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Load Fast and Look Good So, it"s what everyone wants, a fast site, and one that looks good. Where do you start, there is just... Essential Joomla Extensions So, you"re loving Joomla, but the sheer number of Extensions available is just overwhelming, which ones do you choose? I"ll... JoomlaTutorials Updated Well, you"ve probably noticed the recent site updates. Hopefully you will find the site easier to navigate as well as... Welcome to Joomlatutorials Here you will learn how to install Joomla, all the way to installing and customizing your own templates. In addition... About Us Joomlatutorials joins forces with XYZulu.com http://www.xyzulu.com to bring you a comprehensive collection of Joomla Tutorials for you and your clients. Combined with... How to Create a Favicon Recently, I wrote about how to change your favicon (content/view/65/2/) for your Joomla!-powered site. Today, I came across a great site for generating a favicon. Check it out http://www.favicon.cc. http://www.favicon.cc How to Reset Your Super Administrator Password We"ve all done it. There"s nothing to be ashamed of. Have you ever installed Joomla!, only to realize that you"ve forgotten your administrator password? When that happens, there is nothing you can do but re-install Joomla, right? Wrong. Here is a website with a great explanation http://www.contractwebdevelopment.com/joomla-how-to-reset-super-admin-password of how to reset your super administrator password, even if you can"t log in to the administrator control panel. Don"t thank me. Thank them http://www.contractwebdevelopment.com/. Printable PDF of HowToJoomla Articles... Interested? I have recently received a request from one of my readers to provide a printable PDF of all of the articles on HowToJoomla. My first thought was, "Great idea!", but after I looked into what it would take to make this happen, I started to realize that it might be difficult to accomplish given the fact that my time is limited due to other obligations. So, my question to you is, how many of you would be interested in a PDF file with all of the HowToJoomla articles? If so, how much would you be willing to pay for this service? $1? $5? More than that? My first idea is to use a service like Fundable http://www.fundable.org/ to raise enough money from your donations so that I can create this PDF and then release it to the community for free. What do you think? Please respond in the comments below. How to change your favicon The word "favicon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favicon" is short for "favorites icon", and it is the 16x16-pixel icon that is associated with your website and appears in the browser address bar and favorites menu (and in Firefox and Internet Explorer 7, it also appears on the browser tab). For this website, I am using the default Joomla! favicon because this site is a site about Joomla! The image below shows what your browser"s address bar should look like when visiting this site. All Joomla! installations come with that favicon installed, and a common mistake by many webmasters is to ignore the favicon, thereby keeping the default Joomla! icon for their site. Unless your site is about Joomla, you should not be using the default favicon. A good habit to get into when developing sites with Joomla! is to change the favaicon and use something more fitting for your site, like your logo. This article will explain how to create a favicon and then how to replace the default icon with your icon. Joomla! 1.5 Beta 2 Released The core team has just announced the release of Joomla! 1.5 Beta 2 http://www.joomla.org/content/view/3287/1/! This release has been in the works for a long time (Beta 1 was released on October 12), and it marks a huge leap forward. I still wouldn"t use 1.5 in a live site until the word "Beta" is removed from the title, but I can"t wait to download it and start playing with the latest version. Congratulations to the core team on a great effort! Great job! New Life for Joomlaboard I just discovered that the Joomlaboard http://www.tsmf.net team has merged with the Fireboard http://www.bestofjoomla.com team. (Read the announcement at the Fireboard site here http://www.bestofjoomla.com/content/view/17/9/.) This is an exciting development for the Joomla! community because the Fireboard component breathes new life into a much needed component. Joomlaboard has been around for a long time. It started out as a simple message board component for Mambo, and it grew into a more full-featured forum component like what you see today. It has long been the only full-integrated Joomla! forum component available, which in my opinion makes it more appealing than some of the bridged forum components like phpBB and SMF. However, development has slowed down in recent years, and it has not kept up with other forum packages" features. With the birth of Fireboard http://www.bestofjoomla.com, and the subsequent merger of Joomlaboard with Fireboard, it looks like this great component might once again become the forum component of choice for Joomla! webmasters. Thanks to the Fireboard team for picking up the slack, and thanks to the Joomlaboard team for recognizing their efforts by joining forces with them. Packt Publishing Release Book: Building Websites with Joomla! 1.5 Beta 1 Packt Publishing http://www.packtpub.com has released an updated version of its popular Building Websites with Joomla! book series written by Hagen Graf http://www.bloghouse.org/en/hagen to cover the release of Joomla! 1.5 Beta 1. This book starts with the basics of what the term "content management" means, the structure of a content management system and features of Joomla!. Then it thoroughly covers topics such as installation, front-end and back-end tours, administration and configuration, and customizing extensions and components. It even has a chapter on creating your own template. If you follow Joomla! development, you probably already noticed a problem with this book, though. Joomla! 1.5 Beta 1 was released back in October, and the development since that time has resulted in a many changes that could make the information in the book obsolete. Well, the people at Packt have already thought of that, and they are offering the opportunity to buy the book now and receive free e-books covering all future updates to Joomla! 1.5. Great idea! I recommend this book for anyone looking to learn more about building their own website with Joomla!. Thanks to Hagen Graf http://www.bloghouse.org/en/hagen and Packt Publishing http://www.packtpub.com for producing another one of the many http://help.joomla.org valuable http://www.compassdesigns.net resources http://www.compassdesigns.net/joomlabook/pages/158.htm available for learning how to use Joomla!. Click here for more information on Building Websites with Joomla! 1.5 Beta 1. Cost: $40.49 for the book or $29.99 for the ebook. Joomla SEO e-Book available at Alledia.com I just got a copy of the new Alledia.com http://www.alledia.com. In his book, Steve Burge does a great job of breaking down the concept of SEO and providing simple, easy-to-follow steps for implementing SEO techniques in your Joomla! website. The book costs $37, so if you care about SEO for your website (and you should care about it), then I recommend heading over to Alledia.com http://www.alledia.com to buy Steve"s book. Joomla! URLs Information at Alledia.com I just noticed an interesting series of posts http://www.alledia.com/blog/joomla-urls/ at Alledia.com http://www.alledia.com about Joomla! URL"s. In a series of 6 articles http://www.alledia.com/blog/joomla-urls/, Steve covers default Joomla! URL"s http://www.alledia.com/blog/joomla-urls/joomla-url-week-part-1-%11-default-joomla-urls/, default Joomla! SEF URL"s http://www.alledia.com/blog/joomla-urls/joomla-url-week-part-2-%11-default-sef-urls/, and popular SEF http://www.alledia.com/blog/joomla-urls/joomla-url-week-part-3-%11-artio-sef-review/ URL http://www.alledia.com/blog/joomla-urls/joomla-url-week-part-4-%11-open-sef-review/ components http://www.alledia.com/blog/joomla-urls/joomla-url-week-part-5-%11-sef-advance-review/. After my How-To on turning on SEF URL"s in Joomla! http://www.howtojoomla.net/content/view/43/2/, I got a lot of questions http://www.howtojoomla.net/content/view/43/2/#jc_allComments about which 3rd party component is the best for customizing your URL"s. My only real experience with 3rd part SEF URL components is with Open SEF, so I really cannot give great advice in that area. Steve covers the big 3 SEF URL components: ARTIO SEF http://www.alledia.com/blog/joomla-urls/joomla-url-week-part-3-%11-artio-sef-review/, Open SEF http://www.alledia.com/blog/joomla-urls/joomla-url-week-part-4-%11-open-sef-review/, and SEF Advance http://www.alledia.com/blog/joomla-urls/joomla-url-week-part-5-%11-sef-advance-review/ (the only commercial component of the 3). Now, whenever I get that question, I"ll just point people to the great articles at Alledia.com. Thanks Steve! Quick Tip: Buy this book As you may know, I have been working with JoomlaShack http://www.joomlashack.com/partners/idevaffiliate.php?id=220_1_1_6 for close to a year now. Before I started working with JoomlaShack http://www.joomlashack.com/partners/idevaffiliate.php?id=220_1_1_6, I knew about Barrie North from CompassDesigns.net and JoomlaShack. I knew about him because he has provided loads of free tutorials for the Joomla! community on his website. I learned much of what I know about template development from his Joomla! template tutorial. Barrie is selling his 100+ page e-book, The Joomla! Admin Manual http://www.compassdesigns.net/joomlabook/pages/158.htm, at his website http://www.compassdesigns.net/joomlabook/pages/158.htm for $27. If you"re like me, and you know the high quality of the tutorials produced by Barrie, then you know that $27 for a 100+ page e-book http://www.compassdesigns.net/joomlabook/pages/158.htm written by Barrie is a real bargain. I strongly encourage you to take a look at his site http://www.compassdesigns.net/joomlabook/pages/158.htm and decide whether or not this book is for you. Quick Tip: Do not use the template chooser module (unless you have a very good reason) Almost four years ago was the first time I ever used Mambo (the predecessor to Joomla!). As I played around with my newfound toy, I thought the template chooser was one of the coolest modules available. I could just imagine the possibilities. Users could customize the look of my site for how they wanted to view it. I could install 100 templates and let the visitor choose which one he or she liked best. However, over time I came to realize that the template chooser module was a relatively useless feature that was very difficult to manage. Sure, I could install 100 templates and give users a choice, but those 100 templates would likely have very different layouts and include different sets of module positions. For example, one template might put the "left" module position in the left column while another template would place it at the bottom of the layout while yet another template might not include the left module position at all. You can imagine the headaches this type of situation might cause. When developing your site, you should give careful consideration to where you want your modules positioned on the page and how you want your site to flow. It"s difficult enough to accomplish this with one template, much less several templates. Also, your site"s brand identity is dependent upon the design of the site. Giving your user multiple layout options only dilutes your brand and sends mixed messages to the end user. You might have a valid reason to use the template chooser module, although at the moment I cannot think of an example of a good reason. If you do not have a specific reason to use the template chooser module (other than the "hey, that"s neat" factor), my advice to you is not to use it. Quick Tip: Use JoomlaXplorer to modify your template. I often find that the template manager is not very useful in terms of making modifications to a template. When you click "Save" in the template manager after editing the template HTML (index.php) or CSS (template_css.css) file, the manager takes you back to the list of installed templates. If you need to make another change, you have to re-open the Edit CSS or Edit HTML screen, which adds an extra step. Another drawback of the template manager (in Joomla! 1.0.x) is that it only allows you to edit the "index.php" and "template_css.css" files. For some of the more advanced templates, there are more files that you may need to modify. You might also need to upload some more images for your modification. That"s where JoomlaXplorer comes in. It is a file manager that enables you to upload, modify, and delete files from your Joomla! installation via the administrator control panel. I use it every time I want to make a change to a template. For one thing, when I make a change to the HTML or CSS, it stays on the editor page. That way, I can check to see if the change I made produced the desired outcome or if I need to make more changes, and I can quickly go back and make more changes if necessary. It also allows me to edit any file in the template"s folder and not just "index.php" and "template_css.css". Finally, it gives me the opportunity to replace images by uploading or deleting images based on my requirements. So, if you haven"t done so already, head over to the Joomla! Extensions Directory http://extensions.joomla.org and get yourself a copy of JoomlaXplorer http://extensions.joomla.org/component/option,com_mtree/task,viewlink/link_id,102/Itemid,35/. It is the most useful component for web administrators available for Joomla!, and it will help you make changes to your site"s template. How to add a widget to a module Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_widget defines a widget like this: A web widget is a portable chunk of code that can be installed and executed within any separate HTML-based web page by an end user without requiring additional compilation. They are akin to plugins or extensions in desktop applications. Other terms used to describe a Web Widget include Gadget, Badge, Module, Capsule, Snippet, Mini and Flake. Web Widgets often but not always use Adobe Flash or JavaScript programming languages. For example, the "Help Azaria" module in the left column of this site uses a widget from ChipIn.com http://www.chipin.com (to test it, make a donation to Azaria"s Dolphin Therapy fund to see the progress bar go up - wink wink). Many "web 2.0" sites offer widgets for blogs and other sites to display their content or tools for performing a specific task (like raising money via the ChipIn widget). It is a great way to add content or functionality to your site with very little effort. The process for embedding a widget to your site is usually just copying and pasting a snippet of code into the appropriate location. The problem is, Joomla!"s built-in WYSIWYG editors strip out parts of the widget"s code causing it to work improperly. With this article, I will explain how to work around that problem and get the widget embedded into a user module without stripping out code. Joomla! CSS Guide I just read about the Joomla! CSS Guide http://joomlacssguide.com/ over at Joomla.org http://www.joomla.org. It is a new website that spells out all of the CSS classes and id"s used in the core Joomla! HTML output. This is a great resource for template designers. Check it out. http://joomlacssguide.com/ How to support Joomla! (Buy stuff at the store) Joomla! store http://shop.joomla.org is finally open! There is currently only one t-shirt option http://shop.joomla.org/index.php?option=com_mojo&Itemid=27&?_=view&ProductID=7899, but I bet that will change pretty soon. I recommend buying 7 shirts...one for each day of the week. Or, if you already have dozens of t-shirts and the last thing you need is another t-shirt, you could always make a donation http://www.joomla.org/content/view/689/79/ to the project. Thank you! A month-and-a-half ago, I posted about (content/view/42/29/) TJ Baker"s daughter, Azaria Sage http://www.azariasage.org. I was just on her website http://www.azariasage.org, and I read a very touching thank-you note on the front page from Azaria"s parents, TJ and Debi. Here are a couple of excerpts from that note: ...Azaria"s site received many new visitors. We received many well wishes and prayers, and a total of $600 in donations within a months time! This was a very unexpected and pleasant surprise. Every day that we opened her email, we received notification of a donation and/or prayers. We became overwhelmed with gratitude and we are so very thankful. To those who have given us their gifts, you have no idea how you have touched our hearts. Your gracious giving has helped Azaria continue her therapies, medications and continued planning for her upcoming dolphin therapy trip this summer. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who visited Azaria"s site and sent your prayers, encouragement, and donations. If you have not yet had a chance to read the Bakers" remarkable story http://www.azariasage.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1&Itemid=48, I strongly encourage you to do so and to consider how you might help this family. Joomla! is so much more than just a project or a piece of software. It is a community, and I thank you all for rallying to support the Bakers. 2003 Mambo Mascot: The Koala? I started using Mambo toward the end of 2003. Today, just out of curiosity, I thought I would use the Wayback Machine http://web.archive.org to check out some archived versions of the Mambo website (http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.mamboserver.com) from the early days. I clicked on the the link to the archive from January 24, 2003 http://web.archive.org/web/20030124172417/http://www.mamboserver.com/, and I found something very interesting. Apparently, the community voted to make the koala the Mambo mascot. Scroll down to the article titled "And the winner is ..." on the archived site to see for yourself. By the time I joined the community later that year, the koala was already a distant memory. Go figure. PHP Security I am not a security expert. In fact, I know very little about how one would go about exploiting holes in software to potentially cause damage to a website. But, I"m trying to learn as much as I can because I recognize the potential vulnerability that exists when developing a website with PHP. That"s why I was excited to find this article http://templora.com/content/14 which explains "Basic PHP Security" http://templora.com/content/14. Interview at Alledia.com I was recently interviewed by Stephen Burge at Alledia.com http://www.alledia.com/blog/interviews/interview_with_cory_webb_of_joomlaform_%26_howtojoomla/. He is starting a series of interviews of people involved in the Joomla! community, and I am honored to be the first! Check it out. http://www.alledia.com/blog/interviews/interview_with_cory_webb_of_joomlaform_%26_howtojoomla/ Web Standards Checklist I just read a great article by Russ Weakley at Max Design http://www.maxdesign.com.au titled "Web Standards Checklist" http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/checklist.htm. It is a checklist to help you evaluate your site for compliance with web standards. This is a great tool for any designer to help in the design of standards-compliant Joomla! templates. If you are not a designer, this is a great tool to help you evaluate potential templates for your website. The checklist is available in several languages http://www.maxdesign.com.au/2007/01/08/webstandards-checklist-translation/. Learning Joomla! 1.5 Extension Development - A Great Book by Joseph LeBlanc Joseph LeBlanc http://www.jlleblanc.com/. This is a great book for anyone with PHP/MySQL experience wanting to jump into coding extensions (components/modules/plugins) for Joomla! 1.5. In the book, he provides an overview of extension development, then takes you through the process of developing a sample restaurant reviews application. In the process, he introduces you to the Joomla! 1.5 API, and shows you helpful tips on how to code extensions the right way. I strongly recommend this book for anyone wishing to learn how to develop extensions for Joomla! 1.5. HowToJoomla.net and Joomla! 1.5 For almost a year (The first article (content/view/1/2/) was written on September 8, 2006.), I have done my best to bring you tips and tricks for working with Joomla! to make your website great. In that time, I have written over 36 articles with tips and tricks for Joomla! 1.0.x, and no articles specifically for Joomla! 1.5. There are several reasons that I have avoided writing about Joomla! 1.5, but the main reason is that we have not yet seen a stable release of the code. With the recent release http://www.joomla.org/content/view/3668/1/ of Joomla! 1.5 RC 1, I figured that it was time for me to start writing about Joomla! 1.5. Before I can delve into Joomla! 1.5 tips and tricks, there are some housekeeping duties I need to do with HowToJoomla. Mainly, I need to go back over the 36 Joomla! 1.0.x articles I have written and label them as "This how-to written for Joomla! 1.0.x only." Because there are several differences between the two versions, I want to make sure that there is no confusion which version is covered by each article. In the coming days, you will start to see new labels pop up on each of the older how-to articles. In the coming weeks, if time permits I plan to start adding how-to"s specific for Joomla! 1.5. Thank you for visiting HowToJoomla.net! I truly hope that you find the information in this site useful for building your Joomla!-powered websites. Packt Publishing launches a new website with software installation tutorials InstallationWiki.org http://www.installationwiki.org, which assists users in the installation of several popular open source applications, including Joomla! 1.0 and Joomla! 1.5. Here is their press release. New Website Launched that Promises to ease the Software Installation Process InstallationWiki.org http://www.installationwiki.org is a new website designed to provide users with comprehensive, free guides to installing software. The website will largely be driven and populated by content supplied and edited by experts, and hopes to bridge the gap between software experts and software users. Quality, relevant and free information on installing software is often difficult to find, especially when new versions and editions are being released on a regular basis. The aim of InstallationWiki.org is to provide people with a one-stop source of information for installing whichever piece of software theyÂ?re working with. The Installation Wiki will provide myriad benefits for a variety of individuals; acting as a resource for software users, whilst supporting the software community through gaining exposure for their respective programs. InstallationWiki.org has been developed using the open source MediaWiki software package and is supported by UK publisher Packt. The site has initially been populated using installation chapters from Packt books. Â?WeÂ?re more than happy to provide InstallationWiki.org with content from our booksÂ? explains Packt spokesman, Damian Carvill. Â?Packt is pleased to support the idea of providing an online repository of guides for installing software and weÂ?re honored to populate the Wiki with its first contentÂ? he adds. InstallationWiki.org is inviting software experts to share their knowledge by adding to the content on the site, helping it grow into an exhaustive library whilst increasing their position of authority in the subject. InstallationWiki.org is free to use and open for everyone to contribute to. It is expected to grow and expand over the coming months with more installation guides and features. For more information, please visit www.InstallationWiki.org http://www.installationwiki.org. Joomla! 1.5 Template Contest - First Impressions announced http://www.joomla.org/content/view/3798/1/ a template contest for Joomla! 1.5. The top 5 templates (chosen by the core team) receive Joomla! swag as prizes, and the grand prize winner is rewarded with having his or her template distributed with the stable release of Joomla! 1.5. Saturday was the deadline for submitting templates to the contest via the forum http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/board,479.0.html. I have spent some time looking through the templates, and based on first impressions, here are my favorites so far (in no particular order) (content/view/72/29/). Comment Spam Warning: This article is a rant about a specific comment spammer who has spammed this website on multiple occasions. Today was the last straw. About a month ago, I got a comment here (content/view/53/29/) from someone named "Shannon" supposedly asking about a new website offering Joomla! services. It seemed to me like a blatant attempt to promote that website by masquerading as a user wondering if anyone had ever used that website. I left the comment there, but removed all links to the website. Then, I offered my opinion about the templates offered at that website, and gave "Shannon" several suggestions of template companies that offer much higher quality templates. Today, I got three more spam comments trying to promote the same company. Here is the comment without the links to the website:

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