Joomla review

• Rating: 8/10
• Release version: 1.5 Beta
• License: GNU/GPL, Open Source
• Homepage: http://www.joomla.org
• OpenSourceCMS.com demo
• CMSMatrix.org listing

Although it is a beta version, I am reviewing Joomla 1.5 because it has many improvements over the 1.0.x versions and even though it may still have some bugs Joomla 1.5 is here to stay!

Ahh, Joomla – my first CMS! Well, it was actually Mambo but Joomla is a fork that is pretty close (at least in the 1.0.x versions), so…

When I started making sites I (like everybody else) coded them by hand and FTPed them to the server; after a while it started getting tedious and more than anything else, a nightmare to update. This is when I started looking for a CMS and eventually chose Mambo, mostly because I had the feeling that no matter what problem I would have the community would help me. And I was right!

There have been many improvements from the 1.0.x series, many of which are a breath of fresh air to Joomla users:

• built in SEF (search engine urls) support. Previously you could turn urls with variables into static urls, but those looked something like example.com/content/view/12/24; in 1.5 Joomla has the ablility to transform urls into example.com/index.php/products/widgets/green-widgets.
• better caching (really helps with heavy trafficed sites, in case of Digg or Slashdot).
• removed statistics – while it may seem to be a step back for many, that component ate resources like no tomorrow.
• general code improvements.

Joomla requirements:

• PHP 4.3.x (4.4.3 recommended) or above  www.php.net
• MySQL 3.23.x or above  www.mysql.com
• Apache 1.13.19 or above  www.apache.org

Joomla learning curve and usability:

Although it’s easy to use after a little bit of messing around and testing different things at first it’s somewhat confusing. Some of the things that are different from other content management systems:

The content categorization system – you can put articles and content in categories which belong in sections. You can’t put content in sections and you can’t create a category without assigning it to a section; also, you can’t have sub-categories or sub-sections. This is simply unbelievable for such an advanced CMS, and it can be a major limiting factor for some sites.

The Check-in system is a very good idea – when you are configuring a module or a plugin the system denies other users’ access to that component. The thing is, when you don’t know that you need to do a “Mass Check-in” you start losing access and it gets confusing.

Other than that, it’s usually simple for somebody who wants just a simple site: install Joomla, create sections and categories and add content. Of course, there always is a little bit of configuration involved, but that is minimal.

Joomla security:

Unfortunately the latest Joomla doesn’t have something that I need from most systems: granular access control. There is a module that gave you more control over the ACL but that only works with Joomla 1.0.x.

Another thing is the server security: you should do anything to improve it, and the first thing is to modify the htaccess.txt file. Joomla actually requires it to be renamed to .htaccess when you want to use mod_rewrite, but it is a smart move to do it anyway.

Also, although the administration folder is protected by Joomla you should password protect it with a .htpasswd file (the same as .htaccess, but for passwords). Get more details about .htpasswd here.

You should also pay attention whether PHP Display Errors are turned on or off – when you are working on a test site it’s perfectly ok (and actually recommended) for the server to show all errors, but when the site is in production state (being visited) you are just inviting trouble in by letting the Display Errors turned on.

Joomla plugins and applications:

The Joomla community is one of the most active and helpful in the content management world, and some members have contributed by writing some great plugins and applications:

• Google Adsense module (Clicksafe edition) – monetization is an important part of many websites and Adsense works very good for a lot of sites. The Clicksafe edition gives you the option to block certain IP addresses that are guilty of suspicious activity (multiple clicks in a short period of time), helping you avoid getting your account disabled. It could be a good idea to block your IP too, if you work a lot on your site.
• Automated cron backup through email – backing up your site is one thing you can’t live without these days; cracking, server outages, unhappy data center employees – make sure you don’t mess with your livelyhood by backing up your site every couple of days.
• JXplorer (File Management And Sharing System) – this component allows you to manage your files without messing with FTP or Cpanel’s File Manager which can be a little annoying at times.
• perForms – allows a Joomla administrator to create forms. The results can be sent to an email address or saved in the database to be viewed or downloaded later. A captcha component can also be integrated for increased security.
• BlogSidebar – this plugin is a very nice addon for those who use Joomla as a blog. It has a configurable calendar, blogroll, latest items (articles), blog view configuration and more.
• J!Tags Plugin – takes the meta keywords you defined and automatically links them to Technorati. You can also use them to just tag your content.
• Jobline – you can turn your Joomla site into a classified ads site for jobs. It has a lot of features: view/post internship or job openings, search ads, submit applications and a lot more. Take it for a spin.
• Joomap – use this component to create a sitemap of your site. You can create both a HTML sitemap (for your visitors) and a XML one, according to Sitemaps.org specifications.
• Joomlaboard – this component creates a forum for Joomla; it isn’t a bridge to other forum scripts, it’s a complete forum solution for Joomla.

Joomla documentation and support:

In my opinion, the Joomla community deserves an A+ for its support! The official forum is great: users get help immediately and it is usually something that solves your problem. Also, the user manual (pdf) is very detailed and will help get a newbie on his way quickly.

Joomla sites:

• Joomla official site
• Joomla extension repository
• Joomla official forum

Reviews is a review and rating system for the Joomla and Mambo Content Management Systems. It is compatible with Joomla 1.x, Joomla 1.5.x and Mambo 4.6.x

With jReviews you can easily build a sophisticated review site or add a review section to your site.

Feature Highlights

• Review everything: movies, music, cars, restaurants, hotels, websites, software, mobile phones, service providers, recipes, travel, books, consumer electronics, articles, you name it
• Custom fields in content & reviews: create custom forms for the main entry and also for user review.
• Advanced search: allow users to search using the custom fields. Design custom search forms with the advanced search module.
• Editor and user reviews: enable only editorial reviews, user reviews, both or none. If you disable reviews you can still take advantage of custom fields and advanced search.
• Customizable templates: clear separation of code and template files allow for easier customization of jReviews.
• Favorites lists: users can add and remove items to their favorites lists and share them with other users.
• Web 2.0: use of ajax and other effects to improve the user experience.
• Reviews RSS Feeds: propagate your review content throughout the web.
• SEO Ready: friendly urls through the use of SEF extensions and a SEO Manager to adjust title, meta keywords and descriptions for custom fields.

Summary of Features

Rating and reviews

• Use it for user reviews, user & editor reviews or editor reviews only.
• Define which users are to be considered editors or administrators can make any review an editor review.
• Create multiple sets of rating criteria, assignable to content categories.
• Select a rating scale of 1-5,1-10,1-100.
• Review usefulness voting and inappropriate reporting.
• User ranking based on number of reviews posted and usefulness.
• New review notification.

Content submission

• Users can submit new items in any of the categories.
• Allow anyone or just registered users to submit a review or an item. This can be automatically published or held for moderation.
• Automatic thumbnails are generated for uploaded images and images are shown as mini-galleries for each content item.
• New content notification.

Custom fields

• Create multiple groups of custom fields, assignable to content categories for new content submissions.
• Custom fields include: text, textarea, email, website, select list, integer, decimal, code – can be used for buy now buttons, multiple select list, checkboxes, radio buttons.
• Easily assign images to custom fields with preset values (i.e. select lists, checkboxes and radio buttons)
• Sort content lists on ascending/descending order based on standard content data (title, date, hits, author), on review information (user and editor ratings) and on custom fields (i.e. price)
• Backend editor for custom fields makes it easy to add and edit custom fields for existing content
• Place custom fields anywhere you want inside content items and content lists by adding the appropriate tags to the provided com_content template.

Advanced search

• Allows users to search for items using the custom fields defined in the administration. These can be select lists, text inputs, etc.
• The administrator can decide which fields should appear in the advanced search form.
• There can be many different advanced search forms depending on the different forms you put together with the custom fields.

Directory listing

• Create multiple directories by assigning categories to them. Each directory can be setup as a different menu on your site. This provides another level above sections to group and present content.
• The directory layout is customizable in terms of section and category columns. Categories can be presented in bullet lists or separated by commas.

Modules and Community Builder Plugins

• JReviews comes with a great set of modules and CB plugins to enhance the look and usability of your site.

Integration with other extensions

• Integration with Community Builder so user name always links back to profile and avatar is displayed with reviews and on user rank page.

Pre-installation Steps

Step 1: Database setup

In order to use Joomla, you would need to create a MySQL database and a user with all necessary priviledges to access the database. Please, check here how to create MySQL database and user. It is adviseable to create the database and the username with the same name in order to avoid any confusion in the future (for example you can choose username_joomla for both).

Step 2: Upload the installation files

You have to upload the Joomla installation files to your web hosting account. You can download the latest release from the official Joomla web site.

The downloaded archive should be extracted locally on your computer. Once this is completed, the files should be uploaded to your web hosting account. In order to do so you can use an FTP client. You can find a detailed tutorial how to use an FTP here.

Please note that if you would like the Joomla installation performed for your domain name thus making it accessible at http://www.your-domain.com, the installation files should be uploaded directly under the public_html folder for your account. If you would like the installation perfromed in a sub-folder or for a sub-domain name the files should be uploaded in the corresponding directory located under the public_html folder. For example if you would like the installation performed for: http://www.your-domain.com/joomla, the installation files should be uploaded under public_html/joomla.

Pre-installation checks:

In this step the Joomla installer checks the server configuration and verifies all the settings needed for the installation. Generally on all Joomla-optimized servers all the checks should be passed without any troubles and the status will be marked in green.

If any custom settings are enabled for your account this might interfere with the Joomla installation. In such case the pre-installation check will notify you exactly which requirement is not met, the status will be marked in red and if available more information will be displayed. If so the issue must be resolved and the check run again.

Once all checks are successfully passed you can proceed with the installation by clicking the [Next] button.

GNU/GPL License agreement.

Please go through the Joomla GNU/GPL License. Any terms, conditions and rules for using a Joomla installation are listed there. After you have checked it you can continue to the installation by clicking the [Next] button.

Step 1: MySQL database configuration

You should have already created the needed MySQL database and username added to it in Step 1 of the pre-installation instructions. The details should be entered in the corresponding boxes.

Note, that the names of the database and the user are prefixed with “username_” where username is your cPanel login name.

Do not forget to type in the password of the MySQL user and note that it is case-sensitive.

For Host Name you should use localhost. All other check-boxes and fields can be left to the default ones. Click on [Next] and a popup will appear, asking you to confirm that the information you entered is correct. If you made a mistake, you will be taken back to this page to correct it.

Step 2: Site Name.

In this step you should choose the desired name for your web site. It will be displayed on the top of the web browser when your web site is accessed and will be used in e-mail messages sent from your Joomla installation. Note that this can be alterred later from the administrator back-end.

Step 3: Confirm the site URL, path, admin e-mail and file/directory chmods

This is an important part of the installation, where you are asked to confirm the URL and system path to the files as well as the permissions you would like set for them. It is highly adviseable not to change the options that were automatically generated and leave them as they are. Also it will be best to supply a valid email address. Of course the administrative password can be changed to a desired one.

Step 4: Completing the installation

Before you can access it, you have to delete the directory called “installation” that is located inside the Joomla directory. This can be done using either an FTP client or cPanel’s File Manager.

You will be provided with the administrative login details for your Joomla installation in this screen. You will be able to click the [View Site] button to access your new Joomla site or [Administration] to take you to administrator login.

Well done! You have successfully installed the Joomla! system on your website!

Now we can proceed to tuning your Joomla, including changing the default language. In your administrator’s panel visit Site – > Global Configuration.

In the first Site tab you can:

• make your website unavailable to the public while it is still in development
• change the offline message;
• choose a Site Name (Company Name) for your website – that would be the <title> tag of your website;
• change the default HTML editor, and
• the number of items in each list.

The Locale tab allows you to:

• specify locale different from the default one;
• change the TimeZone settings. Siteground’s servers are set in CDT (Central Daylight Time) and you might wish to adjust it to yours.
• select the language that the site will display – it can be picked up amongst the ones already installed and published language packs on your Joomla system.

In the Content tab you can choose whether to display the printer-friendly version link in your content.

For those of the options that sound unfamiliar to you, additional information can be obtained when hovering with the mouse pointer over the blue ‘i’ circle at the end of each row.

If you have to change the database setting, you can do this in the Database tab. The server, database name, user and password can be edited from that tab.

How to install Joomla CMS with Fantastico

In order to install Joomla CMS with Fantastico, please log into your cPanel and click on the blue smiley icon () at the bottom of the page.

Please, select ‘Joomla’ from the menu list on the left-hand side

and click on New Installation.

You will be presented with a form that asks for all necessary information about your future Joomla website.

Form explanation:

• Install in Directory – this determines the address where your Joomla installation will be accessible at. If you want to use Joomla for your home page, just leave this field blank.
• Admin access data – the username and password for accessing the administration panel of your Joomla installation.
• Base Configuration Admin e-mail – your e-mail address
• Admin full name – your full name
• Site Name – the name of your website that will be displayed on the front page

Once you have filled in the form, please proceed by clicking on the “Install Joomla” button. You will be asked to confirm the installation on the next page. Finally, you get a page that informs you of a successful installation. You should bookmark the address of the administrator panel (yourdomain.com/administrator), and note your login credentials.

Well done! You are now ready to log in and start building your website!