SiteGround Tutorials Joomla 1.

6 Tutorial

Joomla 1.6 Tutorial - Learn How to Install and Manage a Website With Joomla 1.6!

Joomla continues to be the most popular and widely used open-source content management system (CMS) as of the beginning of 2011. Its latest 1.6 release has made it easier and more intuitive to create almost any kind of page while providing you with abundance of features. In this tutorial we will go through the newest joomla 1.6 features and teach you everything needed to get a fully functional site running. The latest Joomla 1.6 introduces several improvements and new features such as: Configurable user groups and viewing levels. This will allow better access control to the site resources. This is a feature highly demanded by the community for a long time and it has finally arrived in version 1.6. Site structure improvements - Joomla 1.6 has switched from complex section / category structure to a more intuitive multi-level categories hierarchy. This is definitely a huge step forward towards user experience. If for you publishing in Joomla seemed complex before now it should be easier to grasp the simple concept of articles organized in multi-level categories.

Installation and maintenance improvements. Finally it is possible to install a more complex extension with one package and there are options to automatically update Joomla and its extensions. SEO improvements - semantic markup along with better URL rewriting. This will allow your site built with Joomla 1.6 to be even better indexed by the search engines with less or even no help of third party Joomla SEO extensions.

There many other improvements in Joomla 1.6 which together make it faster, more powerful and easier to use while still keeping all the good features from the old version. Joomla 1.6 continues to be free, open source (GPL) and well-supported by its Open Source Matters foundation and the community.

Joomla 1.6 Tutorial Content

This Joomla 1.6 tutorial is divided into several parts and we recommend you following it in the order below:

Joomla 1.6 Installation - how to install manually Joomla 1.6 from its source files First steps in Joomla 1.6 - logging in the admin area and creating content Linking articles in Joomla 1.6 - how to manage your menu and link articles to it Joomla 1.6 Contact Us Page - create easily the page almost every site needs Extending Joomla 1.6 - once you have set the base of your site it is time to extend Managing Joomla 1.6 Extensions - how to manage your extensions Joomla 1.6 Redirect Manager - a new feature in Joomla 1.6 which will help your SEO Joomla 1.6 Global Configuration - the basic configuration options of Joomla 1.6 Finding Help for Joomla 1.6 - how to find help outside this tutorial

Joomla 1.6 Installation

In this tutorial you will learn how to install Joomla 1.6 manually. If you face any difficulties, you can always get a free professional Joomla installation with your Joomla hosting account at SiteGround.com.

How to Manually Install Joomla 1.6

In order to complete the manual Joomla 1.6 installation, follow the steps listed below: Step 1. Create a MySQL database from cPanel->MySQL Databases and add a user to it. If you are not using cPanel, you can check the MySQL manual for more details on the database and user setup. Step 2. Download the archive file with the latest stable version of Joomla 1.6 from the official web site. Store it in a folder on your local computer and extract the archive. Step 3. Upload all the content from this local folder to the directory on the server where Joomla 1.6 will be stored. The easiest way to upload the files and the folders is through an FTP client. Detailed instructions about this are available in our FTP tutorial. Step 4. Open the URL of the newly-uploaded Joomla script. If the content is uploaded in the main web directory, use http://yourdomainname.com. In case you have uploaded it in a subdirectory, open http://yourdomainname.com/example. Replace the domain and the directory names with the corresponding ones for your web site. Step 5. The Joomla installation page will be loaded:

There you can select the language for the installation. It will be valid only during the installation. Once completed Joomla will be switched back to English. In order to follow easier the next steps of the tutorial it is recommended that you choose "English". Step 6. On the next page Joomla will check whether the system requirements are met on the server. If one or more are not met, a corresponding message will be shown. SiteGround servers are fully compatible with Joomla 1.6:

Step 7. After you make sure that all system requirements are met, proceed by clicking on the Next button from the top right menu. On the next page you should read and accept Joomla's license.

Again, click Next to continue. Step 8. Here you have to enter the MySQL details for the new Joomla 1.6 installation. Use the ones set in Step 1. In the following screenshot you can find example entries and explanations for these fields:

Step 9. Next, you can set your File Transfer Protocol (FTP) configuration. Keep the default settings and click Next to proceed.

Step 10. On the current page the main Joomla 1.6 configuration should be defined. Specify your site name, meta description and keywords, admin user, email and password.

Click on Next to proceed. Important: In this example we will not use the Install Sample Data feature because it may cause confusion and require time to remove all the data populated later. Step 11. In the last page of the installation wizard you will receive a confirmation that Joomla 1.6 has been successfully installed.

In order to access your new Joomla 1.6 web site you must delete the installation directory. This can be done with your FTP client. Well done! Your Joomla website is now installed. If you want to learn more about the options the manual Joomla installation offers, please contact the SiteGround Technical Support Team. Our technical team is expert in Joomla related questions and able to build the perfect environment for your Joomla 1.6 website.

First steps with Joomla 1.6

Once you have installed Joomla 1.6 your first steps in administering Joomla 1.6 should be logging in the admin area and creating your first pages. The simplest page in Joomla is called an article and that's where you put content such as text and images. This tutorial contains detailed instructions on the following topics:

Logging in the Joomla 1.6 admin area

First, in order to build your web site you will have to log into the administrator area. This can be achieved by opening the corresponding URL in your web browser: http://yourdomainname.com/administrator Replace yourdomainname.com with your actual Joomla URL. Next, you have to enter the admin login details which have been set during the installation:

Creating articles in Joomla 1.6

After entering the Joomla administrator area, you can check the featured articles (the ones that are included in the sample data or created by you) published on the front page through Content->Featured Articles.

You can edit them, create new ones, remove existing from the front page, delete, publish and unpublish articles. If you have installed the Sample Data, before adding new articles you can delete the sample ones. Select them and click on the Trash button. Then remove the menu links to the sample articles from Menus->Main Menu. After this you can add a new category from Content->Category Manager->Add New Category.

For example, you can put Test as the new category Title. The other options can be left blank or you can set their values as per your personal preferences. Click on the Save button to add your new category. Next, navigate to Content->Article Manager->Add New Article.

Only the Title field is mandatory. Enter the article title. You can also select your category from the corresponding drop-down menu. Change the article State to Published. If you want to show it on the front page, set the Featured value to Yes. Once you are ready with the settings you can proceed with the actual article content. Use the included text editor to type the article text, to include images or to directly edit the HTML code.

Under the text editor area you can set the permissions for the different user groups regarding your article. You can also adjust the settings in the Publishing Options, Article Options, Metadata Options menus.

You can hover your mouse pointer over the options labels and get a brief description of each one of them. Once you are ready, Save the article and check it on the front end. You can always edit the existing articles from the Joomla admin area->Content->Article Manager.

Linking menu articles in Joomla 1.6

In this part of our Joomla 1.6 tutorial we will learn how to link articles to the web site menus. To make your articles and the corresponding pages accessible, you should set links to them. This can be completed by including these links in the web site menus. Open your Joomla admin area->Menus->Main Menu.

Click on the New button. Choose the Menu Item Type from the corresponding dialog. If you want to link a standard article pick the Single Article option.

Then enter the link title in the Menu Title field and select the corresponding article which will be linked through the Select Article functionality.

Save the changes and view the new menu item located on your frontend.

How to publish your article on the home page?

In order to make one of your articles the home page for the web site, navigate to the Joomla admin area->Menus->Main Menus. Select the article and click on the Home icon.

The change of the default home page article will be confirmed with the following message: One menu item successfully set to home If you want to remove the old home page article, select it and click on the Trash button.

Contact Us page in Joomla 1.6

Once you start your web site, you will probably want to allow your visitors to contact you. This way they will be able to provide important feedback to the webmaster. For this purpose you need to set a Contact Us page with an online contact form. Open your Joomla 1.6 admin area and navigate to Components->Contacts->Categories.

Click on the New button and enter the details of your new contacts category. Only the Title value is required. You can also set the preferred configuration for the rest of the options.

Save the changes and return to Components->Contacts->Contacts. Click on the New icon to begin the setup of your Contact us page.

Enter the required values in the corresponding fields. Review the options listed in the right part of the page and set them per your needs. In order to receive a copy of the contact form inquiries, enter a valid e-mail in the Contact Options list.

Save the Contact Us page setup and navigate to Menus->Main Menu to publish it. Click on Add New Menu Item.

Define the menu item type from the corresponding dialog.

Enter the Menu Title value and select the contact in the right part of the page by clicking on the Change Contact button.

Review and set the other options that are not mandatory per your requirements. Save the new menu item and check it on the front end.

Extending Joomla 1.6

Joomla 1.6 can be easily extended and customized just as its previous versions. For those who are not familiar with Joomla extensions we will explain the role of Joomla components, modules, plugins, templates and languages through which you can extend the functionality of your site.

Joomla components
Joomla components provide the most extensive functionality of all extensions. They can completely alter the functionality and look of a Joomla-powered website. For example, with a component you can turn part of your Joomla into an online store, forum or photo gallery.

Joomla modules
Joomla modules can be used if you are looking for minor functionality extension such as adding a block in your pages for showing the weather. Each module can be published in predefined blocks or template positions which differ for each template.

Joomla plugins
Joomla plugins are invisible to the end user since they dont show directly in parts of your site. However, plugins are very powerful and can change Joomla input / output in various ways. An example of a plugin is the one used for changing the pagination in Joomla or rewriting the URLs.

Joomla templates
Joomla templates are used for changing the look of your site. There are templates for the frontend and for the backend. Most templates are for the frontend since the backend template is visible only for users with special permissions (e.g. administrators). By default, Joomla 1.6 comes with 3 frontend and 2 backend templates. If you havent chosen your template yet, check the ones in our free Joomla templates gallery.

Joomla languages
Last but not least, there are Joomla languages. You will need an additional language pack in case you plan to create your site in a language different from English, which is the default one. When looking for Joomla extensions it is important to make sure that the one you choose is compatible with your Joomla version. Joomla 1.5 had legacy mode which allowed older extensions to be used. However, Joomla 1.6 does not have such option and it does not support extensions for previous versions.

Managing Joomla 1.6 Extensions

Extensions in Joomla 1.6 are managed from the Administrator panel, the Extensions button in the top menu. There you find a page with the following tabs: Install, Update, Manage, Discover and check Warning in Joomla 1.6 Extension Manager

As you can see each tab has its purpose. Some tabs are self-explanatory, like Install for example. Others, however, like Warnings, are not. Lets go briefly through each of them and check their options: 1. Install - this tab offers you 3 ways to install a new extension - upload a file, use a file already uploaded to your site or directly download an extension from an URL. The latter is new for Joomla and would allow faster and easier extensions installation. However, it may not work on all servers. 2. Update - this is another new feature which will allow you to update Joomla and its extensions directly from the admin panel. This is similar to Wordpress update functionality and the cornerstone for stable and secure installation.
Since this feature is very new you are strongly advised to be very careful using it and to always create backups beforehand. It may severely damage your Joomla and wipe out all its files.

3. Manage - in this tab you can enable, disable and most importantly uninstall extensions. It is important to know that this is the only place in the admin area which will allow you to uninstall an extension and this may confuse users of previous Joomla versions. 4. Discover - this is another new function which can detect incomplete Joomla 1.6 extensions installations. For example, if Discover finds files for mod_example extension in modules/ it will show the installation as incomplete and give you the option to complete it. 5. Warnings - this screen will show you errors related to your extensions and their installation. These errors could be anything from missing files to incompatibility with other extensions or the core Joomla installation.

Redirect Manager in Joomla 1.6

Another new feature in Joomla 1.6 is the Redirect Manager. It can be of great help to your site SEO by allowing you to redirect old (invalid) URLs to new working ones. Without a redirection you will get a 404 error - component not found which is bad for your search engine ranking.

Redirect Manager's functionality is quite straightforward. You just add a new redirection and make sure that its status is active. Please just make sure to specify the full source and destination URL such as http://example.org/full_url/. We acclaim this new feature in Joomla 1.6 because it is essential to any modern site and proof for this is that it has been available in third party Joomla SEO extensions for quite some time.

Joomla 1.6 Global Configuration

Just as in the previous versions, Joomla 1.6 has a Global Configuration area. You can find it in Joomla Admin, Top admin panel, Site, Global Configuration. There you will find 4 tabs with the following options:

1. Site - here you can change all basic site settings such as site name, meta data and SEO options. You can also put your site offline and set the offline message from here.
All options are important in the Site tab, especially the SEO ones. If you are using Apache webserver, you will have to rename the file htaccess.txt to .htaccess in order for the Use Apache mod_rewrite feature to work.

2. System - while most of the settings in the system tab are rather advanced, you should definitely pay attention to two of them:
Cache Settings - set it to On - Progressive Caching if youd like maximum caching and fastest Joomla. Set it to On - Conservative if youd like to disable modules caching. In any case there is cache time in minutes. During this time changes may not appear because cached copies will be

served to the viewers. Session Settings - this is the timeframe during which you will stay logged in your Joomla even if you are inactive. Increase it if you are annoyed by being logged out too often from your Joomla.

3. Server - most of the settings here should be automatically configured during the installation. You might want to change the Location Settings if you are in a different time zone though. This will help you when the published date of your articles is incorrect or when you receive Joomla notifications with invalid date. 4. Permissions - this is probably the most important improvement in Joomla 1.6. It gives you the opportunity to allow / disallow certain actions for the different access levels and groups users. By default you should change nothing in the Permissions for a standard site. These functions are rather meant for sites with complex structure and multiple user levels.

Finding Help For Joomla 1.6

While working with Joomla 1.6 you may stumble upon bugs, have difficulties accomplishing certain things or just wonder about the exact functionality of a feature. Luckily, Joomla is well documented, very popular among web masters and strongly supported by its community. This ensures that you will find help fast, which is not always the case for other software. First, about the bugs. Just as any software Joomla has bugs too. The least you can do in return for using this great software for free is to report promptly any bug you come upon. This can be done directly on Joomla 1.6 issues tracker. Please just make sure that you are reporting a real bug. If you have even the slightest doubt, try to discuss it first with the community. Second, how to get help from the community. Many forums serve Joomla community such as: Siteground Joomla forum - a popular Joomla forum administerered by experts in Joomla (the Siteground Support team), which ensures prompt replies to your issues. Official Joomla forum (forum.joomla.org) - the official Joomla forum Even though Joomla community is very friendly and helpful, please just make sure to do 2 things before posting your request: 1. Make sure that no one else has posted a similar topic or asked a similar question. For this purpose you can search the forum or even check it with Google. 2. Check thoroughly the Joomla documentation for a related article. Almost everything in Joomla is documented and well explained. Joomla has made it very easy to read the documentation about a certain feature. You just have to click on the help icon as shown in the picture below:

Hopefully, when using Joomla 1.6 you will not have to look for help too often and you will find it intuitive and easy to use.