configuration settings.
• To learn how to use the other HTML filtering options in the “Filtering options” section
before saving your settings, see Appendix D., “Securing Article Submission” on page
481.

2.See the “Filtering Options (HTML)” section at the following address:


http://docs.joomla.org/Screen.content.15

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Menu-Level Feature Configuration


There may be situations in which you want to display data for articles belonging to a specific
section or category that you don’t want display for other articles on your site. For example,
corporate marketing department’s publishing site could include a “Press Release” category. To
display the names of press release authors, you would set the “Author Name” parameter to Show
on the Press Release category menu, but leave it set to Hide on the Author Name parameter in the
global configuration manager. In this scenario, Joomla displays author names for all articles
belonging to the Press Release category, but hides them for all other articles published on your site
(unless similarly overridden).
In the instructions on creating section and category menus in Chapter 5, “Creating Menu Systems
and Configuring Page Layout,” I tried to discourage you from selecting values for the parameters
in the “Parameters (Configuration)” sections. I wanted you to have a good understanding of the
types of features you could enable for your articles first, as well as how your articles could “inherit”
parameter settings from the three configuration locations. After reading this chapter, I am hoping
you will know what features you want to make available for your articles and how you will allocate
them. With an understanding of the features and the inheritance process, you can edit your section
and category menus and configure parameter settings as necessary.

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To edit a section menu:


1. Choose the desired menu system from the Menus menu. The Menu Item Manager page
opens.
2. Click the name of the section menu you want to edit in the menu list. The Edit Menu Item
page opens for the section menu:

Figure 8-30. The Edit Menu Item page for a section menu.
3. Expand the Parameters (Component) section, as shown in Figure 8-30. If you didn’t select
values for these parameters when you created the section men, they will all be set to “Use
Global” like those in the example. This means that all articles associated with the section
menu currently inherit their feature settings from the global configuration manager.

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4. To override the global settings, select values for the parameters you want to apply to all
articles belonging to this section menu. For example, if you set the Author Name parameter
to Hide in the global configuration manager, but, you want to display author names for all
articles associated with this section menu, you would set the Author Name parameter to
Show.
Please note that the parameters in the Parameters (Component) section are identical to those
available in the global configuration manager. See the “Global Feature Configuration”
section, starting on page 176, for explanations of these parameters.
5. Click Save to save your settings and exit the Edit Menu Item page.

To edit a category menu:


1. Choose the appropriate menu system from the Menus menu. The Menu Item Manager page
opens.
2. Click the name of the category menu you want to edit in the menu list. The Edit Menu Item
page opens for the category menu:

Figure 8-31. The Edit Menu Item page for a category menu.

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3. Expand the Parameters (Component) section, as shown in Figure 8-31. If you didn’t select
values for the parameters in this section when you created the category menu, they will all
be set to “Use Global” like those in this example. When set to “Use Global,” they inherit their
settings from the global configuration manager.
4. To override the global settings, select values you want to apply to all articles belonging to
this category menu from the list of available parameters. The parameters in the Parameters
(Component) section are identical to those available in the global configuration manager. See
the “Global Feature Configuration” section, starting on page 176, for explanations of these
parameters.
5. Click Save to save your settings and exit the Edit Menu Item page.

Article-Level Feature Configuration


As I mentioned earlier, Joomla checks the parameter settings on your articles first and, if it finds
you selected a value, it applies the setting to the article and does not check for a value on the same
parameter elsewhere (the parameter settings on your articles override the menu and global-level
settings). There may be times when you want to publish articles with features and metadata unlike
those you display for other articles on your site. In these cases, the best option is to set parameter
values directly on your articles.
For example, I wanted to reserve the front page3 of my technical documentation site for
introductory material. That is, instead of publishing various types of content on the front page, I
only published articles that explained and linked to the main sections of the site4 (they acted more
like a high-level table of contents). And, because these articles were on the front page, I wanted to
apply specific settings to them, which I set directly on the articles themselves.
It is important to note that you can only access article configuration parameters when writing or
editing an article from Joomla’s administrative back end. Authors who write and submit articles
from the front end do not have access to these parameters. This means articles submitted from the
front end inherit the parameter settings from the sections or categories to which they are assigned,
or the global settings in the global configuration manager. It also means that if you want an article
submitted by a front-end author to have unique features or metadata, an administrative user must
edit the article from the back end.

3.The “front page” is Joomla terminology for what you might otherwise think of as your site’s “homepage.”
4.This site functioned as a publishing platform. I did not need to design a captivating front page. Instead, I
needed a utilitarian site that enabled users to quickly find information.

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Figure 8-32 shows an article accessed from the Article Manager:

Figure 8-32. The configuration parameters on an article accessed from the Article Manager.
The parameters in the Parameters (Advanced) section have the same options as the parameters on
the section and category menus and the global configuration manager. However, this section
includes a few additional parameters, which I explain on page 210.

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Part III. Writing and Publishing with Joomla!
Chapter 9. Switching to the Joomla
Content Editor (JCE)
This chapter explains how to install and configure the Joomla Content Editor (JCE). The JCE
includes a more current version of the TinyMCE text editor, as well as many additional publishing
features not available in TinyMCE.

Using TinyMCE
Joomla’s default text editor is TinyMCE version 2.0. If you followed the instructions previous
chapters of this book, you have already seen, and probably used, TinyMCE to write descriptions
for sections, categories, and menus (Figure 4-26 on page 67 is the first example of the TinyMCE
editor in this book). Joomla displays the TinyMCE editor wherever you can input paragraphs of
information for your site. Figure 9-1 shows how the 2.0 version of the TinyMCE editor appears in
Joomla’s back-end authoring tool:

Figure 9-1. TinyMCE is Joomla’s default text editing tool.


The toolbar on the TinyMCE text editor provides many standard text formatting options and a large
text entry window where you type the content of your articles. TinyMCE does not provide page
layout options, but, none are needed, since the Joomla template manages all aspects of page layout
for your site.
TinyMCE is currently at version 3.3.x and includes many more features than those available in the
2.0 version packaged with Joomla. The more current versions of TinyMCE also improve upon
some of the flaws in the 2.0 version. For example, the 2.0 version inserts soft returns (paragraph
breaks with the <br> tag) instead of hard returns (new paragraphs with the <p> tag) when you press
Enter to start a new paragraph, which can cause formatting headaches. In the more current
versions, pressing Enter inserts a hard return.

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Using JCE with TinyMCE


You can get a more-current version of the TinyMCE text editor by installing a third-party extension
called the Joomla Content Editor (JCE). In addition to a more-current version of TinyMCE, JCE
provides better image and link insertion features than those available in TinyMCE, as well as a host
of other features.
Figure 9-2 shows the 3.3.9 version of the TinyMCE text editor, which was packaged with JCE
version 1.5.7.6:

Figure 9-2. The JCE text editing tool.


I strongly recommend installing JCE and configuring it as your default text editor, which I explain
how to do in the following sections. If you choose not to install it, you will not be able to perform
some of the tasks I explain in the remaining chapters and you will not have access to many of the
improved text formatting features available in the 3.3.x version of TinyMCE.

Downloading and Installing JCE


At the time of this writing, JCE is at version 1.5.7.6. However, the JCE development team regularly
releases newer versions. Most likely it will be at a newer version by the time you read this. In this
case, download the most current version of the software.
The following sections explain how to download, install, and configure JCE as Joomla’s default
text editing tool. As the default text editor, JCE will be available from your site’s back end, through
the Article Manager, and to authors who log in to your site’s front end.

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To download JCE:
1. Start a web browser and go to the JCE site at the following address:
http://www.joomlacontenteditor.net

2. Select Editor from the Downloads menu. The Editor Archive page opens.
3. Locate the JCE Installation package section, as shown in Figure 9-3:

Figure 9-3. .Download the JCE installation package.


4. Click Download. The File Download window opens.
5. Save the com_jce_1576_package.zip file to your computer (the developers update the
version number in the file name for each release).
6. When the download process completes, exit the browser.

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To install JCE:
1. From the computer on which you downloaded the com_jce_1576_package.zip file, open a
browser and log in to Joomla’s administrative back end.
2. Select Install/Uninstall from the Extensions menu. The Extension Manager opens.
3. Click Browse. The Choose File window opens.
4. Locate the and select the com_jce_1576_package.zip file on the computer’s file system.
5. Click Open. The Choose File window closes. Notice that the Package File field displays the
path to the com_jce_1576_package.zip file on the computer.
6. Click Upload File & Install. When the installation process completes, the Extension Manager
displays the following installation summary message:

Figure 9-4. JCE installation message.

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To enable JCE:
1. Select Global Configuration from the Site menu. The Global Configuration Manager opens.
2. Select Editor - JCE from the Default WYSIWYG Editor list in the Site Settings section, as
shown in Figure 9-5:

Figure 9-5. Select Editor - JCE from the Default WYSIWYG Editor list.
3. Click Save. Joomla displays a message indicating it saved your changes to the global
configuration settings.

Administering JCE
JCE includes an administrative dashboard you can use to configure how the application functions,
who can access specific types of features, and the text formatting options that are available on the
JCE toolbar. You can also install specific JCE plugins from the dashboard.
I administered a site for a small technical documentation team and I never bothered changing the
JCE’s default parameter settings. However, if you are managing a Joomla site with a large number
of authors, you may find the JCE’s security parameters helpful. These parameters, which are
available via the JCE Group Manager page, allow you restrict features to users who belong to
certain user groups.

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To access JCE’s administrative dashboard, select Components > JCE Administration > Control
Panel from the menu bar:

Figure 9-6. The JCE Administration page.


The JCE developers have thoroughly documented the features available on the JCE Administration
page. I am not, therefore, reproducing their efforts by documenting them in this chapter.

To find documentation and other resources:


1. Open a browser and go to the JCE homepage at the following address:
http://www.joomlacontenteditor.net/

2. From the JCE homepage, select any of the following menus from the Support menu:
• FAQ: Articles answering commonly-asked questions.
• Tutorials: Tutorials on installing, configuring, and administering JCE.
• Documentation: Articles on administering JCE, as well as using JCE’s features.
• Forum: Questions and answers submitted by the JCE user community, a subscriber
forum, and announcements.
• Known Issues: Lists known issues for recent releases.
• Releases: A change log listing enhancements and bug fixes included in each release.

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Chapter 10. Writing and Publishing from
the Back End
You can write and publish content from both the front end and back end of your site, but as the
administrator, you should learn how to do it from the back end first. If you work with a small team
(or you are the only writer in your department), you may find that you often write and publish
articles from your site’s back end. On the other hand, if you work with a large team of writers and
editors, you may want to restrict all content writing and editing tasks to the front end to keep the
number of users who can access Joomla’s administrative back end to a minimum.
If you skipped previous chapters to start experimenting with Joomla’s writing and publishing
features, I recommend reviewing them at some point to learn how Joomla works and for tips on
organizing your site. If you have been following the instructions in this book in a linear manner,
you have yet to write and publish content on your site. In this case, I am sure you are ready to get
started.
This chapter explains how to create and edit articles from Joomla’s back end. It also explains how
to work with an article’s underlying HTML. And, it explains how to publish articles on your site’s
homepage. For those of you creating a corporate publishing platform, read the first section, which
consists of a short essay on using corporate styles in your articles.

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Styling Your Articles


Before explaining how to write and publish articles on your site, I think it’s important to tell you
how to avoid a time-wasting article styling blunder I made when getting started. Like many
documentation teams, we had custom templates for our desktop publishing tools with a variety of
styles that we applied to the paragraphs, headings, lists, and tables in our documents. We also wrote
an exhaustive style guide that listed the styles in each template and described their attributes (such
as font size, color, spacing, etc.). With the templates and style guide, each document we produced
had layout and paragraph styling that was identical to the others, which is a common branding
practice for corporate documentation. When I was learning how to write articles with Joomla, it
seemed sensible to attempt reproducing, as much as possible, our corporate paragraph styles in a
style sheet and adding it to the TinyMCE editor.
After making a custom style sheet available in TinyMCE, I spent a couple of days applying our
corporate styles to a long technical manual I imported into Joomla. But, when I was done, the result
looked terrible. The reason? Articles are meant to look and behave like the rest of your Joomla site
- they should blend into it seamlessly. When I applied our corporate paragraph styles, which looked
nothing like those in the JA_Purity template, to the article, it clashed with the rest of the site. From
this experience, I learned to apply the template’s paragraph styles, and not my own, to the articles
I was publishing on our site.
This is not to say you cannot reproduce your corporate styles in Joomla, like I did. But, in doing
so, you may find they clash with the styles in your site’s template. If using corporate styles is a
necessity, your only choice may be creating a custom Joomla template1 with fonts and a layout that
compliment your corporate styles.
Keep in mind that many of the commercial and non-commercial Joomla templates you can find on
the Internet are developed by professional design companies. Some of these companies employ
designers and UI specialists who create attractive templates with paragraph styles and layouts that
are optimized for fast download speeds and readability. If you select a commercial template instead
of creating a custom template (or, even if you decide to stick with the JA_Purity template),
applying the template’s built-in paragraph styles to your articles will result in a holistically-styled
site in which your content is indistinguishable from the rest of the site. In other words, your site
will look much better if you ditch your corporate styles and adopt the styles in your Joomla
template.

1.Template creation is beyond the scope of this book. If you want to try building your own Joomla template,
consider investigating Artisteer (http://www.artisteer.com). Artisteer has a menu-driven user interface with
which you can customize Joomla templates. You can download an evaluation version for free, but you must
purchase the Standard edition.

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Creating and Editing Articles


One assumption I am making in this book is that, as a fellow professional writer, or writing student,
you have used word processors or other types of writing tools at some point in your career. I
mention this because I do not explain how to use many of the text formatting options on the
TinyMCE toolbar, which are similar to those you can find on many writing tools. I think you will
be able to tell, at a glance, what you can do with most of them. If you are uncertain of an option’s
purpose, hover your mouse pointer over it to see the option’s name, which should give you an idea
of the task you can perform with it.
The following sections explain how to create new articles and edit existing articles, as well as how
to add navigation and distribution features and metadata to your articles.

To ceate a new article:


1. Log in to Joomla’s administrative back end.
2. Select Article Manager from the Content menu. The Article Manager opens.
3. Click New. The New Article page opens:

Figure 10-1. The New Article page.


4. Complete the following fields and parameters:
• Title: Type a title for the article.
• Alias: Joomla automatically populates this field with a variation of the article’s title

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when you save it, so leave it blank.


• Section: Select the appropriate section for your article from the list. If you haven’t
created sections for your site yet, select Uncategorised from the list, which will be your
only option. Please note that if you haven’t created sections for your site yet, you will
only be able to publish articles on your site’s front page. To learn how to create sections,
see “Creating Sections” on page 65.
• Published: Indicate whether or not you want to publish the article (that is, make it
visible on your site). If you select Yes, users will be able to see and access the article
from the section or category menu to which it is assigned. But, remember that the access
levels you set on your categories, sections, and menus also determine whether users can
access published articles. For example, if the category to which you assign an article has
the “Registered” access level, only those users who can log in to your site (that is, users
with registered user accounts) will be able to see and access the article when you
publish it.
If you select No, neither non-registered users nor registered users will be able to see or
access the article on your site (they won’t know it exists). However, it will be visible to
all users who belong to the Editor user group and higher as an unpublished article in a
draft state.
• Front Page: Indicate whether or not you want the article to display on your site’s front
page. For more information on front page articles, see “Front Page Publishing” on page
218.
• Category: Select a category for the article. If you have not yet created a category, select
Uncategorised from the list. To learn how to create categories, see “Creating
Categories” on page 68.

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5. Click in the text field and start writing your article:

Figure 10-2. Type your article in the text entry window.


With TinyMCE, you can highlight and format text with standard keyboard shortcuts, like
Ctrl+B for bold and Ctrl+I for italics. You can also copy, cut, and paste text with the Ctrl+C,
Ctrl+X, and Ctrl+V shortcuts, respectively. And you can, of course, use the text formatting
options on the toolbar:

Figure 10-3. Format text in your article with the options on the toolbar.
Figure 10-3 shows the toolbar for the 3.2.7 version of the TinyMCE editor, which allows you
to perform the same types of text formatting tasks you would normally perform with a word
processor. Please note that while I am not explaining the options on the TinyMCE toolbar, I
do explain how to use the following JCE options that are accessible from the toolbar:
• Image Manager. To learn how to insert and manage the images in your articles, see
Chapter 11, “Working with Images” on page 221.
• Table Manager: To learn how to insert and style tables in your articles, see Chapter 12,
“Working with Tables” on page 235.

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• Advanced Link: To learn how to insert and style links in your articles, see Chapter 13,
“Working with Links” on page 243.
6. I recommend saving an article not long after you create it, as well as saving it periodically
during the writing process to ensure you never loose work. Remember that Joomla is
configured to time-out user sessions when they remain idle for a specific period of time. For
example, if you got distracted in the middle of writing an article, if your user session times
out before you return to it, you will loose all unsaved work.
Do one of the following to save your work:
• To save your article and continue working, click Apply.
• To save and close your article, click Save. When you save an article, Joomla displays it
in the article list on the Article Manager:

Figure 10-4. The Article Manager lists all articles written for your site.
Over time, you may find the article list becomes fairly long. Use the sorting options above the list
to quickly find specific types of articles. For example, when trying to find an article on a site with
hundreds of articles, I use the Select Section and Select Category options to narrow the list down
to those articles written for a specific section and category.

To edit an existing article:


To open and edit an existing article, click the article’s title in the article list:

Figure 10-5. Click on an article’s title in the article list to open and edit it.

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Joomla opens the selected article in the Edit Article page, which has features identical to those on
the New Article page.

To preview an article:
1. You can preview an article at any point during the writing process (even before you save it)
to get an idea of how it will look on your site. Click Preview on the Article toolbar. Joomla
displays the article in a preview window:

Figure 10-6. The article preview window shows how your article will look when published.
2. Click the X in the upper-right corner to close the preview window.

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To configure article parameters:


1. You can enable Joomla to display various types of navigation and distribution features, as
well as metadata, for each article on your site. While you can configure these parameters at
a higher, global level, or even at the menu level, which will apply to many articles
simultaneously, you can also set them on individual articles (see Chapter 8, “Configuring the
Article Feature Set” on page 171 to learn about the entire process). To set them for an
individual article, start with the parameters in the Parameters (Article) section:

Figure 10-7. The options in the Parameters (Article) section.


• Author: Because you are writing an article from Joomla’s back end as an administrative
user, the Author list shows Administrator as the default author. Unless you change it,
“Administrator” will be the author name for the article when you publish it. This is fine
when you want users to know an article was published by an administrative user.
However, to attribute it to your user name, or even to another author (for example, you
might be re-creating a document that was originally written by another author who used
a desktop publishing tool), select the desired name from this list.
• Author Alias: Joomla will override any selection in the Author list with an entry in the
Author Alias field (unless you leave the Author Alias field empty). For example, if you
want an article to be attributed to an author who doesn’t have a user account (and whose
name is, therefore, not available in the Author list), you would type the author’s name in
this field. If you don’t type an alias in this field, the article will be attributed to the name
selected in the Author list.
• Access Level: An article’s access level determines who can see it. The options in this
list are tied to user groups. When you select the Public option, all users who do not have
user accounts (and, therefore, do not belong to a user group) can see an article. You
would select this option when you want all visitors to your site to be able to read an
article.
When you select the Registered option, all users with registered user accounts (and who
belong to the “Registered” user group, or higher) can log into your site can see an article.
The Special option means only users who belong to the authoring and administrative user
groups can access the article.

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Please note that an article’s accessibility is also determined by the section and category
menus to which it belongs. For example, if you set an article’s access level to “Public,”
but the category menu to which it is assigned is set to “Registered,” the article will only
be accessible to those users with registered user accounts. In this case, only users who
can log in to your site will be able to see the category menu, which means only registered
users can access the article.
• Created Date: This the date on which you created the article. By default, this field shows
the date and time on which you started creating it. If you want an article to appear to
have been created on a different date, you can change the values in this field. You can
manually change the date in this field, or you can click the adjacent calendar icon to
open the calendar window, where you can pick a date:

Figure 10-8. Change the article’s creation date with the calendar.
• Start Publishing: By default, the date in this field matches the date in the Created Date
field. For example, if you started creating a document on July 21, 2010, the Start
Publishing field would show “2010-21-07.” If you set the Published parameter to Yes,
when you save the article, Joomla will immediately display it on your site.
If, however, you want Joomla to automatically publish an article at a future date, which
may not correspond to its creation date, you could type, or select, the future date in this
field. For example, if you were writing a user’s guide for a product that would not be
released to the public for several weeks, you might type or select a date matching the
product’s release date for this field. This means Joomla would not display the article on
your site until the date in the Start Publishing field.
• Finish Publishing: To enable Joomla to automatically stop publishing an article on your
site by a specific date, select or type the date in this field. By default, this field shows
“Never,” which means Joomla will always display the article on your site until you
remove it by setting the Published parameter to “No.”

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2. Next, expand the Parameters (Advanced) section:

Figure 10-9. The parameters in the Parameters (Advanced) section.


Select values for the parameters in the Parameters (Advanced) section, as desired, for the
article2. Most of the parameters in this section are identical to the ones you already
learned about in the “Global Feature Configuration” section, which starts on page 176.
However, this section contains the following additional parameters:
• Content Language: If you wrote an article in a language other than the default language
of your site, and you installed a language pack for that language, you can select it from
this list. This parameter simply identifies an article’s language - it does not convert the
content of the article to another language3. Language packs do, however, serve another
purpose: you can assign them to registered users who speak other languages, and
Joomla’s options will display in that language. But, Joomla will always display your
articles in the language in which they were originally written (unless you install a
language conversion extension).

2.Remember that any values you select for parameters at the article level will override the parameter settings
at the global and menu levels.
3.You can find language conversion extensions on Joomla’s extension site (http://extensions.joomla.org),
which will convert the content of your articles to other languages, but you must install and configure them
separately.

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For example, if you wrote an article in German, and you installed the German language
pack on your site, you could select Deutsche from the list, like the example in Figure 10-
10, to identify the article as having been written in German:

Figure 10-10. If you installed additional language packs, you can select a specific language for the
article.
If you have not installed a language pack, your site’s default language will be the only
option in the Content Language list.
• Key Reference: You can ignore the Key Reference field (that is, leave it blank) unless
you are building a Joomla site that will host documentation for a Joomla component
developer (someone who develops third-party software for Joomla). If this description
applies to you, then you can use key references to turn your articles into context-
sensitive help for Joomla software components.
You would start by writing and publishing articles on your site about the developer’s
component. To use the articles as context-sensitive help topics, you must add a key word
that uniquely identifies each article in the Key Reference field. To use multiple key
words for a key reference, you must separate each word with a dot, like the example in
Figure 10-11:

Figure 10-11. Key reference naming convention.


Next, the component developer could insert a “Help” link or button on each page of his
or her Joomla component that links to an article on your server using the following
format:
<homeURL>/index.php/?option=com_content&task=findkey&keyref=my.help.topic

In this example, <homeURL> represents the address of your Joomla site, &task=findkey
tells Joomla to look for a key reference, and &keyref=my.help.topic identifies the help
topic’s key reference (in this case, my.help.topic). For example, if I wrote an article as a
help topic for Joomla’s News Feeds component that I published on my own Joomla
documentation server, I would provide developer with my server’s URL (e.g.,
mattdoc.net) and the key reference I assigned to the article (e.g., “news.feed.help”). He
or she would plug this information into the link format above to link to the article on my
server, which would look like the following example:
http://mattdoc.net/index.php?/option=com_content&task=findkey&keyref=news.feed.help

In this scenario, when users click the Help link on the developer’s component page,
Joomla would display the corresponding article from my server in the user’s browser.

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• Alternative Read more text: By default, when a user moves his or her mouse over a
Readmore link on your site, Joomla displays the article’s name in a popup window, like
the example in Figure 10-12:

Figure 10-12. Readmore mouseover text showing the article’s title.


You can, if desired, enable Joomla to display other text, instead of the article’s title, when
users mouse over the Readmore link. For example, you could type “Click here to read the
rest” in the Alternative Read more text field to prompt readers to finish reading an article.
3. Finally, supply information for the fields in the Metadata Information section, as necessary,
for the article:

Figure 10-13. The fields in the Metadata Information section.


You can supply metadata keywords in this section for search engines. The Joomla
documentation site explains this section as follows:
“Metadata is information about the Article that is not displayed but is available to Search
Engines and other systems to classify the Article. This gives you more control over how
the content will be analyzed by these programs.”4
• Description: Type a concise description of your article for search engines.
• Keywords: Type keywords that you think accurately represent the article. For example,
if you wrote an article on collecting silver dollars, you might include keywords like
silver, coin, dollar, collecting, value, etc., depending on the content of the article.

4.This quote comes from the Metadata Information section at the following address: http://docs.joomla.org/
Screen.content.edit.15

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Please note that you can enable Joomla to link articles that share the same keywords as
“related articles.” When users access an article with one or more keywords that match
other articles, Joomla automatically lists the titles of the related articles in the form of
hyperlinks. You can use this feature to help users quickly navigate to articles with related
content. For more information, see the “Related Articles” section on page 316.
You can also display banners for specific articles using keywords. For example, if you
were writing a user’s guide for a specific product, and you wanted to display a banner for
the product with your article (for example, a product logo), you would add a keyword to
the article and then add the same keyword to the banner. See Chapter 18, “Advertising
with Banners,” on page 351 for more information on banners.
• Robots: Robots, or bots, are applications that roam the Internet, analyzing and
cataloging information from web servers. If desired, you can type specific keywords
that bots can use to catalog your articles.
• Author: Type the author’s name o use it as part of the metadata available to search
engines.

Working in HTML
By default, TinyMCE displays your articles in WYSIWYG, which means you can’t see the
underlying HTML tags it applies to text and other elements in your articles as you format them.
For example, to apply bold formatting to a word in your article, you might select it and press
Ctrl+B. Because you are working in WYSIWYG, the formatted text appears to be bold in
TinyMCE’s text editor window. However, if you were to switch to an HTML view of the article,
you would see TinyMCE applied the <strong> tag set to the bold word.
With TinyMCE, I find I rarely need to work with my articles’ underlying HTML. The options on
the TinyMCE toolbar are all I need when formatting text - that is, I can use them instead of
manually applying HTML tags and attributes. But, because I memorized many HTML tags long
ago, when I did create HTML documents by hand, I find it faster, from time-to-time, to switch to
an HTML view when formatting an element in an article. For example, after designing and
inserting a table with TinyMCE’s table editor, I sometimes find it faster to switch to an HTML view
when making small changes to it. In this case, editing a table in HTML saves me a few seconds
over TinyMCE’s table editor.
If you find you need to view or edit an article’s underlying HTML (either because you want to
manually format text, or to insert an element like an image map), you can use TinyMCE’s built-in
HTML view, or the JCE’s Advanced Code Editor. TinyMCE’s HTML view presents a straight-
forward, HTML version of your article in the text editor window. The Advanced Code Editor,
which launches in a separate window over the TinyMCE editor, includes several formatting
features not available in TinyMCE. I can’t say whether one is better than the other (for example,
while the Advanced Code Editor has more features, I find I don’t use them too often), so I explain
how to access and use both in the following sections.

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To open an article in TinyMCE’s HTML view:


1. Click the [show/hide] link above the text editor window to see your article in the HTML
view:

Figure 10-14. Working on an article in the HTML view.


2. Add HTML tags and content to your article as desired in the HTML view.
3. To return to the WYSISWYG view, click the [show/hide] link again. If you save and exit an
article before returning to the WYSIWYG view, when you open or create subsequent
articles, TinyMCE displays them in the HTML view.
Please note that if your user account belongs to a user group associated with a “No HTML” article
filter, Joomla will not display the HTML tags in your articles and it will not allow you to submit
articles containing HTML tags (See Appendix D. “Securing Article Submission” on page 481 to
learn more about article filters). In this case, when you click the [show/hide] link, TinyMCE
displays your article as text without HTML tags in the HTML view, like the example in Figure 10-
15:

Figure 10-15. A “No HTML” filter prevents TinyMCE from showing HTML tags.

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To open an article in JCE’s Advanced Code Editor:


1. Click Edit Code icon on the TinyMCE toolbar. The Advanced Code Editor window
opens over TinyMCE showing the underlying HTML in your document, like the example in
Figure 10-16:

Figure 10-16. The JCE’s Advanced Code Editor.


2. Use the following options, as desired, on the Advanced Code Editor:
• Highlight: According to the JCE site, this option provides syntax highlighting (with
different color codes) for HTML, PHP, CSS, and Javascript. If you de-select this option,
JCE disables both the code highlighting and line numbering.
• Line Numbers: This option displays line numbers for each line of text in your article.
One purpose of line numbers is to help programmers more easily find code errors in
files with many lines of code (error messages often identify the line number on which a
scripting error occurs), but they may also help you locate issues in your articles.
• Word Wrap: This options automatically wraps text in the editor window.
• Font Size: Use these options to increase or decrease the size of text in the editor
window.
• Bold, Italics, Underline: Select text and use these options to apply bold, italics, and
underlines to text, as necessary.
• Remove Format: To remove all formatting from text in the editor window (HTML, PHP,
CSS, or Javascript), select the text and click the Remove Format icon .
• Undo and Redo: Use these icons to undo and redo any changes you make in the editor
window.

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• Format list: Apply any of the options in this list to text in the editor window. For
example, to convert a paragraph to a title, you could select the paragraph text and select
Heading 1 from the Format list. The Advanced Code Editor applies the <h1> tag set to
the selected paragraph.
3. When you finish working on your article in the Advanced Code Editor window, click Update
to apply your changes and close the editor window.

Front Page Publishing


The first content users see when accessing your site is whatever resides on your site’s “front page.”
In Joomla’s terminology, the front page is a specific area of content on your site’s homepage.
Figure 10-17 shows the front page content area:

Figure 10-17. The Front Page of a Joomla site with a front page article.
There is no limit to the number of articles you can publish on your site’s front page. In fact, you
could publish all articles on the front page, which means you wouldn’t need sections, categories,
or menus. That is, you could have skipped chapters 4 and 5 and simply started writing and
publishing articles directly on your site’s front page. However, if you write different types of
documents for more than one product (like me), I think you would find publishing everything on
the front page would quickly lead to a very disorganized, unusable site.

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Establishing a Front Page Publishing Policy


For a corporate publishing site, remember to keep usability in mind when you start publishing
articles on your site’s front page. Steve Krug dedicates an entire chapter5 of his book Don’t Make
Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability to homepage design. I recommend that, at
the least, you establish some sort of policy regarding the types of articles you or your team publish
on your site’s front page. For example, I found our site, which was built for a corporate technical
writing department, was more usable if we published very few articles on the front page (our front-
page articles introduced our site’s main sections). But, my approach would not be appropriate for
other kinds of publishing platforms. For example, with an online news site, you might publish
articles on the front page as authors complete them throughout the day, while rotating older articles
from the front page to other sections of your site6.

Publishing Articles on Your Site’s Front Page


To publish an article on your site’s front page, set the Front Page parameter to Yes, as shown in
Figure 10-18:

Figure 10-18. Select Front Page to publish an article on your site’s front page.
If you select a category from the Category list, Joomla will also display the article on the Category
landing page, as well as your site’s front page. If you were to set the Front Page parameter to No,
it would no longer display on the front page, but would continue displaying on the assigned
category landing page.
If you publish numerous articles on your site’s front page, a quick and easy way to view and update
them is using the Front Page manager. The Front Page manager displays a list of all articles
published on your site’s front page, regardless of the sections and categories to which they are
assigned.

5. Chapter 7, which is titled “The first step in recovery is admitting that the Home page is beyond your con-
trol,” is dedicated to homepage design. (Krug, 2006, p. 94)
6.The Christian Science Monitor’s online news site, at http://www.csmonitor.com, provides a great example
of how articles rotate on and off of a site’s front page. Newly published articles appear at the top of the front
page. As authors publish more articles, older ones move down the page. Eventually, they are moved from the
front page to the appropriate section of the site.

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To access the Front Page Manager:


1. Log in to your site’s back end.
2. Choose Front Page Manager from the Content menu. The Front Page Manager opens:

Figure 10-19. Manage articles on your site’s front page with the Front Page Manager.
3. To remove an article from the front page, click the Published icon in the Published column,
or click the article’s title in the Title column to open it and set the Front Page option to No.
When removed from the front page, Joomla displays the Unpublished icon .

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Chapter 11. Working with Images
JCE includes an image management tool called the Image Manager that is accessible from the
TinyMCE toolbar. This chapter explains how use the Image Manager to create folders and upload
image files to them, how to insert images into your articles, and how to perform advanced image
styling tasks, like adding image maps and creating image rollover effects.

Preparing to Insert Images


When publishing articles with multiple images, I strongly recommend creating a folder for storing
them on the server. Otherwise, you’ll have to upload them to an existing folder, which means you
may be storing an article’s images with those belonging to other articles. Storing images for several
articles in the same folder will quickly become a maintenance headache, especially if you cannot
tell which image belongs to which article.
While I have already explained how to create image folders and upload images to the server with
the Media Manager, the Image Manager enables you to perform this task while you are working
on an article. That is, with the Image Manager, you don’t have to exit an article to create an image
folder or upload images to the server.

To create an image folder on the server:


1. The first step in creating an image folder on the server is opening the article for which you
are creating the folder.
2. After opening the article, click the Insert/Edit Image icon on the toolbar.

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The Image Manager opens showing the Image tab:

Figure 11-1. You can create image folders on your server with the Image Manager.
3. Decide where you want to create the image folder. The Root drive icon , which is
located at the top of the Folders pane in Figure 11-1, corresponds to the stories folder on your
server (see “Working with Image and Multimedia Folders” section on page 153 for more
information on the stories folder). You can either create a top-level folder, meaning you are
creating it directly under the Root drive icon (which also means you are creating it inside of
the stories folder), or a sub-folder, which means you are creating it under a top-level folder.
If you were writing a manual with many chapters, each of which contained multiple graphics,
consider creating a top-level folder under the Root folder representing the entire manual.
You could then create sub-folders under the top-level folder for each chapter in the manual,
which would allow you to upload graphics for each chapter into their own folders. For
articles with very few images, a single, top-level folder might meet your organizational
needs.

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4. Do one of the following:


• To create a top-level folder, click the Root drive icon to select it.
• To create a sub-folder, click the desired top-level folder to select it. For example, to
create a sub-folder named installation_guide under the joomla_technical folder in
Figure 11-5, you would click the joomla_technical folder to select it.
5. Click the New Folder icon , which is located above the Details pane. The New Folder
window opens:

Figure 11-2. An empty image folder on the server.


6. Type a folder name in the Name field. Separate each word in multi-word file names with an
underscore or a dash. If you separate the words in a file name with spaces, the Image
Manager automatically converts the spaces to underscores.
7. Click OK. The Image Manager creates the new folder. Figure 11-3 shows a sub-folder I
created under the joomla_technical folder on my server:

Figure 11-3. A sub-folder under a top-level folder.

To upload an image to the server:


1. Open the article for which you are uploading images.
2. Click the Insert/Edit Image icon on the toolbar. The Image Manager opens.

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3. In the Folders section, click the folder into which you will upload the article’s images to
select it. The Image Manager displays the content of the selected folder in the center pane:

Figure 11-4. Joomla displays the content of selected folders in the folder content section.
4. Click the Upload icon , which is located above the Details pane. The Upload window
opens:

Figure 11-5. The Upload window.

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5. Click Add. The Choose file window opens:

Figure 11-6. Locate and select the image you want to upload with the Choose file window.
6. With the Look in list, locate and open the folder on your local computer containing the
images you want to upload.
7. Click an image to select it and then click Open. The Choose file window closes and the name
of the selected file appears in the Queue section of the upload window:

Figure 11-7. The Queue section lists selected image files.


Please note that you can upload multiple images simultaneously. To select additional images,
click Add and follow steps 5 and 6 to add more images to the Queue list.
8. Click Start Upload. When the image finishes uploading, the Upload window displays a green
check mark next to the uploaded image in the Queue section, like the one in Figure 11-7:

Figure 11-8. A green check mark displays next to each successfully uploaded image.
9. When you finish uploading images to the server, close the Upload window.

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Inserting Images
After creating an image storage folder on the server and uploading the images for your article to it,
you can insert them into your articles.

To insert an image in an article:


1. Open the article and place your cursor where you want to insert an image.
2. Click the Insert/Edit Image icon on the toolbar. The Image Manager opens.
3. In the Folders pane, click the folder containing the image you want to insert into the article.
The Image Manager displays the content of the folder in the center pane.
4. Click the image you want to insert into the article to select it. The Image Manager populates
some of the fields in the Properties section with information about the selected image, like
the example in Figure 11-9:

Figure 11-9. The Image Manager automatically populates fields in the Properties section.

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Notice that the Details pane displays a preview of the selected image, as well as its
specifications. You can perform a variety of image maintenance tasks using the features on
the right side of the Details pane (specifically, renaming, deleting, copying, cutting, viewing,
and inserting selected files).
5. The JCE developers provide helpful tooltips for the options on each tab of the Image
Manager. To see the tooltips, move your mouse over each field name:

Figure 11-10. Move your mouse over field names for field definitions
The following fields and options are available in the Properties section of the Image tab:
• URL: When you select an image, the Image Manager automatically populates this field
with the path to the image on your server.
• Alternate Text: Joomla automatically populates this field with the selected image’s file
name. By default, joomla displays a tooltip containing this text when users mouse over
the image, like the example in Figure 11-11:

Figure 11-11. Joomla displays a tooltip containing text from the Alternate Text field.
To provide a unique image description, delete the file name and add a short
description in this field. Please note that you can override this field by adding text
to the Title field on the Advanced tab (see step 8 for more information).
• Dimensions: The Image Manager automatically populates the dimension fields with an
image’s width (located in the first field) and height (located in the second field) in
pixels.
You can, if desired, scale an image by typing a larger or smaller pixel size in either the
width or height fields. By default, the Proportional option is selected, which means if you
change the pixel size in either the width or height fields, the Image Manager will
automatically scale the opposite field in proportion.

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• Alignment: By default, the Alignment option is Not Set, which means the Image
Manager will place the image at the location of your cursor, wrapping text around it as
necessary. The Top, Middle, and Bottom options allow you to place an image in relation
to adjacent elements. For example, if I inserted an image in front of a heading, and I
selected Top from the Alignment list, the heading text would appear at the top of the
image, like the example in Figure 11-17:

Figure 11-12. The adjacent heading aligned at the top of an inserted image.
Likewise, if I selected Middle from the list, the heading text would appear at the middle
of the inserted image. And, selecting Bottom would make the text appear at the bottom
of the image. Selecting Left and Right displays the image on either the left or right side
of the page.
Refer to the Preview window as you experiment with the image formatting options to see
how an image will appear in your article in relation to surrounding text. Figure 11-13
shows an image with alignment set to Right in the Preview window:

Figure 11-13. The Preview window shows how an image will appear in your article.
• Clear: This option, which only becomes active if you select Left or Right from the
Alignment list, enables you to keep the selected side of an image “clear” of other
elements.
• Margin: You can specify the amount of empty space (in pixels) that surrounds an image
with the Top, Right, Bottom, and Left margin fields. The Equal Values option is selected
by default, which means if you type 10 in any of the margin fields, the Image Manager
will automatically populate the other fields with 10.

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To create a margin on a specific side of an image, de-select the Equal Values option and
type the desired number of pixels in the appropriate field. For example, if I right-aligned
and cleared the left side of an image (meaning there was no text on its right or left sides),
but I wanted to insert a 20 pixel margin between it and the paragraph beneath it, I might
de-select the Equal Values option and type 20 in the Bottom field.
• Border: If desired, you can display a colored, styled border around your images. To add
a border, first select the Width option and then select the border’s pixel width from the
adjacent list. Next, select a style type from the Style list, if desired. Finally, to add color,
you can either type the hexadecimal code (a.k.a., hex code) for the desired color in the
Color field, or click the Browse icon and select a color using the color picker.
6. When you finish selecting options for the attributes on the Image tab, click Insert.

Performing Advanced Image Styling Tasks


After inserting an image, you can apply additional styling attributes to it, like adding tool tips that
users see when mousing over the image. In addition, you can reference image maps and add long
descriptions for visually-impaired users who access your site with screen readers.

To perform advanced image styling tasks:


1. Open the article to which you will apply an advanced styling feature.
2. Place your cursor where you want to insert the image in your article and click the Insert/Edit
Image icon on the toolbar (to update an existing image select it first and then click the
Insert/Edit Image icon). The Image Manager opens showing the Image tab.
3. Use the options on the Image tab to select the image you want to insert into your article.
4. Click the Advanced tab:

Figure 11-14. Parameters on the Advanced tab.

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Apply any of the following styling attributes to your image as desired:


• Style: The Image Manager automatically populates this field with style settings from the
Image tab. For example, if you left-aligned an image, set a 3-pixel margin, and added a
solid, 1-pixel border using the Alignment, Margin, and Border parameters on the Image
tab, the Image Manager would automatically populate the Style field like the example in
Figure 11-15:

Figure 11-15. The Image Manager populates the Style field with styling attributes from the Image tab.
• Class List: The Class List contains a list of all style classes available in the site’s
template style sheet (in the case of the JA Purity template, these styles reside in the
template.css file). If you were to add a custom tooltip style to your template’s style
sheet, it would be available in this list1.
It is important to note that the Class List parameter works in conjunction with the Title
field. That is, if you type text in the Title field, and select a style from this list, when users
mouse over the image, Joomla displays a tooltip containing text from the Title field
formatted with style selected in the Class List. If you don’t create a custom tooltip style,
the only style you should select from this list is jcetooltip, which creates an attractive,
semi-transparent tooltip (the other styles either create strangely-styled tooltips, or won’t
work when applied in this manner). However, there is a catch to using the jcetooltip style:
to make it work, you must install the JCE MediaBox plugin2.
If you were to install the MediaBox plugin, select the jcetooltip style from this list, and
type an image description in the Title field, the resulting image tooltip would look similar
to the example in Figure 11-16:

Figure 11-16. An image tooltip created by the jcetooltip style and the JCE MediaBox.
If you don’t install the MediaBox plugin, and you don’t select a style from the Class List,
Joomla displays any text you type in the Title field in the standard, yellow tooltip window
(see Figure 11-11 on page 227 for an example of the standard tooltip window).
• Classes: The image manager automatically populates this field with the name of the
style class you select in the Class List.

1.The process of adding custom tooltip styles to a template’s style sheet is beyond the scope of this book.
However, you can find information about this process on the JCE site at the following address:
http://www.joomlacontenteditor.net/support/tutorials/configuration/68-custom-styles
2.You can download and install the MediaBox plugin from the Download menu on the JCE site.

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• Title: When you type text in this field, Joomla displays a tooltip containing the text over
the image when users mouse over it (the text you type in this field overrides any text in
the Alternative Text field on the Image tab). This field can work in conjunction with the
Class List parameter (see the explanation of the Class List parameter for more
information).
• Id: To identify an image in your article with a unique identifier, type it in this field. An
“id” is a standard HTML attribute for identifying elements when you want to reference
them via JavaScript to perform actions on them, or via CSS to style them.
• Language Direction: The language direction parameter allows you to identify an
element’s language direction (in this case, an image). You can select Right to left and
Left to Right from the list. The purpose of this parameter is to identify text for
languages like Chinese and Hebrew that read right-to-left.
• Language Code: To identify the language used on a specific image, type the appropriate
ISO language code identifier in this field. For example you would type “en” in the
Language Code field for English, or “es” for Spanish. Language codes are available for
many of the world’s main languages, which you can easily find on the Internet.
• Image Map: If you will add an image map3 to the image you are inserting, you can
reference it in this field with #mapname, where mapname represents the name of your
image map.
To use an image map, first add the image map with its coordinates to your article via the
<map> tagset, as you would for any web page, which you must do by switching to the
HTML view (see “Working in HTML” on page 215 for more information on working in
the HTML view). Then, use the Image Manager to insert an image for the image map into
your article. During the image insertion process, click the Advanced tab and type the
image map name in the Image Map field.
• Long Description: This parameter allows you to link to a separate file containing a
description of an image for visually impaired users who may access your site with a
screen reader4. To use it, write a description of the image and save it in either an HTML
or text (.txt) file. Then, upload the file containing the image description to the stories
folder on the server.

3.An image map is a set of coordinates you can use to segment the surface of an image into invisible shapes
(for example, you can create invisible circles, rectangles, squares, etc., on top of an image). Most importantly,
you can add hyperlinks to image maps. For example, you can create a square image map over a square shape
that, when clicked, launches a new web page. Please note that the process of creating image maps is beyond
the scope of this book. You can find a tutorial on creating client-side image maps on the HTML Goodies site
at the following address: http://www.htmlgoodies.com/tutorials/image_maps/article.php/3479741
4.Please note that only users with screen readers will know images have long descriptions. Long description
text will be inaccessible to users who access your site with standard browsers.

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To link an image to the file containing the image description, click the Browse icon
located to the right of the Long Description field. The Browser window opens showing
the files in the stories folder:

Figure 11-17. Select a file containing an image description with the Browser window.
Click the name of the file containing the image description to select it and then click
Insert. JCE populates the Long Description field with the path to the selected file. When
visually impaired users access your site with a screen reader, they will be able to access
the selected image description.
5. When you finish configuring image attributes and are ready to insert the image, click the
Insert button located near the bottom right corner of the Image Manager.

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Creating Rollover Effects


A rollover effect is one in which a user’s browser replaces the first image that appears in an article
with a second image when a user moves his or her mouse over the image area. For example, to
create a button clicking effect, you could upload one image showing a button in the “up” position
and another showing the button in the “pressed” position. When you add a rollover effect, the
button will appear to be pressed when users mouse over it.

To create an image rollover effect:


1. First, upload the two images that will create the rollover effect to the stories folder on the
server.
2. After uploading the images, place your cursor at the location where you want to create the
rollover effect in your article.
3. Click the Insert/Edit Image icon on the toolbar. The Image Manager opens showing the
Image tab.
4. Select the main, or primary image you want to insert in your article (the one you want users
to see first), formatting it as desired with the parameters on the Image tab.
5. Then, click the Rollover tab:

Figure 11-18. Create a rollover effect with the parameters on the Rollover tab.
Notice the Mouseout field is already contains the path to the main image you selected on the
Image tab.
6. Select the Enable parameter.
7. In the Mouseover field, type the path to the secondary image file (the one you want users to
see when they mouse over the primary image). If you placed both images in the same folder,
you can duplicate the path in the Mouseout field, replacing the file name with the name of
the secondary image file.
8. Click Insert. JCE inserts the selected image and the associated rollover effect in your article.

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Chapter 12. Working with Tables
JCE’s table manager is accessible from the TinyMCE tool bar. This chapter explains how to insert
tables in your articles and perform advanced styling tasks, like applying table border and
background colors, adding table background images, and creating summary descriptions for
visually-impaired users who access your site with screen readers.

Inserting Tables
When adding tables to your articles with JCE’s table manager, you can specify table width and
height, the number of columns and rows, cellspacing and cellpadding, text alignment, and you can
add captions.

To insert a table:
1. Place your cursor where you want to insert a table in an article.
2. Click the Insert Table icon on the toolbar. The Insert/modify table window opens
showing the General tab:

Figure 12-1. The General tab on the Insert/Modify table window.


3. Customize the table with the following attributes in the General properties section:
• Cols: Specify the desired number of table columns.
• Rows: Specify the desired number of table rows. After inserting the table, if you place
your cursor in the last table cell and press Tab, TinyMCE inserts a new row at the
bottom of the table (a behavior available in most word processors).

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• Cellpadding: Specify the amount of white space (in pixels) that should surround text or
other elements in each table cell. This field is empty by default, which means the table
cells will not be padded with white space. Figure 12-2 shows a table with no
cellpadding:

Figure 12-2. Table cells with no cellpadding.


Figure 12-3 shows the white space in table cells with five pixels of cellpadding (that is,
I typed 5 in the Cellpadding field):

Figure 12-3. Table cells with five pixels of cellpadding.


Notice the text in the table with more cellpadding is easier to read than the text in the table
with no cellpadding.
• Cellspacing: This parameter allows you to specify (in pixels) the distance between table
cells. This field is empty by default, which means there is no space between table cells
(see Figures 12-2 and 12-3 for examples of tables with no cellspacing). Figure 12-4
shows a table with 10 pixels of cellspacing:

Figure 12-4. Table borders with ten pixels of cellspacing.

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• Alignment: Specify how the table should be aligned on the page (centered, left-aligned,
or right-aligned).
• Border: This parameter allows you to specify the width of the table’s exterior border.
Figure 12-5 shows a table with an exterior border five pixels wide:

Figure 12-5. A table with a border five pixels wide.


To hide a table’s borders, type 0 in the Border field. When you hide a table’s borders,
TinyMCE separates table cells with dotted lines:

Figure 12-6. A table with hidden borders as seen in TinyMCE


Figure 12-7 shows how a border less table looks in an article when viewed from the site’s
front end:

Figure 12-7. A table with hidden table borders as seen from a site’s front end.
• Width: To establish the table’s maximum width, type the desired width (in pixels) in this
field. When a table reaches it’s maximum width, content automatically wraps within the
table’s cells.

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• Height: To establish the table’s minimum height, type the desired height (in pixels) in
this field. If you set a minimum table height, the table will expand its cells to reach the
minimum height, if necessary. Please note that you cannot set a table’s maximum
height.
• Class: The Class list contains a list of all style classes available in the site’s template
style sheet. If you created a custom table style class and added it to your site’s style
sheet, select it from this list. Otherwise, I don’t recommend applying styles from this list
to your table. To create a custom table layout, see the steps on performing advanced
table styling tasks with the parameters on the Advanced tab, which starts on page 239.
• Table caption: Select this parameter to add a caption above the table. When selected,
TinyMCE automatically inserts a centered, empty line above the table where you can
type a caption. Figure 12-8 shows a table caption:

Figure 12-8. A table caption.


4. When you finish configuring the table’s general attributes and are ready to insert it into the
article, click Insert.

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Performing Advanced Table Styling Tasks


You can apply to background colors and images, border colors, and screen-reader summaries to
your tables.

To perform advanced table styling tasks:


1. For an existing table, place your cursor anywhere in the table you want to modify and click
the Insert Table icon on the toolbar. The Insert/Modify table window opens showing the
General tab. Click Advanced tab:

Figure 12-9. Perform additional table styling with the parameters on the Advanced tab.
2. Apply the following advanced styling attributes to the table as desired:
• Id: To identify the table with a unique identifier, type it in this field. An “id” is a
standard HTML attribute with which you can reference elements via JavaScript or CSS.
• Summary: To add table summary for visually impaired users who access your site with
screen readers, type it in this field. For example, you could type a description of the
table’s contents. Please note that table summaries are not available to users who access
your site with standard web browsers.

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• Style: This field displays any styling attributes you applied to the table on the General
tab. For example, if you typed 10 in the Height field on the General tab to limit the
height of all cells in the table to 10 pixels, the Style field would display the following
style attribute:
height: 10px;

• Language code: To identify the language used in the table, type the appropriate ISO
language code identifier in this field. For example you would type “en” in the Language
Code field for English, or “es” for Spanish.
• Background image: To select a background image for the table, click the Browse icon
to open the Browse window. Locate and select the image you want to use for the
table background and click Insert. If you select an image smaller than the table, JCE
automatically tiles the table’s entire background with the image.
The background of the example in Figure 12-10 was created from a single, small blue
image that JCE tiled across the entire background:

Figure 12-10. A table with a background image.


• Frame: The Frame list provides table border styles that you can quickly select and apply
to the table. For example, when you select “above,” JCE applies table borders “above”
all table content, like the example in Figure 12-11:

Figure 12-11. A table formatted with the “above” border style.

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• Rules: The Rules list provides table border styles that you can apply to the interior of the
table. For example, when you select “cols,” JCE only displays borders around the table
columns, like the example in Figure 12-12:

Figure 12-12. A table formatted with the “cols” border style.


• Language direction: The language direction parameter allows you to identify the
language direction of the text in the table. You can select Right to left and Left to Right
from the list. The purpose of this parameter is to identify text for languages like Chinese
and Hebrew that read right-to-left.
• Border color: To apply a color to a table’s borders, click the Browse icon and select
a border color with the color picker.
• Background color: To apply a background color to an entire table, click the Browse icon
and select the desired background color with the color picker.
3. When you finish configuring the table’s attributes, click Update for a table you are editing,
or Insert for a new table.

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Chapter 13. Working with Links
JCE includes a link management tool called Advanced Link. This chapter explains how to add the
following types of links to your articles with Advanced Link:
• Links to external websites
• Links to other articles
• Links to category menus
• Links to contacts in your contact list

Linking to External Sites


With Advanced Link, you can add links to external websites in your articles. You can configure
Joomla to open the external sites in a separate browser windows over your Joomla site, or within
the framework of your site.

To link to an external site:


1. First, add text to your article for the link (you build links on top of text). For example, to link
to Joomla’s homepage, you might type “Joomla,” or “http://joomla.org” in your article,
which would become the underlying text for the link.
2. Next, select the text you added for the external link with your cursor, like the example in
Figure 13-1:

Figure 13-1. Select the text that will become the external link.
Note that the Insert/Edit link icon on the toolbar only becomes active when you select
text in an article.

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3. Click the Insert/Edit link icon to open the Advanced Link page:

Figure 13-2. The Advanced Link page.


4. Type the address for the external website in the URL field. For example, if you were linking
to Joomla’s homepage, you would type http://joomla.org. Please note the following:
• The options in the Link Browser section are for internal links. Do not select options in
this section.
• The Anchors parameter in the Attributes section is only applicable when you are
creating a link to another section of the same article (which is called a page jump).
5. Select one of the following from the Target list:
• Not Set: The “Not Set” means when users click the link, Joomla displays the external
site in the user’s current browser window.
• Open in this window / frame: If you are using Joomla’s default blacklist filtering,
authors will not be able to add inline frames (IFrames) to their articles, which means
this setting is not applicable (See Appendix D., “Securing Article Submission” for more
information on blacklist filtering). In addition, to create IFrames, you would first have
to install the JCE’s IFrame plugin (which I do not explain how to do in this guide).
However, if you inserted an IFrame in an article, and you wanted the link to open the
external site in a frame, you would select this option. Please note that if you select this
option, but your article does not contain frames, Joomla simply displays the external site
in the user’s current browser window.

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• Open in new window: Joomla will open a new browser window and launch the external
site in it.
• Open in parent window / frame: If you inserted a series of frames in an article, and you
are adding a link to a child frame, selecting this option would open the external site in
the parent frame. However, like the Open in this window/frame option, if you select it,
but your article does not contain frames, Joomla will simply open the site in the user’s
current browser window.
• Open in top frame (replaces all frames): This option works in the same manner as the
Not Set option, where Joomla opens the external site in a user’s current browser
window.
6. Title: When you type text in this field, Joomla displays the text in a tooltip when users mouse
over it. For example, if you typed Joomla homepage in the title field, users would see a
tooltip like the one in Figure 13-3:

Figure 13-3. Users will see a tooltip containing title text when mousing over a link.
7. Click Insert. The Advanced Link page closes and JCE adds the link to the selected text in the
article. To test it, use the Preview option, or save your article and view it from the front end
of your site.

Linking to Other Articles


You can add links to other articles on your site. For example, if you were writing a series of articles
on a specific topic, you could add links to the related articles.

To link to an article:
1. Start by adding text that will underlie the link to another article on your site. For example,
you could type the article’s title.
2. Select the text for the link, like the example in Figure 13-4:

Figure 13-4. Select the text you want to use for the internal link.
3. Click the Insert/Edit link icon to open the Advanced Link page.

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4. Expand the Content option in the Link Browser section, locate the title of the desired article,
and click the title to select it:

Figure 13-5. Select the title of the article to which you are linking.
5. Since you are linking to another article on your site, you do not need to select options from
the Anchors or Target parameters in the Attributes section.
6. To enable Joomla to display a tooltip containing information about the link when users
mouse over it, type information about the link in the Title field.
7. Click Insert. The Advanced Link page closes and JCE adds the link to the selected text in the
article.

Linking to Category Menus


You can add links to category menus. When users click these links, Joomla displays the category
landing page. For example, to reference supporting user documentation at the end of a technical
article, you could add a link that accessed the category landing page containing the user
documentation.

To link to a category mane:


1. First, add text for the link in your article. For example, you could type the name of the
category menu for which you are creating a link.
2. Next, select the text you added for the category link with your cursor.
3. Click the Insert/Edit link icon to open the Advanced Link page.

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4. Expand the Menu option in the Link Browser section to view a list of the section menus on
your site. Expand the desired section menu to locate the desired category and click the title
to select it:

Figure 13-6. Select the title of a section or category menu, which will create a link to its landing page.
5. You do not need to select options for the Anchors or Target parameters in the Attributes
section.
6. To enable Joomla to display a tooltip containing information about the link when users
mouse over it, type information about the link in the Title field.
7. Click Insert. The Advanced Link page closes and JCE adds the link to the selected text in the
article.

Linking to Contacts
To provide users with contact information about an article’s author, you can add a link to the
author’s contact page. When users click the link, they will see the author’s contact information.
Please note this requires that you first add contact information for the author to a contact list. To
learn more about contacts, see “Creating a Contact List Menu” on page 131.

To link to a contact in a contact list:


1. First add text in the article to underlie the contact link. For example, if you were inserting a
contact link for a specific author, you might type the author’s name.
2. Next, select the text you added for the contact link with your cursor.
3. Click the Insert/Edit link icon to open the Advanced Link page.

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4. Expand the Contact option in the Link Browser section, locate and expand the desired
contact list, and click the contact’s name to select it:

Figure 13-7. Select the title of the contact list.


5. You do not need to select options for Anchors or Target in the Attributes section.
6. Click Insert. The Advanced Link page closes and JCE adds the link to the selected text in the
article. When users click the link, Joomla displays the contact information for the person you
selected in the list.

Adding Web Links


With Joomla’s Web Links feature, you can create and display groups of links for external websites
on your publishing site. To learn more about Joomla’s Web Links feature, see Chapter 20,
“Publishing Links to External Sites” on page 389.

To link to a web link:


1. First add text in the article to underlie the web link.
2. Next, select the text you added for the web link with your cursor.
3. Click the Insert/Edit link icon to open the Advanced Link page.
4. Expand the Web Link option in the Link Browser section, locate and expand the desired web

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link category, and click the name of the web link to select it:

Figure 13-8. Select the name of the web link.


5. You do not need to select options for the Anchors or Target parameters in the Attributes
section.
6. Click Insert. The Advanced Link page closes and JCE adds the web link to the selected text
in the article. When users click the link, Joomla displays opens the external website.

Performing Advanced Link Styling Tasks


You can apply additional styling attributes to your links, such as a unique style class.

To perform advanced link styling tasks:


1. First, insert your cursor in the text or link to which you are adding advanced styling
attributes.
2. Click the Insert/Edit link icon on the JCE toolbar. The Advanced Link page opens.

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3. Click the Advanced tab:

Figure 13-9. The Advanced tab.


Enhance your links with any of the following parameters, as desired (notice that many of
these are similar to the image styling parameters):
• Id: To identify a link in your article with a unique identifier, type it in this field. An “id”
is a standard HTML attribute with which you can reference elements via JavaScript or
CSS.
• Style: To apply unique styling attributes to the link text, add them here in the CSS
format, separating each attribute with a semicolon. For example, to style the link with
blue, nine-pixel text, you would type the following in the Style field:

Figure 13-10. Style all link styling attributes in the Style field in the CSS format.

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Please note that the style sheet (CSS file) associated with your Joomla template will most
likely contain a link style, which will automatically be applied to all links you insert in
your articles (that is, you don’t need to create a custom link style). If you override the
template’s link style with custom attributes in this field, the resulting link will not look
like the other links on your site.
• Class List: The Class List contains a list of all style classes available in the site’s
template style sheet. This parameter works in conjunction with the Title field on the
Link tab. That is, if you add text in Title field, then click the Advanced tab and select a
style from this list, when users mouse over the link, Joomla will display a tooltip
containing text from the Title field formatted with style selected from this list.
The only style I recommend selecting in this list is jcetooltip, which creates a semi-
transparent tooltip. However, as I mentioned when explaining this parameter for image
mouseovers, to make it work, you must install the JCE MediaBox plugin from the JCE
website. You can access the JCE MediaBox from the Download menu on the JCE site.
• Classes: The link manager automatically populates this field with the name of the style
class you select in the Class List.
• Language Direction: This parameter allows you to identify the language direction for
the text underlying the link. You can select Right to left and Left to Right from the list.
The purpose of this parameter is to identify the text direction for languages like Chinese
and Hebrew that read right-to-left.
• Target Language Code: To identify the language used at the target URL, type the
appropriate ISO language code identifier in this field. For example you would type “en”
in the Language Code field for English, or “es” for Spanish.
• Language Code: To identify the language of the text underlying the link, type the
appropriate ISO language code identifier in this field.
• Target character encoding: If you are familiar with the character set that performs
character encoding at the target URL, type the character set name in this field. For
example, if the character set at the target URL was UTF-8 (which is the name of the
Unicode character set), you would type UTF-8 in the field. Unicode is the computer
industry standard for character encoding, because it represents characters used in most
of the world’s writing systems1.
• Target MIME Type: If you are familiar with the MIME type used at the target URL,
type it in this field. A MIME type is a file format identifier for the Internet. If you are
linking to a web page, its MIME type will most likely be text/html.
• Relationship page to target: This parameter allows you to select the relationship
between the current page containing the link and the linked page (the one at the URL in
the link). Please note that this parameter does not enhance the functionality of your
links. It simply adds a “rel” attribute to the HTML underlying the link from which
search engines can get more information about the link.

1.This definition comes from the explanation of Unicode on Wikipedia at the following address:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode.

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• Relationship target to page: This parameter, which is the reverse of the “Relationship
page to target” parameter, allows you to select the relationship between the linked page
and the current page containing the link. This parameter adds a “rev” attribute to the
HTML underlying the link, which provides information about the link for search
engines.
• Tab Index: A tab index determines the order in which users can access a specific
element on a web page when pressing the Tab key. A common use for this feature is to
create a specific tab order for the fields in an online form.
If you believe readers will press their Tab keys to move among the links in an article, you
can add a numeric tab index to each link. You would start by typing 1 in the Tab Index
field for link you want users to access first when pressing Tab, and then number the
remaining links in the order in which you want them accessed.
• Access Key: To add a keyboard shortcut users can press to jump to a link, type the
shortcut key character in this field. Users can press Alt plus whatever character you type
in this field to access the link. For example, if you typed “a” in the Access Key field,
users could press Alt+A on their keyboards to access the link. Please note that this
parameter only lets users jump to links in your article - it does not activate the links.

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Chapter 14. Writing and Publishing from
the Front End
If you work with a large writing team, you may assign front-end authoring roles to a majority of
the writers to prevent them from having access to Joomla’s administrative back end. But,
remember that not all front-end authors can perform all publishing tasks. That is, writers with the
Author role can only write and submit articles, writers with the Editor role can write, submit, and
edit articles, but not publish them, and writers with the Publisher role can write, submit, edit, and
publish articles from the front end.
This chapter explains how to create an article submission menu, which gives authors access to
Joomla’s front-end authoring tool. It also provides an overview of how to write articles from the
front end. In addition, it includes a list of the steps I took to import a document from another writing
through Joomla’s front end.

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Creating a Front End Article Submission Menu


All writers to whom you assign the Author, Editor, and Publisher roles must have access to
Joomla’s front end authoring tool. Figure 14-1 shows how the tool displays for authors with the
Publisher role:

Figure 14-1. Joomla’s front end authoring tool.

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How writers access Joomla’s front end authoring tool depends, in part, on the menu style you
assigned to your category menus. If you assign the Category Blog Layout style to category menus,
authors do not have direct access to the tool. If you assign the Category List Layout style to
category menus, Joomla displays a New Article icon on category menu landing pages, like the
example in Figure 14-2, which users can click to open the tool:

Figure 14-2. The New Article icon displays on category menus formatted with the Category List Layout.
Those of you who formatted your category menus with the Category Blog Layout style must create
an article submission menu so writers can access Joomla’s authoring tool. However, I recommend
creating an article submission menu even if you used the Category List Layout style.
The process of creating an article submission menu includes the following steps:
1. Create a menu system for the article submission menu. While you can add it to an existing
menu system, I recommend creating a separate menu system for it, which you can position
as desired on your site.
2. If you create a separate menu system for the article submission menu, enable the supporting
menu module and position it at the desired location on your site’s front end.
3. Create the article submission menu.

To create a menu system for the article submission menu:


1. Log in to Joomla’s administrative back end.
2. Select Menu Manager from the Menus menu. The Menu Manager opens.
3. Click New. The New Menu page opens.
4. Complete the fields on the New Menu page:
• Unique Name: Type a unique name for the menu system in this field. Use lower case
letters and insert either a hyphen or underscore between words. For example, if you
were naming it “Submit Articles,” you would type “submit-articles” in this field.
• Title: Type a title for the menu system in this field. Use a name that communicates the
menu system’s purpose. Consider using the same name you will use for the actual
article submission menu, which will enable you to easily determine the menu system’s
purpose.

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• Description: If desired, type a brief description of the menu module’s purpose in this
field.
• Module Title: When you save the menu system, Joomla automatically creates a menu
module, which it will name according to what you type in this field. I recommend using
a module name that matches the menu name to easily tell what menu system it supports.
5. Click Save to create the new menu system.

To configure the article submission menu module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Locate and click the name of the module you created for the article submission menu in the
Module name list to open it. The Edit Module page opens.
3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 14-3. The Details section for the article submission module.
• This field identifies the type of module you are creating.
• Title: This field is pre-populated with the module name you typed in the Module Title
field when creating the menu system.
• Show Title: When set to Yes, Joomla displays the module title in addition to the menu
title. However, the module’s position determines if and where Joomla displays the
module title.
• If you position it in the left navigation column (the default), Joomla displays the
module title like the example in Figure 14-4:

Figure 14-4. The module title when positioned in the left navigation column.

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• If you position it in the right navigation column, Joomla displays the module title
like the example in Figure 14-5:

Figure 14-5. The module title when positioned in the right navigation column.
• If you position it on the horizontal menu bar, Joomla will not display the module
title, even if you set this parameter to Yes, because there is no room for it.
• Enabled: Select Yes to enable the module.
• Position: Select a desired position for the module. The left and right navigation columns
and the horizontal menu bar are easy-to-spot positions.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module will appear in the module list on the
Module Manager page.
• Access Level: By default, only users with authoring roles can access this menu. In this
instance, the Access Level parameter allows you to specify who can see the menu on
your site’s front page. It is set to Public by default, which means everyone who can
access your site will see the menu (even though they can’t use it). I recommend setting
the access level to Special, which means only users with authoring privileges can see
the menu module.
4. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 14-6. The Menu Assignment section for the article submission module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the article submission
module will be enabled for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module
to specific menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selections: To enable Joomla to display the article submission module on the
pages of specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select

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the desired section or category menus.


5. It is not necessary to configure the parameters in the Parameters section, which are only
relevant to other types of menu modules. Click Save to save your changes and exit the Edit
Module page.

To create an article submission menu:


1. Select the name of the menu system you created in step 1 (that is, the name you typed in the
Title field) from the Menus menu to open the Menu Item Manager.
2. Click New. The New Menu Item page opens.
3. Click the Articles link to expand it and then click the Article Submission Layout link, as
shown in Figure 14-7:

Figure 14-7. Click the Article Submission Layout link to start creating an article submission menu.

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4. The New Menu Item page opens. Complete Menu Item Details section:

Figure 14-8. The Menu Item Details section for the article submission menu.
• Title: This is the title Joomla displays on the menu. Consider using a title that
communicates the task writers can perform with it like “Submit Articles,” “Submit,” or
“Write Articles.”
• Alias: Leave this field empty. When you save the menu, Joomla automatically populates
this field with an alias generated from the title.
• Link: This field is automatically pre-populated with an internal link for the menu. Do
not change it.
• Display In: Select the name of the menu system you created for the article submission
menu.
• Parent Item: Top is selected by default, which means the article submission menu will
be the top menu in the menu hierarchy.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means the menu will be available from the
front end when you save it.
• Order: Determines the order in which the menu displays in the Menu Item Manager list.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the article submission menu. Select Special from the list, which
means only users who have authoring roles assigned to their user accounts will be able
to see the menu after logging in to the site. The menu will remain “invisible” to all
registered and public users.

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• On Click, Open in: Indicate how you want Joomla to display the authoring tool when
users select the menu:
• Parent Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the authoring
tool in the current browser window with the existing browser navigation features.
This is the default selection and I recommend not changing it.
• New Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the authoring
tool in a new browser that opens on top of your site. The new window displays
standard browser navigation features.
• New Window without Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the authoring
tool in a new browser window without the standard browser navigation features
(that is, hiding the browser’s address bar and toolbars).
5. It is not necessary to complete the parameters in the remaining sections of the New Menu
Item page:
• Parameters (Basic): This is an empty section that does not contain configurable
parameters.
• Parameters (Component): None of the menu configuration parameters in this section
apply to the article submission menu. Leave all parameters set to “Use Global.”
• Parameters (System): None of the parameters in this section apply to the article
submission menu.
6. Click Save to finish creating the new menu.
7. To see the new article submission menu, log in to Joomla’s front end with a user account
belonging one of the front end authoring user groups. Click the menu to access and test the
article submission tool.

Writing and Submitting Article’s from the Front End


Joomla’s front-end authoring tool includes the same text editor (JCE with TinyMCE) that is
available from the back end. This means authors can perform the same text formatting tasks from
the front end that you can perform from the back end.

To create an article:
1. Log in to Joomla’s front end with a user account that has an authoring role1.
2. Click the article submission you created for your site’s front end to open the authoring tool.
When opened, it should look similar to the example in Figure 14-1 on page 254.
3. Type a title for the article in the Title field.

1.While you can log in to the front end as the Super Administrator, I recommend creating a user account with
an authoring role to working from Joomla’s front end.

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4. Type your article in the text entry window:

Figure 14-9. Type your article in the text entry window.


Use the options on the toolbar to format the text in your article as desired. See the following
chapters for information on JCE’s advanced text editing features:
• For information on inserting images, see Chapter 11, “Working with Images,” on page
221.
• For information on creating tables, see Chapter 12 “Working with Tables,” on page 235.
• For information on using hyperlinks, see Chapter 13 “Working with Links,” on page
243.

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5. Select the following options in the Publishing section as necessary:

Figure 14-10. The publishing parameters available from the front end authoring tool.
• Section: Select the section you want to assign to the article. When you select the desired
section, Joomla populates the Category list with the names of all categories available in
that section.
If no sections are available, select Uncategorized. If your site does not have sections, you
can only publish the article on the front page.
• Category: Select the name of the category you want to assign to the article. If no
categories are available, select Uncategorized. If your site does not have categories, you
can only publish the article on the front page.
• Publish: This option is only available to users with the Publisher role. Set this parameter
to Yes to publish the article when saving it.
• Show On Front Page: Indicate whether the article should be published on the site’s front
page.
If you have not created sections and categories for your site yet, and you selected
Uncategorized for the Section and Category parameters, you can only publish articles on
your site’s front page.
• Author Alias: By default, any article you write from Joomla’s front end is attributed to
the user name on your user account. If you don’t want the article to display your user
account name, type an “alias” in this field.
• Start Publishing: By default, this field is populated with the date and time on which you
created the article. If you want the article to reflect a different publishing date, click the
adjacent calendar icon to launch a calendar and select the desired date.
• Finish Publishing: To enable Joomla to automatically stop publishing an article by a
specific date, select or type the date in this field. By default, this field shows “Never,”
which means Joomla will display the article until someone with Publisher privileges or
higher sets the Published parameter to “No.”

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• Access Level: An article’s access level determines who can see it. The options in this
list are tied to user groups. When you select the Public option, all users who do not have
user accounts (and, therefore, do not belong to a user group) can see an article. You
would select this option when you want all visitors to your site to be able to read an
article.
When you select the Registered option, all users with registered user accounts (and who
belong to the “Registered” user group, or higher) can log into your site can see an article.
The Special option means only users who belong to the authoring and administrative user
groups can access the article.
• Ordering: By default, all new articles display at the top of the article list in the Article
Manager by default. Only administrative users can change an article’s order in the list
from Joomla’s back end.
6. Supply information for the fields in the Metadata Information section, as necessary, for the
article:
• Description: Type a concise description of your article for search engines.
• Keywords: Type keywords that you think accurately represent the article. For example,
if you wrote an article on collecting silver dollars, you might include keywords like
silver, coin, dollar, collecting, value, etc., depending on the content of the article.
7. To save the article, click Save. If you have the Author role, you cannot update your article
after saving it.

Editing and Publishing Articles


If you have Editor privileges, Joomla automatically sets your articles to the “unpublished” state
upon submission, because you cannot publish articles. If you have Publisher privileges, you may
want to leave an article’s Published parameter set to No during the drafting process to hide them
from uses who do not have authoring privileges.
Articles can become “unpublished” for the following reasons:
• Writers belonging to the Author and Editor user groups, who submit articles from Joomla’s
front end, do not have the ability to set their articles to the “published” state. Their articles are
automatically “unpublished.”
• Writers belonging to the Publisher user group intentionally leave articles in the unpublished
state during the drafting process.
• Publishers and administrators may intentionally set out-of-date articles to the unpublished
state to hide them from non-author users (that is, neither unregistered nor registered users can
see unpublished articles).

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Only writers with Editor and higher-level authoring privileges can see unpublished articles from
Joomla’s front end. Joomla displays a blue pencil icon next to the titles of unpublished articles, like
the example in Figure 14-11:

Figure 14-11. Draft articles are identified by a blue pencil icon.


One benefit leaving articles in the unpublished state is that you have the ability to work in a
“drafting” mode. For example, when writing a long article, like a manual, you may need days,
weeks, or even months to complete it. Most likely you won’t want to make your manuals available
accessible until you complete first drafts or versions, and you may not want to publish them until
after they’ve been reviewed and edited.

To edit an unpublished article:


1. Log in to Joomla’s front end with a user account that has either Editor or Publisher privileges.
2. Locate the unpublished article you want to edit.
3. Click the unpublished article icon next to the article’s title. Joomla opens the article in
the front end authoring tool.
4. Update the article’s content or parameters as desired.
5. Click Save to save your changes and exit the authoring tool.

To publish an unpublished article:


1. Log in to Joomla’s front end with a user account that has Publisher privileges.
2. Locate the unpublished article you want to edit.
3. Click the unpublished article icon next to the article’s title. Joomla opens the article in the
front end authoring tool.
4. Set the Published parameter to Yes.

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5. Click Save to save your changes and exit the authoring tool.

Importing Documents from Other Writing Tools


If you adopt Joomla as your writing and publishing tool, you may want to convert, or import, older
documents written in other tools into your system. Importing documents into Joomla is a multi-step
process. While not difficult, you may find preparing for the process takes time. But after learning
what to do, preparing to import subsequent documents should be much faster.
During the preparation process, you’ll convert the text and graphics in your original document to
browser-compliant formats. Converting the text is a simple process that involves saving the
document as a text (.txt.) file. But, unless you already keep your graphics in a browser-compliant
format (.gif, .jpg, or .png), you may find converting them is the most time-consuming part of the
process.
In the following sections, I explain the steps I took to import a manual into Joomla. I tell how I
prepared for the import process, how I imported text from the original document into a new Joomla
article, and how I formatted the text and re-insert graphics. Because there are many word
processing and desktop publishing tools, I cannot write procedures that apply to everyone’s unique
environment. But the steps in the following sections should provide an adequate overview of the
document import process.

Preparing to import a document:


1. First, I saved the original document as a text file with the .txt extension. Joomla stores all
articles as text in the database and you must save the original version as plain text. Most word
processors and desktop publishing tools will allow you to save documents as text files.
2. Then, I ensured the document’s graphics were in one of the browser-compliant formats.
Remember, browsers cannot support bitmaps (graphics with the .bmp extension) and other
large image formats commonly used in printed documents.
If you do not embed graphics in your documents, then you can simply convert them to one
of the web-compliant formats listed above. However, if you do embed graphics, you’ll need
to save them out of your documents first and then convert them to one of the web-compliant
formats listed above.
3. After ensuring the graphics were in the proper format, I created a sub-folder in Joomla’s
stories folder where I planned to upload them. To learn more about the stories folder, see
“Working with Image and Multimedia Folders” on page 153.
4. Because I had direct access the file system on which our Joomla server was running, I copied
the graphics files from my computer into the sub-folder I created in the stories folder (I had
remote access to the Joomla server, so I could share drives and copy files to them directly).
If you do not have access to the file system on the server hosting your Joomla system, and
the article you are importing includes lots of graphics, you either need to FTP them to the
folder you create in Joomla’s file system, or uploading them in bulk with eXtplorer. To learn
how to upload files with eXtplorer, see “Working with eXtplorer” on page 164.

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To import a document:
1. After ensuring the document’s text and graphics were in the correct format, I logged into
Joomla’s front end and created a new article.
2. With Joomla’s front end authoring tool open to the new article, I minimized my browser.
Then, I opened the text version of the original document with a Notepad, which is a
Windows-based text editor.
3. I selected (Ctrl+A) and copied (Ctrl+C) all text in the editor.
4. I restored my browser window, placed my cursor in the text entry window and pasted
(Ctrl+V) the copied text into it. The entire document was now in the new article I created in
Joomla.
5. I clicked Apply to save the article, but not exit from the editor.

To format text and insert graphics:


1. After copying and pasting the document text into a new article, I reapplied formatting to the
text. The formatting process included applying the appropriate styles to chapter headings,
section headings, and lists, and recreating tables.
Reapplying the formatting to headings and lists was easy: I placed my cursor in the text I
wanted to format and selected the appropriate style from TinyMCE’s toolbar. But, I had to
manually recreate the tables.
2. After reformatting the content, it was time to insert graphics. I used JCE’s Image Manager
to import images into the article from the sub-folder into which I had previously uploaded
them.
After importing the document text, formatting it, and inserting images, the document import
process was complete. Our manuals were very long, so I also paginated them to make them easier
to use. To learn how to paginate long articles and perform advanced content chunking tasks,
continue to Chapter 15, “Paginating and Chunking Articles.”

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Chapter 15. Paginating and Chunking
Articles
Most of the technical manuals my team and I created prior to using Joomla were long, multi-
chapter documents that we chunked with typical document structuring hierarchies that included
chapters, sections, and sub-sections. And for really long manuals, we grouped related chapters with
parts. When we moved to Joomla, content structuring remained an important part of the writing
process, but we found the manner in which we used pagination to “physically” separate pages of
content was entirely different from the pagination process necessary for print.
One big difference between writing and publishing with Joomla (or any kind of web-based
publishing for that matter) and hard-copy publishing is that web-based documents aren’t bound by
the same physical limitations as printed documents. That is, when designing and writing
documents for print, you have to consider the size of the paper on which you will print it. The
amount of information you can include on each page is determined by paper size. When publishing
on the web, there are no physical limitations to the amount of information you can include on a
page.
Remember what you learned in school, or on the job, about how we read in the workplace: we skim
documents for information on how to perform specific tasks. Most readers won’t read technical or
user manuals in a linear path from start-to-finish. They’ll skim a table of contents, or section
headings, or an index looking for key words related to the task at hand. However, if you publish a
manual, news article, or white paper as a single, extremely long web page, you force readers to
scroll up and down the page to find information, which will greatly reduce the document’s
usability.
This chapter explains how to insert page breaks to paginate your articles. It also explains how to
install and configure UberPageBreak, a great third-party article pagination tool. And it includes an
example of how I chunked a very long article at the chapter level.

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Inserting Page Breaks


Joomla includes a built-in pagination feature, called the page break, that enables you break long
articles into multiple pages. In addition, it automatically creates a miniature, hyperlinked table of
contents (identified as the Article Index), like the example in Figure 15-1:

Figure 15-1. Joomla automatically creates a table of contents from page breaks.

To insert a page break:


1. Open the article you want to paginate.
2. Insert a hard return to add an empty line between the paragraph that will end one page and

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the section heading that will start the next page, like the example in Figure 15-5:

Figure 15-2. Add a space with a hard return for the page break.
3. Click the page break icon on the toolbar . The Insert / Edit Pagebreak window opens:

Figure 15-3. Type a title for the new page you are creating in the Page Title field.

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4. Type a title for the new page you are creating in the Page Title field. This will be the link
name that appears in the Article Index. For consistency, I recommend using the section
names as the page titles for page breaks, like the example in Figure 15-4:

Figure 15-4. For page breaks, use page titles that match the section titles.
Please note it is not necessary to complete the Table of Contents Alias field. Anything you
type in this field will display in the Article Index in place of what you type in the Page Title
field.
5. Click Insert. JCE inserts a page break marker where your cursor was positioned in the empty
line:

Figure 15-5. The page break marker in an article.

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6. Insert other page breaks, as necessary, throughout the article.


7. To see the results, save the article and view it from your site’s front end. In Figure 15-6, you
can see how the page break inserted before “Building a Windows-Based Server” places the
heading at the top of the page and how the link name in the index matches the section name:

Figure 15-6. Matching section and index titles.


Also notice Joomla automatically inserts the << Prev and Next >> navigation links at the bottom
of the page. Readers can navigate from page to page using these links, as well as using the links in
the Article Index.

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Working with UberPageBreak


You can build a great publishing platform with Joomla’s core features alone. But, I think
UberPageBreak, a free third-party extension developed by JoomlaWorks, adds enough value to the
pagination process that it deserves mention. Figure 15-7 illustrates some of the features in an article
paginated with UberPageBreak:

Figure 15-7. Pagination created with UberPageBreak.


It is important to note there is no difference between how you insert page breaks with
UberPageBreak and how you insert them with Joomla’s built-in page break tools.

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To download and install UberPageBreak:


1. Go to the JoomlaWorks website at http://www.joomlaworks.gr.
2. On the homepage, scroll to the section containing free Joomla extensions. The
UberPageBreak extension is located near the bottom of the list:

Figure 15-8. Click Download for Joomla 1.5.


3. Click Download for Joomla 1.5. The save file window opens.
4. Save the file, which is currently named plg_jw_uberPageBreak-v1.0_j1.5.zip, to a folder on
your computer.
5. After downloading the file, log in to the administrative back end of your Joomla site and
choose Install/Uninstall from the Extensions menu. The Extension Manager opens.
6. Click Browse in the Upload Package File section. The Choose File window opens.
7. Navigate to the folder containing the plg_jw_uberPageBreak-v1.0_j1.5.zip file, click the file
to select it, and then click Open. The path to the UberPageBreak plugin displays in the
Package File field.

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8. Click Upload. When the installation process completes, the Extension Manager displays a
message indicating it was successful:

Figure 15-9. A successful installation of UberPageBreak.

To configure UberPageBreak:
1. Select Plugin Manager from the Extensions menu. The Plugin Manager Opens.
2. Locate and click UberPageBreak (by JoomlaWorks) in the Plugin Name column. The Edit
Plugin page opens.
3. In the Details section, set the Enabled parameter to Yes. Do not make any other changes in
this section.
4. Configure the parameters in the Plugin Parameters section as follows:

Figure 15-10. The Plugin Parameters section for UberPageBreak.

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• Select plugin template: By default, the List option is selected. This option creates the
table of contents in format shown on the right side of the page in Figure 15-7.
If you select the Tabs option, UberPageBreak displays the table of contents as tabbed
headings at the top of your articles, like the example in Figure 15-11:

Figure 15-11. Tabbed headings in place of the table of contents.


While tabs are a great tool for website navigation, I don’t recommend them for long,
paginated articles. If an article includes long section titles, and you insert numerous page
breaks, like the example in Figure 15-11, you will find the tabs wrap from one side of the
page to the other, making them difficult to read and use.
• Append sub page title on current page title: When opening an article that you’ve
paginated with UberPageBreak, the first page shows only the article title. But, when you
navigate to any other page you created in the article, UberPageBreak appends the

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section’s title, called the “sub-title” to the article title, like the example in Figure 15-12:

Figure 15-12. By default, UberPageBreaks appends section titles to the article title.
To disable this parameter, select No.
• Table of contents: This parameter enables UberPageBreaks to displays the table of
contents on the right side of the page, like the example in Figure 15-12. To hide the table
of contents, set this parameter to Hide.
• Link to ‘all pages’: When set to Show, this parameter displays the All Pages link in the
table of contents:

Figure 15-13. The All Pages link in the table of contents.


When users click this link, Joomla displays an entire article without pagination.
To hide the All Pages link, set this parameter to Hide.
• Navigation links at the bottom: When set to Show, this parameter displays the
hyperlinked page numbers and other navigation links at the bottom of each article:

Figure 15-14. The navigation links at the bottom of each article.


To hide the navigation links, set this parameter to Hide.

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• Page counter at the bottom: When set to Show, this parameter displays the page counter
beneath the navigation links.

Figure 15-15. The article page counter.


To hide the page counter, set this parameter to Hide.
5. When you finish adjusting UberPageBreak’s parameters, click Save.

Chunking Articles
When publishing a news article, white paper, case study, etc., in Joomla that consists of many pages
when printed, your readers will benefit from pagination. However, when you publish a very long
document like a book or a manual as a single article, readers may still find it difficult to use, even
with pagination. For example, if a manual includes many chapters, sections, and sub-sections, the
table of contents you build when paginating it may grow longer than the pages themselves. Instead
of publishing a long document as a single, paginated article, try creating a separate category menu
for it and publishing each chapter as a separate article, like the example in Figure 15-16:

Figure 15-16. For very long documents, try publishing each chapter as a separate article.

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I took the following steps to chunk the manual as shown in Figure 15-16:
1. First, I created a category named “Joomla for Professional Writers” in which I grouped the
manual’s chapters.
2. Then, I created a category menu formatted with the Category List Layout that I assigned to
the “Joomla for Professional Writers” category, which I also named “Joomla for Professional
Writers.”
3. Finally, I created separate articles for each chapter, which I assigned to the “Joomla for
Professional Writers” category. I paginated the content of each chapter at the H2 level.
When users select the “Joomla For Professional Writers” menu, the category landing page, shown
in Figure 15-16, acts as a high-level table of contents for the manual. And, because I used
pagination, each chapter has its own a table of contents. With these features, readers can quickly
select a chapter and then navigate to a desired section within it to find the desired information.

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Chapter 16. Managing the Archive
Process
When articles on your site become outdated, you can either delete them or archive them, depending
on your needs. For example, when your company releases a new version of a product, or retires a
product line, you may want to archive the existing product documentation instead of deleting it to
remove it from your site’s front end, while retaining it in the database. Or, if you are building an
online news platform, you may have an aging policy that determines how long articles can remain
on your site. When an article achieves a specific age, you may want to archive it to remove it from
the front end, while retaining it for reference.
This chapter explains how to archive articles. It also explains how to enable users to access your
archived articles. For example, you may want to make archived product documents available for
those customers who choose not to upgrade to newer product versions.

Archiving Articles
You may find it preferable to archive specific types of old or obsolete articles than to delete them.
Once archived, you can restore articles (that is, unarchive them) as easily as you can archive them.
For example, you may find it necessary to reference an archived article from a new, related article.
In this case, you could unachive the older article and link the new one to it.

To archive an article:
1. Log in to Joomla’s administrative back end.
2. Open the Article Manager.
3. Locate the article you want to archive in the article list.
4. Click the option to the left of the article’s title to select it.
5. Click Archive. Joomla displays a message indicating it successfully archived the article. The
archived icon appears in both the Published and Front Page columns.

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You can continue to access archived articles from the Article Manager in Joomla’s back end, as
shown in Figure 16-1:

Figure 16-1. Archived articles in the Article Manager article list.

To unarchive an article:
1. Log in to Joomla’s administrative back end.
2. Open the Article Manager.
3. Locate the article you want to unarchive in the article list. If the article list includes numerous
articles, use the sorting options and select Archived from the Select State list to quickly
locate the archived article.
4. Click the option to the left of the article’s title to select it.
5. Click Unarchive. Joomla displays a message indicating it unarchived the article and removes
the archived icons.

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Making the Archive Available from the Front End


When you archive an article, Joomla can no longer display it on your site’s front page or category
menus. However, Joomla includes two features that enable you to make archived articles available
to front end users: the Archived Article List menu and the Archived Content module.
You can add the Archived Article List menu to existing menu systems, or create a stand-alone
menu system for it. Consider using the menu when want to enable users to access archived articles
from a specific menu system. For example, if your site has a product-specific article menu, and you
archive older product articles for reference, you could add an Archived Article List menu to it, like
the example in Figure 16-2:

Figure 16-2. An Archived Article List menu on an existing menu system.


The Archived Content module displays a list of hyperlinked dates, like the example in Figure 16-
3, that, when clicked, display all archived articles created on that date:

Figure 16-3. The Archived Content module groups archived articles by creation dates.

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Please note that neither the menu nor the module enable you to select specific archived articles for
display on your site’s front end. That is, both features provide users with access to all archived
articles. However, both features also provide an article filtering tool. In cases where you have
archived many articles, your front end users can use the filter, shown in Figure 16-4, to locate a
specific article:

Figure 16-4. Users can filter the archived article list to locate specific articles.
While you can add both archiving features to your site, I recommend picking the one you think will
be the most helpful to your site’s users:
• See “Creating an Archived Article List Menu” on page 283 to learn how to add the menu to
your site.
• See “Creating an Archived Content Module” on page 288 to learn how to add the module to
your site.

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Creating an Archived Article List Menu


You can add the Archived Article List menu to an existing menu system, or create a stand-alone
menu system for it. To use a stand-alone menu system, follow these steps:
1. Create the menu system first.
2. Enable the menu system’s supporting menu module and position it at the desired location on
your site.
3. Add the Archived Article List menu to the menu system.

To create an Archived Article List menu:


1. Select the name of the menu system to which you are adding the Archived Article List menu
from the Menus menu. The Menu Item Manager opens.
2. Click new. The New Menu Item page opens.
3. Click the Articles link to expand it and then click the Archived Article List link, as shown in
Figure 16-5:

Figure 16-5. Click the Archived Article List link to start creating the menu.

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4. The New Menu Item page opens. Complete Menu Item Details section:

Figure 16-6. The Menu Item Details section for the Archived Article List menu.
• Title: Type a title for the menu in this field. Consider using a title that communicate’s
the menu’s purpose, like “Archived Articles,” or “Archived Manuals.”
• Alias: Leave this field empty. When you save the menu, Joomla automatically populates
this field with an alias generated from the title.
• Link: This field is automatically pre-populated with an internal link for the menu. Do
not change it.
• Display In: Select the name of the section containing the menu, or menus, to which you
are adding the archived article menu.
• Parent Item: To display the archived article menu on several menus at once, select a
higher-level menu in the list. In this case, Joomla will display the menu on the menu you
selected, as well as all child menus beneath it. To display the archived article menu on a
single category menu at the bottom of a menu hierarchy, select the menu in the list.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means the menu will be available from the
front end when you save it.
• Order: Determines the order in which the menu displays in the Menu Item Manager list.

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• Access level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the breadcrumbs module. Select the desired access level in the
list.
• On Click, Open in: Indicate how you want Joomla to display the archived article menu
when users select the menu:
• Parent Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the archived
articles in the current browser window with the existing browser navigation
features. This is the default selection and I recommend not changing it.
• New Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the archived
articles in a new browser that opens on top of your site. The new window displays
standard browser navigation features.
• New Window without Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the archived
articles in a new browser window without the standard browser navigation features
(that is, hiding the browser’s address bar and toolbars)
5. Complete the Parameters (Basic) section:

Figure 16-7. The Parameters (Basic) section for the Archived Article List menu.
• Order: Select the order in which you want Joomla to display archived articles in the list.

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6. The parameters in the Parameters (Component) section enable you to configure which article
distribution, navigation, and metadata features should display on archived articles:

Figure 16-8. The Parameters (Component) section for the Archived Article List menu.
The parameters in this section are also available on the articles themselves, as well as in the
Article Configuration Manager, which is the global article configuration tool. I recommend
only changing parameters in this section if you want to override the global settings already
configured in the Article Configuration Manager. Otherwise, leave them all set to “Use
Global.” To learn about the parameters in the Parameters (Component) section, and how they
are set globally in the Article Configuration Manager, see “Global Feature Configuration”
on page 176. For an overview of the entire process, see “Feature Inheritance” on page 175.

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7. Complete the Parameters (System) section:

Figure 16-9. The Parameters (System) section for the Archived Article List menu.
• Page Title: Joomla automatically uses the name you typed in Title field in the Menu
Item Details section as the page title for the section landing page. However, if desired,
you can override it by typing a different page title in this field.
• Show Page Title: This parameter is enabled by default, which means Joomla will
display a page title on the menu landing page.
• Page Class Suffix: If desired, you can format the landing page for the category menu
with a unique layout style. However, the process of creating custom page layouts is
beyond the scope of this book and I recommend leaving this field empty for now.
• Menu Image: You can display images next to the menu title text, like the example in
Figure 16-10:

Figure 16-10. An image next on the Archived Article List menu.


To display an image on a archive menu, select one from the Menu Image list. Please note
that if you select an image from this list, you will not see it on the menu unless you also
enable menu images on the associated menu module. To learn how to enable menu
images for a menu module, see the explanation of the Show Menu Images parameter on
page 81.
• SSL Enabled: If you select On, Joomla will use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for the
archived article list landing page, which will encrypt the data that transfers between the
Joomla server and end users.
8. Click Save to finish creating the new menu.
9. Access your site’s front end to see and test the new menu.

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Creating an Archived Content Module


The Archived Content module groups archived articles by the month and year on which they were
created. Figure 16-11 shows am example of the Archived Content module positioned in the right
navigation column:

Figure 16-11. The Archived Content module positioned in the right navigation column.

To create an Archived Content module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the Archived Content link to open the Edit Module page.

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4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 16-12. The Details section for the Archived Content module.
• Module Type: This field identifies the type of module you are creating (in this case,
mod_archive, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: Type a title for the module in this field. For example: “Archives,” “Archived
Articles,” “Old Articles,” etc.
• Show Title: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means it will display the
module’s title above the archive list, like the example in Figure 16-11. To hide the
module’s title, select No.
• Enabled: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means users will be able to see
the module when you save it.
• Position: Select either “left” or “right” to position the module in either the left or right
navigation columns.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module will appear in the module list on the
Module Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site will see the module. Select the desired access level in the list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 16-13. The Menu Assignment section for the Archived Content module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Archived Content
module will be enabled for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module
to specific menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the Archived Content module on the pages
of specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the
desired section or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 16-14. The Module Parameters section for the Archived Content module.
• Count: By default, the archived article count is set to 10, which means Joomla will
display 10 archived articles per page. Change the number in this field to increase or
decrease the number of archived articles Joomla displays per page.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.
7. Complete the Advanced Parameters section:

Figure 16-15. The Advanced Parameters section for the Archived Content module.

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• Caching: By default, this option is set to Use Global, which means caching would then
be enabled for the module only if you enabled it for the entire Joomla server on the
System configuration page in the Global Configuration manager. To prevent Joomla
from caching the contents of the Archived Content module, select No Caching.
8. Click Save to save the Archived Content module. The Menu Manager lists the new module
and displays a message indicating it was created.
9. Access your site’s front end to see and test the new module.

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Part IV. Adding More Content and Navigation Features
Chapter 17. Enhancing Your Site with
Modules
One of the great things about Joomla is how it allows us to provide users with many of the
navigation features recommended by usability specialists and information architects. In fact, the
JA_Purity template, as well as many commercial Joomla templates you can download from the
Internet, enable you to provide users with most, if not all, of the navigation features usability
specialist Steve Krug recommends in his book Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach
to Web Usability1. And, when enhanced with a few third-party navigation extensions, like site
maps and tag clouds, Joomla addresses most of the navigation recommendations by Morville and
Rosenfeld in the chapters comprising Part II, “Principles of Information Architecture” in their book
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web2.
In addition to providing users with many types of navigation features, you can also display many
types of content. For example, you can add news flashes comprised of short blurbs about any topic
on your site. You can add various types of article lists to showcase the articles published on your
site. You can even display external websites within special containers called “wrappers.”
In Joomla’s lexicon, the additional navigation and content tools described in this chapter are called
“modules.” Modules perform tasks beyond Joomla’s core navigation and publishing features. All
modules described in this chapter are provided with Joomla. But, you can find thousands of
additional modules on Joomla’s extension site at http://extensions.joomla.org.
In this chapter, I explain how you can use Joomla’s built-in modules to enhance your publishing
platforms. However, some of the modules described in this chapter may be more appropriate for
blogging sites and online journals than conservative corporate publishing platforms.

1.Joomla addresses the navigation recommendations Krug makes in Chapter 6, “Street signs and Bread-
crumbs.” (Krug, 2006, p. 50)
2.Morville, Peter, and Rosenfeld, Louis. (2006). Information Architecture for the World Wide Web (3rd ed).
O’Reilly.

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Module Positions on the JA_Purity Template


You can place modules in a variety of positions on the JA_Purity template. To view the available
module positions, type ?tp=1 at the end of your website address, like the following example, and
press Enter:
http://mattdoc.net?tp=1

Joomla displays the JA_Purity template’s module positions, like the example in Figure 17-1:

Figure 17-1. Module positions on the JA_Purity template.

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The JA_Purity template includes the following module positions (described from the top to the
bottom of the template):
• user 4: Located in the upper right corner of the header, this is the ideal location for the Search
module (page 309).
• hornav: The hornav (horizontal navigation) position is reserved for menu modules.
• left: The left position, which is located in the left column, is a good location for the Login
module (page 114).
• breadcrumbs: Though not illustrated in figure 17-1, the breadcrumbs module is located at the
top of the body content column (which is officially called the “component” section). This
position is reserved for the Breadcrumbs module (page 298).
• right: The right position is located, which is located in the right column, is a good location for
modules that take up more space, like the Poll (page 334), Random Image (page 338), Custom
Content (page 342), and Wrapper (page 346) modules.
• banner: The banner position is a good location for advertising banners. To learn more about
banners, see Chapter 18, “Advertising with Banners,” on page 351.
• user 1: The user 1 position is a good location for list modules, like the Section List (page 306),
Related Articles (page 316), Latest News (page 320), and Most Read Content (page 324)
modules.
• user 2: The user 2 position is also a good location for list modules.
• top: The top position is a good location for list modules and message modules like the Latest
News (page 320) and News Flash (page 328) modules.
• user 5: The user 5 position is a good location for list modules and message modules.
• user 3: The user 3 position is a good location for message modules.
• footer. The footer position is reserved for the Footer module (page 303).
• syndicate: The syndicate position is reserved for the Syndicate module (page 313).
• debug: The debug position is reserved for debug messages.
The hornav, breadcrumbs, banner, footer, and syndicate module positions are reserved for specific
modules. However, you can add any type of module to the remaining positions. I made a few
recommendations in the module list above, but you should consider experimenting with a variety
of positions to determine which one works best for a specific module on your site.

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Breadcrumbs
With breadcrumbs, users can see the path they have taken to their current location in your site, like
the example in Figure 17-2:

Figure 17-2. Breadcrumbs show readers their current location in your site.
If your site has multiple sections and categories, and you created deep, menu-based hierarchies,
adding breadcrumbs enables users to quickly return to previously-viewed content.

To add a Breadcrumbs module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens:

Figure 17-3. Enable the Breadcrumbs module to add them to your site.

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3. In the module list, click the Breadcrumbs link to open the Edit Module page.
4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-4. The Details section for the Breadcrumbs module.


• Module Type: This field identifies the type of module you are creating (in this case,
mod_breadcrumbs, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: The title you type in this field displays in the module list on the Module Manager.
Use a name like “Breadcrumbs” so you’ll be able to easily identify it in the list.
• Show Title: Select No. Even if you select Yes, which is the default setting, Joomla does
not display the title of your breadcrumbs module with the breadcrumbs on your site.
• Enabled: Select Yes, which should be selected by default.
• Position: Select breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs position is located at the top of the
center, body column (called the “component” section) of your site, as shown in Figure
17-2.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the breadcrumbs module. Select the desired access level in the
list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 17-5. The Menu Assignment section for the Breadcrumbs module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Breadcrumbs module is
enabled for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module to specific
menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selections: To enable Joomla to display the Breadcrumbs module on the pages of
specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the desired
section or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 17-6. The Module Parameters section for the Breadcrumbs module.
• Show Home: By default, the Yes option is selected, which means Joomla shows
“Home” (meaning it displays a link to your site’s homepage) at the beginning of the
breadcrumb path, like the example in Figure 17-7:

Figure 17-7. Breadcrumbs path starting from the site’s homepage.


Select No if you don’t want Joomla to display a link to the homepage in the breadcrumbs
path.

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• Text for Home entry: By default, this field contains “Home” as the text representing
your site’s homepage in the breadcrumbs path. If desired, you can add whatever text you
want to represent your site’s homepage in the breadcrumbs path. For example, you
could change it to “Homepage.”
• Show Last: The Yes option is selected by default, which means Joomla shows users
their current location in your site, like the example in Figure 17-8:

Figure 17-8. Breadcrumbs path showing your current location.


• Text Separator: To use a specific symbol other than the default arrow graphic to separate
the items in the breadcrumbs path (for example, you want to use the greater than
character [>] in place of the graphic), type it in this field.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.
7. The Advanced section contains a Caching parameter, but “Never” is the only option
available in the list, as shown in Figure 17-9:

Figure 17-9. The Advanced Parameters section for the Breadcrumbs module.
Generally, when you enable caching for a specific feature, Joomla saves an image of the
feature and loads it on the page instead of retrieving content from the database, which
improves your site’s performance. However, because breadcrumbs differ according to how
a users navigate through your site, it is not practical for Joomla to cache the breadcrumbs
module.

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8. Click Save to save the breadcrumbs module. The Menu Manager lists the new module and
displays a message indicating it was created:

Figure 17-10. The breadcrumbs module in the module list.

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Footer and Copyright Notice


The Footer module displays a copyright notice in the footer area on every page of your site, as
identified in Figure 17-11:

Figure 17-11. The Footer module displays a copyright notice in the footer on every page of your site.
When you create a footer, Joomla automatically attributes the copyright notice to your site’s name
(which you supplied when installing Joomla). In Figure 17-11, the copyright notice in the footer is
attributed to “Joomla! for Professional Writers.” However, you may have used a site name that is
different from your company’s name. For example, I used a site name that describes the purpose
of the site shown in Figure 17-11, which was different from my company’s name. To learn how to
customize your site’s copyright notice, see Appendix

To add a Footer module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the Footer link to open the Edit Module page.

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4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-12. The Details section for the Footer module.


• Module Type: This field identifies the type of module you are creating (in this case,
mod_footer, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: The title you type in this field displays in the module list on the Module Manager.
Use a title like “Footer” so you’ll be able to easily identify it in the list.
• Show Title: Select No. Even if you select Yes, which is the default setting, Joomla does
not display the title of your Footer module.
• Enabled: Select Yes, which should be selected by default.
• Position: Select footer. The footer position displays at the bottom of your site, where
you would typically expect to see a copyright notice.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the menu module. Select the desired access level in the list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 17-13. The Menu Assignment section for the Footer module.
• By default, the All option is selected, which means the Footer module is enabled for all
sections and categories on your site. To limit the module to specific menus, select the
Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selections: To enable Joomla to display the Footer module on the pages of
specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the desired
section or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 17-14. The Module Parameters section for the Footer module.
With caching, the Joomla server a saves images of various features, which it can load into
users’ web browsers, instead of retrieving content from the database. The purpose of caching
is to improve the system’s performance.
By default, the Caching parameter is set to Use Global, which means Joomla relies on your
site’s global caching settings, which are set on the System tab of the Global Configuration
page. Caching is enabled by default on Joomla servers, so unless you turned it off, Joomla
will automatically cache this module.
7. Click Save.
8. Next, go to your Joomla homepage to see the new footer, which will look similar to the

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example in Figure 17-15:

Figure 17-15. The footer displays a copyright notice for my site.

Section List
Joomla’s primary navigation tool is the menu. However, Joomla includes another navigation tool,
called the Section module, that allows you to create a link-based list of the sections on your site,
like the example in Figure 17-16:

Figure 17-16. Section list in the Section module.


I discovered, via trial-and-error, that the Section module does not display links for sections that do
not contain articles. When I first add a Section module, it only displayed a link for one section of
my site, even though I had created three sections. After troubleshooting for an hour, I finally
noticed the Section module only listed the section for which I had written articles (I hadn’t written
articles for the other two sections yet). When I added a couple of test articles to the other sections,
their titles appeared in the Section module.

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To add a Section module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the Section link to open the Edit Module page.
4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-17. The Details section for the Section module.


• Module Type: This field identifies the type of module you are creating (in this case,
mod_sections, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: Type a title for the module in this field.
• Show Title: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means it displays the
module’s title above the article list, like the example in Figure 17-16. To hide the
module’s title, select No.
• Enabled: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means users can see the module
when you save it.
• Position: For Figure 17-16, I set the position to “right” to show the module in the right
navigation column. However, it would work well in the user 1, user 2, top, and user 5
positions.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the menu module. Select the desired access level in the list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 17-18. The Menu Selection section for the Sections module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Sections module is
enabled for all sections and categories on your site.To limit the module to specific
menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the Sections module on the pages of
specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the desired
section or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 17-19. The Module Parameters section for the Sections module.
• Count: By default, this field contains “5” which means the Section module lists a
maximum of five section titles. Increase or decrease the number in this field to enable
the Section module to display more or less section titles.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.
7. Complete the Advanced Parameters section:

Figure 17-20. The Advanced Parameters section for the Sections module.

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• Caching: By default, this option is set to No Caching, which means Joomla does not
cache the contents of the Sections module. If you select Use Global, caching would then
be enabled for the module only if you enabled it for the entire Joomla server on the
System configuration page in the Global Configuration manager.
• Caching time: If you enable caching for the module, enter the amount of time, in
minutes, in which you want Joomla to store the cache file before refreshing it.
8. Click Save to save the Sections module. The Menu Manager lists the new module and
displays a message indicating it was created.

Search
While some users may prefer to browse for information using menus, others may prefer to use a
“search” feature to quickly locate specific articles. Joomla’s Search module enables users to
perform searches that retrieve lists of articles matching their search criteria from the database.

To add a Search module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the Search link to open the Edit Module page.
4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-21. The Details section for the Search module.


• Module Type: This field identifies the type of module you are creating (in this case,
mod_search, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: The title you type in this field displays in the module list on the Module Manager.
Use a name like “Search” so you’ll be able to easily identify it in the module list.
• Show Title: Indicate whether you want Joomla to display the module title you typed in
the Title field with the module on your site.
• Enabled: Select Yes, which should be selected by default.

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• Position: While you can place the site search module in a variety of module positions,
the most common location is in the upper right corner, which is set with the user 4
position, as shown in Figure 17-22:

Figure 17-22. The Search module in the user4 position.


Note that when users perform searches with the Search module, Joomla displays the
results in the main body of your site, like the example in Figure 17-23:

Figure 17-23. Joomla displays search results in the main body of your site.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module

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Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the Search module. Select the desired access level in the list.
5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 17-24. The Menu Assignment section for the Search module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Search module is
enabled for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module to specific
menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the Search module on the pages of specific
sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the desired section
or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 17-25. The Module Parameters section for the Search module.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.
• Box Width: You can specify the number of characters users can type in the search field.

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By default, this option is set to 20, which means users can type search strings up to 20
characters in length.
• Text: If your site is set to use the English language file, Joomla displays the term
“search. . .” by default in the site search field, as shown in the following example:

Figure 17-26. Default search text in the search field.


However, to provide readers with a custom search directive, like “Type your search
here,” add it to this field.
• Search button: To provide users with a button they can click to perform a site search,
select Yes. By default, No is selected, which means you are assuming users know to
press Enter to perform a search. Figure 17-27 shows a Search button on the Search
module:

Figure 17-27. The Search button on the search field.


• Button Position: If you select Yes for the Search button option, choose where you want
Joomla to display it. By default, Right is selected, which means the button displays on
the right side of the search field, like the example in Figure 17-27.
• Search button as image: By default, No is selected, which means Joomla displays a text-
based search button, like the example in Figure 17-27. To use a custom graphic, select
Yes. To work properly, you must upload the custom button graphic to the /images/
M_images folder on the server and you must name it searchButton.gif.
• Button Text: If you enable the search button, you can type custom search text in this
field. For example, to use “Go” instead of “Search” as the text on the search button, type
Go in this field.
7. Complete the Advanced Parameters section:

Figure 17-28. The Advanced Parameters section for the Search module.
• Caching: By default, this option is set to Use Global, which means Joomla relies on
your site’s global caching settings, which are set on the System tab of the Global
Configuration page. Caching is enabled by default on Joomla servers, so unless you
turned it off, Joomla automatically caches this module.
• Cache Time: This field sets the period of time in minutes before Joomla re-caches the
module. The default setting is 900 minutes.

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8. Click Save to save the Search module. The Menu Manager lists the new module and displays
a message indicating it was created.

Syndicate
When you create section and category menus you can syndicate them with RSS. When you
syndicate a menu, Joomla makes a news feeds available for it. Users can subscribe to news feeds
with a variety of devices, including their browsers, their websites, or other media like cell phones.
Each time you publish an article for a section or category associated with a syndicated menu, the
news feed delivers it to your subscribed users.
With the Syndicate module, you can add feed links directly to the landing pages of the section and
category menus for which you enabled syndication, like the example in Figure 17-29:

Figure 17-29. The Syndicate module contains a feed link.


Please note that you can only add the Syndicate module to those menus you enabled for
syndication. And, because you already syndicated them, an RSS feed link icon is already
activated on user browser toolbars. In this case, adding a Syndicate module, like the one in Figure
17-29, may be overkill. On the other hand, if your users aren’t familiar with this method of content
delivery, the Syndicate module may be helpful.

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To add a Syndicate module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the Syndicate link to open the Edit Module page.
4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-30. Complete the Details section for the syndicate module.
• Module Type: This field identifies the type of module you are creating (in this case,
mod_syndicate, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: Type a title for the module in this field. For example: “Subscribe,” “News Feed,”
“Feeds,” etc.
• Show Title: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means it displays the
module’s title above the module, like the example in Figure 17-29. To hide the module’s
title, select No.
• Enabled: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means users can see the module
when you save it.
• Position: For Figure 17-29, I set the position to “right” to show the module in the right
navigation column. Consider using the syndicate position, which is reserved for the
syndicate module.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the module. Select the desired access level in the list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 17-31. The Menu Assignment section for the syndicate module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Syndicate module is
enabled for all sections and categories on your site. But, remember that this module only
displays on your syndicated menus. To limit the module to specific menus, select the
Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the Syndicate module on the landing
pages of specific section or category menus, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select them in
the list.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 17-32. The Module Parameters section for the syndicate module.
• Caching: “Never” is the only option available in the Caching list. Generally, when you
enable caching for a specific feature, Joomla saves an image of the feature and loads it
on the page instead of retrieving content from the database, which improves your site’s
performance. However, because the syndicated content available on your site may
change regularly, it is not practical for Joomla to cache the Syndicate module.
• Text: This is the hyperlink text that displays within the Syndicate module. This is the
link users click to subscribe to a news feed for the syndicated menu. In Figure 17-29, I
used “Syndicated Articles” as the text for the link. Use a phrase that communicates the
feature’s purpose to your audience. For example, you could provide text like “Subscribe
here,” or to spell it out a little more, “Subscribe to our articles.” Because subscriptions

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are free, you could even use something like “Subscribe to our free articles.”
• Format: Select either RSS or Atom3 as the news feed format for the Syndicate module.
The Atom format was developed as an alternative to RSS to address some of its
limitations. However, RSS continues to be a widely-used news feed format.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.
7. Click Save to save the Syndicate module. The Menu Manager lists the new module and
displays a message indicating it was created.

Related Articles
The Related Articles module displays a list of articles related to a specific article open on your site.
For example, if users access a manual that is part of a set, you could use this module to list the other
manuals, like the example in Figure 17-33:

Figure 17-33. A list of related articles.


The process of creating a list of related articles starts with the articles themselves. Joomla links
articles that have matching keywords as related articles. For example, to link several installation
guides, like the example in Figure 17-33, you could add the keyword “installation” to each article.
After establishing a relationship among articles with keywords, add a Related Articles module to
your site.

3.To learn more about the Atom format, see the Atom article on Wikipedia at the following address:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atom_(standard)

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To add a Related Articles module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the Related Articles link to open the Edit Module page.
4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-34. The Details section for the Related Articles module.
• Module Type: This field identifies the type of module you are creating (in this case,
mod_related_items, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: Type a title for the module in this field. For example: “Related Articles,” “Related
Topics,” “Related Documents,” etc.
• Show Title: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means it displays the
module’s title above the article list, like the example in Figure 17-33. To hide the
module’s title, select No.
• Enabled: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means users can see the module
when you save it.
• Position: For Figure 17-33, I set the position to “right” to show the module in the right
navigation column. However, this module would also work well in the user 1, user 2,
top, and user 5 positions.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the module. Select the desired access level in the list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 17-35. The Menu Assignment section for the Related Articles module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Related Articles module
is enabled for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module to specific
menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
If you are building a technical documentation site, you may not publish many articles on
your site’s homepage. In this case, you may want to de-select the Home option in the
Menu Selection list. In fact, you may only want to display the Related Articles module
on category menus, where most of your articles will likely reside.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the Related Articles module on the pages
of specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the
desired section or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 17-36. The Module Parameters section for the Related Articles Module.
• Show Date: To show the dates on which articles were written, select Show. Joomla
displays article creation dates in front of the article titles, like the example in Figure 17-

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37:

Figure 17-37. Article creation dates added to the list of related topics.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.
7. Complete the Advanced Parameters section:

Figure 17-38. The Advanced Parameters section for the Related Articles module.
• Caching: By default, this option is set to No Caching, which means Joomla does not
cache the contents of the Related Articles module. If you select Use Global, caching
would then be enabled for the module only if you enabled it for the entire Joomla server
on the System configuration page in the Global Configuration manager. Because the
article list in the Related Articles module differs from article-to-article, it is not practical
for Joomla to cache this module.
• Caching time: If you enable caching for the module, enter the amount of time, in
minutes, in which you want Joomla to store the cache file before refreshing it.
8. Click Save to save the Related Articles module. The Menu Manager lists the new module
and displays a message indicating it was created.

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Latest News
With the Latest News module, you can display a list of the most recently published articles on your
site, like the example in Figure 17-39:

Figure 17-39. A list of a site’s most-recently published articles.


This feature may be more useful for blogs and news platforms than for technical documentation
sites. That is, users who are looking for technical documentation care more about finding articles
for a specific product than about the most recently published articles on your site (unless, of course,
the most recently published articles are for a desired product). However, users might find this
feature helpful if you are publishing a series of technical articles in chronological order.

To add a Latest News module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the Latest News link to open the Edit Module page.

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4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-40. The Details section for the Latest News module.
• Module Type: This is an uneditable field that identifies the type of module you are
creating (in this case, mod_latestnews, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: Type a title for the module in this field. For example: “Latest News” (which might
not be appropriate for a technical documentation site), “Recent Articles,” “New
Articles,” etc.
• Show Title: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means it displays the
module’s title above the article list, like the example in Figure 17-39. To hide the
module’s title, select No.
• Enabled: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means users can see the module
when you save it.
• Position: For Figure 17-39, I set the position to “right” to show the module in the right
navigation column. However, it would work well in the user 3 and user 5 positions.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the module. Select the desired access level in the list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 17-41. The Menu Assignment section for the Latest News module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Latest News module is
enabled for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module to specific
menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the Latest News module on the pages of
specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the desired
section or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 17-42. The Module Parameters section for the Latest News module.
• Count: This field includes “5” by default, which means Joomla displays the five most
recently published articles in the module. Type a larger or smaller number to increase or
decrease the number of articles for the module.
• Order: The Recently Added First option is selected by default, which means Joomla
automatically displays the most recently published article at the top of the module list.

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To display the most recently modified article at the top of the list, select the Recently
Modified First option. This means Joomla displays both newly-published and recently-
modified articles in the module list.
• Authors: By default, Anyone is selected in the list, which means Joomla displays the
most recently-published articles by anyone with authoring privileges. To limit the
articles Joomla displays in the module to only those you publish on your site, select the
Added or modified by me option. Or, to exclude your articles from the module, select the
Not added or modified by me option.
• Front Page Articles: By default, the Show option is selected, which means Joomla lists
front page articles (that is, articles published on your site’s homepage) in the Latest
News module. However, if you display the Latest News module on your site’s
homepage, you may find listing front page articles in it is redundant. In this case, select
Hide to prevent Joomla from listing front page articles in the Latest News module.
• Section ID: You can enable Joomla to display the most recently published articles from
one or more sections of your site (meaning you can limit the articles Joomla displays in
this module to those from a specific section) by typing section ID numbers in this field.
You’ll have to go to the Section Manager to find them, so click Save to save your work
before exiting the Latest News module.
Select Section Manager from the Content menu to open the Section Manager. In the
section list, locate the title of the desired section and then its ID number, which is listed
in the ID column. Write down, or memorize, the section’s ID number.
Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. Open the Latest News module you
just created and type the section’s ID number in the Section ID field. To display articles
from multiple sections, type their ID numbers in this field, separating each with a comma.
• Category ID: You can enable Joomla to display the most recently published articles
from one or more categories by typing their ID numbers in this field. You’ll have to
retrieve category IDs from the Category Manager, so click Save to save your work
before exiting the Latest News module.
Select Category Manager from the Content menu to open the Category Manager. Locate
the title of the desired category and then its ID number, which is listed in the ID column.
Write down, or memorize, the category’s ID number.
Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. Open the Latest News module you
just created and type the category’s ID number in the Category ID field. To display
articles from multiple categories, type their ID numbers in this field, separating each with
a comma.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.

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7. Complete the Advanced Parameters section:

Figure 17-43. The Advanced Parameters section for the Latest News module.
• Caching: By default, this option is set to Use Global, which means Joomla relies on
your site’s global caching settings, which are set on the System tab of the Global
Configuration page. Caching is enabled by default on Joomla servers, so unless you
turned it off, Joomla automatically caches this module.
• Cache Time: This field sets the period of time in minutes before Joomla re-caches the
module. The default setting is 900 minutes.
8. Click Save to save the Latest News module. The Menu Manager lists the new module and
displays a message indicating it was created.

Most Read Content


The Most Read Content module displays a list of the articles that have been read most often on
your site, like the example in Figure 17-44:

Figure 17-44. A list of a site’s most frequently read articles.


I’m not sure if the Most Read Content module adds much value to a technical documentation site.
Corporate readers are more likely to be interested in finding articles about specific topics than
learning which articles are read most frequently.

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To add a Most Read Content module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the Most Read Content link to open the Edit Module page.
4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-45. The Details section for the Most Read Content module.
• Module Type: This is an uneditable field that identifies the type of module you are
creating (in this case, mod_mostread, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: Type a title for the module in this field. For example: “Most Read,” “Most
Popular,” “Most Viewed,” etc.
• Show Title: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which it means it displays the
module’s title above the article list, like the example in Figure 17-44. To hide the
module’s title, select No.
• Enabled: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means users can see the module
when you save it.
• Position: For Figure 17-44, I set the position to “right” to show the module in the right
navigation column. However, it would also work well in the user 1, user 2, top, and user
5 positions.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the module. Select the desired access level in the list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 17-46. The Menu Assignment section for the Most Read Content module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Most Read Content
module is enabled for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module to
specific menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the Most Read Content display on the
pages of specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select
the desired section or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 17-47. The Module Parameters section for the Most Read Content module.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.
• Front Page Articles: By default, the Show option is selected, which means Joomla lists
front page articles (that is, articles published on your site’s homepage) in the Most Read
Content module. However, if you display the Most Read Content module on your site’s
homepage, you may find listing front page articles in the module is redundant. In this
case, select Hide to prevent Joomla from listing front page articles in the Most Read
Content module.

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• Count: This field includes “5” by default, which means Joomla displays the five most
read articles in the module. Type a larger or smaller number to increase or decrease the
number of articles for the module.
• Category ID: You can enable Joomla to display the most read articles from one or more
categories by typing their ID numbers in this field. You’ll have to retrieve category IDs
from the Category Manager, so click Save to save your work before exiting the Edit
Module page.
Select Category Manager from the Content menu to open the Category Manager. Locate
the title of the desired category and then its ID number, which is listed in the ID column.
Write down, or memorize, the category’s ID number.
Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu to return to the Module Manager.
Open the Most Read Content module you just created and type the category’s ID number
in the Category ID field. To display articles from multiple categories, type their ID
numbers in this field, separating each with a comma.
• Section ID: You can enable Joomla to display the most read articles from one or more
sections of your site (meaning you can limit the articles Joomla displays in this module
to those from a specific section) by typing section ID numbers in this field. You’ll have
to go to the Section Manager to find them, so click Save to save your work before
exiting the Most Read Content module.
Select Section Manager from the Content menu to open the Section Manager. In the
section list, locate the title of the desired section and then its ID number, which is listed
in the ID column. Write down, or memorize, the section’s ID number.
Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu to return to the Module Manager.
Open the Most Read Content module you just created and type the section’s ID number
in the Section ID field. To display articles from multiple sections, type their ID numbers
in this field, separating each with a comma.
7. Complete the Advanced Parameters section:

Figure 17-48. The Advanced Parameters section for the Most Read Content module.
• Caching: By default, this option is set to Use Global, which means Joomla relies on
your site’s global caching settings, which are set on the System tab of the Global
Configuration page. Caching is enabled by default on Joomla servers, so unless you
turned it off, Joomla automatically caches this module.
• Cache Time: This field sets the period of time in minutes before Joomla re-caches the
module. The default setting is 900 minutes.
8. Click Save to save the Most Read Content module. The Menu Manager lists the new module
and displays a message indicating it was created.

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News Flash
With the News Flash module, you can either display a single random article, or a series of articles
from a specific category of your site. As its name implies, a “news flash” is intended to provide
readers with quick access to information, whether a synopsis, a blurb about your site, or an
announcement about a product. For a technical documentation site, you could use the News Flash
module to display information about recently-published articles, like the example in Figure 17-49:

Figure 17-49. A News Flash module on a technical documentation site.


The News Flash modules display entire articles, so you should keep them short and to the point.
That is, if a news flash article is so long that readers have to scroll to read it, you should consider
posting it elsewhere on your site.
I did the following to create the News Flash module shown in Figure 17-49:
1. First, I created a specific category to hold news flash articles that I named “Joomla News,”
which I assigned to the Joomla section of my site.
2. Then, I wrote the two short articles shown in Figure 17-49, which I assigned to the Joomla
News category.
3. Finally, I created a News Flash module that I also assigned to the Joomla News category,
which retrieves and displays the articles I assign to that category.

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To add a News Flash module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the News Flash link to open the Edit Module page.
4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-50. The Details section for the News Flash module.
• Module Type: This is an uneditable field that identifies the type of module you are
creating (in this case, mod_newsflash, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: Type a title for the module in this field. For example: “Newsflash,” “New,”
“Product Name,” etc.
• Show Title: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which it means it displays the
module’s title above the module, like the example in Figure 17-49. To hide the module’s
title, select No.
• Enabled: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means users can see the module
when you save it.
• Position: For Figure 17-49, I set the position to “right” to show the module in the right
navigation column. However, it would work well in the user 3 and user 5 positions.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the module. Select the desired access level in the list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 17-51. The Menu Assignment section for the News Flash module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the News Flash module is
enabled for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module to specific
menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the News Flash module on the pages of
specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the desired
section or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 17-52. The Module Parameters section for the News Flash module.
• Category: If you created a category specifically for news flash articles, select it from the
list. Remember that the News Flash module displays entire articles. If you select a
category that contains regular, full-length articles, the News Flash module displays
them.
• Layout: To enable the News Flash module to randomly display one article when users

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access your site, select Randomly choose one at a time from the list. For example, if you
created a series of articles containing informational blurbs for a blog (e.g., inspirational
“thoughts of the day”), this option might be appropriate.
To enable the News Flash module to display multiple articles in a side-by-side
arrangement, like the example in Figure 17-53, select Horizontal:

Figure 17-53. Horizontal article presentation in the News Flash module.


To enable the News Flash module to display multiple articles in a vertical arrangement,
like the example in Figure 17-54, select Vertical:

Figure 17-54. Vertical article presentation in the News Flash module.


• Show Images: By default, this option is set to No, which means the News Flash module
does not display images from your news flash articles. Unless you add very small
images to your news flash articles, I recommend not showing them in the News Flash
module. Larger images take up space, which means the module must expand to display
them. If the News Flash module becomes too big, its usefulness will be diminished,
because it will take up too much space on your site.
If you added images to your news flash articles, and you want the News Flash module to
display them, select Yes.
• Title Linkable: This parameter works in conjunction with the Article Title parameter. If
you select Yes for the Article Title parameter (meaning you want the News Flash
module to display article titles), indicate whether you want the titles to act as hyperlinks
that users can click to jump to the full articles.
A realistic scenario for enabling this feature would be one in which you configured the
News Flash module to display full-length articles containing Read More breaks. When
the News Flash module displays full-length articles, it only displays the introductory

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sections above the Read More breaks. If you select Yes for the Article Title parameter,
and you select Yes for the Title Linkable parameter, readers can click the article’s title to
jump to the full article, like the example in Figure 17-55:

Figure 17-55. A news flash article’s title configured as a hyperlink.


• Show last separator: By default, this parameter is set to Yes, which means Joomla
displays a separator after the last article in the news feed module.
• Read more... Link: By default, the Hide option is selected, which means the News Flash
module does not display the Read More links Joomla creates for Read More breaks in
you articles. If you select Show, the News Flash module shows the Read More link, like
the example in Figure 17-56:

Figure 17-56. Read more links in the News Flash module.

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• Article Title: By default, the No option is selected, which means the News Flash module
does not display article titles. Remember that you are trying to keep the space taken up
by the News Flash module to a minimum. Adding article titles increases the size of the
module, as you can see in Figure 17-55.
To enable the News Flash module to display article titles, select Yes.
• # of Articles: To limit the number of articles the News Flash module can display, type
the maximum article limit in this field. If you specify an article limit, the News Flash
module displays articles according to their order in the article list from the top to the
bottom of the list.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.
7. Complete the Advanced Parameters section:

Figure 17-57. The Advanced Parameters section for the News Flash module.
• Caching: By default, this option is set to Use Global, which means Joomla relies on
your site’s global caching settings, which are set on the System tab of the Global
Configuration page. Caching is enabled by default on Joomla servers, so unless you
turned it off, Joomla automatically caches this module.
• Cache Time: This field sets the period of time in minutes before Joomla re-caches the
module. The default setting is 900 minutes.
8. Click Save to save the News Flash module. The Menu Manager lists the new module and
displays a message indicating it was created.

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Polls
With the Polls module, you can create a simple, one-question poll to capture feedback from your
users, like the example in Figure 17-58

Figure 17-58. Add polls to capture user feedback.


Creating a poll is a two step process:
• First create the poll question and answers.
• Then, create a poll module, assigning the poll to it and positioning it at the desired location on
your site.
To learn how to create complex surveys for capturing user feedback, see Chapter 22, “Creating and
Conducting Surveys,” on page 427.

To create a poll:
1. Choose Polls from the Components menu. The Poll Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Poll page opens.

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3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-59. The Details section for a new poll.


• Title: Type the poll question or statement in the title field. For example, to determine if
users find your site helpful, you could use a title like: “Is this site helpful?”.
• Alias: Leave this field empty. Joomla will populate it based on what you type in the title
field when you save the poll.
• Lag: The lag time determines how long a user must wait before casting another vote.
The default setting is 86,400 seconds, or 24 hours.
• Published: To make the poll available for module assignment, select Yes.
4. Complete the Options section:

Figure 17-60. The Options section for a new poll.


5. Type the answers you want to provide readers for the poll question in each option field, up
to a maximum of 12 answers. For example, if you typed “Is this site helpful?,” you might
provide answers like: Yes, No, I don’t know, etc.
6. Click Save to create the new poll.

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To add a Poll module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the Poll link to open the Edit Module page.
4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-61. The Details section for the Poll module.


• Module Type: This is an uneditable field that identifies the type of module you are
creating (in this case, mod_poll, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: Type a title for the module in this field.
• Show Title: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which it means it displays the
module’s title above the module, like the example in Figure 17-58. To hide the module’s
title, select No.
• Enabled: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means users can see the module
when you save it.
• Position: Select the desired position from the list, excluding the user 4, hornav,
breadcrumbs, banner, footer, and syndicate positions. If you create a poll with numerous
questions that requires a lot of space, try the “right” module position first.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the module. Select the desired access level in the list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 17-62. The Menu Assignment section for the Poll module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Poll module is enabled
for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module to specific menus, select
the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the Poll module on the pages of specific
sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the desired section
or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section.

Figure 17-63. The Module Parameters section for the Poll module.
• Poll: Select the title poll you create with the Poll manager.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.
7. Complete the Advanced Parameters section:

Figure 17-64. The Advanced Parameters section for the Poll module.
• Caching: By default, this option is set to Use Global, which means Joomla relies on
your site’s global caching settings, which are set on the System tab of the Global
Configuration page. Caching is enabled by default on Joomla servers, so unless you

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turned it off, Joomla automatically caches this module.


• Cache Time: This field sets the period of time in minutes before Joomla re-caches the
module. The default setting is 900 minutes.
8. Click Save to save the Poll module. The Menu Manager lists the new module and displays a
message indicating it was created.

Random Images
The Random Image module randomly retrieves and displays images on your site, like the example
in Figure 17-65:

Figure 17-65. The Random Images module randomly retrieves and displays images on your site.
For a corporate publishing site, you could use this module to randomly display product logos or
hardware images for applicable section menus.
The process of creating a Random Image module includes the following steps:
1. Create a sub-folder in the stories folder on Joomla’s file system where you can upload the
images for the module. See the “Working with Image and Multimedia Folders” section on
page 153 to learn how to create a folder on Joomla’s file system.

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2. Upload the images you want the module to randomly retrieve and display on your site to the
folder you created in step 1.
3. Create the Random Image module, providing the path to the folder you created in step 1.

To add the Random Image module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the Random Image link to open the Edit Module page.
4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-66. The Details section for the Random Image module.
• Module Type: This is an uneditable field that identifies the type of module you are
creating (in this case, mod_random_image, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: Type a title for the module in this field.
• Show Title: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which it means it displays the
module’s title above the module, like the example in Figure 17-65. To hide the module’s
title, select No.
• Enabled: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means users can see the module
when you save it.
• Position: Select the desired position from the list, excluding the user 4, hornav,
breadcrumbs, banner, footer, and syndicate positions. If you use large images, try the
“right” module position first.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the module. Select the desired access level in the list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 17-67. The Menu Assignment section for the Random Image module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Random Image module
is enabled for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module to specific
menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the Random Image module on the pages
of specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the
desired section or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 17-68. The Module Parameters section for the Random Image module.
• Image Type: Type the file format of the images you uploaded to the server for the
Random Image module. If you uploaded images in multiple file formats, separate each
with a comma like the following example:
jpg,png,gif

• Image Folder: Type the path to the folder into which you uploaded images for the
module in the stories folder on Joomla’s file system. The path should start with
images/stories. For example, if you created a folder named random-images in the stories
folder, you would type the following path in the Image Folder field:

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images/stories/random-images

• Link: To enable the images to act as hyperlinks that open another website when clicked,
type the full address of the external site in this field. For example, if you were creating a
Random Image module to display product images, and you wanted the module to act as
a link to your corporate website, you would type the full address for your corporate site
in this field.
• Width (px): To enable the module to resize all images to as specific width, type the
desired width in this field in pixels.
• Height (px): To enable the module to resize all image to a specific height, type the
desired height in this field in pixels.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.
7. Complete the Advanced Parameters section:

Figure 17-69. The Advanced Parameters section for the Random Image module.
• Caching: By default, this option is set to Use Global, which means Joomla relies on
your site’s global caching settings, which are set on the System tab of the Global
Configuration page. Caching is enabled by default on Joomla servers, so unless you
turned it off, Joomla automatically caches this module.
• Cache Time: This field sets the period of time in minutes before Joomla re-caches the
module. The default setting is 900 minutes.
8. Click Save to save the Random Image module. The Menu Manager lists the new module and
displays a message indicating it was created.

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Custom Content (HTML) Module


In addition to Joomla’s pre-packaged navigation modules, you can add a module that displays text,
graphics, hyperlinks, or any other type content you would normally add to an article published on
your site. You can place this module, which is called the Custom HTML module, in the standard
module positioning locations on your site, like the example in Figure 17-70:

Figure 17-70. A Custom HTML module that contains text, graphics, and hyperlinks.
If Joomla’s other modules don’t meet your needs, you may be able to create one with the Custom
HTML module.

To add a Custom HTML module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the Custom HTML link to open the Edit Module page.

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4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-71. The Details section for the Custom HTML module.
• Module Type: This is an uneditable field that identifies the type of module you are
creating (in this case, mod_custom, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: Type a title for the module in this field.
• Show Title: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which it means it displays the
module’s title above the module, like the example in Figure 17-70. To hide the module’s
title, select No.
• Enabled: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means users can see the module
when you save it.
• Position: Select the desired position from the list, excluding the user 4, hornav,
breadcrumbs, banner, footer, and syndicate positions. If you create a custom HTML
module that requires a lot of space, try the “right” module position first.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the module. Select the desired access level in the list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 17-72. The Menu Assignment section for the Custom HTML module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Custom HTML module
is enabled for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module to specific
menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the Custom HTML on the pages of
specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the desired
section or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 17-73. The Module Parameters section for the Custom HTML module.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.

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7. Finally, supply the content of the Custom HTML module in the Custom Output section:

Figure 17-74. Add the content you want to display for the Custom HTML module in the Custom Output
section.
The Custom Output section displays the TinyMCE editor, which provides the features you
normally use for article writing. With TinyMCE, you can write and format text, as well as
insert images, links, and tables for your custom module.
8. Click Save to save the Custom HTML module. The Menu Manager lists the new module and
displays a message indicating it was created.

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Wrapper for External Websites


With the Wrapper module, you can position a frame (called an IFrame) on your site that contains
an external website. Figure 17-75 shows how an IFrame wrapper positioned on the right side of my
site displays the GWidgets homepage (GWidgets is an external website):

Figure 17-75. An IFrame wrapper containing an external website.


For a corporate publishing platform, you could add a wrapper that displays the homepage of your
corporate website.

To add an IFrame Wrapper module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Module page opens.
3. In the module list, click the Wrapper link to open the Edit Module page.

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4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 17-76. The Details section for the Wrapper module.


• Module Type: This is an uneditable field that identifies the type of module you are
creating (in this case, mod_wrapper, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: Type a title for the module in this field.
• Show Title: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which it means it displays the
module’s title above the module, like the example in Figure 17-75.
• Enabled: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means users can see the module
when you save it.
• Position: Select the desired position from the list, excluding the user 4, hornav,
breadcrumbs, banner, footer, and syndicate positions. If you add a wrapper for an
external website that requires a lot of space, try the “right” module position first.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the module. Select the desired access level in the list.

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5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 17-77. The Menu Assignment section for the Wrapper module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Wrapper module is
enabled for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module to specific
menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the Wrapper module on the pages of
specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the desired
section or category menus.
6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 17-78. The Module Parameters section for the Wrapper module.
• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.

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• URL: Type, or copy and paste, the address of the website you want to display inside of
the wrapper.
• Scroll Bars: Indicate whether you want the wrapper to display scroll bars. Auto is
selected by default, which means if the site exceeds either the width or height
parameters you specify in the fields below, it displays either a horizontal or vertical
scroll bar, or both, as necessary. Select No to disable scroll bars, or Yes to ensure Joomla
always displays scroll bars.
• Width: By default, width is set to 100% which means the wrapper fits the entire width of
the external site in the IFrame. However, the amount of the external site that displays in
the IFrame is limited to where you position it. If you enable scroll bars, users can scroll
to see the entire page. To specify an exact width for the page within wrapper, type the it
in pixels in this field.
• Height: This field works in conjunction with the Auto Height parameter. If you set the
Auto Option to Yes (it is set to Yes by default), then Joomla makes the wrapper module
as high as necessary to fit the external website. However, to control the wrapper height,
set Auto Height to No and then type the desired height in this field in pixels.
• Auto Height: This parameter is set to Yes by default, which means the IFrame wrapper
stretches to the full height of the external website. To make the IFrame a specific height,
set this parameter to No, and type the desired height in the Height field in pixels.
• Auto Add: This parameter, which is set to Yes by default, enables Joomla to
automatically prepend either the “http,” or https” prefix to addresses in the URL field
when missing from the address.
• Target Name: If desired, you can type a target name in this field that allows you to
access the IFrame via a script from another area of your site.
7. Complete the Advanced Parameters section:

Figure 17-79. The Advanced Parameters section for the Wrapper module.
• Caching: By default, this option is set to Use Global, which means Joomla relies on
your site’s global caching settings, which are set on the System tab of the Global
Configuration page. Caching is enabled by default on Joomla servers, so unless you
turned it off, Joomla automatically caches this module.
• Cache Time: This field sets the period of time in minutes before Joomla re-caches the
module. The default setting is 900 minutes.
8. Click Save to save the Wrapper module. The Menu Manager lists the new module and
displays a message indicating it was created.

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Chapter 18. Advertising with Banners
Banners are graphical advertisements that you can display on your site to either advertise for your
own company, or to advertise for clients (possibly for a fee). Figure 18-1 shows a sample Joomla
banner on a Joomla site:

Figure 18-1. An advertising banner.


If you are building a corporate publishing platform, you may choose to limit advertising banners
to those created for your own company or products. The banner feature may be more useful for
online journals and newspapers, which often display advertising banners for paying customers.
This chapter explains how to take the following steps to display banners on your site:
1. Upload banner images to the appropriate folder on the server. You may even want to create
a separate folder to hold banner images. I recommend uploading the banner images first to
make them available when you add the banner component to your site.

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2. Create a banner category. To display banners for multiple customers, you may want to
organize them in separate categories. But, at minimum, you must create one banner category
for your site.
3. Create a banner client, which is a record of the company for whom you are posting banner
images on your site.
4. Create the banner itself, which links the category and client and enables you display banner
images on your site.
5. Create a banner module for positioning and displaying banners at specific locations on your
site’s front end.

Uploading Banner Images


A banner is an image, like a company logo, that displays on your site. Your first step is uploading
the banner images you want to display on your site to the banners folder in Joomla’s file system.
You can upload banner images with the Media Manager, or another tool like eXtplorer.
On a Windows-based system running XAMPP, the banners folder is located at a path similar to the
following:
x:\xampp\htdocs\joomla\images\banners

On a Linux-based system, the banners folder is located at a path similar to the following:
var/www/html/joomla/images/banners

To learn how to upload image files to Joomla’s file system with the Media Manager, see “Working
with Image and Multimedia Files” on page 155.

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Creating Banner Categories


Create a category for the company or client whose banners you are displaying on your site.You
must create a banner category even if you only display banners for a single company.

To create a banner category:


1. From the Components menu in Joomla’s back end, select Banners and then Categories. The
Banner Category Manager opens, as shown in Figure 18-2:

Figure 18-2. The Banner Category Manager.


2. Click New. The New Category page opens.
3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 18-3. The Details section for the Banner Category.


• Title: Consider using title for the banner category that reflects the name of the company
for which you are displaying the banner.

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• Alias: Leave this field empty. When you save the banner category, Joomla automatically
populates this field with an alias generated from the category’s title.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means the banner category becomes active
when you save it.
• Access Level: This parameter is not applicable to banner categories. You can leave the
default selection.
• Image: This parameter is also not applicable. That is, the banner category does not
display on your site’s front end, so there is no need to select an image.
• Image position: This parameter is not applicable.
4. You can add a banner description in the Description section. However, because the banner
category does not display on your site’s front end, you only see this description when
opening the banner category from the back end for editing.
5. Click Save.

Creating Banner Clients


Create a banner client to identify and record contact information about the company whose banners
you are displaying on your site. Please note this information is not available to users from your
site’s front end.

To create a banner client:


1. On the Banner Category Manager page, click the Clients link above the banner category list;
otherwise, choose Banner from the Components menu and then select Clients. The Banner
Client Manager page opens:

Figure 18-4. The Banner Client Manager.


2. Click New. The New Banner Client page opens.

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3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 18-5. The Details section for the Banner Client.


• Client Name: Type the name of the company for which you are posting banners on your
site in this field.
• Contact Name: If you have the name of a person who is a contact at the company, you
can type it in this field. This is for your record keeping only, as this information is not
available from the front end of you site.
• Contact E-Mail: If you have an email address for the contact, type it in this field. Again,
this is for your record keeping only.
4. To provide a description of the customer for whom you are posting banners on your site, type
it in the Extra Information section.
5. Click Save.

Creating Banners
After creating banner a banner category and client, you are ready to create the banner itself. This
process links the banner image with the appropriate banner category and client and makes it
available for display on your site.

To create a banner:
1. On the Banner Client Manager page, click the Banners link above the clients list; otherwise,
choose Banner from the Components menu and then select Banners. The Banner Manager
opens:

Figure 18-6. The Banner Manager.


2. Click New. The New Banner page opens.

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3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 18-7. The Details section for the Banner Manager.


• Name: Type a name for the banner. Joomla does not display this name on your site’s
front end.
• Alias: Leave this field empty. When you save the banner, Joomla automatically
populates this field with an alias generated from the banner’s title.
• Show Banner: The Yes option is selected by default, which means the banner is enabled
and display on your site when you save it.

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• Sticky: This options sets a banner’s display priority when you need to rotate more than
one banner into the banner position on your site. If your customer requires a specific
impression count (an impression is the number of times a banner displays on your site),
but you want to display several banners on your page, setting the Sticky option to Yes
enables Joomla display the banner until it meets the impression requirements. After
Joomla displays the sticky banner the required number of times, it starts displaying the
non-sticky banners in the banner position.
• Order: This option determines the order in which the banner displays in the banner list
on the Banner Manager page. If you leave it empty, Joomla automatically appends the
banner to the end of the list.
• Category: Select the banner category you want to associate with the banner.
• Client name: Select the banner client you want to associate with the banner.
• Impressions Purchased: If your customer requested that the banner display a specific
number of times on your site (called an “impression”), type the impression count here.
• Click URL: Type the URL supplied by the customer’s site in this field. When users click
the banner, it opens a new browser window and display the contents of the site at the
address.
• Clicks: This field displays the number of times users have clicked the banner (it is
empty, of course, when you create a new banner). You can also see the number of clicks
in the Clicks column on the banner list. To reset the click count, you would edit the
banner and click Reset Clicks.
• Custom Banner Code: To enable Joomla to perform specific tasks, like turning off
specific browser elements when users click the banner, type the code for performing
these tasks in this field.
• Description/Notes: To provide a description of the banner for your record keeping, type
one here. This does not display with the banner on your site’s front end.
• Banner Image Selector: Select the image you want to use for the banner from the list.
This would be the image you uploaded to the banners folder in Joomla’s file system.
When you select an image from the list, it displays in the Banner Image field.
• Width: By default, Joomla displays the banner in its real size. However, to change the
image’s width, type the desired width, in pixels, in this field.
• Height: To change the image’s height, type the desired height, in pixels, in this field.
• Tags: If desired, you can match banners to specific articles published on your site. In
this case you would add a specific keyword to the article and you would then type the
same keyword in the Tags field.
4. Click Save.

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Creating Banner Modules


Banner modules enable you to position and display banners at specific locations on your site’s front
end. Please note that you can assign multiple banners to a single banner module. To display banners
at different locations (or positions) on your site, you’ll need to create separate banner modules for
each banner.

To create a banner module:


1. Select Module Manager from the Extensions menu. The Module Manager opens.
2. Click new. The New Module page opens.
3. In the Module list, click Banner. The Edit Module page opens.
4. Complete the Details section:

Figure 18-8. The Details section for the Banner module.


• Module Type: This field identifies the type of module you are creating (in this case,
mod_banners, which is Joomla’s name for the module).
• Title: Type a title for the banner module here.
• Show Title: While Yes is selected by default, Joomla does not display the title of the
banner module when you place it at the banner position on your site. However, Joomla
may display the module title if you position it at other locations on your site. For
example, if you position a banner module on the right side of your site, Joomla displays
the banner title. In this case, you should select No to hide the module title.
• Enabled: This option is set to Yes by default, which means as soon as you save it,
Joomla displays the banner on your site. You would select No to disable a banner
module.
• Position: Select “banner” to position the banner at the bottom of the content column of
your site, like the example in Figure 18-1 on page 351.

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• Order: Specifies the order in which the module appears in the module list on the Module
Manager page.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the banner. Select the desired access level from the list.
5. Complete the Menu Assignment section:

Figure 18-9. The Menu Assignment section for the Banner module.
• Menus: By default, the All option is selected, which means the Banner module is
enabled for all sections and categories on your site. To limit the module to specific
menus, select the Select Menu Item(s) from the List option.
• Menu Selection: To enable Joomla to display the Banner module on the pages of
specific sections or categories of your site, use the Shift or Ctrl keys to select the desired
section or category menus

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6. Complete the Module Parameters section:

Figure 18-10. The Module Parameters section for the banner module.
• Target: Indicate how you want Joomla to display the website at the address underlying
the banner when users click on it. The New Window with Browser Navigation option is
selected by default, which means when users click the banner, Joomla launches a new
window on top of your site to display the page at the banner address.
To enable Joomla to launch a new browser window without the standard browser
navigation features (that is, hiding the browser’s address bar and toolbars), select New
Window without Browser Navigation.
To enable Joomla to open the address in the current browser window, navigating away
from your site, select Parent Window with Browser Navigation.
• Count: Identify how many banners are associated with the module. While you don’t
assign banners directly to banner modules, you do associate them with banner
categories and banner clients, which you do directly assign to banner modules.
• Banner Client: Select the name of the banner client you want to associate with the
module.
• Category: Select the name of the banner category you want to associate with the
module.
• Search By Tags: To display a banner for a specific article on your site, select this option
to enable Joomla to match the banner tag with the article keyword.

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• Randomise: When more than one banner is associated with a banner module, indicate
how you want Joomla to prioritize how it displays them.
The Sticky, Ordering option, which is selected by default, means Joomla displays the
sticky banners first until they meet their allotted impression counts. Then, after
displaying the sticky banners, it displays the other banners in order (this is their order in
the banner list on the Banner Manager).
With the Sticky, Randomise option, Joomla displays the banners in a random order, but
only displaying the sticky banners until they meet their impression counts.
• Header Text: To display text above the banners, type it in this field. Figure 18-11 shows
where Joomla places header text for banners:

Figure 18-11. Header text for a banner module.


• Footer Text: To display text below the banners, type it in this field. Figure 18-12 shows
where Joomla places footer text for banners:

Figure 18-12. Footer text for a banner module.


• Module Class Suffix: Leave this field empty. It is used for custom module styling,
which is beyond the scope of this book. You can find information about module styling
with CSS on the Joomla documentation site.

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7. Complete the Advanced Parameters section:

Figure 18-13. The Advanced Parameters section for the banner module.
• Caching: By default, this option is set to Use Global, which means Joomla relies on
your site’s global caching settings, which are set on the System tab of the Global
Configuration page. Caching is enabled by default on Joomla servers, so unless you
turned it off, Joomla automatically caches this module.
• Cache Time: This field sets the period of time in minutes before Joomla re-caches the
module. The default setting is 900 minutes.
8. Click Save. To see how the new banner looks on your site, access your site’s front end.

Configuring Global Banner Parameters


You can, if desired, configure global parameters that apply to all banners on your site. For example
if you are displaying banners for customers who pay by the impression count (an impression count
is the number of times a banner displays on your site), or by the click (the number of times users
click a banners), you’ll want to turn on these tracking features, which are global banner parameters.

To configure global banner parameters:


1. Choose Banner from the Components menu and then select Banners. The Banner Manager
opens.
2. Click Parameters on the toolbar. The Banners Global Configuration window opens, as shown
in Figure 18-14:

Figure 18-14. The Banners Global Configuration window.


3. Configure any of the following global settings, which Joomla applies to all banners on your
site:

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• Track Banner Impression Times: To enable Joomla to track the number of times banners
display on your site, click Yes. When enabled, Joomla displays the current impression
count for each banner in the Impressions column in the banner list on the Banner
Manager, as shown in Figure 18-15:

Figure 18-15. The Impressions column displays banner impression counts.


• Track Banner Click Times: To enable Joomla to track the number of times users click a
customer’s banner on your site, click Yes. Joomla displays the current click count for
each banner in the Clicks column in the banner list on the Banner Manager, as shown in
Figure 18-16:

Figure 18-16. The Clicks column displays banner click counts.


• Tag Prefix: You can, if desired, configure Joomla to display banners on specific articles
via a keyword on the article and a matching tag on the banner (which I explain how to
do later on page 357). According to the Joomla documentation site, you can improve
your site’s performance by adding a tag prefix. Joomla only searches for articles with
keywords that have a matching prefix (instead of searching through all article
keywords).
4. Click Save.

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Chapter 19. Publishing External Content
with News Feeds
You can subscribe to news feeds to display syndicated articles from external websites on your
Joomla publishing site. When you subscribe to a news feed, you are connecting to it. News feed
subscriptions are free, so a “subscription” is a free connection to syndicated articles on an external
website.
While this feature is great for online journals and news platforms, there aren’t as many uses for
news feeds on a corporate publishing platform. However, if you are a corporate writer, you might
find this feature useful if your company’s marketing department syndicates articles about its
products on a corporate website. In this case, you could subscribe to the corporate feed to display
marketing articles on your Joomla publishing site.
Figure 19-1 shows how Joomla displays a list of syndicated articles from an external website:

Figure 19-1. Syndicated articles from an external website.


This chapter explains how to create both a news feed and a news feed menu to publish syndicated
articles from external websites on your Joomla publishing site. You can either add the menu to an
existing menu system, or you can create a separate menu system just for news feeds. It also
explains how to configure global parameters for displaying different types of data with the news
feeds on your site.

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Creating News Feeds


The process of creating a news feed includes the following steps:
1. To create a separate menu system for news feed menus, create the menu system first and
enable the supporting menu module. In the example in Figure 19-1, I positioned the menu
module on the left side of the page and hid the module title (specifically, I set the Show Title
parameter to “No” on the module). When you’re done, continue to step 2.
2. Create a news feed category. To display news feeds from multiple sites, you’ll want to
organize them in separate categories. But, at minimum, you must create one news feed
category.
3. Acquire the feed subscription URL that enables Joomla to retrieve syndicated articles from
the external website. You must supply this URL when you create the news feed.
4. Create the news feed. In this step, you enter the subscription URL that Joomla uses to retrieve
syndicated articles from an external website.
5. Create one of the following types of news feed menus, depending on how much syndicated
content you plan on displaying: Single-Feed Layout, Category Layout, and Category List
Layout. I explain how to create each type of menu in the “Creating News Feed Menus”
section, which starts on page 371.

To create a news feed category:


1. From the Components menu, select News Feeds and then Categories. The News Feeds
Category Manager opens:

Figure 19-2. The News Feeds Category Manager.


2. Click New. The New Category page opens.

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3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 19-3. The Details section for the news feed category.
• Title: Type a title in this field that represents the contents of the news feed category.
Please note that if you create either a Category Layout or a Category List Layout menu,
users can see this title on the news feed landing page.
• Alias: Leave this field empty. When you save the news feed category, Joomla
automatically populates this field with an alias generated from its title.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means the news feed category is available
for use when you save it.
• Section: This parameter is not applicable to the news feed category.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the syndicated articles in the news feed. Select the desired
access level in the list.
• Category Order: Determines the feed category’s order in the list on the Feed Category
Manager.
• Image: To add an image to the category landing page, select one from the available list.
To use a custom image, you’ll need to first upload it to the stories folder on the Joomla
file system. If you add a category description in the Description section, this image
appears either to the left or right of the description text, depending on whether you
select left or right for the Image Position parameter.
Figure 19-4 shows the feed category image positioned on the left side of the category

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description:

Figure 19-4. Feed category image and description.


• Image Position: Indicate whether you want the feed category image to display on the
right or left side of the category description.
4. If desired, type a description of the news feed in the Description section. Joomla displays the
feed category description beneath the category title, like the example in Figure 19-4.
5. Click Save.

To acquire the subscription URL for syndicated articles:


When you create the news feed (which I explain how to do in the next section), you must supply a
subscription URL, which Joomla uses to retrieve syndicated articles from the external website.
Here is how I acquired the subscription URL for the news feed example in Figure 19-1 on page
365:
1. On the external website, I clicked the RSS1 feed icon: . This opened the feed subscription

1.RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication, and Atom are the two most common feed protocols.

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page, which looked like the example in Figure 19-5:

Figure 19-5. The feed subscription page on the external site.


2. Next, I selected and copied the entire address in the browser’s address bar, like the example
in Figure 19-6:

Figure 19-6. Copy the address for the feed subscription from the address bar.
3. Then, I opened a text editor (specifically, Notepad) and pasted the copied address onto a
blank page.
4. When I created the news feed, I simply copied the subscription URL from Notepad and
pasted it into the appropriate field.

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To create a news feed:


1. From the Components menu, select News Feeds and then Feeds. The News Feed Manager
opens:

Figure 19-7. The News Feed Manager.


2. Click New. The New News Feed page opens.
3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 19-8. The Details section on the new news feed.


• Name: Type a name in this field that represents the contents of the news feed.
Depending on the type of news feed menu you create, users may see this title on the
news feed landing page.
• Alias: Leave this field empty. When you save the banner, Joomla automatically
populates this field with an alias generated from the title.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means the news feed becomes available to
users on your site’s front end when you save it.

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• Category: Select the news feed category you want to associate with the news feed.
• Link: If you know the subscription URL for the news feed, type it in this field. If you
copied it from your browser’s address bar and pasted it into a text editor, copy and paste
it from the text editor into this field.
• Number of Articles: By default, Joomla is configured to display five syndicated articles
from the external site. Change this number as necessary for your site.
• Cache Time: This is a key setting that determines how often Joomla refreshes the
contents of the news feed. The default setting is 3600 seconds, which equals one hour.
To enable Joomla to update the news feed either more or less often, type the desired
cache update time in this field in seconds. According to the Joomla documentation site,
having Joomla check for updates more often means more network traffic and slower
load times.
• Order: Determines the order in which the news feed displays in the feed list on the News
Feed Manager and on the feed category landing page.
• RTL Feed: If you are creating a feed that displays syndicated articles written in a
language that runs right-to-left, select Right to Left Direction from the list.
4. Click Save. Access your site’s front end and verify that the news feed is working. When you
click a feed name of the feed category landing page, you should see syndicated articles from
the external site, like the example in Figure 19-1 on page 365.
5. Continue to one of the following sections: the “Creating News Feed Menus” section on page
371.

Creating News Feed Menus


To enable users to access the news feeds you created in the previous section, you must create one
of the following types of news feed menus:
• Single Feed Layout menu: Create this style of menu to display syndicated articles from a
single news feed on your site. When users click the feed menu, Joomla displays all syndicated
articles from the feed directly on the menu landing page. To learn how to create the Single
Feed Layout menu, continue to the “Creating a Single Feed Layout Menu” section on page
372.
• Category Layout menu: Create this style of menu if you created a single news feed category,
but associated it with two or more news feeds. When users click the feed menu, Joomla
displays a list of all news feeds on the menu landing page. To learn how to create the Category
Layout menu, continue to the “Creating a Category Layout Menu” section on page 377.
• Category List Layout menu: Create this style of menu if you created two or more news feed
categories to organize feeds from multiple sources. When users click the feed menu, Joomla
displays a list of all available news feed categories on the menu landing page. To learn how to
create the Category List Layout menu, continue to the “Creating a Category List Layout
Menu” section on page 380.

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Creating a Single Feed Layout Menu


If you created a news feed to display syndicated articles from a single external website, create a
Single Feed Layout menu. When users click the menu, Joomla displays all syndicated articles from
the external feed on the menu landing page, like the example in Figure 19-9:

Figure 19-9. The Single Feed Layout menu displays syndicated articles for a single news feed.

To create a Single Feed Layout menu:


1. Select the name of the menu system to which you are adding the news feed menu from the
Menus menu. The Menu Item Manager opens for the selected menu system.
2. On the Menu Item Manager, click New. The New Menu Item page opens.
3. Under the Internal Link list, click the News Feeds link, which expands to show the three

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news feed menu options:

Figure 19-10. Click the News Feeds link.


4. Click Single Feed Layout. The New Menu item page opens.

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5. Complete the Menu Item Details section:

Figure 19-11. The Menu Item Details section for the news feed menu.
• Title: This is the title Joomla displays for the menu on your site’s front end. Consider
using a title that communicates the menu’s purpose: that it displays syndicated articles
from external websites. For example, you could title it something like “External News
Feeds,” “News Feeds,” or even “Syndicated News.”
• Alias: Leave this field empty. When you save the feed menu, Joomla automatically
populates this field with an alias generated from the title.
• Link: This field is automatically pre-populated with an internal link for the menu. Do
not change it.
• Display in: Select the name of the menu system to which you are adding the news feed
menu.
• Parent item: This field lists all other news feed menus, but is empty when you create the
first menu, like the example in Figure 19-11. If you create multiple news feed menus,
you could make one feed menu the child of another feed menu.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means the news feed menu becomes
available to users on your site’s front end when you save it.
• Order: Determines the order in which the news feed displays in the list on the Menu
Item Manager.

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• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the news feed menu. Select the desired access level from the
list.
• On Click, Open in: Indicate how you want Joomla to display the news feed content
when users select the menu:
• Parent Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display a list of
syndicated articles from the news feed in the current browser window with the
existing browser navigation features.
• New Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display a list of
syndicated articles from the news feed in a new browser that opens on top of your
site. The new window displays standard browser navigation features.
• New Window without Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display a list of
syndicated articles from the news feed in a new browser window without the
standard browser navigation features (that is, hiding the browser’s address bar and
toolbars).
6. Complete the Parameters (Basic) section:

Figure 19-12. The Parameters (Basic) section for the Single Feed Layout menu.
• Feed: Select the name of the news feed you want to assign directly to the feed menu.
7. By default, all parameters in the Parameters (Component) section are set to Use Global, as
shown in Figure 19-13:

Figure 19-13. The Parameters Component section for the Single Feed Layout menu.
This means they inherit their settings from the News Feeds Global Configuration Manager.

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If you select a specific setting for any of these parameters, it overrides the global setting. For
now, I recommend leaving them all set to Use Global. When you finish creating the news
feed menu, continue to the “Configuring Global News Feed Parameters” section on page 383
for an explanation of each parameter. After setting them globally, you can edit your news
feed menu and override them as desired.
8. Complete the Parameters (System) section:

Figure 19-14. The Parameters (System) section for the Single Feed Layout menu.
• Page Title: Joomla automatically creates a page title for the menu system using the
name you typed in Title field in the Menu Item Details section. In addition, this title
displays on the menu landing page. If desired you can display a different name on the
menu landing page by overriding it with a different page title in this field.
While you can use a page title that is different from the menu title, a menu landing page
title that doesn’t match the menu title could be confusing for your users.
• Show the Page Title: This option is set to Yes by default, which means Joomla displays
a title on the menu landing page. To disable this feature, select No.
• Page Class Suffix: If desired, you can format the landing page for the feed menu with a
unique layout style. However, the process of creating custom page layouts is beyond the
scope of this book and I recommend leaving this field empty for now.
• Menu Image: You can display an image on the news feed menu, like the example in
Figure 19-15:

Figure 19-15. An image on the news feed menu.


To use a custom image, you must upload it to the stories folder in Joomla’s file system.
Also, remember that you must enable the menu system’s supporting menu module to
display menu images (set Show Menu Images to Yes in the Other Parameters section on
the menu module).
• SSL Enabled: If you installed a security certificate for your site and you want to enable
SSL for the news feed menu, select On. Otherwise, leave Ignore selected.
9. Click Save. Access your site’s front end and test the new menu.

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Creating a Category Layout Menu


If you created a single news feed category, but assigned two or more news feeds to that category,
create a Category Layout menu. When users click the menu, Joomla displays a list of all news feeds
on the menu landing page, like the example in Figure 19-16:

Figure 19-16. The Category Layout menu displays the news feed category landing page.
To access the syndicated articles for a specific news feed, users must click a news feed link on the
news feed landing page.

To create a Category Layout menu:


1. Select the name of the menu system to which you are adding the news feed menu from the
Menus menu. The Menu Item Manager opens for the selected menu system.
2. On the Menu Item Manager, click New. The New Menu Item page opens.
3. Under the Internal Link list, click the News Feeds link, which expands to show three news
feed menu options.
4. Click Category Layout. The New Menu item page opens.
5. Complete the Menu Item Details section:
• Title: This is the title Joomla displays for the menu on your site’s front end. Consider
using a title that communicates the menu’s purpose: that it displays syndicated articles
from external websites. For example, you could title it something like “External News
Feeds,” “News Feeds,” or even “Syndicated News.”
• Alias: Leave this field empty. When you save the feed menu, Joomla automatically
populates this field with an alias generated from the title.

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• Link: This field is automatically pre-populated with an internal link for the menu. Do
not change it.
• Display in: Select the name of the menu system to which you are adding the news feed
menu. If you created a separate menu system for news feed menus, select it from this
list. To add the news feed menu to an existing menu system, select it from the list.
• Parent item: This field lists all other feed menus, but is empty when you create the first
menu, like the example in Figure 19-11 on page 374. With this feature, you could make
one feed menu the child of another feed menu.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means the news feed menu becomes
available to users on your site’s front end when you save it.
• Order: Determines the order in which the news feed displays in the feed list on the
Menu Item Manager.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the news feed menu. Select the desired access level from the
list.
• On Click, Open in: Indicate how you want Joomla to display the news feed content
when users select the menu:
• Parent Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the news feed
list in the current browser window.
• New Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the news feed
list in a new browser window that opens on top of your site. The new window
displays standard browser navigation features.
• New Window without Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the news feed
list in a new browser window without the standard browser navigation features
(that is, hiding the browser’s address bar and toolbars).
6. Complete the Parameters (Basic) section:

Figure 19-17. Options in the Parameters (Basic) section for the Category Layout menu.
• Category: Select the feed category you want to associate with the feed menu.
• Show Limit Box: Show Limit Box: By default, Show is selected, which displays a limit

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box, like the example in Figure 19-18, on the category landing page:

Figure 19-18. A limit box on the category landing page.


By default the limit is set to display 20 feeds on the category landing page. Users can change
the feed display limit with the limit box. To enable Joomla to display all news feed
categories, and hide the category limit box, select Hide.
7. By default, all parameters in the Parameters (Component) section are set to Use Global. This
means they inherit their settings from the News Feeds Global Configuration Manager. If you
select a specific setting for any of these parameters, it overrides the global setting. For now,
I recommend leaving them all set to Use Global. When you finish creating the news feed
menu, continue to the “Configuring Global News Feed Parameters” section on page 383 for
an explanation of each parameter. After setting them globally, you can edit your news feed
menus and override them as desired.
8. Complete the Parameters (System) section:
• Page Title: Joomla automatically creates a page title for the news feed landing page
from the name you typed in Title field in the Menu Item Details section. However, if
desired, you can override it by typing a page title in this field. This means Joomla
displays the title you type in this field on the news feed landing page. Please note that a
title on the news feed landing page that differs from the menu title could be confusing
for your users.
• Show the Page Title: This option is set to Yes by default, which means Joomla displays
a title on the menu landing page. To disable this feature, select No.
• Page Class Suffix: If desired, you can format the landing page for the feed menu with a
unique layout style. However, the process of creating custom page layouts is beyond the
scope of this book and I recommend leaving this field empty for now.
• Menu Image: If desired, you can display images next to the news feed menu, like the
example in Figure 19-15 on page 376. To display a custom image next to the feed menu,
you must first upload it to the stories folder in Joomla’s file system. Also, remember
that you must enable the menu system’s supporting menu module to display menu
images (set Show Menu Images to Yes in the Other Parameters section on the menu
module).
• SSL Enabled: If you installed a security certificate for your site and you want to enable
SSL for the news feed menu, select On. Otherwise, leave Ignore selected.

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9. Click Save. Access your site’s front end and test the new menu.

Creating a Category List Layout Menu


If you created two or more news feed categories to organize news feeds from multiple sources,
create a Category List Layout menu. When users click the menu, Joomla displays a list of all news
feed categories on the menu landing page, like the example in Figure 19-19:

Figure 19-19. The Category List menu displays a list of all news feed categories.
To access syndicated articles from a Category List Layout menu, users will do the following:
1. Click the news feed menu to display the feed category list on the news feed landing page,
like the example in Figure 19-19.
2. Click a category link to see a list of the feeds you created for that category.
3. Click a feed link to see a list of the syndicated articles from the news feed.

To create a Category List Layout menu:


1. Select the name of the menu system to which you are adding the news feed menu from the
Menus menu. The Menu Item Manager opens for the selected menu system.
2. On the Menu Item Manager, click New. The New Menu Item page opens.
3. Under the Internal Link list, click the News Feeds link, which expands to show the three
news feed menu options.
4. Click Category List Layout. The New Menu item page opens.
5. Complete the Menu Item Details section:
• Title: This is the title Joomla displays for the menu on your site’s front end. Consider
using a title that communicates the menu’s purpose: that it displays syndicated articles

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from external websites. For example, you could title it something like “External News
Feeds,” “News Feeds,” or even “Syndicated News.”
• Alias: Leave this field empty. When you save the feed menu, Joomla automatically
populates this field with an alias generated from the title.
• Link: This field is automatically pre-populated with an internal link for the menu. Do
not change it.
• Display in: Select the name of the menu system to which you are adding the news feed
menu. If you created a separate menu system for news feed menus, select it from this
list. To add the news feed menu to an existing menu system, select it from the list.
• Parent item: This field lists all other feed menus, but is empty when you create the first
menu. With this feature, you could make one feed menu the child of another feed menu.
If you create multiple news feed menus, you could use this feature to make one news
feed menu the child of another news feed menu.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means the news feed menu becomes
available to users on your site’s front end when you save it.
• Order: Determines the order in which the news feed displays in the feed list on the
Menu Item Manager.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the news feed menu on your site. Select the desired access level
in the list.
• On Click, Open in: Indicate how you want Joomla to display the news feed content
when users select the menu:
• Parent Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the news feed
category list in the current browser window.
• New Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the news feed
category list in a new browser window that opens on top of your site. The new
window displays standard browser navigation features.
• New Window without Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the news feed
category list in a new browser window without the standard browser navigation
features (that is, hiding the browser’s address bar and toolbars).

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6. Complete the Parameters (Basic) section:

Figure 19-20. The Parameters (Basic) section for the Category List Layout menu.
• Show Limit Box: By default, Show is selected, which displays a limit box like the
example in Figure 19-18 on page 379 on the category landing page. By default the limit
is set to display 20 feeds on the category landing page. Users can use this feature to
change the number of feeds displaying on the category landing page. To enable Joomla
to display all news feed categories, and hide the category limit box, select Hide.
• Description: To enable users to see a description of the news feeds on the category list
landing page, select Show and then type a description in the Description Text field.
• Description Text: To display a description of the news feed categories on the category
list landing page, type one here. This description displays above the individual category
links, and next to the description image, like the example in Figure 19-21:

Figure 19-21. A news feed category description and image on the news feed landing page.
• Image: To display an image next to the description text on the category list landing
page, like the example in Figure 19-21, select an image from the list. To use a custom
image, you must upload it first to the stories folder in Joomla’s file system.
• Image Align: If you select an image from the Image list, specify whether it should
display on the left side or the right side of the description text.

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7. By default, all parameters in the Parameters (Component) section are set to Use Global. This
means they inherit the global settings configured on the News Feeds Global Configuration
Manager. If you select a specific setting for any of these parameters, it overrides the global
setting. For now, I recommend leaving them all set to Use Global. When you finish creating
the news feed menu, continue to the “Configuring Global News Feed Parameters” section on
page 383 for an explanation of each of these parameters. After setting them globally, you can
edit your news feed menus and override them as necessary.
8. Complete the Parameters (System) section:
• Page Title: Joomla automatically creates a page title for the menu system using the
name you typed in Title field in the Menu Item Details section. You can override the
title on the menu landing page by typing one in the Page Title field.
While you can use a page title that is different from the menu title, a menu landing page
title that doesn’t match the menu title could be confusing for your users.
• Show the Page Title: This option is set to Yes by default, which means Joomla displays
a title on the menu landing page. To disable this feature, select No.
• Page Class Suffix: If desired, you can format the landing page for the feed menu with a
unique layout style. However, the process of creating custom page layouts is beyond the
scope of this book and I recommend leaving this field empty for now.
• Menu Image: If desired, you can display images next to the news feed menu, like the
example in Figure 19-15 on page 376. To display a custom image next to the feed menu,
you must first upload it to the stories folder in Joomla’s file system. Also, remember
that you must enable the menu system’s supporting menu module to display menu
images (set Show Menu Images to Yes in the Other Parameters section on the menu
module).
• SSL Enabled: If you installed a security certificate for your site and you want to enable
SSL for the news feed menu, select On. Otherwise, leave Ignore selected.
9. Click Save. Access your site’s front end and test the new menu.

Configuring Global News Feed Parameters


Joomla includes parameters that display different types of data for the news feeds on your site.
After setting the news feed parameters globally, which means they automatically apply to all news
feeds on your site, you can override them, as necessary, on the individual news feed menus.

To configure global news feed parameters:


1. From the Components menu, select News Feeds and then Feeds. The News Feed Manager
opens.
2. Click Parameters on the toolbar. The News Feeds Global Configuration window opens, as

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shown in Figure 19-22:

Figure 19-22. The News Feeds Global Configuration window.


While all parameters in the Global Configuration section are set to Show, they are not
currently applied to the news feeds on your site. Please note that the type of news feed menu
you created for your site determines which of these parameters are applicable. For example,
if you created a Single Feed Layout menu, none of the options in the first two sections of the
Global Configuration window apply to your menu.
3. To enable Joomla to apply all of the parameters in the Global Configuration section to your
news feeds, which are already set to Show, simply click Save. When you access your site’s
front end, you can see these features applied to your news feeds.
However, you can also configure these parameters individually. The four parameters in the
first section of the Global Configuration section apply to the feed list on the feed category

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landing page, as illustrated in Figure 19-23:

Figure 19-23. Table column headings on the feed list.


• Table Headings: Set this parameter to Show to enable Joomla to display column
headings for the feed table. This parameter also displays the # symbol above the column
that numbers each feed, as shown in Figure 19-23.
• Name Column: Set this parameter to Show to enable Joomla to display a Name column
heading on the feed table, as shown in Figure 19-23.
• # Articles Column: Set this parameter to Show to enable Joomla to display a column
heading above the column that displays the number of syndicated articles available for
each feed, as shown in Figure 19-23.
• Link Column: On the Joomla documentation site, the Link Column parameter is defined
as follows: “Hide or Show the News Feed link.2” But, when I mouse-over the field in
Joomla, I see the following definition: “Show/Hide the Feed Link column.” However,
no matter how many times I enable and disable this feature, I cannot get Joomla to
display a column titled “Feed Link.” This parameter may not currently be active.
The two parameters in the next section of the Global Configuration section apply to the feed

2.You can find the definition of the Link Column on the Joomla documentation site at the following address:
http://docs.joomla.org/Screen.newsfeeds.15

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list landing page for the Category List Layout menu, as illustrated in Figure 19-24:

Figure 19-24. The number of feeds available in each feed category.


• Category Description: If you created a Category List Layout menu, and you wrote a
description for each news feed category, setting this parameter to Show displays the
category descriptions beneath the category links on the news feed landing page, as
shown in Figure 19-24.
• # Category Items: If you created a Category List Layout menu, setting this parameter to
Show displays the number of feeds available in each feed category next to the feed
category link, as shown in Figure 19-24.
The last four items in the Global Configuration section apply to the syndicated articles
themselves.
• Feed Image: Set this parameter to Show if the external site hosting the syndicated
articles posted a feed image, which often is a logo, and you want to display it on your
site. Please note that displaying a logo from an external site could cause confusion for
your users and I recommend leaving this parameter set to Hide.
• Feed Description: Set this parameter to Show if the external site hosting the syndicated
articles posted a description of its feed system and you want to display it on your site.
Joomla is retrieves the feed description from the external site, which means you cannot
control the content of the description. For this reason I recommend setting this
parameter to Hide. Figure 19-25 shows a feed description from the site hosting

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syndicated articles, which also happens to be a Joomla site:

Figure 19-25. The feed description from the external site.


• Item Description: Set this parameter to Show to display the syndicated article content
beneath the article titles. I recommend not setting this parameter to Show if the
syndicated articles are long, because your users must scroll up and down a potentially
long page to find the titles of articles that interest them. You can limit the number of
words Joomla displays from the syndicated articles by typing a word limit in the Word
Count field.
• Word Count: If you set the Item Description parameter to Show, consider limiting the
number of words Joomla displays from the syndicated articles. By default, this
parameter is set to 0, which means Joomla displays the articles in their entirety. To limit
the number of words, and improve the user experience, type a numeric word limit in this
field. Figure 19-26 shows article content limited by the Word Count field:

Figure 19-26. Syndicated article content limited by the Word Count field.

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4. When you finish configuring the global news feed parameters, click Save.

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Chapter 20. Publishing Links to External
Sites
You can configure Joomla to display a list of links to external websites, which are called “web
links.” For example, if you were building a corporate publishing platform, and one of your
company’s products included third-party software, you could publish a list of links to the web sites
of the third-party developers. Figure 20-1 shows a list of links to articles on external websites:

Figure 20-1. Links to external websites.


This chapter explains how to create lists of links to external websites and display them with a web
links menu. It also explains how to create a web link submission menu through which registered
users can submit web links. And, it explains how to configure global parameters for displaying
different types of data with the web links on your site.

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Creating Web Links


The process of creating web links includes the following steps:
1. To create a separate menu system for web link menus, create the menu system first and
enable the supporting menu module. When you’re done, continue to step 2.
2. Create a web links category. You must create, at minimum, one category to hold web links.
If you plan on displaying links for multiple external web sites, consider organizing them in
separate categories.
3. Acquire addresses for the external websites for which you are creating web links. To save
time, gather them first to have them ready when you create the web links.
4. Create the web links.
5. Create one of the following types of web link menus, depending on how you organize the
links to external sites: Category List Layout or Web Link Category List Layout. I explain
how to create each type of menu in the “Creating Web Link Menus” section, which starts on
page 395.
6. Create a web links submission menu to enable users to submit their own links. Please note
that I don’t recommend adding this feature for a corporate website, and online journal, or an
online news platform. This feature is more appropriate for blogs.

To create a web links category:


1. From the Components menu, select Web Links and then Categories. The Web Links
Category Manager opens:

Figure 20-2. The Web Links Category Manager.


2. Click New. The New Category page opens.

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3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 20-3. The Details section for the web links category.
• Title: Type a title in this field that represents the contents of the web links category.
Please note that if you create either a Category List Layout or a Web Link Category List
Layout menu, users can see this title on the web links landing page.
• Alias: Leave this field empty. When you save the web links category, Joomla
automatically populates this field with an alias generated from its title.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means the web links category becomes
available for use when you save it.
• Section: This parameter is not applicable to the web links category.
• Category Order: Determines the order of the web links category in the list on the Web
Links Category Manager.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the links to external sites. Select the desired access level in the
list.
• Image: To add an image to the web links landing page, select one from the list. To use a
custom image, you must upload it to the stories folder in Joomla’s file system. If you
add a category description in the Description section, this image appears either to the
left or right of the description text, depending on whether you select left or right for the
Image Position parameter.

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Figure 20-4 shows the web link category image positioned on the left side of the category
description:

Figure 20-4. Web link category image and description.


• Image Position: Indicate whether you want the feed category image to display on the
right or left side of the category description.
4. If desired, type a description of the web link in the Description section. Joomla displays the
web link description beneath the category title, like the example in Figure 20-4.
5. Click Save.

To acquire addresses for external websites:


When you start creating web links, the process will go faster if you have the addresses for the
external sites handy. Consider gathering the addresses for the external sites ahead of time. If the
addresses aren’t short enough to memorize, consider copying them from your browser’s address
bar to a blank page in a text editor like Notepad.

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To create a web link:


1. From the Components menu, select Web Links and then Links. The Web Link Manager
opens:

Figure 20-5. The Web Link Manager.


2. Click New. The New Web Link page opens.
3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 20-6. The Details section for web links.


• Name: Type a name in this field that represents the external site for which you are
creating a web link. For example, if you were creating a web link for the Joomla
documentation site, you might title it “Joomla Documentation.”
• Alias: When you save the banner, Joomla automatically populates this field with an
alias generated from the title.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means the web link becomes available to
users on your site’s front end when you save it.
• Category: Select the web link category you want to associate with the web link.
• URL: Type the address for the external website in this field. If you copied it from your
browser’s address bar and pasted it into a text editor, copy and paste it from the text
editor into this field.
• Order: Determines the order in which the web link displays in the web link list on the

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Web Link Manager and on the web links landing page.


4. Select one of the following options from the Target list in the Parameters section to specify
how you want Joomla to behave when users click the web link:
• Use Global: This option is selected by default. The default global setting for web links
is Parent Window with Browser Navigation. When you finish creating news feeds and a
news feed menu, continue to the “Configuring Global Web Link Parameters” section on
page 408 to learn more about the global web link parameters.
• Parent Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the external
website in the current browser window with the existing browser navigation features.
• New Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the external website
in a new browser window with standard browser navigation features that opens on top
of your site.
• New Window without Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the external
website in a new browser window without the standard browser navigation features
(that is, you are hiding the browser’s address bar and toolbars) that opens on top of your
site.
5. Description: To provide users with a description of the link, type one here. This description
appears beneath the link like the example in Figure 20-4 on page 401.

Creating Web Link Menus


To enable users to access the web links you created in the previous section, create one of the
following types of web link menus:
• Category List Layout: Create this style of menu to display a list of links to external websites
directly on the menu landing page. To learn how to create the Category List Layout menu,
continue to the “Creating a Category List Layout Menu” section on page 396.
• Web Link Category List Layout: Create this style of menu if you created two or more web link
categories to organize links for multiple external websites. When users click the web link
menu, Joomla displays a list of all available web link categories on the menu landing page. To
learn how to create the Web Link Category List Layout menu, continue to the “Creating a
Web Link Category List Layout Menu” section on page 401.
In addition, you can enable users to submit their own web links. Unless you only plan on making
this feature available to fellow writers, I don’t recommend using it on a corporate website. To learn
how to create the Web Link Submission Layout menu, continue to the “Creating a Web Link
Submission Layout Menu” section on page 405.

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Creating a Category List Layout Menu


If you created a single web link category for all links to external websites, create a Category List
Layout menu. When users click menu, Joomla displays links to all external websites associated
with the selected category on the landing page, like the example in Figure 20-7:

Figure 20-7. The Category List Layout menu displays all links associated with a single category.

To create a Category List Layout menu:


1. Select the name of the menu system to which you are adding the web link menu from the
Menus menu. The Menu Item Manager opens for the selected menu system.
2. On the Menu Item Manager, click New. The New Menu Item page opens.
3. Under the Internal Link list click Web Links, which expands to show the web link menu

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options:

Figure 20-8. Click the Category List Layout link.


4. Click Category List Layout. The New Menu Item page opens.

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5. Complete the Menu Item Details section:

Figure 20-9. The Menu Item Details section for the Category List Layout Menu.
• Title: This is the title Joomla displays for the menu on your site’s front end.
• Alias: Leave this field empty. When you save the web links menu, Joomla automatically
populates this field with an alias generated from the title.
• Link: This field is automatically pre-populated with an internal link for the menu. Do
not change it.
• Display in: Select the name of the menu system to which you are adding the web link
menu.
• Parent Item: This field lists all other web link menus. However, this list is empty if you
created a stand-alone menu system for web link menus, like the example in Figure 20-9.
If you create multiple web link menus, you could use this feature to make one web link
menu the child of another web link menu.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means the web link menu becomes
available to users on your site’s front end when you save it.
• Order: Determines the order in which the web link menu displays in the list on the Menu
Item Manager.
• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can

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access your site can see the web links menu. Select the desired access level from the list.
• On Click, Open in: Indicate how you want Joomla to display the links to external
websites when users select the menu:
• Parent Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the list of links
to external websites in the current browser window.
• New Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the links to
external websites in a new browser window that opens on top of your site. The new
window displays standard browser navigation features.
• New Window without Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the list of
links to external websites in a new browser window without the standard browser
navigation features (that is, hiding the browser’s address bar and toolbars).
6. Complete the Parameters (Basic) section:

Figure 20-10. The Parameters (Basic) section on the Category List Layout Menu.
• Category: Select the name of the web links category you want to assign to the menu.
• Show a Feed Link: By default, Yes is selected, which means the content of the web links
menu is syndicated. This option activates an RSS feed link that users can click to
subscribe to content on the menu.
7. By default, all parameters in the Parameters (Component) section are set to Use Global, as
shown in Figure 20-11:

Figure 20-11. The Parameters (Component) section on the Category List Layout menu.

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This means they inherit their settings from the Web Links Global Configuration Manager. If
you select a specific setting for any of these parameters, it overrides the global setting. For
now, I recommend leaving them all set to Use Global. Please note that the Web Links
Introduction field is only applicable to the Web Links Category List Layout menu.
When you finish creating the web link menu, continue to the “Configuring Global Web Link
Parameters” section on page 408 for an explanation the parameters in the Parameters
(Component) section. After setting them globally, you can edit your web link menu and
override them as desired.
8. Complete the Parameters (system) section:

Figure 20-12. The Parameters (System) section on the Category List Layout Menu.
• Page Title: Joomla automatically creates a page title for the web links landing page from
the name you typed in Title field in the Menu Item Details section. However, if desired,
you can override it by typing a page title in this field. This means Joomla displays the
title you type in this field on the web links landing page. Please note that a title on the
web links landing page that differs from the menu title could be confusing for your
users.
• Show the Page Title: This option is set to Yes by default, which means Joomla displays
a title on the menu landing page. To disable this feature, select No.
• Page Class Suffix: If desired, you can format the web links landing page with a unique
layout style. However, the process of creating custom page layouts for a web links
landing page is beyond the scope of this book and I recommend leaving this field empty
for now.
• Menu Image: You can display an image on the web links menu, like the example in
Figure 20-13:

Figure 20-13. An image on the web links menu.


To use a custom image, you must upload it to the stories folder in Joomla’s file system.
Also, remember that you must enable the menu system’s supporting menu module to
display menu images (set Show Menu Images to Yes in the Other Parameters section on
the menu module).

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• SSL Enabled: If you installed a security certificate for your site and you want to enable
SSL for the web links menu, select On. Otherwise, leave Ignore selected.
9. Click Save. Access your site’s front end and test the new menu.

Creating a Web Link Category List Layout Menu


If you created two or more web links categories to organize links for multiple external websites,
create a Web Link Category List Layout menu. When users click the menu, Joomla displays a list
of all web link categories on the menu landing page, like the example in Figure 20-14:

Figure 20-14. The Category List menu displays a list of all news feed categories.

To create a Web Link Category List Layout menu:


1. Select the name of the menu system to which you are adding the web links menu from the
Menus menu. The Menu Item Manager opens for the selected menu system.
2. On the Menu Item Manager, click New. The New Menu Item page opens.
3. Under the Internal Link list click Web Links, which expands to show the web links menu
options.
4. Click Web Link Category List Layout. The New Menu item page opens.

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5. Complete the Menu Item Details section:

Figure 20-15. The Menu Item Details page for the Web Link Category List Layout menu.
• Title: This is the title Joomla displays for the menu on your site’s front end.
• Alias: Leave this field empty. When you save the web links menu, Joomla automatically
populates this field with an alias generated from the title.
• Link: This field is automatically pre-populated with an internal link for the menu. Do
not change it.
• Display in: Select the name of the menu system to which you are adding the web link
menu.
• Parent Item: This field lists all other web link menus. However, this list is empty if you
created a stand-alone menu system for web link menus, like the example in Figure 20-
15. If you create multiple web link menus, you could use this feature to make one web
link menu the child of another web link menu.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means the web link menu becomes
available to users on your site’s front end when you save it.
• Order: Determines the order in which the web link menu displays in the list on the Menu
Item Manager.

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• Access Level: The Public option is selected by default, which means everyone who can
access your site can see the web links menu. Select the desired access level from the list.
• On Click, Open in: Indicate how you want Joomla to display the list of links to external
websites when users select the menu:
• Parent Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the list of links
to external websites in the current browser window.
• New Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the list of links
to external websites in a new browser window that opens on top of your site. The
new window displays standard browser navigation features.
• New Window without Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the list of
links to external websites in a new browser window without the standard browser
navigation features (that is, hiding the browser’s address bar and toolbars).
6. Complete the Parameters (Basic) section:

Figure 20-16. The Parameters (Basic) section on the Web Link Category List Layout menu.
• Image: You can display an image on the web links landing page next to the web links
description like the example in Figure 20-17:

Figure 20-17. A description of the web links with an image on the web links landing page.
• Image Align: If you select an image from the Image list, specify whether it should
display on the left side or the right side of the description text.

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• Show a Feed Link: By default, Yes is selected, which means the content of the web links
menu is syndicated. This option activates an RSS feed link that users can click to
subscribe to content on the menu.
7. By default, all parameters in the Parameters (Component) section are set to Use Global,
which means they inherit their settings from the Web Links Global Configuration Manager.
If you select a specific setting for any of these parameters, it overrides the global setting. For
now, I recommend leaving them all set to Use Global.
To display a description of the links on the web links landing page, type one in the Web Links
Introduction field. This description displays above the web link category list like the example
in Figure 20-17 on page 403.
When you finish creating the web link menu, continue to the “Configuring Global Web Link
Parameters” section on page 408 for an explanation of each parameter. After setting them
globally, you can edit your web link menu and override them as desired.
8. Complete the Parameters (System) section:

Figure 20-18. The Parameters (System) section for the Web Link Category List Layout menu.
• Page Title: Joomla automatically creates a page title for the web links landing page from
the name you typed in Title field in the Menu Item Details section. However, if desired,
you can override it by typing a page title in this field. This means Joomla displays the
title you type in this field on the web links landing page. Please note that a title on the
web links landing page that differs from the menu title could be confusing for your
users.
• Show the Page Title: This option is set to Yes by default, which means Joomla displays
a title on the menu landing page. To disable this feature, select No.
• Page Class Suffix: If desired, you can format the web links landing page with a unique
layout style. However, the process of creating custom page layouts for a web links
landing page is beyond the scope of this book and I recommend leaving this field empty
for now.
• Menu Image: You can display an image on the web links menu, like the example in
Figure 20-13 on page 400.

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To use a custom image, you must upload it to the stories folder in Joomla’s file system.
Also, remember that you must enable the menu system’s supporting menu module to
display menu images (set Show Menu Images to Yes in the Other Parameters section on
the menu module).
• SSL Enabled: If you installed a security certificate for your site and you want to enable
SSL for the web links menu, select On. Otherwise, leave Ignore selected.
9. Click Save. Access your site’s front end and test the new menu.

Creating a Web Link Submission Layout Menu


This feature enables users to submit links for display your corporate publishing site:

Figure 20-19. Web link submission page.


This feature is only available to registered users. Please note you cannot control the types of links
users submit for display on your site. I strongly recommend not adding this feature to a corporate
publishing platform. Please note that if you add a web link submission menu to your site, you’ll
also need to add either the Category List Layout menu or the Web Link Category List Layout menu
to display the links users submit to your site.

To create a web link submission menu:


1. Select the name of the menu system to which you are adding the web link submission menu
from the Menus menu. The Menu Item Manager opens for the selected menu system.
2. On the Menu Item Manager, click New. The New Menu Item page opens.
3. Under the Internal Link list click Web Links, which expands to show the web links menu

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options.
4. Click Web Link Submission Layout. The New Menu item page opens.
5. Complete the Menu Item Details section:

Figure 20-20. The Menu Item Details section for the Web Link Submission Layout menu.
• Title: This is the title Joomla displays for the link submission menu on your site’s front
end.
• Alias: Leave this field empty. When you save the link submission page menu, Joomla
automatically populates this field with an alias generated from the title.
• Link: This field is automatically pre-populated with an internal link for the menu. Do
not change it.
• Display in: Select the name of the menu system to which you are adding the link
submission menu.
• Parent Item: This field lists all other link submission pages, but is empty when you
create the first menu. If you create multiple link submission pages or web link menus,
you could use this feature to make one menu the child of another menu.
• Published: By default, Yes is selected, which means the link submission page becomes
available to users on your site’s front end when you save it.

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• Order: Determines the order in which the link submission page displays in the list on the
Menu Item Manager.
• Access Level: While the Public option is selected by default, this feature is only
available to registered users. To further restrict the menu to users with authoring
privileges only, select Special.
• On Click, Open In: Indicate how you want Joomla to display the link submission page
when users select the menu:
• Parent Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the link
submission page in the current browser window.
• New Window with Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the link
submission page in a new browser window that opens on top of your site. The new
window displays standard browser navigation features.
• New Window without Browser Navigation: Enable Joomla to display the link
submission page in a new browser window without the standard browser navigation
features (that is, hiding the browser’s address bar and toolbars).
6. By default, all parameters in the Parameters (Component) section are set to Use Global. This
means they inherit their settings from the Web Links Global Configuration Manager. Please
note that these parameters do not apply to the link submission menu directly. They are only
applicable to the links that are available on the web links page after users submit them
through the link submission menu.
If you select a specific setting for any of these parameters, it overrides the global setting. For
now, I recommend leaving them all set to Use Global. Please note that the Web Links
Introduction field is only applicable to the Web Links Category List Layout menu.
When you finish creating the web link menu, continue to the “Configuring Global Web Link
Parameters” section on page 408 for an explanation the parameters in the Parameters
(Component) section. After setting them globally, you can edit your web link menu and
override them as desired.
7. Complete the Parameters (System) section:

Figure 20-21. The Parameters (System) section for the Web Link Submission Layout menu.
• Page Title: Joomla automatically creates a page title for the link submission landing
page from the name you typed in Title field in the Menu Item Details section. However,

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if desired, you can override it by typing a page title in this field. This means Joomla
displays the title you type in this field on the link submission landing page. Please note
that a title on the link submission landing page that differs from the menu title could be
confusing for your users.
• Show the Page Title: This option is set to Yes by default, which means Joomla displays
a title on the link submission landing page. To disable this feature, select No.
• Page Class Suffix: If desired, you can format the web links landing page with a unique
layout style. However, the process of creating custom page layouts for the link
submission landing page is beyond the scope of this book and I recommend leaving this
field empty for now.
• Menu Image: You can display an image on the link submission menu, like the example
in Figure 20-22:

Figure 20-22. Link submission menu image.


To use a custom image, you must upload it to the stories folder in Joomla’s file system.
Also, remember that you must enable the menu system’s supporting menu module to
display menu images (set Show Menu Images to Yes in the Other Parameters section on
the menu module).
• SSL Enabled: If you installed a security certificate for your site and you want to enable
SSL for the link submission menu, select On. Otherwise, leave Ignore selected.
8. Click Save. Access your site’s front end and test the new menu.

Configuring Global Web Link Parameters


Joomla includes parameters that display different types of data for the web links on your site. After
setting the web link parameters globally, which means they automatically apply to all web links on
your site, you can override them, as necessary, on the individual web link menus.

To configure global web link configuration parameters:


1. From the Components menu, select Web Links and then Links. The Web Link Manager
opens.
2. Click Parameters on the toolbar. The Web Links Global Configuration window opens, as

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shown in Figure 20-23:

Figure 20-23. The Web Links Global Configuration window.


3. By default, all parameters in the Global Configuration section are set to Show, which means
they are all currently available for your web link menus. Hide or show any of the following
parameters:
• Description: This parameter is only applicable to menus formatted with the Web Link
Category List Layout menu. If you type a description in the Web Links Introduction
field, and set the Description parameter to Show, the description appears at the top of
the web links landing page.
• Web Links Introduction: This parameter is only applicable to menus formatted with the
Web Link Category List Layout menu and only displays on the menu landing page if
you set the Description parameter to Show. The description you type in this field
displays above the category list on the web link landing page, like the example in Figure
20-17 on page 403.

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Figure 20-24 illustrates the remaining parameters:

Figure 20-24. Web link parameters.


• Hits: When set to Show, this parameter displays a Hits column on the web links table
that displays hit counts. To hide the column, set the parameter to Hide.
• Link Descriptions: When set to Show, this parameter displays link descriptions beneath
each link in the table. To hide the link descriptions, set the parameter to Hide.
• Other Categories: When set to Show, this parameter displays all available web link
categories under the web links table. To hide the category list, set the parameter to Hide.
• Table Headings: When set to Show, this parameter displays the table headings on the
web links table. To hide the headings, set the parameter to Hide.
• Target: Select one of the following:
• Parent Window with Browser Navigation: This parameter, which is selected by
default, enables Joomla to display the web links table in the current browser
window with the existing browser navigation features.
• New Window with Browser Navigation: This parameter enables Joomla to display
the web links table in a new browser window with standard browser navigation
features that opens on top of your site.
• New Window without Browser Navigation: This parameter enables Joomla to
display the web links table in a new browser window without the standard browser
navigation features (that is, you are hiding the browser’s address bar and toolbars)
that opens on top of your site.

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• Icon: To display an icon next to each web link other than the default icon shown in
Figure 20-24, select one from the list. To use a custom icon, you’ll need to upload it to
the M_images folder on Joomla’s file system.
4. When you finish conferring the global web link parameters, click Save.

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Part V. Adding Interactive Content
Chapter 21. Working with Multimedia
Content
Whether you work for a corporate writing department, or you are a journalist, you may produce
video in addition to standard written content. For example, as a corporate writer you may create
eLearning tutorials and standard instructional video. As a journalist, the video you produce likely
consists of news clips. With Joomla, you can embed video and audio directly in your articles, as
well as launching eLearning tutorials from them.
This chapter explains how to upload, organize, and link to eLearning video from articles on a
corporate publishing site. It also explains how to embed video and audio in your articles with a
third-party video player from AllVideosReloaded.

Working with eLearning Video


You can add eLearning video clips to your articles as long as they are in a browser-compliant
format, like Flash (.swf). If you create video with a commercial tool like Captivate that embeds
video in a flash-based video player with its own toolbar, you cannot embed the players directly in
your articles. However, you can add hyperlinks to your articles that users can click to open the
video clips in separate browser windows.

Uploading eLearning Video to the Server


Like images, all video you upload to the server must either reside in the stories folder, or a sub-
folder under the stories folder. If you plan on uploading multiple eLearning video clips to your site,
I strongly recommend creating a videos folder under the stories folder. In addition, you can create
sub-folders under the videos folder to further organize your eLearning tutorials. Figure 21-1 shows
the folder structure I created under the stories folder for eLearning video:

Figure 21-1. Create a folder under the stories folder for storing eLearning video on the server.
You can upload eLearning video to the folder you create on the server using either eXtplorer or
Joomla’s Media Manager. If you create eLearning video with Captivate, upload all required video
files, including the filename.htm, filename.swf, filename_skin.swf, and standard.js files (Captivate
tutorials will not work without the standard.js file).

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Linking to eLearning Video from Your Articles


The process of linking to an eLearning video from a Joomla article is similar to the process you
would follow to create any type of hyperlink. In this case, you are linking to the HTML file that
controls the eLearning video.

To link to an eLearning video:


1. Open the article to which you are adding a link for an eLearning video.
2. Type text at the desired location in the article to act as the hyperlink. For example, you might
use the video’s title as a hyperlink.
3. Next, select the text with your mouse to highlight it, like the example in Figure 21-2:

Figure 21-2. Select the text for the hyperlink that will launch the video tutorial.
4. Click the Insert/Edit link icon to open the Advanced Link page.
5. Click the Browse icon , which is located to the right of the URL field to open the Browser
window. Notice the Root icon at the top of the Folders section, which represents the stories
folder on the server. All folders under the Root icon are folders under the stories folder.
6. In the Folders section, click the name of the folder into which you uploaded the eLearning
video to select it, as shown in Figure 21-3:

Figure 21-3. Click the name of the folder containing the eLearning video.

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Do one of the following:


• If you did not create sub-folders under the videos folder, Joomla displays the folder’s
contents in the folder explorer.
• If you created sub-folders, like the example in Figure 21-3, click the folder containing
the desired eLearning tutorial. Joomla displays the contents of the selected folder in the
folder explorer, like the example in Figure21-4:

Figure 21-4. The folder explorer section displays all files and folders.
7. In the folder explorer, click the html file that controls the eLearning tutorial to select it, as
shown in Figure 21-5:

Figure 21-5. Select the HTML file that controls the eLearning video.
8. Click Insert. The Browser window closes. Notice the URL field at the top of the Advanced
Link window displays the path to the selected HTML file.

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9. Next, choose Open in new window from the Target list in the Attributes section:

Figure 21-6. Select Open in new window from the Target list.
Selecting this option enables Joomla to launch the tutorial in a separate browser window over
the article when users click the link.
10. Click Insert. The Advanced Link window closes. The text you selected in step 2 now displays
as a hyperlink, like the example in Figure 21-7:

Figure 21-7. The selected article text becomes a hyperlink.


11. Save and close the article. Next, access it from your site’s front end, and click the link to test
it.

Adding Standard Video and Audio to Your Articles


You can find several non-commercial video players in the Multimedia category on Joomla’s
extension site at http://extensions.joomla.org. Many enable you to play video from the server’s file
system, as well as from video sites like YouTube. AllVideos Reloaded (AVReloaded for short),
which is the one I prefer, plays video and audio in many different file formats.
In the following sections, I explain how to download and install AVReloaded, configure it, and use
it to display video directly in your articles. However, like any third-party extension recommended
in this book, if you find AVReloaded doesn’t meet your needs, uninstall it and try one of the others
available from Joomla’s extension site.

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Downloading and Installing AVReloaded


The easiest way to download AVReloaded is to access it from Joomla’s extension site. From there,
you’ll navigate directly to the source files on the JoomlaCode site.

To download AVReloaded:
1. Access the Joomla extension site at http://extensions.joomla.org1.
2. Locate and click the Multimedia category under the Categories heading on the extension site.
3. Under the Multimedia category, click Multimedia Players and then click Video Players &
Gallery, as shown in Figure 21-8:

Figure 21-8. AVReloaded is located in the Video Players & Gallery sub-category.
4. Locate and click the title of the AVReloaded extension on the Video Players & Gallery page.
The AVReloaded page opens.
5. Click Download under the description box. The JoomlaCode site opens in a new browser
window showing the AVReloaded repository.
6. In the Files column, click com_avreloaded-1.2.6.zip, or a more current version if available
(AVReloaded is at version 1.2.6 at the time of this writing), as shown in Figure 21-9:

Figure 21-9. Click the com_avereloaded-1.2.6.zip file.


7. The file download window opens. Save the com_avereloaded-1.2.6.zip file to a folder on
your computer.

1.To save time, go directly to the AllVideos Reloaded download site at the following address:
http://joomlacode.org/gf/project/allvideos15/frs/

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To install AVReloaded:
1. From the computer on which you downloaded the com_avereloaded-1.2.6.zip file, open a
browser and log in to Joomla’s administrative back end.
2. Select Install/Uninstall from the Extensions menu. The Extension Manager opens.
3. Click Browse. The Choose File window opens.
4. Locate the and select the com_avereloaded-1.2.6.zip file on the computer’s file system.
5. Click Open. The Choose File window closes. Notice that the Package File field displays the
path to the com_avereloaded-1.2.6.zip on the computer.
6. Click Upload File & Install. When the installation process completes, which may take a
minute or more, the Extension Manager displays a message indicating the installation
process was successful. In addition, the AllVideos Reloaded Quickstart page opens, as
shown in Figure 21-10:

Figure 21-10. All Videos Reloaded Quick start page.

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Uploading Video and Audio to the Server


After installing AVReloaded, you can access the quick start page (shown in Figure 21-10) by
choosing the AllVideos Reloaded menu from the Components menu. Before going further, you
should click the documentation link on the Quickstart page to open and read the documentation.
Do one of the following:
• If you plan on uploading video directly to the server, click the Streaming local content link to
view a list of all supported file types.
• If you plan on using video hosted on external sites, like YouTube, click the Streaming remote
content link to view a list of all supported video sites.
By default, AVReloaded is configuded to look for video in a folder named videos under the stories
folder on Joomla’s file system. If you plan on uploading video to the server, the first step is creating
the videos folder. If desired, you can also create sub-folders under it for organizing your video. You
can create the videos folder and sub-folders using Joomla’s Media Manager or eXtplorer.
If you also plan on uploading audio files to the server, the next step is creating a folder named audio
under the stories folder. You can also create sub-folders under the audio folder for organizing your
audio files. Figure 21-11 shows both the videos and audio folders I created on Joomla’s file system
for AVReloaded:

Figure 21-11. The videos and audio folders on Joomla’s file system.
After creating the videos folder and the audio folder, and any desired sub-folders, use the Media
Manager or eXtplorer to upload your video and audio files to the server. To learn more about the
Media Manager and eXtplorer, see Chapter 7, “Managing Media Folders and Files” on page 149.

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Adding Local Video to Your Articles


AVReload enables you to display video from the videos folder in your articles. When added to an
article, AVReloaded displays a video player based on the video’s file type. Figure 21-12 shows the
Windows Media Player, which AVReloaded uses to play video with the AVI file type:

Figure 21-12. AVReloaded selects a video player based on a video’s file type.

To add a local video to an article:


1. Open the article to which you are adding video and place your cursor at the location where
you want to AVReloaded to display a video player.
2. Type the video code, which uses the following convention:
{filetype}filename{/filetype}

For example, you would type the following code to add a video in the AVI format in your
article:
{avi}joom-install{/avi}

Notice I did not include the file extension in the example above. The {avi} and {/avi} codes
tell AVReloaded that it is playing an AVI file named joom-install.avi. Figure21-13 illustrates

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how this code looks in the article when editing it with JCE:

Figure 21-13. The video playback codes in a Joomla article.


Remember that AVReloaded expects video to be located in a folder named videos under the
stories folder. If you uploaded video into sub-folders, you’ll need to add the sub-folder
names to the code as follows:
{filetype}subfolder/filename{/filetype}

For example, if you uploaded the joom-install.avi file into a sub-folder named joomla, you
would type the following:
{avi}joomla/joom-install{/avi}

3. When you finish adding the video code, save and exit the article. To test it, access the article
from your site’s front end. AVReloaded should display a video player where you added the
video code in the article.

Adding Local Audio to Your Articles


The process of adding audio to your articles is similar to the process for adding a video: you type
a code at the appropriate location in your article that references the audio file name. When saved,
AVReloaded displays a player in the article that enables users to play the file. Figure 21-14 shows
how AVRelaoded adds the JW Media Player to an article for mp3 audio:

Figure 21-14. AVReloaded selects an audio player based on audio file type.

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To add local audio to an article:


1. Open the article in which you are adding audio and place your cursor at the location where
you want to AVReloaded to display an audio player.
2. Type the audio code, which uses the following convention:
{filetype}filename{/filetype}

For example, you would type the following code to add an audio file in the mp3 format in
your article:
{mp3}joom-install{/mp3}

It is not necessary include the file extension for audio files. The {mp3} and {/mp3} codes
tell AVReloaded that it is playing an mp3 file named joom-install.mp3.
3. AVReloaded expects your audio files be located in a folder named audio under the stories
folder. If you uploaded audio files into sub-folders, you’ll need to add the sub-folder names
to the code as follows:
{filetype}subfolder/filename{/filetype}

For example, if you uploaded the joom-install.mp3 file into a sub-folder named joomla, you
would type the following:
{mp3}joomla/joom-install{/mp3}

4. When you finish adding the audio code, save and exit the article. To test it, access the article
from your site’s front end. AVReloaded should display an audio player where you added the
audio code in the article.

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Adding Remote Video to Your Articles


AVReloaded can play video from a variety of providers, including YouTube, DailyMotion, Google
Video, etc. (for a complete list, see the Streaming remote content topic in the AVReloaded
documentation). Figure 21-15 shows a YouTube video in an article:

Figure 21-15. You can add video to your articles from many different providers.
The process of adding video from an external site to an article, which is the same for each provider,
includes the following steps:
1. Locate and copy the video ID for the desired video from the provider’s site.
2. Add a code to your article that enables AVReloaded to retrieve and display the video, using
the video ID, from the external site in your article.
In the following sections, I step through the process of adding a YouTube video to an article. You
should be able to apply these steps to any other video provider. See the Streaming remote content
topic in the AVReloaded documentation for more information.

To locate and copy a video ID from YouTube:


1. Start a browser and go to YouTube.
2. Locate and open the video you want to add to your site.
3. Locate the video ID in the browser’s address bar. In YouTube, the ID follows the equals sign

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at the end of the address, as shown in Figure 21-16:

Figure 21-16. The video ID for YouTube video is located at the end of the address.
4. Select and copy the ID in the address bar (in Figure 21-16, the ID is qJ8uoAqKrQ8) and paste
it into a text editor like Notepad.

To add a YouTube video to an article:


1. Edit the article to which you are adding the YouTube video.
2. At the desired location in the article, add AVReloaded code for displaying YouTube video
with the code you copied from YouTube as follows:
{youtube}ID{/youtube}

For example, if the ID was qJ8uoAqKrQ8, you would add the following code in the article:
{youtube}qJ8uoAqKrQ8{/youtube}

3. Save and exit the article and access it from your site’s front end. You should see a YouTube
video player in your article, like the example in Figure 21-15 on page 425.

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Chapter 22. Creating and Conducting
Surveys
You or your department may use paper or email-based surveys to capture reader feedback on how
to improve you documentation. Or, you may have the desire to solicit reader feedback, but not have
access to tools for undertaking such a project. Whichever the case, you may be happy to learn you
can build and deploy your own surveys on your Joomla publishing site with a third-party extension
called Fabrik.
Fabrik is a non-commercial application builder for Joomla. What’s nice about Fabrik is that you
don’t have to know how to code to build fully-functional applications. For example, I used Fabrik
to create custom surveys with a mix of Likert-scale questions and form fields, like the example in
Figure 22-1:

Figure 22-1. A simple survey created with Fabrik.

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This chapter explains how to download and install Fabrik and use it to create a simple survey. It
also explains how to view raw survey data from Joomla’s administrative back end. In addition, it
explains how to display survey data in a chart format on your site’s front end.
Please note that this chapter barely scratches the surface of what you can do with Fabrik. My goal
is to step you through the process of creating a simple, one-page survey to help you become
familiar with how Fabrik works. The steps in this chapter provide the information necessary to
create complex, multi-page surveys.
You should also know that the Fabrik developers provide instructional video tutorials on their site.
In addition, Fabrik has a very active user forum where you can find answers to almost any kind of
question. And, while the software is free, if you decide you like it, you can pay a small subscription
fee to gain access to more video tutorials, documentation, and other benefits.

Downloading and Installing Fabrik


The following sections explain how to download and install Fabrik on your site. Please note that
Fabrik is at version 2.0.2 at the time of this writing. While you should download the most current
version, do not download a beta version, which will not be as stable as the major releases.

To download Fabrik:
1. Start a browser and go to the Fabrik site at the following address:
http://fabrikar.com

2. On the Fabrik homepage, click download Fabrik 2.0. The Fabrik 2.0 homepage opens.
3. Scroll down the page to locate the Fabrik download link, which is labeled Fabrik 2.0.2 at the
time of this writing:

Figure 22-2. Click the Fabrik download link to download the extension.
4. Click the download link. The File Download window opens.
5. Save the com_fabrik_2.0.2.zip file to your computer.
6. When the download process completes, exit the browser.

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To install Fabrik:
1. From the computer on which you downloaded the com_fabrik_2.0.2.zip file, open a browser
and log in to Joomla’s administrative back end.
2. Select Install/Uninstall from the Extensions menu. The Extension Manager opens.
3. Click Browse. The Choose File window opens.
4. Locate the and select the com_fabrik_2.0.2.zip file on the computer’s file system.
5. Click Open. The Choose File window closes. Notice that the Package File field displays the
path to the com_fabrik_2.0.2.zip file on the computer.
6. Click Upload File & Install. When the installation process completes, which may take a
minute or more, the Extension Manager displays a message similar to the following:

Figure 22-3. Fabrik installation message.


7. I recommend not installing sample data (that is, do not click the Click here to install sample
data link). If you install it, you won’t be able to use it until you understand the basics of
application building, which I explain how to do in the next section.

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8. To view the Fabrik control panel, choose Fabrik from the Components menu:

Figure 22-4. The Fabrik control panel.

Preparing to Conduct a Survey


If this is your first time conducting a survey of any type, I recommend researching the process
before getting started. You can find a lot of information on the Internet. Many universities publish
guidelines for designing and conducting surveys on departmental websites. At minimum, consider
developing a plan that includes the following information before getting started:
• Your goals for the survey. For example, you might jot down the purpose of the study you are
conducting and how you will use the data.
• The target audience for whom you are creating the survey. For example, if you were creating a
survey to learn how to improve product documentation, you might list the titles of the users
you envision participating in the survey.
• The types of questions you will include in the survey. You could design the survey itself in
this section. That is, you could list the actual survey questions and identify how you will
present them. For example, you might define whether they will consist of statements with
multiple answer options, lists from which users can select answers, form fields into which
users can type responses, etc. If you plan on scoring the answers, you might identify each
answer’s point value.
• How you plan on analyzing and reporting on the results. For example, you might want to
present the data in a formal report, or you may just be using it for informal assessment
purposes.
You will find it is much faster and easier to create surveys with Fabrik when working from a plan.

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Creating a Simple Survey


The process of creating a simple, one-page survey with Fabrik includes the following steps:
1. Create a bucket to hold the various pieces of the survey you are creating, which, in Fabrik,
is called a “group.”
2. Create the elements of the survey itself. Survey elements include the radio buttons, check
boxes, text boxes, and other options through which users submit answers when completing
a survey. Associate each survey element with the group you created in step 1.
3. Create a form that displays the survey elements, which is done by associating a form with a
group. When creating a form, you also enable Fabrik to create a table in the database to store
the data users supply when answering each survey question.
4. Finally, create a menu that participants can select to access the survey from your site’s front
end.

Creating the Survey Group


The first step in creating a survey is creating the survey group. Survey groups act as buckets that
hold, or organize, the survey elements. For longer, multi-page surveys, create a group for each
survey page.

To create a group:
1. From Joomla’s administrative back end, choose Fabrik from the Components menu and then
choose Groups; or, click the Groups link on the Fabrik control panel. The Groups page
opens:

Figure 22-5. Create groups to organizing the content of your surveys from the Groups page.
2. Click new. The New Group page opens.

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3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 22-6. The Details section on the New Group page.


• Name: When creating a simple, one-page survey, consider using a group name similar
to the survey title (like the example in Figure 22-7). When creating a multi-page survey,
use a group name that represents a specific page of the survey.
• Title: Type a title for the group in this field. The title displays above the survey
questions, like the example in Figure 22-7:

Figure 22-7. The group title on the survey form.

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When you create a survey that includes multiple groups, each group acts as a separate
page of the survey. A group title informs participants of the types of questions available
on each page of the survey.
• CSS: To style the survey, type style elements here. Survey styling is beyond the scope of
this book.
• Columns: By default, the survey elements appears in a single column on the survey
form. To enable Fabrik to display the survey elements in two or more columns on the
survey form, type the desired number of columns here.
• Repeat group button: For a simple survey form, leave this parameter set to Hide. If you
were to set it to Show, Fabrik would display Add and Delete buttons that you would to
use to either duplicate or delete data in cases where the group is associated with another
table via a table join.
• Show group in form: By default, this parameter is set to Show, which means Fabrik
displays all survey elements you associate with the group on the survey form on your
site. If you set it to Hide, users cannot see the survey elements.
• JavaScript to run when repeat group added: Leave this text box empty. If you were to set
the Repeat group button parameter to Show, and you wanted Fabrik to execute a
JavaScript when clicking the Add button, you would type the script here.
• JavaScript to run when repeat group removed: Leave this text box empty. If you were to
set the Repeat group button parameter to Show, and you wanted Fabrik to execute a
JavaScript when clicking the Delete button, you would type the script here.
• Randomise elements: This parameter is set to No by default, which means Fabrik
displays survey elements in the order in which you create and order them on the survey
form. To enable Fabrik to order them randomly, select Yes.
4. If you were creating multiple groups for a multi-page survey, you would set the Page break
parameter to Yes in the Pagination section (to create separate pages for each group).
However, in the case of a simple, one-page survey form, leave the Page break parameter set
to No.
5. Click Save to create the new group. Continue to “Creating the Survey Elements” on page
433.

Creating the Survey Elements


Survey elements are the options participants select, or the form fields they complete, to submit
answers. You can create many kinds of survey elements with Fabrik. For example, you can create
a drop-down list, like the example in Figure 22-8, with the “drop down” element:

Figure 22-8. A drop-down list created with the drop down element.

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While the process of creating survey elements is not difficult, each one includes parameters that
differ, sometimes substantially, from other types of elements. Unfortunately, I can’t document them
all in one chapter. Instead, I am stepping through the process of creating the following, more-
common survey elements:
• Drop down lists: To save space and allow participants to select one answer from many
possible answers, use a drop down list, like the example in Figure 22-8. But, don’t use a drop-
down list if you want participants to see all answers at once. In that case, use radio buttons.
• Radio buttons: To enable participants to select one answer from a list of many possible
answers, use radio buttons:

Figure 22-9. Use radio buttons to present participants with many answers.
• Check boxes: To enable participants to select multiple answers, use check boxes:

Figure 22-10. Use check boxes to allow participants to select more than one answer.
• Text areas: To enable participants to write and submit comments, use a text area:

Figure 22-11. Add a text area to enable participants to submit feedback.


• Date fields: To enable participants to identify a specific date, use a date field:

Figure 22-12. Add a date field to enable participants to identify a specific date.
The following sections explain how to create each of these elements. My hope is that if you try
creating these elements, you’ll feel comfortable creating other types of elements.

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To create a drop-down list:


1. From Joomla’s administrative back end, choose Fabrik from the Components menu and then
choose Elements. The Elements page opens:

Figure 22-13. The Elements page.


2. Click New. The New Element page opens.
3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 22-14. The Details section for the element.


• Name: Type a name to represent the survey element you are creating in the database. If
you use a name consisting of two or more words, separate each word with an underscore
_. If you forget to insert an underscore between words, Fabrik automatically converts
spaces to underscores. For organizational purposes, I recommend using an element
name that either matches or is similar to the element label.

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• label: The name you type in this field displays next to the drop-down list on the survey
form. For example, if you were creating a drop-down list that contained article titles,
you might label it “Article Title.”
• Group: Select the name of the group you created to organize specific types of survey
elements from the list.
• Order: Specifies the order in which the survey appears in the element list on the
Elements page. By default, Fabrik adds each element you create to the bottom of the
list. You can change the element’s order in the list after saving it.
• Element type: Select drop down.
4. Complete the Sub elements section in the Options section:

Figure 22-15. The Options section for a drop-down element.


• value: For the drop-down list example in Figure 22-8 on page 433, I was only interested
in capturing book titles, so I left the value field empty. However, to capture a specific
value for a drop-down list option (for example, a point value), type it in this field. You
can see this value when viewing the results from the back end. If you do not want to
capture a value for the option, leave this field empty.
• label: Type a able for the drop-down list option in this field. This is the label users see as
a selectable option in the list.
• Default: This parameter is selected for the first drop-down list option, which means it is
the default option users see in the list. If you do not want the option to be the first one
users see in the list, de-select it.
5. Next, click Add to add another option to the drop-down list, like the example in Figure 22-
16:

Figure 22-16. Click Add to add more options to the drop-down list.
Complete the value and label fields as described in step 4 for the second drop-down list
option.

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6. Continue clicking Add as necessary to create more drop-down list options. Fabrik displays
each option you add in the Sub elements section in the drop-down list on the survey form.
7. When you finish adding options to the drop-down list, click the Table settings tab on the right
side of the New Element page:

Figure 22-17. The Table settings tab.


8. Set Show in table to Yes to see each participant’s drop-down list selections in the survey
results table.
9. Click Save to save the drop-down list. Joomla displays a message indicating the new element
was saved.

To create radio buttons:


1. On the Elements page, click New. The New Element page opens.
2. Complete the Details section:
• Name: Type a name for the element in the Name field, separating each word in a multi-
word name with an with underscore. Remember, Fabrik uses this name for the element
in the database.
• label: Type the label you want to display next to the radio buttons on the form in the
label field. For example, if you were creating a cluster of radio buttons to determine if
users found an article helpful, you might title it “Was this article helpful?”.
• Group: Select the appropriate group name from the list.
• Element Type: Select radio button.

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3. Complete the first two sub-sections in the Options section:

Figure 22-18. The Options section for a radio button element.


• Element before label: This parameter is set to No by default, which means the title you
typed in the label field in the Details section displays to the left of the radio buttons.
• Options per row: This field contains 4 by default, which means Fabrik displays four
radio button options in a single row, or line, in the survey. To add more than four radio
button options, while displaying them on the same line, type the number of options you
are creating in this field. To display each radio button on its own line, type 1 in this
field.
Complete the Sub elements section as follows:
• value: If you are creating a survey with Likert-scale questions, and you want to assign a
point value to each radio button, type the desired value in this field.
Leave the value field empty if you do not want to assign a value to the radio button.
• label: Type a able for the radio button in this field, which is the label users see next to
the radio button on the survey form.
• Default: This parameter is selected for the first radio button, which means it is selected
by default. If you do not want the radio button to be selected by default, de-select the
Default parameter.
You do not need to change the default settings for the remaining parameters in the Options
section.
4. If you are creating a cluster of radio buttons from which users can choose to answer a survey
statement, like the example in Figure 22-19, click Add to create the next radio button.

Figure 22-19. A survey question with multiple answers presented as radio buttons.
5. When you finish creating radio buttons for the survey question, click the Table settings tab
on the right side of the New Element page.
6. Set Show in table to Yes to see each participant’s radio button selections in the survey results
table.

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7. Click Save to save the radio buttons. Joomla displays a message indicating the new element
was saved.

To create a text area:


1. On the Elements page, click New. The New Element page opens.
2. Complete the Details section:
• Name: Type a name for the element in the Name field, separating each word in a multi-
word name with an with underscore.
• label: Type the label that displays next to the element on the form in the label field.
• Group: Select the appropriate group name from the list.
• Element Type: Select text area.
3. Complete the Options section:

Figure 22-20. The Options section for the text area element.
• Width: The width for a text area field is defined in columns. The default text area width
is 40 columns. The text area field shown in Figure 22-1 is 42 columns wide. Increase or
decrease the columns to modify the width of the text area field.
• Height: The height for a text area field is defined in rows. The default text area height is
6 rows. Increase or decrease the rows to modify the height of the text area field.
You do not need to change the default settings for the remaining parameters in the Options
section.

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4. Next, click the Table settings tab on the right side of the New Element page.
5. Set Show in table to Yes to see the comments each participant types in the text area field in
the survey results table.
6. Click Save to save the text area field. Joomla displays a message indicating the new element
was saved.

To create a date field:


1. On the Elements page, click New. The New Element page opens.
2. Complete the Details section:
• Name: Type a name for the element in the Name field, separating each word in a multi-
word name with an with underscore.
• label: Type the label that displays next to the element on the form in the label field.
• Group: Select the appropriate group name from the list.
• Element Type: Select text area.
3. Complete the Options section:

Figure 22-21. The Options section for the date element.

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• Width: Type the width for the date field in characters in this field. This field should be
10 characters wide at minimum to hold a date in the following format YYYY-MM-DD,
where Y represents the 4-digit year, MM represents the two-digit month, and DD
represents the two-digit day.
• Hidden: To capture the date on which participants submit the survey, but you don’t want
to enable them to select the date themselves, select this parameter. Next, set the default
to current date parameter to Yes.
For a simple survey, you do not need to change the default settings for the remaining
parameters in the Options section.
4. Next, click the Table settings tab on the right side of the New Element page.
5. Set Show in table to Yes to see the date each participant selects or types in the date field in
the survey results table.
6. Click Save to save the date field. Joomla displays a message indicating the new element was
saved.

Creating the Survey Form


After creating the desired survey elements to capture answers from participants, you must add them
to a survey form. Survey forms display the survey elements. When creating a survey form, you also
enable Fabrik to create a table in the database to store the answers users select for the survey
elements.

To create a survey form:


1. From Joomla’s administrative back end, choose Fabrik from the Components menu and then
choose Forms; or, click the Forms link on the Fabrik control panel. The Forms page opens:

Figure 22-22. The Forms page.


2. Click New. The Edit Form page opens.

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3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 22-23. The Details section for the survey form.


• label: Type a label, or title, for the entire survey this field. The label displays at the top
of the survey form like the example in Figure 22-24:

Figure 22-24. The form label on a survey form.


• Introduction: To provide participants with an introductory message or instructions at the
top of the survey form, type it in this field. Figure 22-25 shows the introduction on the
survey form:

Figure 22-25. The introductory message on a survey form.

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• Error message: By default, this field is populated with a sample error message that
Fabrik display when participants leave a survey element incomplete. Change the default
error message in this field as desired.
4. Leave the button parameters in the Button section set to their defaults.
5. Complete the Form processing section:

Figure 22-26. The Form processing section on the form.


• Record in database: Select this option to ensure Fabrik records the data participants
submit for each survey element in the form to the database.
• Table name: Type a table name for the database table you want Fabrik to create in the
database in this field. To create a table name that includes two or more words, like
“book survey” separate each word with an underscore: book_survey.
• Ajax validation: Leave this parameter set to No.
• Success message: When participants click Submit to submit a completed survey, Fabrik
displays the following message by default:
Record added/updated

To display your own message when users click Submit, type it in this field.
• Spoof check: Leave this parameter set to Yes.
• Save partially completed multi-page forms: This parameter is not applicable if you are
creating a simple, single-page form and can leave the default selection. If you create a
multi-page form, and you want Fabrik to save data from a partially-completed form to
the database when a participant navigates to the next page, select the desired option
from this list.
6. To capture information about the survey form, or the survey itself, type your notes in the
Notes field. This information does not display on the survey form and is only be accessible
when you open the form to edit it.

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7. Next, click the Publishing tab, which is located on the right-side of the Edit Form page:

Figure 22-27. Complete the Publishing tab.


• Published. Set this parameter to Yes.
• Author: By default, this field is populated with the user name of your current user
account. To associate the survey form with a different user account name, select one
from the list.
• Author Alias: Joomla displays anything you type Author Alias field in place of the
selection you make in the Author list. Participants cannot see the author name on the
survey form.
• Created Date: This the date on which you created the survey. To change the date, click
the date icon to open a calendar window where you can select the desired date.
• Start Publishing: By default, the date in this field matches the date in the Created Date
field. For example, if you started creating a document on November 21, 2010, the Start
Publishing field would show “2010-21-11.” If you set the Published parameter to Yes,
when you save the survey form, Joomla displays it on your site.
If, however, you want Joomla to publish the survey form at a future date, which may not
correspond to its creation date, you could type, or select, the future date in this field. This
means Joomla would not display the survey on your site until the date selected in the Start
Publishing field.
• Finish Publishing: To enable Joomla to automatically stop publishing the survey on
your site by a specific date, select or type the date in this field. By default, this field
shows “Never,” which means Joomla displays the survey on your site until you remove
it by setting the Published parameter to “No.”

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8. Click the Groups tab:

Figure 22-28. Select a group on the Groups tab.


9. All unassigned groups display in the Groups list. Click the name of the group you created to
organize the survey elements for this survey to select it.
10. Click Add. Fabrik adds the selected group to the Current Groups list. Please note that if you
created multiple groups to organize the survey elements for a multi-page survey, you would
add each group to the Current Groups list.
11. Click Save. Fabrik displays a “Form Saved” message on the Forms page.

Creating the Survey Menu


To enable participants to access a survey form Joomla’s front end, you must add it to a menu. You
can create several types of Fabrik menus from the Menu Item Manager.

To crete a survey menu:


1. Select the name of the menu to which you are adding the survey from the Menus menu. The
Menu Item Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Menu Item page opens.
3. Click the Fabrik link to expand it.

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4. Click the Form link, as shown in Figure 22-29:

Figure 22-29. Click the Form link under the Fabrik heading.
The New Menu Item page opens, showing Fabrik Form as the selected menu type in the
Menu Item Type section.
5. Complete the Menu Item Details section as you would for any other type of menu.
6. The Form list in the Parameters (Basic) section lists all forms not currently associated with
a menu. Select the desired survey form from the list.
7. Click Save to create the menu.
8. To view and test the survey, access it from the appropriate menu on your site’s front end and
try submitting it with different answers. Continue to “Viewing the Survey Results” on page
446 to learn how to view the results.

Viewing the Survey Results


If you deploy a survey to informally assess a document’s strength’s and weaknesses, but you don’t
plan on formally reporting on the results, you can view the raw results directly from the database
table in which Joomla stores them. You can also display the survey results on your site’s front end
in the form of a chart or table.

Viewing the Results from Joomla’s Back End


You can view data from any form through which users submit data from your site’s back end. In
addition to viewing the data, you can perform cleanup tasks, like deleting empty rows of data. For
example, if a participant clicks Submit without answering any questions on the survey form, Fabrik
saves an empty row to the database.

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To view survey results from the back end:


1. From Joomla’s administrative back end, choose Fabrik from the Components menu and then
choose Tables; or, click the Tables link on the Fabrik control panel. The Table page opens:

Figure 22-30. The Table page lists the database tables created for surveys or other kinds of forms.
2. In the Table name column, locate the name of the database table you created for the survey
form, which may match the form name.
3. In the View data column, click the View data link for the appropriate database table. Fabrik
displays all data from the table, like the example in Figure 22-31:

Figure 22-31. Survey data from a database table.

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4. You can perform either of the following maintenance tasks:


• To delete a specific row of data, click the check box for the desired row in the far right
column and then click Delete.
• To delete all data in the table, click Empty.

Displaying the Results in Charts


Fabrik uses the Google Charts “visualization” feature to display data in a variety of chart formats,
like line charts, horizontal and vertical bar charts, pie charts, etc. However, it is important to note
that your Joomla server must be connected to the Internet for this feature to work. That is, if you
installed Joomla on a computer not connected to the Internet for learning purposes, or a USB flash
drive, Fabrik cannot display survey results with Google Charts.

To create a visualization:
1. From Joomla’s administrative back end, choose Fabrik from the Components menu and then
choose Visualizations; or, click the Visualizations link on the Fabrik control panel. The
Visualizations page opens:

Figure 22-32. The Visualizations page.


2. Click New. The New Visualization page opens.

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3. Complete the Details section:

Figure 22-33. The Details section for a visualization.


• label: Type a label, or title, for the visualization this field. The label displays above the
survey results like the example in Figure 22-34:

Figure 22-34. The visualization title.


• Intro text: To provide readers with a description of the results above the chart displaying
the survey results, type it in this field. Figure 22-35 shows the introduction above the
survey results:

Figure 22-35. Introductory text describing the purpose of the chart.

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4. Select chart from the Plug-in list. When selected, the following, additional parameters
display in the Details section:

Figure 22-36. Additional parameters for the chart plugin.


5. Choose the desired type of chart from the Chart list. For example, to display data as a
horizontal bar chart, like the example in Figure 22-37, select Horizontal Bar Chart from the
list:

Figure 22-37. Data presented in a horizontal bar chart.

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6. Type the desired width of the chart to be created by Fabrik in pixels in the Width field. For
example, to make the chart 200 pixels wide, type 200 in this field.
7. Type the desired height of the chart in the Height field in pixels.
8. Next, select the name of the database table containing the survey data from the Table list.
This is the name of the database you supplied when creating the survey form.
9. Select the survey element for which you are creating a chart from the Element list. For
example, if your survey includes a rating element, where users can select a rating from two
or more option (like great, good, and poor), select the rating element from the list.
10. In the Colour field, type a hex code for the color in which you want Fabrik to display the
chart. For example, to display the chart in blue, you would type #0000FF in the Colour field.
If you leave this field empty, Google Charts applies the default chart color.
11. On the Publishing tab to the right of the Details section, set the Published parameter to Yes.
12. Click Save.

To create a visualization menu:


1. Select the name of the menu to which you are adding the survey from the Menus menu. The
Menu Item Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Menu Item page opens.
3. Click the Fabrik link to expand it.
4. Under the Visualization sub-heading, click Visualization as shown in Figure 22-38:

Figure 22-38. Click the Visualization link under the Visualization sub-heading.
The New Menu Item page opens, showing Fabrik Visualization as the selected menu type in
the Menu Item Type section.
5. Complete the Menu Item Details section as you would for any other type of menu.
6. From the Visualization type list in the Parameters (Basic) section, choose chart.
7. From the Select instance section, select the name of the visualization you created to display
survey results in a chart.

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8. Click Save to create the menu.


9. To view the survey result, access the menu you created for it from your site’s front end.

Publishing the Raw Results on Joomla’s Front End


There may be cases where you want to make the raw data captured in a survey available from your
site’s front end. For example, if you deploy a survey for a document written by an author who does
not have access to Joomla’s back end, you could publish the results on the front end, giving it the
Special access level so it is only accessible to authors. However, the table that displays the raw data
on Joomla’s front end also includes options for deleting individual rows from the table, as well as
deleting the content of the entire table. You should not, therefore, make this table publicly
accessible and I recommend not making it available to registered users.

To publish raw results on Joomla’s front end:


1. Select the name of a menu you want users to access to see the survey results from the Menus
menu. The Menu Item Manager opens.
2. Click New. The New Menu Item page opens.
3. Click the Fabrik link to expand it.
4. Click the Table link, as shown in Figure 22-39:

Figure 22-39. Click the Table link to display survey results in a table on the front end.
The New Menu Item page opens, showing Fabrik Table as the selected menu type in the
Menu Item Type section.
5. Complete the Menu Item Details section as you would for any other type of menu.
6. The Table list in the Parameters (Basic) section lists all database tables associated with
Fabrik forms. Select the name of the table you created for the survey form from the list.
7. Click Save to create the menu.

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8. To view the table containing the raw survey results, access it from the appropriate menu on
your site’s front end. Figure 22-40 shows how the data table looks on the front end:

Figure 22-40. Raw survey from the database displayed on Joomla’s front end.

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Appendix A. Securing XAMPP
If you are deploying your Joomla documentation site on a company intranet, and you would like
to continue using your XAMPP-based server platform, you should consider securing it to prevent
fellow employees from discovering they can access the XAMPP console. You should also prevent
them from being able to access the MySQL database. Don’t hesitate to talk to your IT staff to see
if they can build a secure system, but if they don’t have the time or hardware to build a proper
server, a XAMPP-based system may be your only option.
This appendix explains how to password-protect the XAMPP console, the root user account for
MySQL, and phpMyAdmin, which is the web-based user interface for MySQL. I do not, however,
included procedures on securing the PHP engine, which is configurable. Unless you are genuinely
concerned about the security of your XAMPP platform on your company intranet (I have yet to
work for a company where fellow employees attack intranet sites), you don’t need to secure PHP.
If you secure PHP, you may find you disable desired capabilities. For more information on securing
the PHP engine, see the explanation of the safe mode function on the PHP web site at the following
address:
http://www.php.net/features.safe-mode

Please note that if you are only using your system for learning purposes, and there is little chance
someone could do harm to it (for example, you installed it on your PC or a USB flash drive), you
do not need to configure the security settings explained in this appendix.

Password-protecting MySQL and XAMPP


When following the steps in this section to create passwords for the XAMPP console and MySQL
database, remember to write them down and keep them in a secure location. It is very frustrating
when you cannot remember a password and then realize you never wrote them down. After
following the steps in this appendix, you must use a password when logging into the XAMPP
console and when logging into the phpMyAdmin user interface.

To password-protect MySQL and XAMPP:


1. Start a browser and go to the following address to access the XAMPP console:
http://localhost

2. Click the Security link on the left side of the page. The XAMPP Security page opens.
3. Scroll down the page to locate and then click the following link:
http://localhost/security/xamppsecurity.php

When clicked, XAMPP opens the Security Console where you can set passwords for both

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the MySQL root user account and the xampp directory:

Figure A-1. Secure MySQL and XAMPP from the security console.
4. First, set a password for the root user account for the MySQL server. Type a password in both
the New password and Repeat the new password fields in the MySQL section.
5. Next, select an authentication method. With the cookie authentication option, which is
selected by default, your browser stores the root user’s credentials and password as text in a
cookie and pass it to the MySQL server for authentication during your user session. With
HTTP authentication, your browser passes the user name and password as an encoded string
to the MySQL server. The default cookie authentication method should be fine for intranet
security, but if you are concerned about which is the proper option to use for your company’s
network, talk to your IT support staff.
6. To create a text file containing the password you typed in the password fields, select the Safe
plain password in text file option. The location of the file and its name
(mysqlrootpassword.txt) display beneath the check box. Anyone with access to your
computer’s file system could find this password, so consider either not creating one, or
moving it to a safe place if you do create one.

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7. Click Password changing. The Security Console displays a message indicating it


successfully created the password and that you must restart MySQL:

Figure A-2. After creating a password for the root user, you must restart MySQL.
But, before restarting MySQL, I recommend password-protecting the XAMPP console.
8. In the User field in the XAMPP Directory Protection section, type a name you want to use
to log into the XAMPP console and then type a password in the Password field.
9. To create a text file containing the password, select the Safe plain password in text file
option. The location of the file and its name (xamppdirpassword.txt) display beneath the
check box. Remember that saving your user name and password in a text file on your
computer presents a potential security hazard.
10. Click Make safe the xampp directory. The Security Console displays a message indicating it
successfully protected the xampp directory:

Figure A-3. The Security Console creates a xampp.users file and a .htaccess file.
To protect the xampp directory, the Security Console creates two files (xampp.users and
.htaccess) that it places in separate directories in the xampp file system. The xampp.users file
contains the user name and an encrypted (unreadable) version of the password. The .htaccess
file, which resides in the xampp directory, references the xampp.users file. Whenever you or
someone else attempts to access your XAMPP console through a browser at either http://
localhost or your computer’s IP address, a login page opens and you are required to enter
your user name and password, which XAMPP compares against the entries in the
xampp.users file.
11. Close your browser and continue to “Restarting the Apache and MySQL Services.”

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Restarting the Apache and MySQL Services


After password-protecting MySQL and the xampp directory, you must restart the MySQL and
Apache services.

To restart the Apache and MySQL services:


1. Start the XAMPP Control Panel by double-clicking XAMPP Control Panel icon in your
system tray:

Figure A-4. The XAMPP icon in your system tray.


2. Locate the Apache option on the Control Panel and click Stop to stop the service.
3. Next, stop the MySQL service. When clicked, the Stop buttons become Start buttons, as
shown in Figure A-5:

Figure A-5. You can stop and start MySQL and Apache with the XAMPP Control Panel.
4. First, start the MySQL service.
5. After the MySQL service starts, start the Apache service.
6. Click the exit button in the upper right corner to minimize the Control Panel to the system
tray.
7. Continue to “Accessing XAMPP and MySQL.”

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Accessing XAMPP and MySQL


After restarting the MySQL and Apache services, you should attempt to access the XAMPP
console and phpMyAdmin for MySQL to verify that you successfully password-protected them.

To access XAMPP and MySQL:


1. Start a browser and access http://localhost. If the XAMPP Security Console successfully
created a .htaccess file, you will see a login screen similar to the following:

Figure A-6. Type a user name and password to access the XAMPP console.
2. Complete the User name and Password fields and click OK to log in.

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3. After logging in, Click the phpMyAdmin link under the Tools heading on the left side of the
XAMPP console. In a moment, you should see the phpMyAdmin login page:

Figure A-7. Type root and the password you created for the root user to access phpMyAdmin.
4. This login screen means you have successfully protected MySQL and the root user account.
To log in, type root in the User name field, type the password you created for the root user
account in the Password field, and then click OK.

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The phpMyAdmin home page opens:

Figure A-8. The phpMyAdmin user interface for the MySQL database server.
5. Click the Back arrow on your browser’s toolbar to return to the XAMPP Security Console.

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6. Next, click the security link on the left side of the page to open the security console. Notice
that the XAMPP console, the MySQL administrative user (root), and the phpMyAdmin
console are now all set to the secure status, as shown in Figure A-9:

Figure A-9. Security settings for XAMPP and PhpMyAdmin.


If you are deploying your XAMPP-based Joomla system on the company intranet, it is protected
with these security settings enabled.

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Appendix B. Backing up Your Site with
Akeeba Backup
If you intend to use Joomla as your main writing and publishing tool, you must back it up regularly.
Backing up your site ensures that you can restore it in the event of a hardware or software failure.
Such a failure could mean loosing your entire site and all documentation. If you back up your site
regularly, you can restore it quickly from your backup archive with either no, or very minimal,
losses.
You can find several backup tools on Joomla’s extension site. But, I recommend starting with
Akeeba Backup, which is an easy-to-use and thoroughly-documented Joomla backup utility. With
Akeeba backup, you can easily perform a full backup of your entire site, including the Joomla
directory structure and the database.
This appendix is intended to act as a quick-start-guide for installing Akeeba Backup and
performing a manual site backup. The Akeeba Backup team provides a well-written,
comprehensive user’s guide with the software that explains how to perform all backup and
restoration tasks. While I don’t plan on duplicating their efforts in this appendix, I am providing
enough information to help you get started.
If you have a Joomla hosting provider, they may already back up your site regularly. Check with
your provider about their backup policy before installing Akeeba Backup. If they already perform
regular site backups, you do not need to follow the instructions in this appendix. You should,
however, learn how often they back up your site and who is responsible for restoring it.

Installing Akeeba Backup


If you are installing Akeeba Backup on a XAMPP platform that you or your IT department built,
and you installed XAMPP 1.7.1 or greater, then your system meets the minimum requirements for
Akeeba Backup. However, if you have a hosted platform, your hosting provider may not use the
most current versions of the server software. For example, the hosting provider for one of my
Joomla sites uses PHP 4, which is not supported by Akeeba Backup.
According to the user’s guide1, Akeeba Backup requires the following, minimum server software:
• Joomla 1.5.x or later.
• PHP 5.1.3 or later, with 5.2.1 or later recommended.
• MySQL 4.1 or later, with 5.0 or later recommended for performance. (Dionysopoulos, 2010, p. 4)
I was unable to install Akeeba Backup on my site, because it was running on an older version of
PHP. Most likely, you will not encounter this situation. But, if you do, the solution is installing
JoomlaPack, which is the precursor to Akeeba Backup. JoomlaPack supports older server software
environments. To learn more about JoomlaPack, see “Backing Up Your Site with JoomlaPack” on
page 470.

1.Dionysopoulos, Nicholas K. Akeeba Backup User’s Guide. March 2010.

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The following sections explain how to download Akeeba Backup and install it with the Extension
Manager. The Extension Manager is a tool on Joomla’s administrative back end that allows you to
install software extensions from your local file system. This means you don’t need direct access to
the server on which Joomla is running to install Akeeba Backup.

To download Akeeba Backup:


1. Start a browser on your computer and go to the Akeeba Backup download site at the
following address:
http://www.akeebabackup.com/download.html

2. Click the Akeeba Backup Core for Joomla! category link. The Akeeba Backup Core for
Joomla! category page opens.
3. Click the Akeeba Backup 3.0 Stable link.
4. Download the documentation (akeeba-backup-guide-3.0.zip) and Akeeba Backup Core 3.0
(Stable) software (com_akeeba-3.0-core.zip) to your computer.

To install Akeeba Backup:


1. From the computer on which you downloaded the com_akeeba-3.0-core.zip file, start a
browser and log in to Joomla’s administrative back end.
2. Select Install/Uninstall from the Extensions menu. The Extension Manager opens.
3. Click Browse. The Choose File window opens.
4. Navigate to the directory containing the com_akeeba-3.0-core.zip file and click the file to
select it.
5. Click Open. The Choose File window closes and the Package File field displays the path to
the com_akeeba-3.0-core.zip file on your computer.
6. Click Upload File & Install. Please note the installation process may a few moments to
complete. When finished, the Extension Manager displays an installation summary message:

Figure B-1. Akeeba Backup installation message.

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Configuring Akeeba Backup


This section describes the most basic steps required to configure Akeeba Backup to back up your
site. Before going further, extract and review the Akeeba Backup User’s Guide from the akeeba-
backup-guide-3.0.zip file you download in the previous section. This guide explains everything
you need to know about configuring Akeeba Backup. If you are unable to perform any of the steps
described in this appendix, the user’s guide is the best place to start the troubleshooting process.

To configure Akeeba Backup’s basic settings:


1. From the Components menu in Joomla’s back end, select Akeeba Backup and then
Configuration. Akeeba Backup opens to the Configuration page.
2. Configure the parameters in the Basic Configuration section as follows:

Figure B-2. The Basic Configuration section of the Akeeba Backup Configuration page.
• Output Directory: At installation, Akeeba Backup automatically creates an output
directory named backup on Joomla’s file system where it places the backup file. The
Output Directory field contains the full path to the backup folder, which resides at the
following location in Joomla’s file system:
../joomla/administrator/components/com_akeeba/backup

Click Browse to see the full path, but do not change it until you are more familiar with
the backup process.
• Temporary Directory: The Akeeba Backup process stores temporary files during the
backup process in the ../joomla/tmp folder. Do not change this path.
• Log Level: This parameter allows you to specify how much information Akeeba
Backup writes to the log file during the backup process. The default setting, All
Information and Debug, is the highest logging level. Akeeba Backup stores the log file
in the backup folder.
• Backup archive name: This field displays the default naming convention Akeeba
Backup applies to backup file names. This convention includes your site and host name,
followed by the date and time on which it was created. To use a different file naming
convention, type one in this field. To include the date or time in the file names, use the
[DATE] and [TIME] variables, as shown in Figure B-2.

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• Backup Type: By default, Full site backup is selected, which means Akeeba Backup
backs up the entire Joomla directory structure, as well as the database. I recommend
backing up your entire site the first time. After reading the user’s guide and establishing
a backup policy for your site, you may decide to perform smaller-scale backups in the
future.
3. At this point, it is not necessary to make other configuration changes to Akeeba Backup.
Click Save to save any changes you made in the Basic Configuration section.
To learn about the settings in the other sections of the Configuration page, see the Akeeba
Backup User’s Guide.

Manually Backing Up Your Site


In this section, I explain how to manually back up your site and how to copy the resulting backup
file from the server to your computer. While the manual backup process is not difficult, doing it
every day could become tedious. Akeeba Backup also supports an automated backup process that
you can schedule with a cron script. See “Automating Your Backup” on page 57 in the Akeeba
Backup User’s Guide for more information.
For those of you who find using a cron script too technical, a better option may be Akeeba Remote
Control. This is a Windows-based client you can use to automate regular, remote backups of your
Joomla site. To learn more about Akeeba Remote Control, go to the Akeeba Backup homepage at
http://www.akeebabackup.com, then select Akeeba Remote Control from the Documentation
menu.

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To manually back up your site:


1. From the Components menu in Joomla’s back end, select Akeeba Backup and then Backup
Now. The Backup Now page opens:

Figure B-3. The Backup Now page.


2. Default Backup Profile is selected in the Active Profile list at the top of the page. According
to the user’s guide, a backup profile is a “container” that stores configuration values and filter
settings. The default profile contains any custom settings you configured in Basic
Configuration section. To learn more about backup profiles, see section 2.1, “Profiles
Management” on page 15 in the Akeeba Backup User’s Guide.
3. By default, Akeeba Backup populates the Short description field with a description based on
the date and time, which you can change. The information you type in this field displays on
the backup administration page after you perform a backup to help you differentiate among
multiple backups. This is a required field.
4. To provide a longer description of the backup, type it in the Backup comment field. This is
not a required field.

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5. Click Backup Now! to start the backup process. The Backup Progress page opens:

Figure B-4. The Backup Progress page.


As the warning message states at the top of the page, do not browse to another page until the
backup process completes. The amount of time Akeeba Backup requires to back up your site
depends on the type of backup you are performing and the amount of files on your site. For
example, if you upload graphics to the server for your articles, and you are performing a full
backup, the process will take several minutes, at minimum.
When the backup process completes, the Backup Completed Successfully page opens:

Figure B-5. The Backup Completed Successfully page.

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6. Click Administer Backup Files to view information about the newly-created backup file:

Figure B-6. The Administer Backup Files page.


The Administer Backup Files page lists all backup files in the backup folder on your server.
You should copy the backup file from the server to your local computer and store it in a safer
location, like on an flash drive, a network drive, etc. If you leave it on the server, you will
not be able to recreate your site in the event of a hardware failure, because the file could get
destroyed. Copying it off of the sever ensures the file is available if you need to recreate your
site.
7. Exit Joomla’s administrative back end and do one of the following to transfer the backup file
from the server to your computer:
• If you have a hosting provider, and they gave you access to a web-based control panel
for managing your site, the control panel may include a file transfer tool. In this
situation, use the file transfer tool to download the backup file from the backup folder to
your computer. The file name will be identical to the name in the Archive column on the
Administer Backup Files page.
• If you have a hosting provider, but they do not provide a file transfer tool, they may
provide an FTP server. In this case, you can install an FTP client, like FileZilla on your
computer, and FTP the backup file from the server to your computer.
• If you have a hosting provider, but they do not provide a file transfer tool, or an FTP
server, another option is to install the eXtplorer extension, which is a file management
system, on your Joomla server. You can use eXtplorer to copy backup files from the
server to your computer. To learn more about eXtplorer, see “Managing the Server’s
File System with eXtplorer” on page 160.
• If you built your own server platform, copy the backup file from the computer on which
Joomla is running to another storage medium.

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Restoring Your Site


Restoring your Joomla site from a backup is a multi-step process that is well documented in
Chapter 4, “Restoring backups” in the Akeeba Backup User’s Guide. According to the guide, if
you must restore your site from a backup, you should not reinstall Joomla prior to performing the
restoration process. If you perform full backups, the backup file includes everything necessary for
recreating your Joomla system: the Joomla software, the database, even the files you uploaded to
the server.
The only steps you’ll need to take prior to restoring your site is reinstalling the server software. If
you have a hosting provider, they will perform this task for you. If you built your own system on
a XAMPP platform, you only need to reinstall XAMPP. After rebuilding the server environment,
you can perform the restoration tasks described in Chapter 4 in the user’s guide.

Backing Up Your Site with JoomlaPack


If your hosting provider’s server environment does not meet the minimum software requirements
listed in “Installing Akeeba Backup” on page 463, your next option is to use JoomlaPack.
JoomlaPack, which is the predecessor to Akeeba Backup, supports an older sever environment.
According to the user’s guide, JoomlaPack supports the following software:
• Joomla 1.5.x.
• PHP 4.3.9 or later.
• MySQL 4.0 or later, with 5.0 recommended for performance.
The Akeeba Backup team no longer supports JoomlaPack and request that you upgrade to Akeeba
Backup if you need support. If you are installing JoomlaPack because your hosting provider
doesn’t use a more up-to-date server environment, consider asking them to upgrade their software.
The following sections explain how to download and install JoomlaPack, how to configure the
necessary parameters for backing up your site, and how to perform a manual site backup. The
Akeeba Backup team provides a comprehensive user’s guide for JoomlaPack that explains how to
perform all backup and restoration tasks with JoomlaPack, which I am not reproducing in this
appendix.

To download JoomlaPack:
1. Start a browser on your computer and go to the Akeeba Backup download site at the
following address:
http://www.akeebabackup.com/download.html

2. Scroll down the page to locate the JoomlaPack 2.x for Joomla! link. Click the link to open
the JoomlaPack 2.x page.
3. Click the JoomlaPack 2.4.1 link.
1. Download the documentation (documentation-2.4.1-pdf.zip) and JoomlaPack Core software
(com_joomlapack-2.4.1-core.zip) to your computer.

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To install JoomlaPack:
1. From the computer on which you downloaded the com_akeeba-3.0-core.zip file, start a
browser and log in to Joomla’s administrative back end.
2. Select Install/Uninstall from the Extensions menu. The Extension Manager opens.
3. Click Browse. The Choose File window opens.
4. Navigate to the directory containing the com_joomlapack-2.4.1-core.zip file and click the
file to select it.
5. Click Open. The Choose File window closes and the Package File field displays the path to
the com_joomlapack-2.4.1-core.zip file on your computer.
6. Click Upload File & Install. Please note the installation process may a few moments to
complete. When finished, the Extension Manager displays an installation summary message:

Figure B-7. JoomlaPack installation message.

To configure JoomlaPack’s basic settings:


1. From the Components menu in Joomla’s back end, select JoomlaPack and then
Configuration. JoomlaPack opens to the Configuration page.
2. Configure the parameters in the Basic section as follows:

Figure B-8. The Basic Configuration section of the JoomlaPack Configuration page.

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• Output Directory: At installation, JoomlaPack automatically creates an output directory,


named backup, on Joomla’s file system where it places backup files. The Output
Directory field contains the full path to the backup folder, which resides at the following
location in Joomla’s file system:
../joomla/administrator/components/com_joomlapack/backup

Click Browse to see the full path, but do not change it until you are more
familiar with the backup process.
• Minimum Access Level: With this parameter, you can specify the minimum access level
of Joomla’s administrative users who can use JoomlaPack to back up the site. Super
Administrator is selected by default. For explanations of user types in this list, see
“Creating User Accounts for Administrators” on page 125.
• Store temporary backup data in files, instead of in database: This parameter is set to Yes
by default. If you change it to No, JoomlaPack writes data to the database each time you
perform a backup. Do not change it to No.
3. Next, click the Advanced option in the Profile settings section.
4. Set the Archiver Engine parameter to JPA JoomlaPack Achive, as shown in Figure B-9:

Figure B-9. Set the Archiver Engine parameter to JPA JoomlaPack Archive.
5. At this point, it is not necessary to make any other configuration changes to JoomlaPack.
Click Save to save the changes you made on the JoomlaPack Configuration page.
6. To learn about the settings in the other sections of the Configuration page, extract the
JoomlaPack User Manual from the documentation-2.4.1-pdf.zip file you downloaded with
the software and review the “Configuration” section, which starts on page 13.

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To manually back up your site:


1. From the Components menu in Joomla’s back end, select JoomlaPack and then Backup Now.
The Backup Now page opens:

Figure B-10. The Backup Now page for JoomlaPack.


If you are using JoomlaPack to back up your site because your hosting provider does not use
a more current version of the required server software, you may see a warning message
similar to the following on the Backup Now page:

Figure B-11. A backup warning message about an older version of PHP.

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The message in Figure B-11 is letting me know that my server is running on an older version
of PHP and that the default output directory is in use (in this case, by Joomla). You can
continue with the backup process when you see this message.
2. By default, JoomlaPack populates the Short description field with a description based on the
date and time, which you can change. The information you type in this field displays on the
backup administration page after you perform a backup to help you differentiate among
multiple backups. This is a required field.
3. To provide a longer description of the backup, type it in the Backup comment field. This is
not a required field.
4. Click Backup Now! to start the backup process. The Backup Progress page opens:

Figure B-12. Joomlapack’s backup progress message.


As the warning message states at the top of the page, do not browse to another page until the
backup process completes. The amount of time JoomlaPack requires to back up your site
depends on the type of backup you are performing and the amount of files on your site. For
example, if you upload graphics to the server for your articles, and you are performing a full
backup, the process takes several minutes, at minimum.

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When the backup process completes, the Backup Completed Successfully page opens:

Figure B-13. JoomlaPack’s Backup Completed Successfully page.


5. Click Administer Backup Files to view information about the newly-created backup file:

Figure B-14. JoomlaPack’s Administer Backup Files page.


The Administer Backup Files page lists all backup files in the backup folder on your server.
You should copy the backup file from the server to your local computer and store it in a safer
location, like on an flash drive, a network drive, etc. If you leave it on the server, you will
not be able to recreate your site in the event of a hardware failure, because the file could get
destroyed. Copying it off of the sever ensures the file is available if you need to recreate your
site.
6. Exit Joomla’s administrative back end and do one of the following to transfer the backup file
from the server to your computer:
• If you have a hosting provider, and they gave you access to a web-based control panel
for managing your site, the control panel may include a file transfer tool. In this
situation, use the file transfer tool to download the backup file from the backup folder to
your computer. The file name will be identical to the name in the Archive column on the
Administer Backup Files page.
• If you have a hosting provider, but they do not provide a file transfer tool, they may
provide an FTP server. In this case, you can install an FTP client, like FileZilla on your
computer, and FTP the backup file from the server to your computer.
• If you have a hosting provider, but they do not provide a file transfer tool, or an FTP
server, another option is to install the eXtplorer extension, which is a file management
system, on your Joomla server. You can use eXtplorer to copy backup files from the
server to your computer. To learn more about eXtplorer, see “Managing the Server’s
File System with eXtplorer” on page 160.

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• If you built your own server platform, copy the backup file from the computer on which
Joomla is running to another storage medium.

To restore your site:


1. If you are forced to rebuild your site after a hardware of software failure, you must first
reinstall the server software. If you have a hosting provider, they will reinstall the software
for you. If you built your own site using XAMPP, reinstall XAMPP on the computer that will
host your restored Joomla site.
2. After reinstalling the server software, you can restore your site from the last backup you
created with JoomlaPack. To learn how to restore your site from a backup file, see Chapter
3, “Restoring backups and migrating your site to a new host,” in the JoomlaPack User
Manual.

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Appendix C. Installing Language Packs
During the Joomla installation process, you select a default language for your site, which means
Joomla displays labels on features like button names in that language. If some of your site’s users
speak a different language, you can install a language pack and assign it to their user accounts.
It is important to note that a language pack is not a language translator. That is, while Joomla uses
a language pack to display text on features like buttons and menus in a specific language, it cannot
use language packs to translate the text of your articles into another language. You can download
and install language translators from the Joomla extension site, but they are different from
language packs.
This appendix explains how to download and install language packs on your Joomla site. It also
explains how to assign a language pack to an individual user account, as well as how to change
your site’s default language.

Downloading and Installing Language Packs


The following sections explain how to download language packs from Joomla’s extension site and
how to install them on your server.

To download a language pack:


1. Open a browser and go to the Joomla extensions site at the following address:
http://extensions.joomla.org

2. On the Joomla extensions site, locate and click the Languages link in the Categories list on
the left side of the page.
3. Then, click the Translations for Joomla link. At the time of this writing, you can find
language packs for 52 languages on the Translations for Joomla page.
4. Locate and download the language pack for the desired language to your computer.

To install a language pack:


1. On the computer where you downloaded the language pack, start a browser and log in to
Joomla’s administrative back end.
2. Choose Install/Uninstall from the Extensions menu. The Extension Manager opens.
3. Click Browse. The Choose File window opens.
4. Navigate to the directory containing the language pack file and click the file to select it.
5. Click Open. The Choose File window closes and the Package File field displays the path to
the language pack file on your computer.

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6. Click Upload File & Install. Please note the installation process may a few moments to
complete. When finished, the Extension Manager displays a message indicating the
installation succeeded. Figure C-1 shows the installation message for the German language
pack:

Figure C-1. Joomla displays a message when it finishes installing a language pack.

Assigning Language Packs to User Accounts


If a registered site user speaks a different language from the one installed on your site, you can
install a language pack and assign it to his or her user account. Remember that language packs are
not language translators and all articles display in their native languages. To learn more about user
accounts, see Chapter 6, “Managing User Access.”

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To assign a language pack to a user account:


1. Choose User Manager from the Site menu on Joomla’s administrative back end. The User
Manager opens:

Figure C-2. The User Manager lists all user accounts.


2. Locate and click the name of the user account you are assigning to a specific language pack.
The Edit User page opens.
3. In the Parameters section, select the desired language pack for the Front End Language
parameter:

Figure C-3. Select the desired language pack for the Front End Language parameter.
4. Click Save to save your changes and exit the Edit User page.

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Changing Your Site’s Default Language


When you install a language pack, you can, if necessary, make it the default language for your
entire site.

To change your site’s default language:


1. Choose Language Manager from the Extensions menu on Joomla’s administrative back end.
The Language Manger opens:

Figure C-4. The Language Manager.


By default, the Site link is selected, which allows you to assign a language pack to your site’s
front end.
2. Click the option to the left of the name of the language to make the default language for your
site.
3. Click Default on the Language Manager tool bar. Joomla displays the Default star icon in the
default column for the selected language. Joomla displays the text on all features on your
site’s front end in the selected language.
4. To change the language for your site’s back end, click the Administrator link.
5. Select the desired language for your site’s back end and then click Default on the tool bar.
Joomla displays the text on all features on your site’s back end in the selected language.

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Appendix D. Securing Article
Submission
It’s possible for a user with authoring privileges to attack your site with HTML tags submitted in
an article. By default, Joomla blocks, or filters out, specific HTML tags and attributes identified in
a “blacklist.” If you are building a corporate publishing platform on a company intranet, the
blacklist HTML filtering will probably suffice for your security needs. But, if you don’t want to
take chances, or you plan on allowing the “public” (non-employees) to submit articles, you can
create a stricter HTML filter, or prohibit all HTML submission.
To create a stricter HTML filter than the default blacklist, follow these steps:
1. Identify the user groups you want to target for HTML filtering. For example, you might want
to filter HTML tags in the articles submitted by all authors who belong to the Registered and
Author user groups.
2. Decide what type of HTML filtering you want to implement for the selected user groups.
3. Create an HTML filter and assign it to the desired user groups with the Article Global
Configuration manager.

Identify the Target User Groups


The blacklist HTML filter applies to users in all user groups except those in the Super
Administrator group. When you create a custom HTML filter, you must assign it to specific user
groups (that is, Joomla won’t automatically assign it to all user groups, like it does for blacklist
filtering). For example, to prevent users who belong to the Registered user group from submitting
HTML tags in their articles, you would assign the “No HTML” filter to the Registered user group.
It is important to note that Joomla only allows you to create one HTML filter for your site. For
example, if you created and assigned an HTML filter to the Registered user group, you could not
create and apply another filter to other user groups. But, you can assign an HTML filter to multiple
user groups simultaneously. A realistic scenario would be to identify the highest-level user group
whose articles you want to filter and create a filter for that user group and all lower-level (or child)
user groups. For example, if you created and assigned an HTML filter to the Publisher user group,
you would probably want to assign it to the Editor, Author, and Registered user groups too.

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Choosing an HTML Filtering Strategy


Joomla provides the following HTML filter options:
• Blacklist filtering: This option, which is enabled by default, prevents authors from embedding
the following HTML tags in their articles1:
applet, body, bgsound, base, basefont, embed, frame, frameset, head, html, id, iframe,
ilayer, layer, link, meta, name, object, script, style, title, xml

Blacklist filtering also excludes the following HTML attributes2:


action, background, codebase, dynsrc, lowsrc

You can, if desired, add more HTML tags to the existing blacklist filter. You can also apply
the blacklist filter to specific user groups.
• Whitelist filtering: With whitelist filtering, Joomla blocks authors in selected user groups
from submitting all HTML tags and attributes, except those you specifically list in the Article
Global Configuration manager.
• Total HTML filtering: You can prevent authors in selected user groups from submitting all
HTML tags in their articles.

Creating an HTML Filter


With HTML filtering, Joomla strips forbidden tags (those in your filter list) from an author’s article
when he or she saves it. Any HTML in an author’s article appears to be working correctly until the
author attempts to save it, which is when the filter strips the tags from the article. This could cause
confusion, so be sure to inform your fellow writers of the HTML tags you are preventing them from
uploading in their articles.

1.The Joomla documentation site, at http://docs.joomla.org/Screen.content.15, lists these HTML tags and at-
tributes as those blocked by the default blacklist filtering.
2.HTML attributes enhance the basic functionality of HTML tags. For example, to include a heading in an
HTML document, you might enclose it between the <h1></h1> tags. To center it, you would add the “align”
attribute like this <h1 align=“center”>My Heading</h1>.

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To add more HTML tags to the blacklist filter:


1. On Joomla’s back end, select Article Manager from the Content menu. The Article Manager
opens.
2. Click Parameters on the Article Manager toolbar. The Articles Global Configuration window
opens.
3. Scroll down the page to the Filtering options section, as shown in Figure D-1:

Figure D-1. The Filtering option section on the Articles Global Configuration manager.
4. While the blacklist filter applies to all user groups except the Super Administrator group by
default, if you select specific user groups in the Filter groups section, it only applies to them.
For example, if you only wanted blacklist filtering to apply to front end users, you would
select the Registered, Author, Editor, and Publisher user groups (hold down the Crtl key to
select multiple user groups):

Figure D-2. To apply blacklist filtering to specific user groups, select them in the Filter groups section.
In this example, blacklist filtering would not apply to users who belong to the Manager,
Administrator, and Super Administrator user groups.
5. Ensure that the Blacklist (Default) option is selected.
6. Type the additional HTML tags you want Joomla to filter from articles in the Filter tags field,
separating each with a space and a comma, but do not enclose them in the < and > symbols.
For example, to prevent authors from embedding the <select> and <input> tags, you would
type them in the Filter tags field as follows:
select, input

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7. Type the additional attributes you want to prevent authors from adding to HTML tags in the
Filter attributes field, separating them each with a comma and a space, like the HTML tags.
For example:
action, class

8. When you finish adding HTML tags or attributes to the blacklist filter, click Save.

To create a whitelist filter:


1. Access the Article Manager, open the Articles Global Configuration manager, and scroll
down to the Filtering options section (see Figure D-1 for an example of this section).
2. In the Filter groups section, select the user groups you want to apply the filter to using the
Ctrl key on your keyboard to select multiple user groups.
3. Next, select the Whitelist option for the Filter type.
4. In the Filter tags field, type the HTML tags that you want to enable authors to add to their
articles separating each with a comma and a space, but not enclosing them in the < and >
symbols. For example, to enable authors to add basic HTML tags, like <p>, <b>, <i>, <br>,
and <img>, type them in the Filter tags field as follows:
p, b, i, br, img

Figure D-3 shows supported HTML tags for a whitelist filter in the Filter tags field:

Figure D-3. Type the HTML tags authors can submit in the Filter tags field.
5. In the Filter attributes, field, type the attributes authors can use with their HTML tags,
separating each with a comma and a space. For example:
align, alt, border, src

Figure D-4 shows the HTML attributes authors can apply to their HTML tags:

Figure D-4. Type the attributes authors can add to their HTML tags in the Filter Attributes field.
6. Click Save to create the whitelist HTML filter.

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To restrict all HTML tags:


1. Access the Article Manager, open the Articles Global Configuration manager, and scroll
down to the Filtering options section (see Figure D-1 for an example of this section).
2. In the Filter groups section, select the user groups you want to apply the filter to using the
Ctrl key on your keyboard to select multiple user groups. For example, if you were creating
more of a blog-oriented site in which you were planning on allowing non-employees to
submit articles with the Author role, you would select the Registered and Author roles as
shown in Figure D-5:

Figure D-5. Select the user groups you prevent


3. Select the No HTML option for the Filter type:

Figure D-6. Select No HTML to prevent authors from submitting all HTML with their articles.
Since the No HTML selection prevents authors from submitting all HTML tags in their
articles, you do not need to complete the Filter tags and Filter attributes fields.
4. Click Save to create the No HTML filter.

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Appendix E. Changing the Joomla! Logo
If you decide to use the JA_Purity template as your site’s main template (instead of creating your
own or downloading a commercial template), you should replace the Joomla logo in the template
header with one your own, or you should use a text logo. The process of changing the Joomla logo
includes the following steps:
1. Create your own logo image. Consider using an existing company logo if you have one.
2. Upload the logo image to the JA_Purity template folder in Joomla’s directory structure.

Creating a Logo Image


The image file containing the Joomla logo located in the upper-left corner JA_Purity banner is
named logo.gif. Your first step, therefore, is creating a logo for your site, which you should name
“logo” and save in the .gif format, resulting in a file named “logo.gif.” The Joomla logo is 207
pixels wide by 80 pixels high (2.875 in. by 1.111 in.). To ensure it properly fits in the banner, your
logo should approximate the size of the original file.

Uploading a Logo Image to the Server


The following sections explain how to upload a logo image for the JA_Purity banner to locally
systems and to hosted systems.

Uploading the Logo to a Local System


If you built your own Joomla platform, copy and paste the logo.gif file into the JA_Purity
template’s images folder in Joomla’s file system, overwriting the original file.

To upload the logo to a local system:


1. Log in to the local Joomla system.
2. Copy and paste the logo.gif file into images folder at the following path:
X:\xampp\htdocs\joomla\templates\ja_purity\images

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In the example above, “X” represents the drive on which you installed XAMPP. Figure E-1
shows the logo.gif file in images folder under the JA_Purity template folder on a local
system:

Figure E-1. The logo.gif file in the images folder for the JA_Purity template.
3. If you see a warning message about overwriting the existing logo.gif file, click Yes to
proceed.
4. Access your site’s front end to verify that your custom logo displays in JA_Purity template’s
header.

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Uploading the Logo to a Hosted System


If you have a Joomla hosting provider or, your company’s IT department installed Joomla on a
secure server and did not grant you access to the file system, I recommend using a third-party
extension called eXtplorer to access Joomla’s file system. To learn how to install and use eXtplorer,
see “Managing the Server’s File System with eXtplorer” on page 160. After installing eXtplorer,
upload the logo.gif file into to the server, as explained in the following section.

To upload the logo to a hosted system:


1. Log in to Joomla’s administrative back end on your hosted site.
2. Choose eXtplorer from the Components menu. eXtplorer opens in your browser.
3. Using the Directory Tree, navigate to the images folder under the JA_Purity template folder,
which will be located at a path similar to the following:
root\templates\ja_purity\images

Figure E-2 shows the path to the images folder in the Directory Tree:

Figure E-2. Navigate to the images folder under the JA_Purity template folder.
4. After selecting the image folder, click Upload on the eXtplorer toolbar. The Upload files
window opens
5. Click the Browse button adjacent to the File 1 field to open the Choose File window.

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6. Navigate to the folder on your computer containing logo.gif and click on it to select it.
7. Click Open. eXtplorer closes the Choose File window and displays the path to the logo.gif
file in the File 1 field.
8. Click Save to upload the logo.gif file, overwriting the original.

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Appendix F. Customizing the Copyright
Notice
If you add a Footer module to your site, Joomla automatically attributes the copyright notice to
your system’s site name (this is the site name you supplied during the Joomla installation process).
However, if you used a site name that differs from your company name, you may want to change
the copyright notice to attribute it to your company name.
The process of customizing the copyright notice involves editing parameters in a file named
mod_footer.ini, which is located in a language folder in Joomla’s file system. The procedures
differ depending on whether your Joomla site resides on a local server (meaning a server or PC
with a file system to which you have direct access), or on a remote server (a server managed by a
hosting company):
• If you built your own Joomla system on a local server, continue to “Customizing the
Copyright Notice on a Local Server” on page 489.
• If your Joomla system runs on a hosted server, continue to “Customizing the Copyright
Notice on a Remote Server” on page 493.

Local Server Customization


If your site resides on a local server, you can edit the copyright information in the mod_footer.ini
file directly on the server’s file system.

To edit the mod_footer.ini file on a local server:


1. Access the file system on the local server where you installed Joomla and navigate to the
directory containing the Joomla language files. For example, you would navigate to the
following path on a XAMPP-based system that uses the British English language files:
x:\xampp\htdocs\joomla\language\en-GB

Figure 0-1 shows the path to the en-GB folder on a computer where XAMPP was installed

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on an E: partition:

Figure 0-1. The path to the en-GB file on a local computer’s file system.
On a Linux system, the htdocs folder is often located under /var/www, so the full path would
look like this:
/var/www/htdocs/joomla/language/en-GB

If your site’s default language not English, look for a folder name that approximates your
site’s language. For example, the German language folder is named de-DE.
2. Next, locate the lang.mod_footer.ini file, where lang represents your site’s language. For
example, in the en-GB folder, the file is named en-GB.mod_footer.ini. In the de-DE folder,
the file is named de-DE.mod_footer.ini.
3. Open the file with a text editor. For example, on a Windows-based system, right-click the
file, choose Open With, and select WordPad. Figure 0-2 shows the en-GB.mod_footer.ini

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file opened in WordPad:

Figure 0-2. The en-GB.mod_footer.ini file opened in Wordpad.


4. Locate the following line in the file:
FOOTER_LINE1=Copyright &#169; %date% %sitename%. All Rights Reserved.

The %sitename% variable displays the site name you provided when installing Joomla. This
is the same name located in the Site Name field in the Site Settings section of the Global
Configuration manager, as shown in Figure 0-3:

Figure 0-3. The %sitename% variable displays the name in the Site Name field.

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5. Replace the entire %sitename% variable with the exact wording you want to use for the
copyright notice. For example, to attribute the copyright notice for my site to “MattCo,” I
would replace the %sitename% variable as follows (remember to delete the % symbols):
FOOTER_LINE1=Copyright &#169; %date% MattCo. All Rights Reserved.

Figure 0-4 shows the copyright notice after editing the %sitename% variable in the en-
GB.mod_footer.ini file:

Figure 0-4. The copyright notice in the footer is now attributed to MattCo.
6. If desired, you can also remove the Joomla software notice from the footer. To remove this
notice, delete all text that follows FOOTER_LINE2= parameter (but, don’t delete the
parameter itself), like the example in Figure 0-5:

Figure 0-5. Delete all text after “FOOTER_LINE2”.


Figure 0-6 shows the copyright notice after deleting all text for the FOOTER_LINE2=
parameter in the en-GB.mod_footer.ini file:

Figure 0-6. The footer displays only the copyright notice.


7. When you finish updating the lang.mod_footer.ini file, save your changes and exit the text
editor.

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8. Open your site’s front page and verify that the footer displays the desired copyright
information.

Remote Server Customization


If your site resides on a remote server, or if resides on a server in your company’s data center or IT
server room, and you were not granted privileges to access its file system, you need an FTP client
or a tool like eXtplorer to update the copyright notice. You’ll perform the following steps to update
the copyright notice for the footer on a remote server:
1. First, using an FTP client or eXtplorer, locate and save the mod_footer.ini file from the
server’s file system to your local computer.
2. Then, edit the copyright information in the file.
3. Finally, return the mod_footer.ini file to the remote server’s file system, overwriting the
original version.

To download the mod_footer.ini file from a remote server:


1. If you haven’t already installed eXtplorer, see the “Downloading and Installing eXtplorer”
section on page 161.
2. After the installation, choose eXtplorer from the Components menu to open it:

Figure 0-7. eXtplorer’s home page.

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3. In the Directory Tree pane, expand the joomla folder, then the language folder, and click the
name of the folder representing your site’s language (for a British English site, click the en-
GB folder), like the example in Figure 0-8:

Figure 0-8. The path to the en-GB folder on Joomla in the eXtplorer Directory Tree.
If your site’s default language is not English, look for a folder name that approximates your
site’s language. For example, the German language folder is named de-DE.
4. After selecting the appropriate language folder in the Directory Tree pane, locate and click
the lang.mod_footer.ini file, where lang represents your site’s language, in the Browser
Directory pane. For example, in the en-GB folder, the file is named
en-GB.mod_footer.ini. In the de-DE folder, the file is named de-DE.mod_footer.ini.
5. After clicking the appropriate lang.mod_footer.ini file to select it, click Download on the

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eXtplorer toolbar, as shown in Figure 0-9:

Figure 0-9. Click Download on the eXtplorer toolbar to download the en-GB.mod_footer.ini file.
A File Download message opens.
6. Click Save. The Save As window opens showing the file system on your local computer.
7. Using the Save in list at the top of the window, locate a folder on your computer where you
want to save the language file.
8. Click the desired folder to select it and then click Save. The Download Complete message
opens when eXtplorer finishes downloading the file to your computer.
9. Click Close to close the Download Complete message.

To edit the mod_footer.ini file on your computer:


1. After downloading the lang.mod_footer.ini file to your computer, you can edit the copyright
notice settings. First, locate the file on your computer and open it with a text editor like

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WordPad. Figure 0-10 shows the en-GB.mod_footer.ini file open in Wordpad:

Figure 0-10. The en-GB.mod_footer.ini file open in WordPad


2. Locate the following line in the file:
FOOTER_LINE1=Copyright &#169; %date% %sitename%. All Rights Reserved.

The %sitename% variable displays the site name you provided when installing Joomla. This
is the same name located in the Site Name field in the Site Settings section of the Global
Configuration manager, as shown in Figure 0-11:

Figure 0-11. The %sitename% variable displays the name in the Site Name field.

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3. Replace the entire %sitename% variable with the exact wording you want to use for the
copyright notice. For example, to attribute the copyright notice for my site to “MattCo,” I
would replace the %sitename% variable as follows (remember to delete the % symbols):
FOOTER_LINE1=Copyright &#169; %date% MattCo. All Rights Reserved.

If I were to save my changes and access my site’s front end, I would see the copyright notice
was attributed to “MattCo,” like the example in Figure 0-12:

Figure 0-12. The copyright notice in the footer is now attributed to MattCo.
4. If desired, you can also remove the Joomla software notice from the footer. To remove this
notice, delete all text that follows FOOTER_LINE2= (but, don’t delete the
“FOOTER_LINE2=” entry), like the example in Figure 0-13:

Figure 0-13. Delete all text after “FOOTER_LINE2”.


If, after deleting all text after FOOTER_LINE2=, I were to save my changes and access my
site’s front end, I would see the footer now displays only the copyright notice, like the
example in Figure 0-14:

Figure 0-14. The footer displays only the copyright notice.


5. When you finish updating the lang.mod_footer.ini file, save your changes and exit the text
editor.

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To upload the mod_footer.ini file to a remote server:


1. After saving your changes to the lang.mod_footer.ini file, you can upload it to the
appropriate language folder on the remote server. To start, log in to the administrative back
end of your Joomla site and select eXtplorer from the Components menu.
2. After opening eXtplorer, expand the joomla folder, then the language folder and click the
name of the folder representing your site’s language in the Directory Tree pane.
3. After selecting the appropriate language folder, click Upload on the eXtplorer toolbar, as
shown in Figure 0-15:

Figure 0-15. Click Upload on the eXtplorer toolbar to start uploading the mod_footer.ini file.
The Upload files window opens, as shown in Figure 0-16:

Figure 0-16. The Upload files window.


4. Click Browse to the right of the File 1 field. The Choose File window opens showing the file
system on your computer. With the Look in option, navigate to the folder containing
lang.mod_footer.ini file and click on it to select it.

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5. Click Open. eXtplorer closes the Choose File window and displays the path to the
lang.mod_footer.ini file on your computer in the File 1 field, like the example in Figure 0-17:

Figure 0-17. The File 1 field displays the path to the lang.mod_footer.ini file on your computer.
By default, the Overwrite existing file option is selected, which means eXtplorer overwrites
the older version of the lang.mod_footer.ini file on the remote server with the updated
version when you upload it from your computer.
6. Click Save. eXtplorer uploads the newer version of the lang.mod_footer.ini file to the remote
server, overwriting the older version.
7. Open your site’s front page and verify that the footer displays the desired copyright
information.

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References

Dionysopoulos, Nicholas K. (2010). Akeeba Backup User’s Guide.


Krug, Steve. (2006). Don’t Make Me think! A common Senese Approach to Web Usability (2nd ed.)
New Riders.
Morville, Peter, & Rosenfeld, Louis. (2006) Information Architecture for the World Wide Web (3rd
ed). O’Reilly.
Regan, Tom. “Newspaper failures are old news. It’s time to focus on solutions.” The Christian
Science Monitor, 11 March 2009: n. pag. Web.
Wikipedia. (2010). Unicode. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode
Joomla technical requirements: http://www.joomla.org/technical-requirements.html
Feature descriptions from the Joomla Documentation site:
• Target Position: http://docs.joomla.org/Screen.modulessite.edit.15
• Cache Manager: URL: http://docs.joomla.org/Screen.cache.15
• Blacklist filtering: http://docs.joomla.org/Screen.content.15
• Metadata Information: http://docs.joomla.org/Screen.content.edit.15
• Link Column: http://docs.joomla.org/Screen.newsfeeds.15

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References

504 Joomla! for Professional Writers


Index
A category menu 95
adding a login form 114 Category Blog Layout 97
Advanced Link 244 Category List Layout 96
Akeeba Backup 463 creating 98
configuring 465 conducting surveys 430
downloading 464 Contact Details Category Manager 133
installing 464 contact list 131
manual backups 466 contact 134
requirements 463 contact category 133
site restoration 470 contact list menu 139
Apache 7 module 139
restarting 458 Contact Manager 134
starting 22 content
article restricting access 120
archiving 279 copyright notice 303
chunking 277 customize 491
editing from back end 208 creating administrative users 125
editing from front end 263 creating author users 124
importing 265 creating image folders
page break 268 eXtplorer 167
parameters 210 JCE Image Manager 221
previewing 209 Media Manager 154
styling guidelines 204 creating surveys 431
unarchiving 280 D
viewing in HTML 215 deleting image folders
writing from back end 205 Media Manager 154
writing from front end 260 deleting images
article archive 281 eXtplorer 169
menu 283 Media Manager 156
article features domain name 1, 2, 16
distribution features 172 downloading
global configuration 176 Akeeba Backup 464
menu configuration 189 AVReloaded 419
metadata 174 eXtplorer 161
navigation features 173 Fabrik 428
Article Manager 205 Joomla 27
article submission menu 254 Joomla Content Editor (JCE) 199
AVReloaded 418 JoomlaPack 470
downloading 419 language pack 477
installing 420 UberPageBreak 273
B XAMPP 16
banner 351 XAMPP Lite 8
category 353 E
client 354 editing articles
configuring 362 back end 208
creating 355 front end 263
images 352 unpublished 264
module 358 eLearning video 415
breadcrumbs 298 displaying from articles 416
C uploading 415
category 63 eXtplorer
creating categories 69 accessing from Joomla 165
Category Manager 69 downloading 161

Joomla! for Professional Writers 505


Index

installing 163 installing 200


overview 160 reference documentation 202
F JCE TinyMCE 197
Fabrik 427 Joomla
downloading 428 article limit xii
installing 429 definition xi
footer 303 hosted installation 30
add 303 hosting provider 1
front end article publishing 264 local installation 27
front page 218 Joomla Content Editor. See JCE
publishing 219 Joomla platform
Front Page Manager 220 personal computer 3
H server 4
homepage 218 USB flash drive 3
hosting provider JoomlaPack 470
Joomla 1 configuring 471
traditional 2 downloading 470
HTML 215 installing 471
hyperlink manual backups 473
applying styles 249 requirements 470
article 245 site restoration 476
category menu 246, 247 K
external website 243 Key Reference 213
web link 248 L
I language pack
Image Manager 221 downloading 477
images installing 477
deleting with Media Manager 156 overview 50
uploading with eXtplorer 168 lists
uploading with JCE Image Manager 223 most read articles 324
uploading with Media Manager 155 recent articles 320
importing documents 265 related articles 316
installing local Joomla installation
Akeeba Backup 464 installation folder 29
AVReloaded 420 login module 114
eXtplorer 163 M
Fabrik 429 maximum menu depth 80
Joomla 33 Media Manager 149
Joomla Content Editor (JCE) 200 accessing 151
JoomlaPack 471 configuring 156
language pack 477 creating server folders 154
UberPageBreak 273 deleting images 156
XAMPP 18 deleting server folders 154
XAMPP Lite 9 uploading images 155
J menu hierarchy 63
JA_Purity template 55 Menu Item Manager 85, 98
customizing 57 Menu Manager 74
enabling 56 menu module
module positions 296 configuring and enabling 75
JCE 197 creating 74
administering 201 menu system 71
downloading 199 creating 74
enabling 201 split between menu modules 106

506 Joomla! for Professional Writers


Index

Module Manager 75, 114, 298 syndicate module 313


module positions 297 T
multimedia 415 table
MySQL 1, 7 adding to articles 235
restarting 458 applying styles 239
starting 22 table manager 235
N template 53
news feed 365 JA_Purity 55
category 366 layout 54
Category Layout menu 377 Template Manager 56
Category List Layout menu 380 TinyMCE 197, 207
configuring 383 U
Single Feed Layout menu 372 UberPageBreak 272
subscription URL 368 configuring 274
news flash 328 downloading and installing 273
O unpublished article 264
online user list 145 uploading images
opensourceCMS xiii eXtplorer 168
P JCE Image Manager 223
page break 268 Media Manager 155
insert 268 USB flash drive
paginating articles 268 installing XAMPP Lite 7
PHP 1, 7 user account
poll 334 administrator 127
positions 296 author 124
R editor 125
random images 338 manager 126
publisher 125
S
registered 122
section 63
super administrator 128
creating sections 66
timeout settings 119
Section Manager 66
User Manager 122
section menu 83
user self-registration 118
creating 85
disablng 118
Section Blog Layout 84
user session 119
Section Layout 83
settings 119
securing XAMPP 455
timeout setting 120
password-protect MySQL 455
password-protect XAMPP 455 V
self registration 118 video 418
server streaming local video 422
Linux 4 streaming remote video 425
Mac 5 uploading video 421
Windows 4 video ID 425
site search 309 YouTube video 426
static IP address 16 W
survey 427 web links 389
charts 448 category 390
results 446 Category List Layout menu 396
survey elements 433 configuring 408
survey form 441 creating 394
survey group 431 Submission Layout menu 405
survey menu 445 Web Link Category List Layout menu 401
syndicate articles 90, 102 website wrapper 346

Joomla! for Professional Writers 507


Index

writing articles
back end 205
front end 260
X
XAMPP 7
about security 24
Control Panel 22
downloading 16
installing 18
requirements 16
web console 24
XAMPP Lite 7
downloading 8
installing 9
starting 13
stopping 15

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