User manual JOOMLA JOOMLA 1.0.11

Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 1 Version 1.0.1. Joomla! User Manual Joomla! V1.0.11 21 October 2006 Steve White ­ Websdezined.com and Andy Wallace Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 2 Version 1.0.1. Table of Contents Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. 3 Table of Figures .............................................................................................................. 11 Table of Tables ............................................................................................................... 15 Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................... 16 Licence & Copyright ...................................................................................................... 16 Suggestions, Modifications and Corrections............................................................. 16 Table of Amendments ........................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 1: Welcome to Joomla! ................................................................................... 17 Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 17 What is a Content Management System (CMS)?.............................................................................. 17 Joomla! for End Users ............................................................................................................................ 17 Taking Joomla! to the Next Level ........................................................................................................ 17 Joomla! for Developers.......................................................................................................................... 18 So, What's the Catch?............................................................................................................................. 18 Objectives of the Joomla! User Manual ............................................................................................. 19 How to Use the Joomla! User Manual ................................................................................................ 19 Manual Styles & Conventions ............................................................................................................. 20 Chapter 2: Getting Started............................................................................................ 21 Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 21 System Requirements............................................................................................................................ 21 Installing Joomla! ................................................................................................................................... 21 Getting the Files..................................................................................................................................... 21 Install Locally......................................................................................................................................... 21 Install Remotely..................................................................................................................................... 22 Browser Installation.............................................................................................................................. 22 Preinstallation Check .......................................................................................................................... 22 Detail of the Pre-installation Check Page............................................................................................23 GNU/GPL License Agreement ............................................................................................................ 25 Installation: Step 1................................................................................................................................. 25 Installation: Step 2................................................................................................................................. 27 Installation: Step 3................................................................................................................................. 27 Installation: Step 4................................................................................................................................. 28 Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 3 Version 1.0.1. Table of Contents What is Next?......................................................................................................................................... 28 Overview of the Installed Elements of a Joomla! Web Site ........................................................... 30 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 30 Templates ............................................................................................................................................... 30 Components........................................................................................................................................... 31 Modules.................................................................................................................................................. 31 Mambots................................................................................................................................................. 31 Joomla! Development Lifecycle........................................................................................................... 31 Considerations in the Joomla! Development Lifecycle. ................................................................... 32 Chapter 3: Joomla! Users .............................................................................................. 33 Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 33 Types of Users and Access Permissions............................................................................................. 33 Frontend Users..................................................................................................................................... 33 Backend Users ...................................................................................................................................... 34 Registration ............................................................................................................................................. 35 Recovering a Lost Password ................................................................................................................. 35 Logging In and Out................................................................................................................................ 36 Log In...................................................................................................................................................... 36 User Menu.............................................................................................................................................. 36 Your Details ........................................................................................................................................... 36 User Editor:............................................................................................................................................37 Logout:.................................................................................................................................................... 37 Chapter 4: Accessing Functions from the Frontend................................................. 38 Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 38 Manage Content ..................................................................................................................................... 38 Author .................................................................................................................................................... 38 Submit News via the Front-end............................................................................................................38 Images Tab ............................................................................................................................................43 Publishing Tab ......................................................................................................................................44 Metadata Tab .........................................................................................................................................45 Editor ...................................................................................................................................................... 45 Publisher................................................................................................................................................. 46 Submit a Web Link................................................................................................................................ 47 CheckIn My Items................................................................................................................................ 48 Chapter 5: Introduction to Accessing Functions from the Backend ..................... 50 Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 4 Version 1.0.1. Table of Contents Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 50 Logging in to the Backend................................................................................................................... 50 The Control Panel .................................................................................................................................. 51 Menu Options:....................................................................................................................................... 51 Quick Link Buttons: .............................................................................................................................. 52 Control Panel.........................................................................................................................................53 Other Screens........................................................................................................................................54 Administrator Modules:....................................................................................................................... 56 Logged Tab:...........................................................................................................................................56 Components Tab:..................................................................................................................................56 Popular Tab: ..........................................................................................................................................57 Latest Items Tab:...................................................................................................................................57 Menu Stats Tab: ....................................................................................................................................57 Check for Newer Version..................................................................................................................... 58 Security Settings .................................................................................................................................... 58 Chapter 6: Accessing Functions from the Backend: Manager................................ 59 Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 59 Media Manager....................................................................................................................................... 60 Create a folder ....................................................................................................................................... 61 Upload and Delete an Image ............................................................................................................... 61 Using the Image/Url Code ................................................................................................................... 62 Preview..................................................................................................................................................... 63 In New Window.................................................................................................................................... 63 Inline ....................................................................................................................................................... 63 Inline with Positions ............................................................................................................................. 64 Statistics ................................................................................................................................................... 64 Browser, OS, and Domain.................................................................................................................... 64 Page Impressions .................................................................................................................................. 65 Search Text ............................................................................................................................................. 65 Manage Menu Items .............................................................................................................................. 65 The Menu Manager............................................................................................................................... 66 Create a New Menu Item .......................................................................................................................67 Publish and Unpublish a Menu Item....................................................................................................68 Move a Menu Item .................................................................................................................................69 Copy a Menu Item .................................................................................................................................69 Delete a Menu Item................................................................................................................................70 Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 5 Version 1.0.1. Table of Contents Using the Home Menu Option to Control the Front Page Display ....................................................71 Manage Content ..................................................................................................................................... 72 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 72 Manage Sections.................................................................................................................................... 73 The Section Manager ............................................................................................................................73 Create a New Section............................................................................................................................74 Copy a Section ......................................................................................................................................75 Delete a Section ....................................................................................................................................75 Manage Categories................................................................................................................................ 75 The Category Manager..........................................................................................................................75 Create a new Category..........................................................................................................................76 Move a Category ...................................................................................................................................78 Copy a Category....................................................................................................................................78 Delete a Category ..................................................................................................................................78 Manage Content Items ......................................................................................................................... 79 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................79 The Content Items Manager .................................................................................................................79 Create a New Content Item...................................................................................................................82 Tab Settings Block ................................................................................................................................83 Move a Content Item .............................................................................................................................89 Copy a Content Item .............................................................................................................................90 Delete a Content Item............................................................................................................................90 Archive a Content Item .........................................................................................................................90 Static Content......................................................................................................................................... 91 Create a New Static Item.......................................................................................................................91 Frontpage Manager............................................................................................................................... 92 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................92 Remove a Frontpage Item ....................................................................................................................93 Using the Frontpage Component When Syndicating Your Site ........................................................93 Archive Manager................................................................................................................................... 94 Unarchive...............................................................................................................................................94 Trash Archive Items ..............................................................................................................................94 Page Impressions .................................................................................................................................. 95 Chapter 7: Accessing Functions from the Backend ­ Administrator.................... 96 Introduction............................................................................................................................................. 96 Trash Manager ........................................................................................................................................ 96 Manage Users.......................................................................................................................................... 98 Create a User.......................................................................................................................................... 99 Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 6 Version 1.0.1. Table of Contents Delete a User........................................................................................................................................ 100 Logout a User ...................................................................................................................................... 100 Manage Menus ..................................................................................................................................... 101 Create a New Menu ............................................................................................................................ 102 Copy a Menu ....................................................................................................................................... 103 Delete a Menu...................................................................................................................................... 103 Edit a Menu.......................................................................................................................................... 104 Manage Components........................................................................................................................... 104 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 104 Install a Component............................................................................................................................ 105 Uninstall a Component ...................................................................................................................... 105 Manage Specific Components ........................................................................................................... 106 Banners ................................................................................................................................................. 106 Manage Clients....................................................................................................................................106 Manage Banners .................................................................................................................................107 Contacts ................................................................................................................................................ 109 Create a New Contact Category.........................................................................................................111 Contact Manager .................................................................................................................................112 Create a Contact..................................................................................................................................112 Publishing Tab: ...................................................................................................................................113 Images Tab: .........................................................................................................................................113 Parameters Tab: ..................................................................................................................................113 Mass Mail ............................................................................................................................................. 116 News Feeds .......................................................................................................................................... 116 Manage Newsfeed Categories............................................................................................................117 Create a New Newsfeed Category .....................................................................................................118 Manage News Feeds ...........................................................................................................................120 Polls....................................................................................................................................................... 122 Create a New Poll ................................................................................................................................123 Syndicate .............................................................................................................................................. 124 Web Links ............................................................................................................................................ 126 Category Manager [Component Web Links].....................................................................................126 Create a New Web Links Category ....................................................................................................127 Weblink Manager.................................................................................................................................128 Create a New Web Link.......................................................................................................................128 Manage Modules.................................................................................................................................. 129 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 129 Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 7 Version 1.0.1. Table of Contents Module Manager Screen .................................................................................................................... 130 Install a Module................................................................................................................................... 131 Upload Package File ...........................................................................................................................131 Install from Directory ..........................................................................................................................131 Uninstall a Module ............................................................................................................................. 131 Site Module Screen.............................................................................................................................. 131 Administrator Modules...................................................................................................................... 133 Manage Specific Modules ­ Purposes and Parameters ................................................................. 134 Banners ................................................................................................................................................. 134 Main Menu........................................................................................................................................... 134 Who's Online ....................................................................................................................................... 135 User Menu............................................................................................................................................ 135 Other Menu.......................................................................................................................................... 135 Login Form........................................................................................................................................... 135 Syndicate .............................................................................................................................................. 136 Statistics................................................................................................................................................ 136 Template Chooser ............................................................................................................................... 137 Archive Sections .................................................................................................................................. 137 Wrapper................................................................................................................................................ 137 Polls....................................................................................................................................................... 138 Random Image .................................................................................................................................... 138 Newsflash............................................................................................................................................. 139 Related Items ....................................................................................................................................... 140 Latest News.......................................................................................................................................... 140 Search.................................................................................................................................................... 141 Popular ................................................................................................................................................. 141 Top Menu ............................................................................................................................................. 141 Manage Mambots................................................................................................................................. 142 Install a Mambot.................................................................................................................................. 142 Upload Package File ...........................................................................................................................142 Install from directory...........................................................................................................................142 Uninstall a Mambot ............................................................................................................................ 142 Content Mambots................................................................................................................................ 143 MOS Image...........................................................................................................................................143 Legacy Mambot Includer ....................................................................................................................143 Code Support ......................................................................................................................................143 Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 8 Version 1.0.1. Table of Contents SEF .......................................................................................................................................................143 MOS Rating..........................................................................................................................................143 E-mail Cloaking ...................................................................................................................................143 GeSHi ...................................................................................................................................................143 Load Module Positions .......................................................................................................................144 MOS Pagination...................................................................................................................................144 Search Mambots .................................................................................................................................. 144 Editor Mambots................................................................................................................................... 144 Editor Extension Mambots ................................................................................................................ 144 Chapter 8: Accessing Functions from the Backend ­ Super Administrator....... 145 Introduction........................................................................................................................................... 145 Global Configuration .......................................................................................................................... 146 Site Tab: ................................................................................................................................................ 146 Locale Tab: ........................................................................................................................................... 147 Content Tab:......................................................................................................................................... 148 Database Tab:....................................................................................................................................... 149 Server Tab: ........................................................................................................................................... 150 Metadata Tab: ...................................................................................................................................... 151 Mail Tab:............................................................................................................................................... 152 Cache Tab: ............................................................................................................................................ 152 Statistics Tab: ....................................................................................................................................... 153 SEO Tab: ............................................................................................................................................... 153 Language Manager............................................................................................................................... 154 Add a New Language ........................................................................................................................ 154 Uninstall a Language.......................................................................................................................... 155 Edit a Language File ........................................................................................................................... 155 Manage Templates ............................................................................................................................... 156 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 156 The Template Manager ...................................................................................................................... 156 Install a New Template ...................................................................................................................... 157 Delete a Template................................................................................................................................ 157 Assign a Template............................................................................................................................... 157 Edit the HTML File ............................................................................................................................. 158 Edit the CSS file ................................................................................................................................... 158 Administrator Templates................................................................................................................... 159 Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 9 Version 1.0.1. Table of Contents Module Positions................................................................................................................................. 160 Messages ................................................................................................................................................ 161 Configuration ...................................................................................................................................... 161 Message Inbox ..................................................................................................................................... 161 View a message...................................................................................................................................161 Create a new message........................................................................................................................161 Delete a message ................................................................................................................................162 System Information ............................................................................................................................. 162 Version Check...................................................................................................................................... 162 System Info........................................................................................................................................... 162 Global Checkin................................................................................................................................... 163 Appendix A: Creative Commons Licence.................................................................. 164 Appendix B: Backend Menu Options....................................................................... 165 Appendix C: Menu Item Parameters ......................................................................... 168 Appendix D: Glossary ................................................................................................. 175 Appendix E: Joomla! Site Map................................................................................... 181 Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 10 Version 1.0.1. Table of Figures Table of Figures Figure 1: Preinstallation Check ..................................................................................................................................22 Figure 2: Check Page part 1 .........................................................................................................................................23 Figure 3: Check Page part 2 .........................................................................................................................................23 Figure 4: Check Page part 3 .........................................................................................................................................23 Figure 5: Check Page part 4 .........................................................................................................................................24 Figure 6: Check Page part 5 .........................................................................................................................................24 Figure 7: GNU/GPL License ........................................................................................................................................25 Figure 8: Installation Step 1 .........................................................................................................................................25 Figure 9: Step 1 Confirmation......................................................................................................................................26 Figure 10: Installation Step 2 .......................................................................................................................................27 Figure 11: Installation Step 3 .......................................................................................................................................27 Figure 12: Installation Step 4 .......................................................................................................................................28 Figure 13: Joomla! Home Page ....................................................................................................................................29 Figure 14: Joomla! Administrator Login ....................................................................................................................29 Figure 15: Frontend Login box...................................................................................................................................35 Figure 16: Lost Password Request ..............................................................................................................................35 Figure 17: User Menu ...................................................................................................................................................36 Figure 18: User Details screen .....................................................................................................................................37 Figure 19: User Editor select drop down ...................................................................................................................37 Figure 20: Add Content from the Frontend..............................................................................................................39 Figure 21: Adding Intro Text .......................................................................................................................................41 Figure 22: Multipage Content Item Index ................................................................................................................42 Figure 23: Images Tab Frontend ................................................................................................................................43 Figure 24: Publishing Tab Frontend ..........................................................................................................................44 Figure 25: Metadata Tab Frontend ............................................................................................................................45 Figure 26: Category List screen ...................................................................................................................................46 Figure 27: Publishing Tab Frontend Publishers.......................................................................................................46 Figure 28: Submit a Web Link .....................................................................................................................................47 Figure 29: Submit Web Link thank you .....................................................................................................................47 Figure 30: Web Link screen..........................................................................................................................................48 Figure 31: Item locked ..................................................................................................................................................49 Figure 32: Backend Login screen ...............................................................................................................................50 Figure 33: Control Panel screen...................................................................................................................................51 Figure 34: Quick Links on Control Panel ...................................................................................................................52 Figure 35: Administrator Modules Logged.............................................................................................................56 Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 11 Version 1.0.1. Table of Figures Figure 36 Administrator Modules Components.....................................................................................................56 Figure 37 Administrator Modules Popular .............................................................................................................57 Figure 38 Administrator Modules Latest Items......................................................................................................57 Figure 39 Administrator Modules Menu Stats .......................................................................................................57 Figure 40: Check for newer version ............................................................................................................................58 Figure 41: PHP Security Settings.................................................................................................................................58 Figure 42: Control Panel Manager............................................................................................................................59 Figure 43: Media Manager screen ...............................................................................................................................60 Figure 44: Media Manager screen detail ....................................................................................................................61 Figure 45: Uploading an Image...................................................................................................................................61 Figure 46: Preview Inline screen .................................................................................................................................63 Figure 47: Preview Inline with Positions screen .......................................................................................................64 Figure 48: Menu Manager screen................................................................................................................................66 Figure 49: New Menu Item screen ..............................................................................................................................67 Figure 50: Add Menu Item screen...............................................................................................................................68 Figure 51: Move Menu Items screen...........................................................................................................................69 Figure 52: Copy Menu Items screen ...........................................................................................................................70 Figure 53: ThreeColumn Template............................................................................................................................72 Figure 54: ThreeColumn Display with one column hidden...................................................................................73 Figure 55: Section Manager screen..............................................................................................................................73 Figure 56: Section: New screen....................................................................................................................................74 Figure 57: Copy Section screen....................................................................................................................................75 Figure 58: Category Manager screen ..........................................................................................................................76 Figure 59: Category: New screen ................................................................................................................................77 Figure 60: Move Category screen................................................................................................................................78 Figure 61: Copy Category screen ................................................................................................................................78 Figure 62: Content Items Manager screen .................................................................................................................79 Figure 63: Content Item New screen ..........................................................................................................................82 Figure 64: New Item Publishing Tab ..........................................................................................................................83 Figure 65: New Item Images Tab ................................................................................................................................85 Figure 66: New Item Parameters Tab .........................................................................................................................86 Figure 67: New Item Meta Info Tab............................................................................................................................88 Figure 68: New Item Link to Menu Tab .....................................................................................................................89 Figure 69: Move Items screen ......................................................................................................................................89 Figure 70: Copy Items screen.......................................................................................................................................90 Figure 71: Static Content Manager screen..................................................................................................................91 Figure 72: Frontpage Manager screen ........................................................................................................................92 Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 12 Version 1.0.1. Table of Figures Figure 73: Archive Manager screen ............................................................................................................................94 Figure 74: Page Impressions screen ............................................................................................................................95 Figure 75: Trash Manager screen ................................................................................................................................96 Figure 76: Trash Manager Delete screen ....................................................................................................................96 Figure 77: Are You Sure? .............................................................................................................................................97 Figure 78: Trash Manager Restore screen ..................................................................................................................97 Figure 79: Restore Confirmation dialogue.................................................................................................................97 Figure 80: User Manager screen..................................................................................................................................98 Figure 81: User Add screen..........................................................................................................................................99 Figure 82: User Add II screen ....................................................................................................................................100 Figure 83: Menu Manager screen..............................................................................................................................101 Figure 84: Menu Details screen .................................................................................................................................102 Figure 85: Copy Menu screen....................................................................................................................................103 Figure 86: Delete Menu screen ..................................................................................................................................103 Figure 87: Edit Menu screen ......................................................................................................................................104 Figure 88: Install New Component screen...............................................................................................................105 Figure 89: Banner Client Manager screen ................................................................................................................106 Figure 90: Banner Client New screen .......................................................................................................................106 Figure 91: Banner Client Edit screen.........................................................................................................................107 Figure 92: Banner Manager screen............................................................................................................................107 Figure 93: Banner New screen...................................................................................................................................108 Figure 94: Upload Banner Image dialogue ..............................................................................................................109 Figure 95: Category Manager screen ........................................................................................................................110 Figure 96: Category New screen ...............................................................................................................................111 Figure 97: Contact Manager screen...........................................................................................................................112 Figure 98: Contact New screen..................................................................................................................................112 Figure 99: Contact New Images Tab.........................................................................................................................113 Figure 100: Contact New Parameters Tab................................................................................................................114 Figure 101: Mass Mail screen.....................................................................................................................................116 Figure 102: Category Manager News Feeds screen................................................................................................117 Figure 103: Category New News Feeds screen .......................................................................................................118 Figure 104: Link to Menu dialogue...........................................................................................................................119 Figure 105: Newsfeed Manager screen ....................................................................................................................120 Figure 106: Newsfeed New screen............................................................................................................................121 Figure 107: Poll Manager screen ...............................................................................................................................122 Figure 108: Poll New screen ......................................................................................................................................123 Figure 109: Syndication Settings screen ...................................................................................................................124 Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 13 Version 1.0.1. Table of Figures Figure 110: Category Manager Web Links screen ..................................................................................................126 Figure 111: Category New Web Links screen..........................................................................................................127 Figure 112: Web Link Manager screen .....................................................................................................................128 Figure 113: Web Link New screen ............................................................................................................................128 Figure 114: Module Manager screen ........................................................................................................................130 Figure 115: Install New Modules screen ..................................................................................................................131 Figure 116: Module Manager screen ........................................................................................................................133 Figure 117: Install New Mambots screen .................................................................................................................142 Figure 118: Control Panel Super Administrator screen .......................................................................................145 Figure 119: Global Configuration screen ­ Site Tab................................................................................................146 Figure 120: Global Configuration screen Locale Tab ...........................................................................................147 Figure 121: Global Configuration screen Content Tab.........................................................................................148 Figure 122: Global Configuration screen Database Tab.......................................................................................149 Figure 123: Global Configuration screen Server Tab ...........................................................................................150 Figure 124: Global Configuration screen Metadata Tab ......................................................................................151 Figure 125: Global Configuration screen Mail Tab...............................................................................................152 Figure 126: Global Configuration screen Cache Tab............................................................................................152 Figure 127: Global Configuration screen Statistics Tab .......................................................................................153 Figure 128: Global Configuration screen SEO Tab ...............................................................................................153 Figure 129: Language Manager screen.....................................................................................................................154 Figure 130: Install New Language screen ................................................................................................................154 Figure 131: Edit Language screen .............................................................................................................................155 Figure 132: Template Manager screen......................................................................................................................156 Figure 133: Template HTML Editor screen .............................................................................................................158 Figure 134: Template CSS Editor screen ..................................................................................................................159 Figure 135: Template Manager (Administrator) screen .........................................................................................159 Figure 136: Module Positions screen ........................................................................................................................160 Figure 137: Private Messaging Configuration screen.............................................................................................161 Figure 138: Message Inbox screen.............................................................................................................................161 Figure 139: System Info screen ..................................................................................................................................162 Figure 140: Global Checkin screen ..........................................................................................................................163 Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 14 Version 1.0.1. Table of Figures Table of Tables Table 1: Summary of the Chapters..............................................................................................................................19 Table 2: Template files..................................................................................................................................................30 Table 3: Web site design considerations ....................................................................................................................32 Table 4: Frontend Registered Users...........................................................................................................................34 Table 5: Backend Registered Users............................................................................................................................34 Table 6: User Menu Options ........................................................................................................................................36 Table 7: Control Panel buttons ....................................................................................................................................53 Table 8: Other Screens Buttons....................................................................................................................................54 Table 9: Front Page Display Options ..........................................................................................................................71 Table 10: Content Item buttons ...................................................................................................................................81 Table 11: User Level Permissions................................................................................................................................98 Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 15 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Joomla! Acknowledgments Many people have contributed in some way to producing this Joomla! User Manual. In particular, I would like to thank David Maggiano (Scribe) for drafting Chapters 3 & 4. Andy Wallace (Humvee) for his development of the design and style of the manual and proof reading assistance. Brian Teeman (brian) for proof reading. Also, other members of the Joomla! Documentation Team: Michelle (Michelle Bisson), Jennifer (visionspin), Brian (usagi) and Richard (rdb) for their encouragement. Contributors to the Joomla! Help web site and Anna's Joomla! Tips, from which some material has been used. Ross Carrell, my partner at http://www.websdezined.com, who kept an eye on me throughout the process and many more. To the named and unnamed, my heartfelt thanks. Steve White (ledzep) Licence & Copyright The Joomla! User Manual content is © copyright 2006 by the individual contributors and can be used in accordance with the Creative Commons License, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5, See Appendix A Suggestions, Modifications and Corrections Suggestions for improvements, additions, modifications, and corrections to this manual are invited. Please submit these at the official Joomla! forums at: http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/board,352.0.html or alternatively http://joomlausermanual.com/forums. Table of Amendments A general record of amendments made and their applicable dates Date Version Correction Detail 21 October 2006 19 October 2006 June 2006 1.0.1 1.0.0 0.0.1 General Amended corrupted formatting. Changed graphics. Amended punctuation. New Document Released. Draft Original Document Released. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 16 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Joomla! Chapter 1: Welcome to Joomla! Introduction Thank you for choosing Joomla! Content Management System (CMS) software! You have made a great choice by selecting one of the most powerful and versatile Open Source Content Management Systems available. Joomla! is an award-winning CMS that will help you build web sites and other powerful online applications. Best of all, Joomla! is an Open Source solution that is freely available to everybody. What is a Content Management System (CMS)? A CMS is a computer software system for organising and facilitating collaborative creation of documents and other content. A CMS is frequently a web application used for managing web sites and web content. Joomla! for End Users The basic Joomla! package is designed to be relatively easy to install, even for nonprogrammers. Most people have no trouble getting our software up and running, and there is plenty of support available via the Joomla! forum at http://forum.joomla.org. Once Joomla! is installed and running, it is simple for even non-technical users to add or edit content, upload and add images, and to manage the critical data that makes your company or organisation go. Anybody with basic word processing skills can easily learn to manage a Joomla! web site. You will easily be able to add new press releases or news items, manage staff pages, and create an unlimited amount of Sections, Categories, and Content Items on your web site via a simple, browser-based interface. Taking Joomla! to the Next Level Out of the box, Joomla! does a great job of managing the content needed to make your web site sing. However, for many people, the true power of Joomla! lies in the application framework that makes it possible for thousands of developers around the world to create powerful add-ons and extensions (Components, Modules, and Mambots). Here are just some examples of the hundreds of available extensions: Dynamic form builders Business or organisational directories Document management Image and multimedia galleries Ecommerce and shopping cart engines Forums and chat software Calendars Blogging software Email newsletters Data collection and reporting tools Banner advertising systems Subscription services... in addition, many, many more. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 17 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Joomla! You can find examples at the growing Joomla! Extensions or Components directory at http://extensions.joomla.org/. Prepare to be amazed at the amount of exciting work produced by our active developer community! Joomla! for Developers Many companies or organisations have requirements that go beyond what is available in the basic Joomla! package or in the freely available third party extensions. Thankfully, Joomla! offers a powerful application framework that makes it easy for developers to create sophisticated add-ons that extend the power of Joomla! into virtually unlimited directions. Using the core framework, developers can easily build: Integrated ecommerce systems Inventory control systems Data reporting tools Custom product catalogues Complex business directories Reservation and booking systems Communication tools Application bridges or any kind of application to suit a unique need. If your company or organisation hires a third party Joomla! developer, or builds in-house software using the Joomla! framework, you are building on an open platform that does not tie you to any one developer or to a proprietary, closed application. You can learn more about developing on the Joomla! framework on our developer's network at http://dev.joomla.org/. The beauty of Joomla! is that you can leverage our framework and user interface to deliver applications to your end users in a familiar, powerful environment. So, What's the Catch? There is no catch. Joomla! is free and available to all under the GPL licence. Further Information about this at http://www.joomla.org/content/view/5/6/. We do not claim that Joomla! is perfect, and cannot promise to meet every requirement in the world. However, for many web applications, our software is perfectly suited for the job. We are adding great new features with each release and, with the help and advice of our incredible user community; we plan to deliver award-winning software for years to come. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 18 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Joomla! Objectives of the Joomla! User Manual The objectives of this User Manual are to: Help you to install and configure Joomla! Provide a walk through of the many facets of the core Joomla! installation. Describe the various types of user together with their access permissions. Provide detailed instructions for both Frontend and Backend inputting and site management within the Joomla! user framework of Authors, Editors, Publishers, Managers, Administrators, and Super Administrators. This is not a Technical Manual in that we do not go into major depth on modification, design, and development of the various elements of Joomla! or any kind of programming. There are guides and web sites that provide this information. Nor do we go into detail about PHP, MySQL or other essential software that you need to have some understanding. How to Use the Joomla! User Manual The Joomla! User Manual follows the installation process, the types of users Joomla! has, Frontend through to Back-end functionality. A summary of the chapters and appendices follows. Table 1: Summary of the Chapters Chapter Details Chapter 1 : Chapter 2: Introduces you to Joomla!, its benefits, versatility and strengths. Deals with installing the Joomla! software and an overview of the elements of a typical Joomla! installation. Provides information about the different types of Joomla! user and what functionality they can access. Deals with accessing the Front-end functionality and provides details about what an Author, Editor, and Publisher can do. Deals with logging on to the Back-end, the Control Panel, and Buttons. Deals with what a Manager can do. Deals with what an Administrator can do. Deals with what a Super Administrator can do. This manual is released under The Creative Common License see details here. A list of the Back-end menu options together with detail of which user level is required to access them. A list of Menu Item parameters. A listing of all the key words and phrases used in Joomla! together with brief details of their function/use. Site Map of the Joomla! Back-end menu options. Chapter 3: Chapter 4: Chapter 5 Chapter 6: Chapter 7: Chapter 8: Appendix A: Appendix B: Appendix C: Appendix D: Appendix E: Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 19 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Joomla! Manual Styles & Conventions Throughout this manual, we will refer to specific items of information in the following ways: Note: You will see this when an additional point needs to be made Further Information: You will see this as a reference to another chapter or an external publication. Access: You will see this when you are being directed via a menu sequence to access a specific Component, Category, Module, Mambot, Content Item or other file, Caution: You will see this when you should use care or `due diligence' to avoid problems occurring either immediately or potentially later on. WARNING!: You will see this when there is a very high risk of damaging your installation in some way. Exercise great care. Seek further advice if you are unclear as to what you are doing. · Code that you are either required to enter, reference, or alter in some way will be displayed as in the following example: · Buttons/Icons that should be clicked/selected in the course of a procedure are presented as follows: Click Save button. Select Yes radio button. Select Show or Hide or Global Setting. Toolbar Buttons: Delete, Save, Edit, Publish, Unpublish, and Save are available. · · · Internal addresses or addresses that you need to enter your own details into are shown as: http://www.mydomainname.com/ or /usr/local/apache/htdocs Web addresses of other resources are shown as: http://www.joomla.org. If a point requires emphasis such as the name of a piece of software, or that a particular path, or element, is being referenced then it will be highlighted either as: MySQL or Component xyz. · · · This document uses the following fonts: Arial as the base font, Palatino Linotype used for the Headings and Bullet Lists, and Courier New for all the HTML representations. In accordance with the requirement of the Joomla! Documentation Workgroup this document is produced in GB English. The Joomla! Documentation Style Guide has been followed where appropriate. If you would like further details, please contact Steve White (ledzep) or Andy Wallace (Humvee). A Word template is available. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 20 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users Chapter 2: Getting Started Introduction Before we start, it is important to understand that a Joomla! User has a predefined set of permissions, i.e. tasks that they can do. Therefore, in the context of managing a web site, it will depend on the way that the site's owner wants to delegate responsibilities as to what types of Joomla! Users should be set up. For example, an owner may have only one person to manage all aspects of the web site. In which case, a Super Administrator account, the one created during the installation process by default, should be sufficient. On the other hand, a site owner may want one person to have publishing control over all Content Items created by someone else, and another person responsible for the administrative tasks. In this case, an Author for content creation, a Publisher to proof read and who then publishes the content, and a Super Administrator to maintain the Template design, Component, Module configurations, etc., all need to be created. There are no hard and fast rules. Provided you understand the permissions and ,therefore, the functionality given to a particular type of user, you can create multiple users at whatever level best suits the management of your web site. Further Information: Chapter 3: Joomla! Users Having said that, let us get started! System Requirements You need to be sure that your web server, or the service provided by your web host, meets the minimum requirements before you download the Joomla! software. These are: PHP 4.2.x or above: http://www.php.net MySQL 3.23.x or above: http://www.mysql.com Apache 1.13.19 or above: http://www.apache.org You must ensure that you have MySQL, XML, and Zlib support built into your PHP. Joomla! can be used with most major browsers including: Firefox, Internet Explorer (version 5.5+), and Netscape. These browsers take great advantage of Joomla!'s Back-end Administrative interface. Installing Joomla! Getting the Files First, you must have the base environment for Joomla! as set out in the System Requirements. We have thoroughly tested Joomla! on: Linux, Free BSD, Mac OS X and Windows NT/2000. These are primary platforms, but any other that can run the Apache web server with PHP & MySQL should be capable. WARNING!: You MUST ensure that PHP has been compiled with support for MySQL, Zlib, and XML in order to run Joomla! Download the main distribution files for Joomla! from http://developer.joomla.org. The files are contained in a compressed archive. You will need a utility program, e.g. WinRAR, either locally or on your host server that can unzip the file. Install Locally Unzip the distribution file into a directory under your web server root. If you are using the Apache web server, this is typically c:\apache\groupapache\htdocs on Windows and Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 21 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users /usr/local/apache/htdocs on a Unix system but it may vary. We are assuming you have a working web server and that you know where to put files to display on the web server. Install Remotely What you do to install Joomla! on a remote host is largely to do with what facilities your host provides and how skilled you are with server access. However, a simple and typical procedure may involve: 1 2 Unzipping the Joomla! distribution files to a local directory. Transferring the files to your host server and placing them in a directory under the web server root. There are many free File Transfer Protocol (FTP) programs available to do this, e.g. Filezilla. Running the installation from your browser by typing in your web URL, e.g. http://www.yourdomainname.com. 3 Browser Installation Before you attempt to install Joomla! verify that your host service meets the standards stated above in System Requirements. Assuming they do, you are on your way to installing Joomla! 1 2 Unzip the Joomla! distribution files to a local directory on your computer. Transfer all the files and folders to your host server via FTP, placing them either directly in or under a directory within the web server root. Ensure you preserve the integrity of the files and folders. When you have finished uploading the files and folders, go to your homepage, http://www.yourdomainname.com. You should now see the pre-installation check page generated by Joomla! 3 The installation process consists of a pre-installation, licence check and there are four further steps dealt with in detail below. Preinstallation Check Figure 1: Pre-installation Check Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 22 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users If you do not see the check page please verify the following: Were all the Joomla! files and folders successfully uploaded to your web site? Did you remove (and back up) your old web site? Do you really have an Apache/MySQL/PHP web server? Are all the necessary MySQL, Zlib, and XML modules activated in PHP? If everything checks out OK, and you still do not see the check page, try using: http://www.yourdomainname.com/installation/index.php. This is the direct address for the check page. If it does not show up, or you see a lot of errors and techno mumbo-jumbo, you probably do not have an Apache/MySQL/PHP web server. Check with your host provider. If everything has gone to plan then you will see the above check page. Detail of the Preinstallation Check Page The pre-installation check page is in five parts: The first checks that your system meets the requirements necessary to run Joomla! Figure 2: Check Page part 1 The second part checks that you are installing the most up to date version of Joomla!. Click on the Check for newer version button to verify this. Figure 3: Check Page part 2 The third part is a security check related to register_globals and RG_EMULATION in the globals.php file in the Joomla! site root folder. Refer to the Official Joomla! forum, http://forum.joomla.org for further advice on this. Figure 4: Check Page part 3 The fourth part checks whether the PHP settings are correctly set for compatibility: Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 23 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users Figure 5: Check Page part 4 The fifth section relates to Directory and File Permissions: Figure 6: Check Page part 5 If everything is Writeable, click the Next button. If some items are highlighted in red as Unwriteable, either change the relevant folder's permissions using your FTP program or ask your host service provider to correct them for you. If it is not possible to correct them, you can still click the Next button and see what happens. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 24 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users GNU/GPL License Agreement The next page displays the licence for Joomla! to ensure that you are aware of the terms and conditions for using the software. Figure 7: GNU/GPL License Click the Next button to go to Step 1 of the installation process. Installation: Step 1 Step 1 of the installation deals with the configuration of the MySQL database. Figure 8: Installation Step 1 Enter the configuration data for your MySQL database. The Host Name of your MySQL database will depend on how the host provider has configured it. While it is commonly localhost, you should check with your provide if in doubt. On occasions, Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 25 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users where localhost is not the name of the database server you will need to contact your provider, e.g. Go Daddy refers to their host name as mysql123.secureserver.net or similar. Host providers, using cPanel, usually allow you to set up your own User Name, Password, and Database Name. Again, if in any doubt consult your host provider for this information. The option to Drop Existing Tables in the nominated database as is the option to Backup Old Tables is given. For a first time installation, you should leave both of these blank. You may also Install Sample Data. If this is your first Joomla! installation, we recommend you check this option as you will find the benefit when you get to look around your site for the first time. When you have entered your database information correctly, click the Next button. Confirm the database information when asked. Figure 9: Step 1 Confirmation Click OK if you are satisfied that you can proceed. The installation program will create the necessary tables and install the sample data. The next page will display any errors that occur during initialisation of the database. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 26 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users Installation: Step 2 Step 2 is simply a page where you enter the name of your site. This will appear in the Global Configuration. Figure 10: Installation Step 2 Enter a name for your site and click the Next button. Note: Special characters are usable in this information area. Installation: Step 3 Step 3 is a page for you to confirm the installation directory, the URL to the Joomla! site, enter your e-mail address, and to accept or change the administrator password. Figure 11: Installation Step 3 The e-mail address is for your Super Administrator. The set up process automatically creates this user account for you. The username for the primary Super Administrator is admin. You may change the randomly generated password if you desire. The admin account will use the password you enter. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 27 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users Further Information: For security purposes, you can amend the admin username after you have completed the installation process. See: Chapter 7: Managing Users The file permission settings are essential whilst installing Joomla! itself, by the Joomla! add-on installers, and by the Media Manager. If you are unsure what flags should be set, leave the default settings for now. You can change these flags later in the site Global Configuration. Click the Next button. Installation: Step 4 The final page allows you to copy information for the configuration.php file. Figure 12: Installation Step 4 Copy the configuration file data. You can either paste it directly into the configuration.php-dts file on the server and rename that file configuration.php, or create a separate configuration.php file and upload it to the Joomla! root directory. You only need to copy and paste the data if the installation has not created the configuration.php file for you. However, it does no harm to keep a note of this information in a local file for future reference. Note: Ensure that the configuration.php has write permissions correctly set. WARNING!: Do not forget your Super Administrator login name and password, as it is not possible to enter the Administrator Control Panel (Back-end) without this. If you lose this information, you must restart the complete set up procedure. Caution: For security reasons you must delete the installation folder. In fact, until this is done, you will not be able to view your web site (Front-end) or login to the Administrative Control Panel (Back-end). What is Next? You then have a choice of two buttons. One will take you to your Joomla! Site (Front-end); the other to the Site Administrator Login screen (Back-end). If this is your first installation, we recommend that you click the View Site button. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 28 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users You should see your new Joomla! web site. Figure 13: Joomla! Home Page Take a moment to explore some menu options. When you are ready, click the Administrator link in the Main Menu or enter the http://www.yourdomainname.com/administrator URL. This will display the Login screen. Figure 14: Joomla! Administrator Login Enter the user name admin and your password, as you set it in Step 4 of the installation process. Click the Login button and you should now see the Administrator (Back-end) Control Panel. If this is not your first time then you will know what to do next. If not. Read on! Set up is complete. You are ready to JOOMLA! Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 29 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users Overview of the Installed Elements of a Joomla! Web Site Introduction Now that you have your Joomla! installation up and running, a word about the different elements that make up your web site. Templates The template and its associated files provide the visual `look and feel' of your web site and are maintained separately from the web site content. This is stored in a MySQL database. A typical Joomla! installation comes with two templates pre-installed called madeyourweb and rhuk_solaflare_ii. Template files are located in the templates folder, in the root directory, and each template typically consists of the following files: Table 2: Template files File Name Details index.php This file contains HTML, PHP and possibly JavaScript coding that provides the framework for your web site's design. In combination with the .css and image files, it builds all the design and content placement elements of your web site. This file is the authority to use the template and contains references to all the files used, e.g. index.php, the css file etc. This file is used in the Template Manager to provide, if switched on, a small thumbnail representation of the web site design. There must be a template_thumbnail.png file in the template's root directory. Located in the css folder, this Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) file contains the code to handle the visual elements of the web site, e.g. font sizes, colours, etc. There can be as many CSS files as you wish provided the appropriate HTML reference is in the index.php file. For example, templateDetails.xml template_thumbnail.png template_css.css " ; ?> Although this example has bee wrapped over four lines, there are no spaces in this coding. Image files These files are located in the images folder and may be .gif, .jpg, or .png. They provide the graphical elements of the web site design. Further Information: This manual does not cover template design in detail. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 30 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users Components Components are core elements of Joomla!'s functionality and are displayed in the main body of the web site's template. The code for the main body will appear in the template as follows: . Depending on the design of the template in use, this is often in the centre of the web page. A typical Joomla! installation comes with Banners, Contacts, News Feeds, Polls, and Web Links Components. Members of the Joomla! community produce third party Joomla! Components on a continuous basis. Look at http://extensions.joomla.org/ or http://developer.joomla.org for a listing of additional Component downloads. Further Information: Chapter 6: Accessing functions from the Back-end ­ Administrator Modules Modules extend the capabilities of Joomla! giving the software new functionality. A Module is a small piece of content that can be displayed anywhere that your template allows. Modules are very easy to install in the Administrator Section (Back-end). Joomla! Modules may include: Main Menu, Top menu, Template Chooser, Polls, Newsflash, Hit Counter, etc. Members of the Joomla! community produce Joomla! Modules on a continuous basis. They are freely available on http://developer.joomla.org/ or http://extensions.joomla.org for download. An example of a module PHP code is . Further Information: Chapter 6: Accessing functions from the Back-end ­ Administrator Mambots A Mambot is a small, task-oriented function that intercepts and manipulates content, in some way, before displaying it. Joomla! provides a number of Mambots in the core distribution, e.g. {mospagebreak}, {mosimage} etc. Further Information: Chapter 6: Accessing functions from the Back-end ­ Administrator Joomla! Development Lifecycle This section deals with the typical development lifecycle and provides a simple checklist of questions and considerations you need to be aware of as a web designer. There are two distinct aspects to designing a Joomla! CMS web site. The first is the content and the second is the template: the Look and Feel of the web site. Although independent, some consideration extends across the two. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 31 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users Considerations in the Joomla! Development Lifecycle. Table 3: Web site design considerations Template `Look and Feel' Site Content Consider overall `Look and Feel' requirements, e.g. formal, cartoon, urban etc. Produce a list of all topics and information that will be included on the site Organise the list into logical groupings with a hierarchical structure if appropriate, i.e. a site map. At this stage, make no assumptions as to how this information will eventually be displayed, e.g. calendar or diary may be a Content Item or may require an additional Component to be installed. Consider overall presentation of the information, including placement of menu(s), main content, secondary content e.g. a list of news items, logos, banners, copyright etc. Consider each group of information to determine how it will fit into the Section, Category, and Item structure if appropriate. Consider whether core Components are required. Consider CSS presentation requirements Consider whether additional Components are required. Consider whether custom Component programming is required. Consider whether core Modules are required. Consider whether additional Modules are required. Consider whether custom Module programming is required. Consider whether Mambots are required. Consider impact of Module placement on template design Consider graphic requirements and produce drafts. Produce draft template and .css file, including draft graphics. Set-up Section(s), Category(s) and Items Input draft text of Section(s) description(s), Category(s) description(s) and Items Install additional Components, Modules, and Mambots and populate information. Consider how the content is meshing with the template Produce final template and .css file including final graphics Final proof read of the content and amend it as necessary. Review and revise template, as necessary, to mesh with content. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 32 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users Chapter 3: Joomla! Users Introduction This Chapter deals with: The different types of Joomla! Users User Registration Recovering a lost password Logging in to the Frontend User's Account Details Types of Users and Access Permissions Users of Joomla! web sites can be broken down into two broad categories: Guests Registered Users Guests are simply visitors to your Joomla! web site. Depending on how the Super Administrator has configured the site, some content can only be viewed by Registered users while visitors can only browse a limited amount of it, or all the content can be accessible. Registered Users have registered with your site to obtain a username and password. This username and password allows Registered Users to log into your site, receiving special privileges not available to guests. Registered Users are broken down into two groups: Frontend Users Backend Users. Note: The admin panel refers to these two groups of users as Public Front-end and Public Backend. Frontend Users Front-end Users get additional rights over guests, which may include the ability to create and publish content on the web site. We will generally refer to these users as content providers since their primary goal is to provide content on the web site, not to administer the site or alter its design. Content providers may provide new content through the web interface using an embedded WYSIWG (What You See Is What You Get) editor without any knowledge of HTML coding. Within the Front-end User classification there are four specific levels, the site administrator can assign. These levels are: Registered, Author, Editor, and Publisher. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 33 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users Table 4: Front-end Registered Users User Access & Permissions Registered A Registered User has no ability to create, edit, or publish content on a Joomla! web site. They may submit new Web Links for publication and they may have access to restricted content that is not available to guests. Authors can create their own content, specify certain aspects of how the content will be displayed, and specify the date when the material should be published. Editors have the same abilities as an Author and they can edit their own content as well as that of any other Author. Publishers can perform all the duties of Authors and Editors and have the ability to publish content. Author Editor Publisher The default user role is Registered User. For Front-end users to receive any other role requires an Administrator or Super Administrator to change their profile through the Back-end Administrator panel. Further Information: Chapter 7: Managing Users Backend Users Back-end users -- Managers, Administrators, and Super Administrators -- are typically thought of as the site administrators, but they also have access to the Front-end interface. Just as with the Front-end Users, Back-end Users may have different privileges. Table 5: Back-end Registered Users User Access & Permissions A Manager has the same permissions as a Publisher but with access to the Backend Administrator's panel. Manager Managers have access to all the content associated controls in the administrator panel but are not able to change templates, alter page layouts, or add or delete extensions to Joomla! Managers also have no authority to add users or alter existing user profiles Administrators have a broader range of access than Managers do. Administrators can add and delete extensions to the web site, change templates or alter page layouts and can even alter user profiles equal to their own permission levels or below. What they cannot do is edit the profiles of a Super Administrator or change certain global characteristics of the web site. Super Administrators do not show up in the User Manager screen when users are logged in as an Administrator. The Super Administrator has the same kind of power as root in a traditional Linux system and has unrestricted abilities to perform all administrative functions inside of Joomla! Only Super Administrators have the ability to create new users with Super Administrator permissions or to assign Super Administrator permissions to existing users. Administrator Super Administrator The only user that exists after a Joomla! installation is the Super Administrator. This is the `admin' account created during the installation process. Further Information: Chapter 2: Browser Installation ­ Step 4. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 34 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users Registration Other than the Super Administrator's (admin) account, that is created by default when Joomla! is installed, there are two ways that guests have of becoming registered members on a Joomla! web site. First, they may register themselves using the register link in the login form, if provided. Second, the Super Administrator, or Administrator if there is one, may enter them directly using the Administrator panel (Back-end). The two images below show the Login Form with and without the Register link. Figure 15: Front-end Login box The Login Form displays the Register link by default. The Super Administrator may disable this feature. Further Information: Chapter 8: Global Configuration. For a direct registration, there is an optional e-mail activation to ensure that the potential user is supplying a valid e-mail address, the default for this is also - enabled. When enabled, the user will receive an e-mail containing a validation link that they must follow in order to complete the registration process. Recovering a Lost Password If you are like most people these days, you have too many passwords and it is inevitable that you are going to forget one eventually. Joomla!, like most systems today, allows you to automatically reset your password should you forget it. The following dialogue appears when you click on the Lost Password? prompt in the Login Form: Figure 16: Lost Password Request When you fill in your username and e-mail address, Joomla! will e-mail you a new password that you can use to access the system. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 35 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users The reason that Joomla! cannot send your old password to you is that passwords are stored using an encryption format that is not reversible. This means that even Super Administrators cannot view your password! This is proper practice in web site design these days, so do not be upset that you cannot use your old password, be happy that passwords are protected! Caution: Since new passwords are sent out via e-mail and e-mail is inherently insecure. It is always a good idea to change passwords received via e-mail as soon as possible. If your e-mail address has changed, the only option you will have is to find a link on the site to contact the Super Administrator and have them send it to you. Logging In and Out Log In Once you have registered with the web site and, optionally, responded to your validation e-mail, you simply enter your username and password in the Login Form and click the Login button to login to the web site. User Menu Figure 17: User Menu Once you have logged in to the web site you will notice that a User Menu appears in the left navigation pane. This menu may contain more or less options depending on the individual web site. The following Table gives a short description of the typical menu items you are likely to see: Table 6: User Menu Options Menu Option Details/Options Your Details: Submit News: Submit Web Link: Check-In My Items: Used to view and/or modify your account details. Used to submit your new Content Items (Author and Above). Used to submit new web links that you have found (Registered users and above). Used to check in any items you may have been working on but not saved. Your Details To view your account details you can click on the Your Details menu link, which will present you with the following options screen: Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 36 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 3: Joomla! Users Figure 18: User Details screen Here you can change Your Name, e-mail address, User Name and Password. User Editor: You can also select the default User or WYSIWYG Editor from the User Editor drop down list. Figure 19: User Editor select drop down In a default installation the only editor that is available is TinyMCE, which provides good basic abilities to edit content right from the web site. The Administrator may install additional editors, in which case they would be available from the drop down list as well. You may also choose no WYSIWYG editor if you wish to input your content without the use of the WYSIWYG editor. Note: This option will require some knowledge of HTML. Chapter 4: explores - Submitting News, Web Links, and Check In Items further. Logout: Click on the Logout button to end the current session. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 37 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 4: Accessing Functions from the Front-end Chapter 4: Accessing Functions from the Frontend Introduction As you saw in the last chapter, once you have registered with a Joomla! web site you will see a distinct User Menu when you log in. Regardless of your specific role, i.e. Registered, Author, Editor, or Publisher, you will see the same User Menu. However, the functions available from the menu will vary depending on the access permissions you have. In this chapter, we will look at: Managing Content Submitting Web Links Checkin Items Manage Content In general, content management consists of the following three operations: Submission of new content to the system (Content Item). Proof reading and editing of that content if necessary. Publication of the content. In the Joomla! scheme of things, Authors are generally responsible for submitting content, Editors for proof reading and/or editing content, and Publishers for publishing content. However, both Editors and Publishers may submit content and a Publisher can edit as well. For the purposes of this chapter, we will assume that Authors are creating the content, Editors are editing the content, and Publishers are publishing the content. Author As we said earlier, different roles can be assigned to users on a Joomla! web site. By default, this is that of a Registered user. This type of user cannot submit Content Items. Note: In order to follow along with these examples you must either have system administration privileges to edit the role of the user or request that your system administrator set you up with users that have the specific roles covered in these examples. Otherwise, you can simply read along and try the examples out at some point in the future. Submit News via the Frontend Access: Select User Menu>Submit News When an Author clicks on the Submit News menu link, in their User Menu, they will be presented with a dialogue entitled The News / Add Content. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 38 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 4: Accessing Functions from the Front-end Figure 20: Add Content from the Front-end Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 39 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 4: Accessing Functions from the Front-end This window has three main areas: The top area contains input fields for the title of the new article and an appropriate Category for the Item. Note: The available categories will depend on the way the site content has been set up. In general, where only one Section has been set up, all the categories for that Section will be available. If you have multiple Sections, you will need to set up multiple links on the User Menu: one for each Section. Toolbar Buttons: Save, Apply, and Cancel are available. Note: Save will save the data and close the window. Apply will save the data while leaving the Add Content screen open. The second major area of the screen contains the WYSIWYG editor where the Author enters the content. The WYSIWYG editor that is included in the Joomla! installation by default is known as TinyMCE and contains many of the features available in a typical HTML editing program. With the editor you can type in and format, content without having to know HTML. Here are just some of the features of this editor are: Choose font size style and colour. Insert bulleted or numbered lists. Justify text with left, centre or right attributes. Insert hyperlinks. Create and edit Tables for inserting Tabular content. You will notice that there are two WYSIWYG editor panes. The first one allows you to type some Intro (introduction) Text for your article. This serves as a summary of the article and can be used as a teaser for the full article when the content is displayed under certain circumstances, such as a Front Page article, or on the blog style page, rendering that is supported by Joomla!. It is not necessary to split your article up in this fashion as you can simply type the entire article into the Intro Text window. The second WYSIWYG editor is where you type the Main Text. As we said, this area is optional as all text may be input into just the Intro Text field. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 40 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 4: Accessing Functions from the Front-end Figure 21: Adding Intro Text In addition to all the standard HTML type formatting, you may also insert images into your Content Item. Inserting images is done differently in Joomla! than you may be used to in programs such as Dreamweaver. Joomla! uses tags, {mosimage}, in your article that identify where pictures should go; the pictures are inserted by the system when called up by visitors to the web site. Just below the WYSIWYG editor display, you will see two buttons The first labelled Insert Image enables you to insert the image tag anywhere in to your text. When you do this, you will notice that the editor simply inserts the tag {mosimage} into the text. The second button, called Insert Page Break inserts a page break at a particular point inside your document. Clicking on this button will insert the tag {mospagebreak} inside your document. Documents with embedded page breaks will display an Article Index when the document is displayed. Next and Previous links, at the bottom of the document, are provided for easy navigation from one page to the next. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 41 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 4: Accessing Functions from the Front-end Figure 22: Multi-page Content Item Index The last of the three sections contains three Tabs entitled Images, Publishing, and Metadata. These Tabs are used to control various aspects of your content such as associating images with the {mosimage} tags, setting the publishing dates, and specifying the metadata for your article. This Tabbed window will take on different characteristics depending on the permissions of the user who is currently logged into the system; the principal difference being that Publishers will have a field available in the Publishing Tab that will enable them to publish the article on the web site. This functionality will not be available to Authors and Editors. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 42 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 4: Accessing Functions from the Front-end Images Tab The Images Tab contains the necessary options to assign images to the {mosimage} tags you inserted in your article. One important thing to keep in mind here is that the images will appear in the Content Item in the order that they appear in the Content Images field. You can use the Up and Down buttons to adjust the order of the images. The right hand column contains various attributes that you can assign or adjust for the image that you have picked. These include the alignment of the picture, any alternate text that you would like to have displayed when the user's mouse is over the picture and a caption for the picture and the position that you would like it to appear. Once you have set the desired attributes for the image, click the Apply button. Figure 23: Images Tab Front-end Okay so we see how to assign images to the {mosimage} tags that we embedded in to our documents but where do these images come from? Joomla! has a Media Manager, which can only be accessed through the Administrator panel (Back-end). Further Information: Chapter 6: Managing Media The Media Manager allows you to upload, store and organise your images. The images used for articles are stored in a sub-folder called stories under the images directory. In the upper left-hand corner of the images Tab, you will see the Sub-folder drop-down list. Use this list to select the sub-folders underneath the stories folder. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 43 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 4: Accessing Functions from the Front-end Publishing Tab The next Tab in this window is the Publishing Tab. This allows the Author to specify: The intended viewing audience The proposed start and finish dates for publishing Whether the article is to be shown on the Front Page of the web site. Figure 24: Publishing Tab Front-end The first field, Access Level, determines who can see the article: Field Name Details/Options Access Level: There are thee levels of access: Public: The article will be available to every user in the Public area of the web site including guests. If the Author chooses to make the Access Level Registered, the content will only be available to Registered users. Determines that the article will only be available to users with Manager, Administrator, or Super Administrator permissions. Registered: Special: Author Alias: The Author can create a new article under an alias rather than the Username that they use to login to the web site. Of course, this along with all other aspects of the article, are subject to editorial review by an Editor or Publisher. Any new article is, by default, added to the top of the list of articles. Ultimately, the Editor or Publisher will determine their position. The item must be saved first though. The last fields in the Publishing Tab determine when the article will appear and if it will be displayed on the Front Page. The field allows the author to specify the date and time that the article will become available on the web site. The format for specifying a time is `Year-Month-Day'. As you can see from the picture above this article was set to start publishing on October 14, 2006. The Finish publishing field will accept the same date format as the Start Publishing field but also understands the keyword Never allowing the article to become a permanent part of the web site. Ordering: Start Publishing: Finish Publishing: Note: Content submitted by Authors will not appear on the web site until a Publisher or Administrator publishes it. If this does not happen prior to the Start Publishing date and time the article will not show up at the time specified by the author so they should allow enough lead time for the article to be reviewed and published. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 44 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 4: Accessing Functions from the Front-end It is not necessary to go and find a calendar to determine the appropriate Start and Finish Publishing dates. Joomla! includes a handy little drop down calendar widget that appears when you press the button next to either field. This calendar allows you to browse forward or backward by month or year, searching for the appropriate date. Select a date by double clicking on it. If you single click on a date, the date will be highlighted and immediately show up in the associated text field. Clicking anywhere on the page outside the calendar will close the calendar, whatever date you had selected will remain in the text field. Note: When you select a date with the calendar, the time field will disappear, so you will have to re-enter the time manually if you use the date picker widget to select a calendar day. Remember, the format is `Year-Month-Day Hour:Minutes:Seconds' Metadata Tab The last Tab in this attributes window is the Metadata Tab and is used to set the Metadata associated with the article the Author just entered. Figure 25: Metadata Tab Front-end The Description and Keywords fields entered here will not be visible in the published document, Search Engines, and other systems, use them to classify the information contained in the article. The following HTML code will appear inside the tag of the published HTML document. Editor In Joomla!, Authors may edit their own content once it has been published. Additionally, Editors and Publishers may also edit the content submitted by any Author on the site. Editing is the same process that I used to submit new content. All of the screens are the same and they perform the same function. The only slight difference that you need to understand is how to access the article to be able to edit it. When logged into the Joomla! system Authors, Editors and Publishers will see a small Edit button next to the articles that they have been responsible for authoring, editing, or publishing. Clicking on this button will bring up the content edit window containing the same screens that we just discussed for authoring content. From here, you may edit the content and save the article once again. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 45 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 4: Accessing Functions from the Front-end Figure 26: Category List screen As you can see from the picture above, Editors and Publishers will see this button associated with any content on the system allowing them to edit any article by any Author. Publisher Publishers have all the same abilities as Authors and Editors plus the ability to publish articles on the web site. All the controls that we just saw for submitting and editing content are also available to Publishers. A Publisher may author their own content, edit the content of all Authors or Editors, and publish the articles to the web site. The most noticeable difference that a Publisher will see when logged in to the web site is the addition of a new field called State in the Publishing Tab when authoring new content or editing an existing Content Item. It allows the Publisher to publish articles without having access to the Administrator (Back-end) panel. Figure 27: Publishing Tab Front-end Publishers The selection list available for this field has just two choices, Published and Unpublished. When published the article will be viewable on the web site between the times and dates specified by the Start Publishing and Finish Publishing fields. Joomla! 1.0.11 User Manual 46 Version 1.0.1. Chapter 4: Accessing Functions from the Front-end Note: Publishers may publish articles on Joomla! web sites. However, they do not have access to the Administrator's (Back-end) panel. The equivalent role to a Publisher, which allows access to the Administrator's (Back-end) panel, is the Manager. This is discussed later in this user's manual. Submit a Web Link The web link is another form of content that a Joomla! web site uses. Web links are simply links to other web sites of interest and all Registered users can submit them. You access this function by clicking on the Submit Web Link menu item in the User Menu. As you can see from the picture below, when you click on the Submit Web Link menu item a new dialogue box appears that allows you to enter the Name, Section, URL, and Description of the web link.