Official Joomla! Book, Rough Cuts, The, 2nd Edition

Description

This is the Rough Cut version of the printed book.

–From the Foreword to the First Edition by Andrew Eddie, cofounder, Joomla!

The Official Joomla!^®  Book, Second Edition, is the authoritative and comprehensive Joomla! reference for every administrator,  developer, designer, and content manager.  Distilling the unsurpassed experience of two long-time Joomla! contributors, it teaches  exactly what you need to know, through practical example sites and crystal-clear explanations.

If you’re new to Joomla!, you’ll learn how to quickly create usable,  effective sites. If you’re an experienced  Joomla! user, you’ll learn  how to make  your sites more flexible, feature-rich, visually attractive, and useful, taking full advantage of the features in Joomla! 3 and Joomla! 2.5. And whether new or experienced, you’ll learn how Joomla!  really works, so you can fully leverage its power whenever you’re ready. You’ll also get to know the Joomla! community by hearing from seventeen community members through in-depth interviews, and you’ll learn how to participate in the Joomla! project in ways that make sense for you.

The Official Joomla!^® Book, Second Edition, covers everything from installation to usability, templates to extensions. The authors  explain each key concept conversationally, helping you learn to help yourself and confidently gain control over Joomla! and the sites you build with it. They also present chapter-length application case studies for business, non-profits, and education. You will learn how to

• Plan sites  effectively before you start building them
• Create production sites quickly while avoiding common mistakes
• Install and configure Joomla! for maximum efficiency
• Create and edit content  for your Joomla! site
• Customize  and work with Joomla! templates and create a basic template
• Work with extensions: components, modules, plugins, and languages
• Efficiently administer Joomla! sites
• Maintain Joomla! sites, including making back ups and managing upgrades and migrations between versions
• Participate in the Joomla! community as a user and contributor

Sample Content

Table of Contents

Foreword to the Second Edition         xvii

Foreword to the First Edition         xxi

Chapter 1: All about Joomla!         1

A Brief History of Joomla!  1

Joomla! the Content Management System  4

Joomla! the Platform  5

The Joomlasphere  7

Conclusion  20

Chapter 2: What Now and Where Do I Begin?: Before You Install Joomla!         23

Identifying Your Purpose  23

Domain Names: Registering Your Domain Name  24

Trademarks, Licensing, Copyright, and Legalities  26

The Basics of Branding  30

Identifying Your Target Audience: The Who, What, Where, and Why  36

Wireframes, Storyboarding, and Visualization  41

Creating Great Content  43

Mission Critical: Why Choosing a Good Host Matters  44

Conclusion  47

Chapter 3: Installing Joomla!         49

Choosing a Joomla! Version and Installation Options  49

Downloading Joomla!  51

Creating a Database  52

Using the File Manager to Upload Joomla!  56

Joomla! Web Installation  59

Setting Up a Test Site on demo.joomla.org  71

Conclusion  72

Chapter 4: Configuring Joomla!         75

Basic Configuration Steps for Your New Site  75

Basic Global Configuration Options  79

Configuration Settings in Specific Components  92

Other Site Defaults  98

Conclusion  100

Chapter 5: Working with and Creating Content for Your Joomla! Site         101

Defining Content  101

Managing Content  106

Working with the Media Manager and Inserting Images  110

Managing Categories  112

Menus and Menu Items  114

Working with Parameters and Options  121

Conclusion  128

Chapter 6: The Basics of Joomla! Extensions: Components, Modules, Plugins, and Languages         129

Core Joomla! Extensions  129

Adding Extensions  162

Conclusion  168

Chapter 7: Working with Joomla! Templates: Th