In this text, Steve Burge - Joomla! expert and teacher to thousands of beginners - guides students through the learning curve - from confusion to results. Joomla 3 Explained: Your Step-By-Step Guide requires absolutely no experience with Joomla! content management, website construction, programming, scripting, or even HTML. The reader will master Joomla 3 one easy step at a time, through a complete hands-on case study. Burge presents crystal-clear visuals, explanations, and analogies - all extensively tested with real Joomla! beginners.
Table of Contents:
Preface xvii
Acknowledgments xix
About the Author xxi
Chapter 1: Joomla! Explained 1
The What, When, Where, and Who of Joomla 2
This Book Explained 9
What’s Next? 13
Chapter 2: Joomla! Planning Explained 15
Joomla Site Planning Explained 15
Our Joomlaville Website Plan 18
Our Joomlaville Project Management Plan 23
Our Joomlaville Development Plan 24
Our Joomlaville Management Plan 25
What’s Next? 25
Chapter 3: Joomla! Installations Explained 27
Choosing the Best Place to Install Joomla 27
Choosing the Best Way to Install Joomla 30
Installing Joomla Automatically 30
Installing Joomla Manually 39
Getting Help If You’re Stuck with Installing Joomla 57
What’s Next? 58
Chapter 4: Joomla! Sites Explained 59
Understanding the Two Areas of a Joomla Site 59
Understanding the Administrator Area of Your Joomla Site 63
Things You’ll See All the Time in Joomla 65
Understanding the Visitor Area of Your Joomla Site 73
Making Your First Joomla Site Changes 79
What’s Next? 85
Chapter 5: Joomla! Content Explained 87
Step 1: Categorize 87
Step 2: Add 91
Step 3: Show 97
The Joomla CASh Workflow: Why Do It This Way? 107
Practicing the CASh Workflow 108
What’s Next? 114
Chapter 6: Joomla! Content Editing Explained 115
Formatting Your Text 115
Adding Images to Your Content 125
Adding Links to Your Content 136
Adding Tables to Your Content 140
Versions of Your Articles 143
Practicing Joomla Content 146
What’s Next? 153
Chapter 7: Joomla! Menus Explained 155
Why Do You Need Menus? 155
Grouping Your Menu Links 156
Creating a Blog by Adding a Menu Link 164
Practicing the CASh Workflow 168
Options: Finishing Your Content Display 172
What’s Next? 179
Chapter 8: Joomla! Components Explained 181
Banners Component 182
Contacts Component 188
Messaging Component 193
News Feeds Component 196
Redirect Component 200
Search Component 204
Smart Search Component 206
Tags Component 211
Web Links Component 214
What’s Next? 219
Chapter 9: Joomla! Modules Explained 221
Understanding Modules 222
Creating New Modules 227
Changing the Order of Modules 233
Changing the Pages on Which Modules Appear 238
What’s Next? 243
Chapter 10: Joomla! Plugins Explained 245
The Plugin Manager 245
Authentication Plugins 247
Content Plugins 249
Editors and Editors-XTD Plugins 256
Search Plugins 262
User Plugins 264
Extension, System, and Other Plugin Types 267
What’s Next? 268
Chapter 11: Adding Joomla! Extensions Explained 269
Researching Components, Modules, and Plugins 269
Installing Components, Modules, and Plugins 280
Other Installation Methods 296
What’s Next? 304
Chapter 12: Joomla! Templates Explained 305
Understanding Templates 305
Changing Templates 309
Changing Template Options 313
Finding and Installing Templates 318
What’s Next? 338
Chapter 13: Joomla! Users Explained 341
What People Can See: Joomla’s Access Levels 341
Method 1: What Users Can See: Joomla’s Access Levels 342
Method 2: What Users Can Do: Joomla’s User Groups 352
Method 3: Creating Your Own Access Controls 358
What’s Next? 370
Chapter 14: Joomla! Site Management Explained 373
Updating Your Site 373
Updating Your Extensions 379
Disabling or Uninstalling Your Extensions 381
Additional Measures to Protect Your Site 383
Backing Up Your Site 385
Global Configuration 390
What’s Next? 401
Index 403
About the Author :
Stephen Burge runs OSTraining.com, which specializes in teaching website development. OSTraining.com’s clients include Apple, Pfizer, and the U.S. Departments of Energy, Education, and Commerce. Burge’s Joomla!® Explained (Addison-Wesley, 2011) and Drupal™ 7 Explained (Sams Publishing, 2014) are each the world’s best-selling guides to the software they cover.
Review :
“The number one position is a suitable spot for this book, and almost any Joomla user– from absolute beginners to seasoned experts–can extract valuable information from this book.” –Theo van der Zee
“Steve Burge started his business at the same time I did back in 2007. Over time, I’ve seen him struggle and succeed with different initiatives, but the following things were always constant: his honesty, business persistence, and true leadership in the Joomla! Open Source community. We’ve been a satisfied customer of ostraining.com since its initial launch and would highly recommend his work.”
–Ogy Nikolic, CEO, OGO Sense
“Finally! A Joomla book for non-geeks.”
–Charlie Sasser, R.E. Mason Company
“Joomla!® 3 Explained, Second Edition, is both comprehensive and thorough . . . a fantastic resource for Joomla users everywhere!”
–Jonathan Gafill, CEO, CloudAccess.net
“This is an excellent resource for the web developer new to Joomla . . . a great book both to start with and to keep on hand as a reference manual.”
–Les Platz, Web Developer
“Joomla!® 3 Explained, Second Edition, is a book I’ve recommended many times. In plain English, Stephen makes it easy to learn material that could otherwise be a daunting challenge. For those building a site for the first time, and for those completely new to Joomla, I can’t think of a better starting point.”
–Scott Wolpow, Founding Board Member, NYC Joomla! Users Group, and CEO, Netalytical Inc.
“Having taught college-level computer science and programming courses, I can only express my admiration for the organization and didactic techniques Burge has used in this book. I would recommend it highly to anyone interested in learning the basics of Joomla.”
–Gary Albers, Website Designer
“Overall this is a really good introduction to Joomla for the absolute novice. If you’re a site admin suddenly told that you’re looking after a Joomla site, then this tutorial is a great place to turn to.”
–Pan Pantziarka, Publisher of TechBookReport
“The book is as complete as you could desire for a beginning book, and if you master it you will be building websites in their totality. It is simply the best out there.”
–Bill S., Tokyo Joomla User Group
“The final verdict is that this is one of the best introductory books on Joomla I have encountered.”
–Ian Elliot, IProgrammer, Reviewer
