Cory Webb's How To Joomla!

Joomla Security Primer

me@corywebb.com (Tom Canavan) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:18:59 +0000

This post was written by guest writer, Tom Canavan. Tom is a Joomla security expert, and he has authored the book Joomla Web Security (Packt) as well as Dodging the Bullets - A Disaster Preparation Guide for Joomla! Based Websites. Tom has consulted on security issues for me on a number of occasions, and I can say with firsthand experience that he knows his stuff. If your site is ever hacked or you need security consulting for your web site, Tom is definitely the man to call. - Cory

As a security guy, I get asked frequently about Joomla, and if it's secure. I start to answer, and am always interrupted with something along the lines of:

"..I know it's not, I just want to know how insecure it is.."

As if security is measured on a 1 to 10 scale..Security is not a scale, but a total philosophy, a set of tools and actions. Yes, it can be measured, but taking Joomla and singling it out is foolish. Looking at Joomla as part of your total site security makeup IS the right answer. You must measure security holistically. Any part of your security that is weak,weakens the entire infrastructure.

So how do you answer it? To begin with, Joomla is only as secure as the platform it is on, the extensions installed on it and the proper safeguards that are put in place. In fact, many times if a Joomla site is hacked, it could be any number of things. But here's the part that is hard for some to swallow...It's not typically Joomla's fault. it's many times the administrators fault for failing in some basic areas. Now to be fair to the admin, security is an entire practice itself, and in this article I will lay out some basic concepts both Joomla and non-joomla to help you understand how to secure your site.

Joomla! 1.5.15 Released - Get It While It's Hot!

me@corywebb.com (Cory) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:55:04 +0000

The Joomla! Project announced the release of Joomla! 1.5.15 today. This release contains a couple of security fixes, so be sure and upgrade as soon as possible.

Click here to see the official announcement.

How To Make Multiple Page Layouts Easily

james@corywebbmedia.com (James Hafner) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:07:37 +0000

This How To article piggy-backs off one of the recent articles, How To Change the Layout on the Frontpage. In that How To we discussed how changing a few parameters in the frontpage menu item could totally change the look and format of the frontpage. This How To will show you how Joomla! makes it just as easy to do the same thing on other pages as well.

How To Find Available Attributes for Parameter Elements

james@corywebbmedia.com (James Hafner) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

This how-to is aimed more at Joomla! developers than our beginner or intermediate Joomla! user crowd. When creating an extension (module, component, plugin, or template), it's often necessary to give users the ability to choose custom settings by giving them Parameter options. Interacting with parameters will be for another How-To, but today I want to show you how to find the available attributes for a particular parameter element.

How to Change the Layout on the Frontpage

james@corywebbmedia.com (James Hafner) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A question that comes up often of new users is "How do I change the layout of the content on my frontpage?". To be more specific, the question is often about how to change the content layout from Joomla!'s default 1 column leading / 2 column intro / links layout. Fortunately, Joomla! makes this really easy to do.

How To Get the World's Fastest Joomla! Admin Template

james@corywebbmedia.com (James Hafner) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:24:07 +0000

Today, the self-proclaimed "Fastest Joomla! Admin Template" was released to the public. What makes this especially exciting, is that it was released for free! The team at JoomlaPraise developed a 'lite' version of their ground-breaking AdminPraise2 Joomla! administrator template, called (you guessed it) AdminPraise Lite.

Get 10% off Joomla training in Austin and Dallas

me@corywebb.com (Cory) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:39:16 +0000

On August 27 and August 31, I will be leading Joomla Training in Austin and Joomla Training in Dallas. HowToJoomla readers can get a special discount to these training classes by entering the discount code "htjaustin" for the Austin class and "htjdallas" for the Dallas class.

These training classes are for those who are new to Joomla, and we will cover an introduction to Joomla 1.0 and 1.5, sitewide settings and user management, setting up and organizing menus and navigation, managing content articles, working with Joomla components, using Joomla modules and plugins, choosing and configuring Joomla templates, and how to manage Joomla websites professionally and securely.

I look foward to seeing you there!

Joomla Training in Austin (discount code: htjaustin)

Joomla Training in Dallas (discount code: htjdallas)

How to embed a Google Map into a Joomla Page

james@corywebbmedia.com (James Hafner) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:12:21 +0000

Hi, How To Joomla fans! My name is James and I'm the newest member of the Cory Webb Media team. I've been a long-time fan of How To Joomla and it's an honor for me to be able to contribute to the excellent resources that are here for Joomla! beginners and experts alike. For my inaugural article, I will show you how to embed a Google Map into a Joomla page.

Dallas Joomla! Users Group Meetup

me@corywebb.com (Cory) — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:59:51 +0000

Last night I had the pleasure of driving up to Dallas with Kyle Ledbetter (@joomlapraise) from JoomlaPraise and his wife, Melinda (@magicmarriages), for the Dallas Joomla Users Group Meetup. We had a great time talking with a group of 50+ Joomla! enthusiasts about one of our favorite topics, Joomla!

Guest Post: How to make your Joomla! admin panel rock!

me@corywebb.com (Kyle Ledbetter) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:58:28 +0000

JoomlaPraise.com, started a little over a year ago by the guys at PixelPraise.com, is a relative newcomer to the Joomla! template club industry, and they've carved out a niche for themselves developing simple yet appealing templates that are not only attractive, but also what I like to call "developer friendly," meaning that they are easy to customize and easy to work with. JoomlaPraise's most recent endeavor is the release of AdminPraise 2, an updated and improved version of their first Joomla! administrator template, AdminPriase.

The original AdminPraise template really pushed the boundaries of what a Joomla! administrator template can do, and AdminPraise 2 has taken the concept even further. I have asked Kyle Ledbetter from JoomlaPraise.com to write the first ever guest post on HowToJoomla! to explain some of the top features of AdminPraise 2 and how it can benefit you in your efforts to administer your Joomla!-powered website because I believe this is a revolutionary new way to think about Joomla! administration.

If you've ever wanted more control over your Joomla! admin panel's appearance, shortcuts, menu, or acl, JoomlaPraise's AdminPraise2 is just what you need.

At first glance, AP2 is just a drastic change in the overall appearance of the admin site, but once you dig into it you'll find it's a very powerful tool.