Tagging : JTags

Tag is a keyword or term used to describe a piece of information. It helps your visitor to search the contents faster and more efficient. It’s one important feature of any Web 2.0 service. Joomla! wasn’t developed to work using Tags but to use hierarchical sections and categories instead. This was something Joomla desperately needed. JTags is a Joomla! Extension for adding tags to content.

Adding tags is easy you just add it or choose from existing tags while you create or edit an article through a custom form just below the editor . Using special plugin, linkable tags will appear below the article title. Clicking the tag will trigger Joomla!’s search component to search through your tags using a special plugin and will display all the contents that match the tag. JTags also comes with a cool module to display Tags Cloud. JTags is a must-to-have for any blogger using Joomla!

Get JTags

Most Popular : Popular of Late

Let me quote what the developer of this module say as there is no better way to describe it!

Often there is such problem with the “Popular” (”Most Read Content”, mos_mostread) module. There some articles are located, and everyone click on them. As a result these articles do not leave from “popular”, and new articles don’t appear here. It is vicious circle. One of solutions is to show popular news for the last NNN days. The “Popular of late” module based on the original “Popular” module and have one additional parameter only – the period of “novelty”.

This is a very cool feature to have. Popular of Late is a simple module but very useful. This is a must have if you want your site to be fresh!

Get Popular of Late

Rating : Extra Vote

Improve your articles with a five-star rating using ajax with this extension. You can also add rating inside your article independently to rate special parts of it.

Get Extra Vote

Comments : DISQUS

DISQUS is a popular comment services will turn your articles into discussion threads quickly! You will need to sign up for a DISQUS account to start using it on your Joomla! website/blog. You can manage all the comments via DISQUS dashboard or directly from your websites.

Why DISQUS is Special :

1) The look:

• Ajax based. Your visitors won’t have to wait for the page to reload.
• Tableless Div/CSS design doesn’t break your layout.
• Threaded replies make comments interactive and expressive.
• Fully customizable, you can change the look, fonts, colors, pagination and more

2) Features you’ll really like:

• Trackback support.
• Support for Gravatar.
• Video replies using seesmic.
• Rating for comments to mark spam or bad comments.
• Word filter.
• Block people of certain username, IP or email address.
• Add moderators so you wont have to do all the job alone!
• User profile. Check the latest comments and rating for a user without leaving the page.

3) Widgets for:

• Recent comments.
• Popular threads.
• Top commenters.

Get DISQUS

Social Bookmarking : DDRFS

I’ve tested most social bookmarking extensions. Let me tell you why I chose this one; Its simply working. Install, publish and done! Other extensions require manual modification of files, include unwanted links or uncustomizable! DDRFS is a simple plugin will provide links for Delicious, Digg, Reddit, Facebook & StumbleUpon.

Get DDRFS

I hope you enjoyed this collection and feel free to comment and ask!

In this guide, we will get you up and running with your first Joomla website and go over the basics of what it’s all about.

Getting Joomla

The first thing we need to do is download the latest version of Joomla from their official website. Current version is 1.5.7.

Once you have finished downloading, you will need to extract the zip file to a location of your choice. Now you need to use an FTP client to upload the extracted files to your webhost. If you need help connecting to your web host through FTP, please view your web hosts documentation.

Preparing for Installation

Before we can install Joomla we need to setup a database so Joomla can store all of your website’s data. To do this you will need to access your hosting account control panel. This varies depending on your host, so consult your host’s documentation for help. Most control panels will have a button labeled "MySQL Databases" or "Manage Databases". You will need to create a new database. Make sure that you write down your database information as we are going to use it later.

Time for the Install

Now that we have uploaded our files and created our database, we are now ready to install Joomla.

Using your web browser, go to the location of your uploaded Joomla files. Ex. http://www.mysite.com/joomla

It should automatically redirect you to the Joomla installation page. From here you can select your default language and click the "Next" button.

Next is the pre-installation check. Basically, it’s just making sure your server is configured correctly. Everything should check out just fine, and you can click "Next". Click "Next" again if you agree to the Joomla terms.

Now you should be at the database configuration page. You will need to input the database hostname, username, password, and name that you used when creating the database.

If Joomla could connect to your database, you will be sent to the FTP configuration page. I usually leave this page alone, but if you want to (or your server requires it) you can enter your FTP information. Click "Next".

Finally, we have made it to the final page of installation. You will need to enter your site name and login information. There is also the option to install sample data. This will install sample content into your website so you can get the gist of how stuff works. This is recommended for beginners.

That’s it! Joomla is now installed. However, before you can access your website you will need to delete your Joomla installation folder. Once you’ve done that, you are ready to go.

Joomla Basics

So, you have created your first Joomla website and are ready to add content. The first thing you will need to do is add some articles and menu items to link to them. From your Joomla admin page (ex. www.mysite.com/joomla/administrator), click on "Article Manager" under the "Content" menu.

The article manager is your best friend. You will use it to add most of your website’s content. On the right side of the page, click the "New" button.

Before you can publish your article you will need to add a title, select a section and a category. There are a lot of other options that you can mess around with, however, I will not be covering them in this article.

So add some content to your article and give it a title. Then select a section from the drop down list and then do the same for the categories. Finally, check the "Front Page" option and click "Save".

Now we need to be able to access your new content item from the main menu. To do this, under the "Menu" menu, click "Main Menu". On the right side click "New". Since we are going to be linking to an article, click "Articles" from under the Internal Link section. Now click "Article Layout".

Give your new menu item a title, ex. My Article. Now choose an article by clicking the "Select" button on the right side of the page and click on the article title you wish to link to. Finally, click save.

Now that we have setup Joomla, added content and a menu item, we can now unleash our website to the world. To preview your new Joomla website, click the "Preview" link on the top right of the page.

You should see your article on the frontpage of your new website along with the menu link you created. I chose not to install sample data so it is a very basic website.

That is all for this article! You now have a very basic Joomla website, but there is much….much more to Joomla! In an upcoming article you will learn how to use modules, templates, and extensions.

1) File Management : JoomlaXplorer

This is so far the best and most stable files management extension for Joomla!. You can use it to create new files or folders, move, delete, rename, change permissions, upload files like you’re using FTP program. Even better you can archive and unpack files. Save time instead of uploading many files just upload one zip and use this extension to unpack.

One of the tricks I find very handy is how you can create a .htaccess file when you don’t have FTP details. .htaccess is required to enable Joomla!’s SEF URLs. A default Joomla! installation provides you with a file named htaccess.txt and tells you to rename it to .htaccess if you want to enable SEF URLs. If you tried to edit or rename the file, the extension refuse and gives a permission denied error. You can still create the file by creating it on your local machine, archive it , upload the archive to the root and unpack it using JoomlaXplorer! This trick can save you a lot of time you.

With JoomlaXplorer, you can edit the files with the username and groupname "nobody". These files are a source of headache for most users cause you cannot read or edit it using your FTP. If you want to know more about Joomla permissions, I suggest you check Joomla! Permissions Overview.

Version 1.6.3 comes with a cool Syntax Highlighter mode which works fine on IE and FF but not Opera.

Joomla!Xplorer is compatible with Joomla 1.0.x and 1.5 Legacy mode.

Get Joomla!Xplorer

2) Database Management : EasySQL

An essential tool for every database administrator. EasySQL let you execute any MySQL queries from your Joomla’s backend. The component comes with a group of commands for newbies so even if you’re not familiar with SQL syntax you will be able to use it.

Executing a SELECT statement will return the rows on the selected table and give you the ability to edit or delete the rows easily. You can also insert a new record into any table through a user friendly form. EasySQL feature the ability to export a table to CSV format. It is a must-to-have for any administrator doesn’t have access to tools like phpmyadmin.

EasySQL is compatible with Joomla 1.0.x and 1.5 Legacy mode.

Get EasySQL

3) Database Backup : eBackup

eBackup is the only extension which have the ability to restore your backup instantly through Joomla’s backend. Unlike all other extensions which require using a tool running outside Joomla! as phpmyadmin. You can also use eBackup to check, optimize and repaire your database.

eBackup feature an automatic backup scheduler. Set it to create weekly backups -or whatever you want- and it will do all the job! You can also choose to email the backup to a certain address or upload it via FTP. Backup options like (drop, if exists, auto_inc, full inserts) and comressing as gzip. You don’t have to worry if the database is huge, you can specify the maximum execution time for the script to ensure the backup is created correctly

This extension was originally developed for mambo and modified to work with Joomla!. It is not listed on Joomla’s extension website propably for this reason. It is truely a hidden gem and an essential tool for every Joomla! administrator. You can download this extension through the developer’s website.

Get eBackup

4) Cloning : JoomlaPack

Please welcome the latest JED Editors Pick extension, JoomlaPack! It creates a full backup of your site in a ZIP archive. This file contains all your files, the database and an installer that looks similar to Joomla’s installer. You can use JoomlaPack to :

• Clone your website on another server.
• Create a full backup of your website.
• Create a custom Joomla! installer loaded with all your frequently used extensions.

You can select to backup the whole site or just the database. Never worry about the server timeouts, the extension is AJAX Powered! You can exclude specific folders or database tables from your backup too!

You can also use JoomlaPack to save your time. You can create your Joomla! website on your local machine and move it online when you’re done to save time and bandwidth.

Although this extension is really amazing on backing up your site, It lacks a very important feature. The ability to restore your files. I’ll tell you a trick I always used to restore my files… Use the extension to backup your site and save the ZIP archive to the root. Whenever you need to restore your files unzinp it with JoomlaXplorer in a second! Don’t forget to delete the (install) folder after unpacking.

JoomlaPack is compatible with Joomla 1.0.x and 1.5 Native.

Get JoomlaPack

5) Content Management : Mass Content

This is an essential component for everyone starting a website with Joomla! Saves time by creating content items, categories or section faster and creating menu items for these contents too. With this extension you can :

• Create up to 10 articles on one page with control over :
1. Meta Description and Meta Keywords.
2. Access level ( public, registered and special ).
3. Creation date.
• Create up to 10 sections and categories on one page.
• Delete articles, categories and sections.

I used this extension to move a static website with 750+ article to Joomla! in 3 days! Its essential for every Joomla! installation.

Mass Content is compatible with Joomla 1.0.x and 1.5 Native.

Get MassContent