Integrating Dreamweaver CS5 and Joomla 1.5 OR Joomla 1.6

Jen Kramer — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:32:42 +0100

Recently, Adobe released Dreamweaver CS5. One of its major new features is the ability to integrate with the CMS of your choice. They seem to push Drupal, Joomla, and Wordpress in particular, but in theory, it works with any CMS.

I have been very skeptical of this integration from the beginning, because Joomla manages its files very differently than Drupal or Wordpress.

We all know that God kills a kitten when you edit Joomla’s core code. (Right? Right???) You are suppos...

Happy 5th Birthday, Joomla!

Jen Kramer — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:04:05 +0100

Dear Joomla,

We’re all so proud of you and how far you’ve come these five years. Your 20 parents conceived of you because they wanted to have fun. Ever since, people have come to you looking for a good time, to make friends all over the world, to contribute to the greater good.

In dog years, or technology years, you’re actually 35. This is actually a better age to describe you. You’re old enough to have been around the block, and old enough to know better...

Promoting 4Web

Jen Kramer — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:36:35 +0100

We've been very fortunate to have two great articles come out on 4Web in the last month or so.

The first was posted at the Joomla Community site, and it covers running a web development business in a rural environment.

The second article is at Jeanne Yocum's blog on Small Business Success. It covers the lessons we've learned in running a business over the last 10 years.

Remember there is so much more to running a web development firm than just knowing how to code. There's...

"Do the People Who Like It Take Care of Each Other?"

Jen Kramer — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 17:30:32 +0100

On my flight home from California, I finished up Clay Shirkey's excellent book, "Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

Best Business Decision Made: Attending CMS Expo

Jen Kramer — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:28:36 +0100

I have been designing and developing websites for 10 years now, but my company, 4Web Inc., has only been around for 2 years. (Prior to that, I ran a freelance company, Focused Consulting LLC.)

Back in 4Web's infancy, my colleagues attended the very first CMS Expo in May 2008. (I was at Adobe headquarters for an Adobe User Group Manager summit and could not attend.) Back then it was a Joomla conference mostly. The networking was great, though, and my colleagues got to meet a lot o...

VOXUS's first PR problem for Joomla

Jen Kramer — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:54:37 +0100

I believe that Joomla is the best open source content management system out there today. It's powerful but adaptable. You don't need to know PHP to use it and accomplish amazing things with it. If you do know PHP, you can do just about anything with it. It's been downloaded over 15 million times.

But as Bill Tomczak says, there used to be two TV recording formats: Beta and VHS. Everyone knew Beta was "better". But VHS eventually won the day.

"Holy Wars" have always been with us ...

Alternative Joomla Administrator Templates and Dancing Bears

Jen Kramer — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:17:27 +0100

Dancing Bear Syndrome is a term coined by Jared Spool and Alan Cooper (among others in the usability community). Someone says, "Look! A dancing bear!" And you are amazed! The bear is dancing! How cool is that?

Of course, bears don't dance well. It's just amazing that they dance at all. The novelty of it all is what catches our attention, not the quality of the dancing.

Alternative Joomla administrator templates are dancing bears.

First off, what is a Joomla admin template...

Come see me at CMS Expo!

Jen Kramer — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:48:50 +0100

I'm the Joomla Track Leader at the CMS Expo conference, happening May 3-5, 2010, in Evanston, IL (outside of Chicago). I am so excited to be back for my 3rd Expo conference!

This time, I'll be presenting the Joomla SiteBuilder sessions, where you'll learn secrets about putting Joomla sites together and styling them.

Ex...

On the importance of excellent web hosting for Joomla

Jen Kramer — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:58:07 +0100

This is a topic covered in my recent book, but the question comes up all the time.

In the early static days of the web, there was really little difference between one host and another. You uploaded a bunch of HTML pages and images (and later a CSS file or two) and the web host just worked. There wasn't a lot of analysis to do for the average small business site. One host was pretty much as good as another.

Now we're working with Joomla. And now, when it comes to hosting, everyth...

Chapter 15: Site Maintenance and Training

Jen Kramer — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:52:25 +0100

Chapter 15 of my new book is available for you to explore! It covers all of the usual post-launch issues, including ongoing site maintenance, upgrades, backups, and training your client how to use Joomla.

Download Chapter 15 here (PDF)

Preparing CMS Web Graphics Using Open Source Tools

Jen Kramer — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:22:40 +0100

My video is now available at Lynda.com. Check out this free clip at YouTube!

Why are web professionals SO expensive?

Jen Kramer — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:29:12 +0100

What's your rate? Everyone asks that question. The typical going rate for a web developer in my area -- the professionals, the ones who make their living doing this stuff -- generally ranges from $70 to $125 per hour, depending on skillset. Most seem to lie in the $75 to $100/hr range.

WOW, you say. WOW is that expensive! Perhaps even excessive! Man, you must live the lifestyle of the rich and famous. You must never worry about money. You're too expensive to hire. I know this guy, the ...

Blog entries from Jen Kramer