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1 Absolute Beginners Guide to Joomla!
1.1 What is Joomla!? 1.2 Understand How Joomla! Works 1.3 Install Joomla! 1.4 Learn to Use Joomla! 1.5 Start Creating Your Site 1.6 Keep Your Site Secure 1.7 Getting Help 2.1 Learn to Backup and Restore 2.2 How to Recover Your System Administration Password 2.3 Exploring the possibilities with Joomla! v 1.5 Core 2.4 Creating a Local Installation
2.6.1 Using CSS Class Suffixes 2.6.2 Getting Rid of Tables 2.6.3 Adding Javascript to your Template 2.6.4 Troubleshooting a Template Installation 2.6.5 Questions? 2.7.1 Configure and troubleshoot SEF URLs 2.7.2 Remove WWW from your domain name 2.7.3 Create a Custom 404 Page 2.7.4 SEO Questions 2.7.5 SEF URL Questions?
2.8 Converting an Existing Website to Joomla! 2.9 Thanks to our GHOP Contestants!
Absolute Beginners Guide to Joomla!, Novices and What is Joomla all redirect to here. As someone who has not used Joomla! before, you need to know how to get started. Maybe you have a friend or a neighbour who uses Joomla! and you want a Joomla! web site of your very own. Maybe you have a small business or a club or a community that needs a web presence, and you want to use Joomla! for that purpose. Maybe you are a seasoned Information Technology professional, but you have never Joomla! before. If so, you are just starting a very enjoyable journey and we warmly welcome you to Joomla! and encourage you to read the Absolute Beginner's Guide to Joomla!
This Absolute Beginner's Guide to Joomla! is just for you. There is also a newly available series of documents called Getting Started with Joomla!. These have hands-on instructions to introduce Joomla! to people who have not previously used it. It covers version 1.5 but an upgrade to cover version 1.6 is in the pipeline. Use both!
Although you could spend a lifetime learning Joomla!, if you master the basics you will be able to make a very attractive and useful basic website in very little time and with no no special technical skills.
What is Joomla!?
Joomla! is software that lets you make and update web pages easily. You can think of a Joomla! website as bringing together three elements. Your content, which is mainly stored in a database. Your template, which controls the design and presentation of your content (such as fonts, colors and layout). Joomla! which is the software that bring the content and the template together to produce webpages.
Install Joomla!
There are several ways to install Joomla!. First, make sure that you have an account on a web server. For most people this means signing up with a hosting company and purchasing a domain that will serve as your site's main address. Option One: One Click Installs. Many hosting companies offer "instant" installation of Joomla!. Follow the instructions your host provides for a one click install. Option Two: Conventional Installs. This method requires that you copy the Joomla! zip file to your hosting account, unzip, create a database, and then run the installation. Complete instructions can be found in the Joomla! Installation Manual. This video takes you through the steps Option three: Demo Site. You can create a working website at demo.joomla.org and then either follow the instructions provided to back up and move the site to your existing host or establish a hosting account at the end of the free 30 day trial. (Note that the Joomla! Project receives a royalty if you choose paid hosting from that site.)
For support with installation, you can ask questions in the installation forum.
How to replace the logo image in the Milkyway template Scribd by deckers.olivier How to modify the default Template Scribd (Note: the document is an old version and some practices and advice may not be current.) by Chad Windnagle (drmmr763).
Finally, you may want to install one or more of the thousands of extensions to Joomla!. Most Joomla! extensions are listed in the official Joomla! Extensions Directory (JED). Once you've found an extension to install, Installing an extension will tell you how to install it. Please remember that all extensions are developed by independent developers. If you need help with a specific extension the best source will be that developer. For help visit:
New to Joomla!/General Joomla! v 1.5 Questions Joomla! v 1.5 Template Questions Joomla! v 1.5 Extension Questions Joomla! Extension Directory Questions
Getting Help
The Joomla! forums are the among the busiest (and most friendly) support forums in the world, and they are a great place to get help and meet other Joomla! users. Please make certain you search, first, before posting a question. Nine times out of ten someone else had the same issue that you had. As it turns out, we all travel a similar path. Also, check the FAQs--Frequently Asked Question. Make sure you are posting in the right forum for your topic. Be clear and specific in your request for help. Entries like Help! It doesnt work! tend to get ignored. Try to explain everything that led up to your problem. Try to explain what your problem is. Be clear about what you want to happen. And, thank those who bother to help! Use the Forum Post Assistant to help you provide more information and better explain your problem. If your question/problem was solved, mark your thread as solved by editing the first post you made in that thread and changing the topic icon to the green check mark with a circle. You can also add [Solved] to your topic title. By doing this you allow other members who are doing searches to easily differentiate between solved and unsolved issues. This also saves the volunteers' time of having to open up solved topics. As soon as you know things, start answering questions. Answering questions is one of the best ways to learn. If someone helps you, say thank you and pay it forward by answering a question yourself.
Learn how to Use the Media Manager to Offer File Downloads Scribd by fervidfrogger; Learn how to create a simple Image Gallery using the Media Manager Scribd by SharifOerton; Learn how to use core Contact functions to create a services or resources directory Scribd by Chad Windnagle (drmmr763); Take time to explore how to use the News flash module to display random or rotating selection of texts Scribd by tj.ferrell; Take advantage of the Banners component and module to feature different parts of a website Scribd by Branko Pajic (balvanboy); Read through the Help screens to find out about all options available at the Back-end
Apache
For Apache you can install XAMPP and then perform a normal web based Joomla! installation on your computer. The Joomla! Quickstart Guide and accompanying video explain XAMPP installation in detail.
IIS
For IIS you can install the Windows Web platform.
Using Mootools
There are many great things you can do with Mootools, included in Joomla! v 1.5. Check out these resources to learn how:
Mootools Tips and Tricks Scribd by Zach Kanzler (theY4Kman); How to include Squeezebox in your Joomla! Website Scribd by ddcc; How to include Slimbox in your Joomla! Website Scribd by dsadik.
Getting Rid of Tables If you do not like tables in your Joomla! output, please see Getting Started with Template Overrides Scribd by Wickrama
Arachchi Vithanage Hashani Maduwanthi Weerarathna (Hashani)
Adding Javascript to your Template You might be interested in How to add JavaScript to a Joomla template Scribd by Anner J. Bonilla (annerajb). Troubleshooting a Template Installation
If you are having trouble installing a template, see How to resolve problems with a template installation Scribd by Chad Windnagle (drmmr763).
Configure and troubleshoot SEF URLs Joomla! v 1.5 SEF URLs Scribd by Benjamin Httasch. If you want to use IIS and Joomla!'s SEF URLs, do this first, then use the previous document. Remove WWW from your domain name
How to remove "WWW" from your Domain Name and Why it matters Scribd by theoclymenus
Create a Custom 404 Page Custom Error Pages, including 404's SEO Questions
Questions on these topics should be asked in the Joomla! v 1.5 SEO Forum.
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