Community Network

THE TOP 5 TIME SAVING EXTENSIONS FOR JOOMLA! 1.5

By Carleen Stinson – Joomla-Webmasters.com

#1 - Easy Search or Easy Search Lite (C) (P)

This free extension is a HUGE time saver, especially for new users. Easy Search for Joomla 1.5 allows a user to search not only article content, but will match your keywords inside modules as well. Gone is the frustration of not being able to find what you need to edit, quickly. Easy Search finds it for you, edit at will.

#2 – Woopra Analytics (P)

Install this *free 3rd party plugin and desktop application to perform analytics from your desktop, or browse the stats from their browser based manager. SEO made easy with this simple plugin. Add multiple domains to your Woopra account to rule them all. *(free accounts are limited up to 30,000 page views a month, if you need more it starts at five bucks).

#3 – Gantry enabled Templates (T)(C)

Life is good with Gantry. Customize and perform template modifications with the greatest of easy. If you have built Joomla! templates from scratch, you will be in heaven. If you are new to Joomla! template techniques, you may take Gantry for granted. That is, until you try any non-Gantry edition template. Gantry templates come in public available and RocketTheme template club versions.

#4 – Akeeba Backup (C)(M)

This is a definite must have extension and a long time global favorite. Whether you are building a new site and require frequent restore points, or if you have to grant super admin access to questionable users, Akeeba Backup for Joomla 1.5 is another must have time saving dream component. Akeeba backs up your SQL and your data files into a clean little package you can move or restore with ease. If needed, you might find their handy kickstart.php script for extraction on persnickety servers useful indeed.

#5 – Xmap Site Map Generator (C)(P)

If you ever tried to generate a site map for search engine site submission, you are well aware of the pitfalls. This extension is clean and easy. Install it and customize to your menu structure (if needed). Use the extension’s generated links for a quick copy paste into your Google webmaster tools site map submission, for example, and you will be swimming in site map glory in under 5 minutes.(Many available plugins to import your 3rd party extentsions).

Get these and other fantastic time saving extensions at extensions.joomla.org.

Who said becoming a Registered JUG was easy?

Who said becoming a Registered JUG was easy? WE DID!

New, Easier Application Process for Joomla User Groups

The JUG team is proud to present a new and improved system for JUG applications. After a short interim period using a temporary relief system, the entire process was restructured from the ground up to provide a more streamlined approach to all areas of the process.

The requirements and guidelines have been changed as well to allow more Registered JUGs worldwide. If you'd like to register a JUG, please visit the FAQ on how to get started.

Many JUG applications that were previously rejected or held up, have now been approved and listed in the new directory. Please check your location to ensure your JUG is included. If not, please reapply through our new application process.

New Directory and Map For All Joomla User Groups

We've created directory and map for all Joomla User Groups. By using Moset's Tree and Moxie Maps the directory listings are now plotted on a worldwide map which allows for easy and powerful searches. Click here to see the new map and directory.

Each approved JUG has a login and is now able to login to their listing and make changes. Submitted changes will go into the queue and will be approved in a timely manner. We ask that all JUG Owners please login and update your details as soon as possible.

New Team Members

The JUG team has also grown and now includes Wlima Howell, Cristina Solana, Himanshu Nagpal, Roger Perren as well as Sandra Warren and Javier Gomez.

Your Feedback is Welcome

Thank you for your patience through this process! We invite you to submit feedback to this new process and system at the People.Joomla.Org group and if you need assistance please email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Read more: Leadership Blog

Joomla! 1.5 Multimedia

Book Review by C.Stinson Joomla-Webmasters.com

This book is a comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about Multimedia and Joomla! CMS. Written in clean, understandable English, this book is a great resource for users at all levels, from beginners to advanced.

After the reader digs past the detailed introductions of industry terminology, Allan creates a cohesive flow, from learning settings already built into Joomla's Media Manager to installing and setting up third party Joomla! extensions. Also detailed in the starting pages are well-illustrated explanations of settings and modes for file transfers using both FTP applications and within Joomla’s file management extensions.

In chapter three, we take a journey into typography and Joomla! The reader learns the effects of well-planned typesetting and "web safe" fonts for web pages. Allan quickly gets us up to speed with fontography and ties it into our Joomla! template's Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)—with documentation of use and examples of code, detailing the use of alternate methods for using custom fonts and specific Joomla! extensions for performing font management.

Next, we dive deeper into everything you would ever want to know about images, formats, and image manipulation—along with everything you need to know about audio and video. The reader learns what's needed and what's new, as well as, browser compatibilities and other known browser issues. These chapters continue the flow with nicely illustrated examples, bubbles, HTML code samples, applications and how-tos; as well as, popular galleries and slideshows extensions for Joomla!—all highlighted. All aspects of audio encoding, including usage and podcasting, is explained in this part of the book. Streaming, embedding, and RSS feeds are presented clearly along with examples and extensions specific to Joomla!. Allan's reviews of all the relevant extensions are a huge time saver for those looking for more than core Joomla! functionality.

The social media and external sources sections leave nothing uncovered. Allan gets us up-to-speed with all the latest technologies and exciting Joomla! extensions available for management from Joomla! The template and multimedia sections are extremely detailed and illustrated with examples of the popular Joomla! template clubs like Yootheme and Rockettheme cores, to name a few. Mobile web isn't left out, either! Allan details for us everything we need to know to get Joomla! "mobile friendly.”

The final chapters of this great resource walk us through our own Multimedia Joomla! project. Allan puts all the elements together as we build maps and video within articles: setting up a local development server, detailing the ins and outs of configurations, the options for Apache, phpMyAdmin, and mySQL . The book also touches on a few topics for both Mac and PC users.

If you are new to Joomla! and want to make websites that really move your audience, this is the book you must own. Definitely get this if you are an advanced Joomla! user and are looking to save time. You will eliminate the need to performi your own audits on many popular multimedia Joomla! extensions and you will keep current with the various multimedia file types and extensions.

Buy Direct and Save
Packt Publishing, Feb. 2010