Joomla Training

How to Recover a Lost Joomla Username and Password

Steve Burge — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:44:20 +0000

We've had several people recently contact us after losing the login to their Joomla site. Often they can't remember or just don't know both the username and password. Here's how to recover if you've been locked out of your Joomla 1.5 site:

Step 1: You will need to find access to your Joomla database. Start by going to the control panel provided by your hosting company, where you set-up email accounts and so-on. The most common way offered to access the database is called "phpMyAdmin". Look for a little sailing ship logo like the one on the right.

Step 2: Click to access your databases.

Step 3: You'll see a list of databases on the left-hand side. Hopefully you won't see more than one, but if you do see more, look for a database with a Joomla-sounding name such as jo_151. Click on that database.

Step 4: You'll now see a new list on the left-hand side with names such as jos_banner and jos_bannerclient. Scroll all the way to the bottom and click on jos_users.

Step 5: Look at the top of the page and click "Browse":

Step 6: You should a line right at the top looking like this. The number is probably going to be 62. Click on the pencil icon:

Step 7: Write down the username.

Step 8: Enter this into the password field: 21232f297a57a5a743894a0e4a801fc3

Step 9: Click "Go" to save your changes.

Step 10: You should now be able to login to your site using the username and the password "admin".

Step 11: Go to Site >> User Manager and change your password to something that is harder to guess.

How to Change the Favicon on Your Joomla Site

Steve Burge — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0000

The favicon is the small image that people use to identify your site. It appears in their bookmarks, in their browser bar and in any tabs that they have open:

By default, Joomla uses the official Joomla logo. Here's how to change the image to something that reflects your website:

Step 1: Find the image that you'd like to use. The best favicons are normally square and don't have a great of detail.
Step 2: Either resize the image yourself to 16 pixels high and 16 pixels wide, or you can use a website such as http://www.favicon.cc to resize it for you.
Step 3: Make sure that the image is called favicon.ico
Step 4: You will need to upload the image via FTP or your favorite file manager. The location you need to upload to will look like this /templates/your-template-name/. That's all. You don't need to place it in your template's images directory or even Joomla's image directory. Just place it in your template's main folder.

A Note of Caution:

Many browsers use "caching" which means they show a version of the page from several minutes ago. That means that your browser may not show your new favicon immediately. You may need to delete your browser cache (instructions are here) and restart your browser to see the change.

How to Create New Joomla Module Positions

Steve Burge — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:57:53 +0000

This is a very simple trick that many people seem to miss ... you can create your own module positions from inside of Joomla. Here's how to do it:

Go to Extensions >> Module Manager and open up any module. You'll see page looking like this:
Place your cursor in the "Position" box and hit backspace. You'll be able to delete the position name:
Type in the name of the position that you'd like to create:

This makes life much easier if you want to use other techniques using modules, including placing modules into articles.

How to Block Spam Registrations in Joomla

Steve Burge — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:57:48 +0000

If you run a website that allows registration, you're probably familiar with the parade of fake addresses that people use: mickymouse [at] hotmail.com, email [at] email.com and so on. You've also seen spam addresses often ending in .ru, .biz, info or similar.

This week we're going to show you how to check registration emails to make sure they are using legitimate. This can cut down on the number of spam comments, forum posts and other submissions you have to deal with.

We're going to use a plugin called Registration Validator. Here's how you do it:

Register for an account at CEDit.biz and confirm your account.
Log in and Download the Registration Validator plugin.
In the administration area of your Joomla site, go to Extensions >> Install / Uninstall and upload the file.
In the administration area of your Joomla site, go to Extensions >> Plugin Manager >> System - Registration Validator and enable the plugin.
Inside the plugin you can change the settings.

Once the plugin is enabled your registration form will have add another layer of protection to your site from spammers.

How to Get a Really Good Preview of Joomla Articles

Steve Burge — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 16:28:26 +0000

Most of our ideas for tutorials come from people's requests and this is no exception. Someone asked me the other day ... "How can I really see what an article is going to look like when I publish it?".

Normally, if you're writing an article and click Joomla's "Preview" button you get a plain white page with no template, no modules and no styling. The real-life page will look very different. So, here's how to get a really good preview of Joomla articles:

We're going to use a plugin called (appropriately) Better Preview. Here's how you do it:

Download the Better Preview plugin from NoNumber.nl.
In the administration area of your Joomla site, go to Extensions >> Install / Uninstall and upload the file to install. The plugin will publish automatically.
Go to write a new article and a button saying "Preview" will appear in the top-right of your screen.
Click that link to see the article with the correct template, modules and styles.

One extra benefit is that you'll also be able to see the URL of page. Joomla's normal preview appears in a pop-up so you don't know where it will be located.

How to Improve Your Joomla Contact Form

TJ Baker — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:16:40 +0000

One question we frequently get is about the Joomla contact form. Some people think its too plain and want to redesign it or add features. Some people get too much spam.

This week we'll walk you through how to improve your contacts component, including adding new fields and the anti-SPAM Captha system to your contact forms.

We're going to use a component called QContacts. Here's how you do it:

Download the QContacts component from Latenight-coding.com.
In the administration area of your Joomla site, go to Extensions >> Install / Uninstall and upload the file to install.
If you already have contact categories and contacts set up, you can import them: In the administration area of your Joomla site, go to Components >> QContacts >> Tools and click on Execture in the 'Import Contacts' to import your contact categories and contacts.
Go to Menus >> Main Menu, click New and you can choose QContacts as an option to start seting up links to your contacts.

The real power of QContacts can be found by going to Components >> QContacts >> Contacts and clicking on the "Parameters" button in the top-right. You can choose to add an anti-SPAM Captcha system or to redesign your form in all sorts of ways.

Taking QContacts Further

Be sure to also download the Search Plugin from the Latenight-coding site to allow searching of your contacts. Once downloaded you will install the plugin just as you did the component in step 2 above.

The creator of the component also offers complete documentation which you may find very helpful.

Joomla! 1.5 Customization Book Free to All Our Intermediate Class Students

Steve Burge — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:02:42 +0000

One of our good friends in the Joomla world is Daniel Chapman who develops Joomla extensions at NinjaForge.com.

He's also written a new book. There are lots and lots of beginner guides to Joomla, but very few that are aimed at more advanced students. Daniel has written the first book that answers the question: "I know the Joomla basics ... now what?"

His book is called "Joomla! 1.5x Customization" and we're delighted to announce that every student at our intermediate classes will get a free copy.

Upcoming Intermediate Classes

Publicity Blurb for Joomla! 1.5x Customization

Joomla! 1.5x Customization: Make Your Site Adapt to Your Needs

Setting up a basic Joomla! Web site is easy; what comes next is hard and expensive – making the site do exactly what and look exactly how you want. With this book in hand, it is easy to adapt your site to bring your vision fully to life.

This book will help you to separate your site from the crowd of other Joomla! sites without having to invest in developers. It will guide you through how to customize different parts and aspects of your site and will also show you how to turn your site into a profitable business via these customizations. You will be able to build a successful, professional web site that will adapt to all your business needs.

You will be taken beyond the basics of Joomla!, and given an insight into the techniques and tools used by the professionals to rapidly develop unique, custom sites. This will enable you to develop your own professional-quality Joomla! site without assistance, saving you time and money. You will learn how modules, plugins, components, and templates are constructed, and how to make changes in them, giving you the confidence to make more elaborate changes to your site. On top of this will be a look at common problems Joomla! site developers face and how best to deal with them.

You will also learn techniques for building a business with Joomla!, as you step through building a subscription-based web business. Towards the end, you will look at marketing and monetizing this business fully to maximize your return.

What Joomla! 1.5x Customization Covers

Identify and use the right tools to speed up site development

Set goals and a mission for your site to guide development

Pick the right extensions for your site

Plan and implement advanced configurations for extensions

Modify extension functionality to suit your needs

Modify extension and template appearance to suit your needs

Diagnose and fix common problems on Joomla! sites

Market your site, via SEO, Social Marketing, and Traditional Marketing

Monetize your site to make the maximum return

Build a subscription site step by step

How to Add Google Maps to Your Joomla Site

TJ Baker — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:13:43 +0000

This week we're going to walk you through how to add Google Maps into your Joomla powered site.

Providing directions to your place of business or to an event you may be promoting is common practice. Adding a highly configurable Google Map to your site is taking it one step further, allowing people to get directions and see exactly where you are.

We're going to use a plugin called 'Plugin Googlemaps'.

Here's how you do it:

Download Plugin Googlemaps from the Joomlacode site. Its a long list but you can use the very first file.
In the administration area of your Joomla site, go to Extensions >> Install / Uninstall and upload the file to install.
Sign up for a free Google Maps API Key by clicking here. Its likely to be a long string.
In the administration area of your Joomla site, go to Extensions >> Plugin Manger >> Google Maps and put your API key in the appropriate field (in the parameters on the right).
If you are going to use the plugin to display a default location, you can simply enter the address in the 'Address' field in the parameters
Create an article and insert this code: {mosmaps}

There are many more configuration options available with the plugin, including setting up maps to multiple locations, hybrid maps, Youtube layers and much much more. For an in depth look at what you can do with the plugin and how to use the various options, see the Documentation at the creator's website.

First Joomla Training Class in Denver, Colorado on September 30

Steve Burge — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:57:11 +0000

A new city and a new state!

We're happy to announce that Joomla Training has arrived in Denver, Colorado.

Our first Denver class is 10 days away now on Wednesday, September 30th.

The teacher will be one of our very best, Rod Martin who has been a trainer for over 20 years and brings great Joomla! experience to the table.

Schedule

Part 1: Introduction to Joomla including 1.0 and 1.5
Part 2: Site-wide settings and user management
Part 3: Setting up and organizing menus and navigation
Part 4: Managing content articles
Part 5: Working with Joomla components
Part 6: Using Joomla modules and plugins
Part 7: Choosing and configuring Joomla templates
Part 8: How to manage Joomla websites professionally and securely

Class Details

Price: $299
Time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Location: Executrain West, 7400 E Orchard Rd # 1450, Greenwood Vlg, CO 80111-2672

Click here to register for our Denver class.

How to Add Social Bookmarking / Networking to Joomla Articles

TJ Baker — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:17:27 +0000

Social bookmarking and networking sites are very popular these days, and a must for those who wish to share their content with the broadest audience possible. Allowing your visitors to share your content with those in their 'network' is a great way to market your site.

This week we'll walk you through how to set up a tool to allow quick sharing of your articles in the most popular social bookmarking/networking sites.

We're going to use a plugin called Share This

Here's how you do it:

Download the Share This plugin.
In the administration area of your Joomla site, go to Extensions >> Install / Uninstall and upload the file to install.
In the administration area of your Joomla site, go to Extensions >> Plugins and open the Share This plugin.
On the right there are parameters allowing you to choose which services you would like to have displayed. Over 35 of the most common sites are included. You can also change the color and location to match your site.
Enable the plugin, save the changes and start sharing your content with others.

One reason we recommend Share This over the alternatives is that its very discreet. Other bookmarking plugins take up a lot of space but Share This has only a small link that pops-up to reveal more options. There's a demo available here.