Joomla 1.6 and Beyond: Should I upgrade? Should I build my new sites in it?

  • Print
Details
Posted: February 03, 2011

Article translations available:

Read more...

Why do search results load in the home page template in Joomla 1.5?

  • Print
Details
Posted: February 03, 2011

Let's say you're working with Joomla 1.5. You have one template set for the home page, and you have another template set for the inside pages on the website. Alternatively, you have the home page configured with one set of modules, that are very different than the inside page configurations. (For example, say you have a big slideshow on the home page, but not on the inside pages.)

You add the standard Joomla search box module. You do a quick search.

Where do the search results load? In the home page template, with the home page modules, no matter what you do or how you try.

How do you fix this? It's not so bad.

  1. Go to your file structure in the back end of Joomla. If you're working locally, that's in your local file structure. If you're on a server, you may need to go to the control panel's file manager or to FTP.
  2. Navigate to the following series of folders, from the site root: modules > mod_search > tmpl
  3. Make a copy of default.php that you find in the tmpl folder.
  4. Navigate to the following series of folders, from the site root: templates > your template > html > mod_search
    • "your template" is the folder where the template you're using lives. If you're using more than one template for your site, repeat step 4 through 6 for EACH template in use.
    • If the html folder does not exist, create it. html is spelled with all lowercase letters, NOT HTML.
    • You will definitely need to create the mod_search folder.
    • It's possible, if you're using a commercial template, that there is already a folder in this location with default.php inside of it. If so, edit that file instead and jump to step 6. It's possible the line you need to edit is not on line 3 in this file, so look carefully for the line I describe in step 6.
  5. Paste default.php into the mod_search folder you just created.
  6. Edit the COPY of the default.php file that you just made to the mod_search folder, within the templates area of the site. Change line 3 from:
<form action="index.php" method="post">

to

<form action="index.php?option=com_search&view=search" method="post">

And that's it! Your search results should now load into the default template for the site, rather than for the home page.

Incidentally, this appears to be a problem unique to Joomla 1.5. I have not been able to repeat this problem with Joomla 1.6.

Learn Joomla 1.6 with Jen!

  • Print
Details
Posted: January 13, 2011

Congratulations to everyone in the Joomla community for the release of Joomla 1.6! So many people are interested in the new software, and they need to come up to speed on it quickly.

Need to learn Joomla 1.6 in a hurry? I'm here to teach it to you! Here's a list of places I'll be presenting, teaching, blogging, and making videos in the next few months.

Immediate and ongoing: I have been blogging quite a bit at Compass Designs, Barrie North's excellent resource for all things Joomla. Come see my latest posts, including a group of great resources for learning Joomla 1.6.

In-person Joomla 1.6 training in Boston: I'll be teaching Beginning Joomla 1.6, Intermediate Joomla 1.6, and Joomla 1.6 Templates in Boston February 7-9.

Joomla 1.6 ACL: I'll be presenting at Joomla Day New England on April 2. Excellent speakers, breakfast, lunch, and lots of giveaways -- what a deal for only $50!

CMS Expo: One of the best conferences in the US today, there will be tons of information available on Joomla 1.6, from beginning information, to coding templates, to creating extensions. You'll also be able to compare Joomla with other content management systems and network with some of the best in the business. I'll be presenting Joomla SiteBuilder 1 and 2, and I'll also be doing a presentation on Joomla and Molajo with Amy Stephen.

J and Beyond: Last year, this conference established itself as the place to be for Joomla community leaders. This year's conference in the Netherlands will be no exception.

lynda.com: I've had many people ask me about when the Joomla 1.6 videos for lynda.com will be available. The answer is Real Soon Now! Watch this space for announcements when they're out.

Question of the month: Where can I find good clients?

  • Print
Details
Posted: January 03, 2011

I got an email from a fellow Joomla designer today. She says:

I am web designer who loves Joomla, and I am looking for ways to grow my client base. I use Freelancer.com, but the bids are so low (custom joomla template/site for $250), I can't really compete. Do you know of another source where I could gain a foot hold and find good Joomla clients?

I presume if you ask this question, you don't have a budget for buying things like Yellow Pages advertising, Google AdWords, TV and radio ads, sponsorship of major events, and so forth.

So although she hasn't said it, let's say you need to grow your client base, and you have no budget to do so. Now what?

First of all, be prepared. Get your business plan together. Get clear about what kind of clients you want. Build a website that support the goals of your organization and communicate what you want in a client, as clearly as you can. Rehearse your elevator speech.

Get professionally designed business cards, and get them printed by a good quality printer. (Do not design them yourself and print them on your laser printer.) You want to get clients in the 4 figure range? 5 figure range? Then act like it -- look like you're worth the money you're asking. Handmade business cards don't cut it.

Once you're prepared, get out there and start networking!

That, of course, means that you have to walk up to people and introduce yourself. That's really hard for we introverts. (Yes, I'm actually an introvert. INTJ, to be exact.) So you'll just have to keep doing it and keep working on it until it comes easily to you.

Networking takes practice. Recognize that if people aren't interested, it isn't necessarily about you. They may be thinking about their sick kid/parent, late to a meeting, hungry, or any one of zillion other things that may cause them to not listen as closely to you as you'd like. So don't say to yourself, "I'm an idiot, I suck, no one loves me." (And that goes DOUBLE for the women out there, who are most likely to have this reaction!) Instead, say "I hope he gets some lunch soon, poor guy skipped breakfast and it's 2 PM, he's starving!" And hit up the next person.

Network locally: What networking groups are in your area? These might include the Chamber of Commerce, women's networking and business groups, BNI, Toastmasters, Rotary, local user groups (Adobe groups, Joomla groups, other tech groups), and so forth. Pick some and start going to meetings. Meet everyone you can and hand out lots of business cards. Participate in the group and give back to the community. If people see you as contributing to the community, they will be more likely to think of you when they need a website, or if they have a friend who needs a website. Don't attend one meeting and expect an outcome. Go to every meeting, and do it for 3-6 months. Then you can start evaluating how effective you are.

Networking with clients: Have you asked your existing clients for recommendations? Testimonials? Anything? If they love the job you did for their site, ask for names of people they know who might need websites. Get a testimonial, and post it on your site with information about what you built for them.

Networking with people you already know: Have you told everyone you know that you're in business for yourself and are looking for work? Relatives, friends, neighbors, fellow parents at school, they all need to know what you're doing. Give them your business cards, and ask them to hand them out.

Workshops: In one of the networking groups, volunteer to speak on a topic that's relevant to everyone in the room. Don't present on button-clicking in Joomla... tell them what Joomla is, why it's wonderful, and what advantages it gives their business. Tell them how to plan a website. Do a case study of a project you've already completed. We're in the business of solving problems, not clicking buttons -- so show that you understand that, and show you can solve problems.

Joomla Resources Directory: Finally, get yourself listed in the Joomla Resources Directory. In order to do this, you will need the following:

  • Five Joomla websites you've built, with a summary of what you provided for each site.
  • A list of ways you're involved with the Joomla community. This might include:

Note that you can do a bunch of those things without knowing any HTML, CSS, or PHP. Giving back to the Joomla community is vitally important to Joomla's success. As someone deriving financial benefit from using Joomla, you are obligated to repay this debt, either via financial donation or through providing your expertise to keep Joomla going.

Notice what I haven't said: I didn't tell you to hop on freelancer.com or any of those other sites that want the world for $50. I didn't tell you to become a social media powerhouse (though if that's your thing, go for it). I didn't tell you to spend an hour each day tweaking your site for search engine results.

In many cases, business is still done the old-fashioned way: via handshake, eye contact, and in-person interaction. 

People still evaluate each other based on the results they produce. You can talk about how fabulous you are all day long. But if you don't have the tangible results to back it up, people aren't going to pay much attention. Show people you know what you're doing. Show that you're knowledgeable and you can solve problems. If you can do that, you will build your business and be successful.

Good luck!

Just because you can, in your own language

  • Print
Details
Posted: December 13, 2010

It's thrilling to have so many people in the web design community picking up on one of my favorite teaching phrases:

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

It covers everything in web design, possibly as well as another favorite, "It Depends."

It makes you stop and think before adding that nifty cool widget that doesn't address the site strategy, that unsupported CSS3 eye candy, or combining CMSs into a single installation.

It also adds an extra layer of satisfaction for those occasions where we decide to do something anyway, even though we know it's not the best idea in the world, but heck, we CAN do it so we're DOING it!

There's a new hashtag out there on Twitter today, #jbycdmys, so use it to identify those occasions that are classic examples of people who really shouldn't be doing something in their website designs.

And for additional fun, I asked for translations of this phrase into favorite languages.

Croatian

@KristianMagda: Sam zato što možeš, ne znači da moraš.

Danish

@ot2sen: Bare fordi du kan, betyder det ikke at du skal.

Dutch

@Torettox84: Het is niet omdat het kan, dat het ook moet.

German

@christianhent: Nur weil Sie es können, müssen Sie es nicht auch tun. (formal)

@christianhent: Nur weil Du es kannst, musst Du es noch lange nicht tun.

@JPodium: German Version 1: Nur weil man es kann, muss man es noch lange nicht tun.

Greek

@nikosdion: Επειδή μπορείς να κάνεις κάτι δεν σημαίνει ότι πρέπει να το κάνεις κιόλας.

Hungarian

@intercisa: "Attól még, hogy megteheted, nem jelenti azt, hogy meg is kell tenned!" by Robert Petras

Irish

@meggio: Díreach mar is féidir, nach bhfuil i gceist agat ba chóir dhuit.

Portuguese (Brazilian)

@maskitto: Só porque voce pode fazer algo, não significa que deva fazê-lo.

Romanian

@christianhent: doar pentru că puteţi nu înseamnă că ar trebui să faci.

Spanish

@nightshiftc: Porque puedes no quiere decir que debes.

Code (I love geeks!)

@dakruhm: if ($can == true) {$should = rand(0,100);}

@torkilj: PHP: $fubar = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM users WHERE username=".$_GET['username']." AND password=".$_GET['password']);

And Just Plain Silly

@mathiasverraes: I can haz cheeseburger no meanz I shud haz cheeseburger #lolspeak

@James50000ft: ustjay ecausebay ouyay ancay oesn'tday eanmay ouyay ouldshay - Pig latin, my other language.

@scottbehrends: l33t speak:   ju$7 83c@u53 Y0u c@N, d03$n'7 M3@N y0u 5h0uLD