Step 4 - Building and Managing Joomla Web Site

Selasa, 22 September 2009

Joomla organizes content differently than it is organized in a HTML site. The main difference is that web pages in Joomla Do not exist. ??!!?? What? Well technically there are Menu Items and Modules, which are attached to Menu Items. So every Joomla page you see in your browser is compiled from a database. There is nothing wrong about it. I just thought you should know that.:)

Seriously: This kind of organization gives Joomla several advantages and you are able to do more in shorter time. Lets now add some content to our Joomla Site.

Managing Content with Joomla

Managing Content | Adding Sections and Categories

Joomla organizes Content in Sections. And in Sections there are categories. In categories there are Content Items.

Note: Before we can create Content Items we have to create some Sections and Categories. It is easy to create them.

Adding a Section

1. We are now going to use a table you made in Step 1: Planning a Joomla Site.
2. Log in to your administration area.
3. Navigate to Content:Section Manager
   
   
4. Click on icon New to create a New Section.
5. In the field Title enter the name of your section (it will be seen only by you in administrator area).
   
6. In the field Section name enter name you want to be seen by visitors in page headings.
   
   
7. Click Save. Now we have a new section. But we need to create at least one category for our section.

Adding a Category

1. Navigate to Content:Category manager
2. Click on icon New to create a New Category
3. In the field Title enter the name of your category that will be seen only by you in administrator area.
4. In the field Category name enter name you want to be seen by visitors in page headings.
5. There is a drop down menu called Section. Select in which Section you want to create your new category.
6. Click Save. Now we have a new category.

Note: Sections and Categories are not directly visible on your Joomla Site. They only hold place for Content Items. Read below how to create them.

Managing Content | Adding Content Items

Content Items are similar to body of classic HTML pages. Thats where the content is. To create them:

1. Navigate to Content:All Content Items
2. Click on Icon New Item
3. Enter your new Content Items Title
   
   
4. Select Section and Category you want your Content item to be placed in.
5. Add some Intro and Main text.

Note: Your Content Item is not visible on your Joomla Site, until you create a Menu Entry for your Content Item.

Managing Content | Adding Menu Entry for a Content Item

Joomla installation has a default menu called Main Menu. We are now going to create a new menu item in that menu.

1. Navigate to Menu:Menu manager
2. Find mainmenu in the table and click on Menu options icon.
   
   
3. Click On NEW menu icon. A page opens with several options and radio buttons.
   
   
4. Since we want to create a link to a single menu item we Select: Link - Content Item. Click on it.
   
   
5. Now enter name for the menu item as you want it to appear on your Home page.
   
   
6. Select Content Item you want the menu to point.
7. Save

Managing Content | Adding Menu Entry for a List of Items

Some of your categories may hold several Content Items. You can add a menu entry for a whole category of items.

1. Go to Menu:Menu manager
2. Find mainmenu in the table and click on Menu options icon.
3. Click On NEW menu icon. A page opens with several options and radio buttons.
4. We will now create a link to List of items. Click on Blog-Content Category.
5. Now enter name for the menu item as you want it to appear on your Home page.
6. Select one or more Categories that you want the menu to point.
7. Save

Managing Content | Adding Static Content

As always there are some exceptions. We said earlier that Content Items must be organized in Sections and Categories. However that is not true for static content. Static Content is similar to Content Item, with difference that it does not belong to any category or section. It is independent.
 
To create Static Content:

1. Navigate to Content: Static Content Manager.
   
   
2. Click on the Icon NEW.
3. Enter Title
4. Insert your text.
5. Save

Before you can see it, you have to add a new menu entry. It is very similar to the above example (Adding Menu Entry for a Content Item). The difference is that in this case you select Link - Static Content instead of Link-Content Item. Thats it!

Managing Content | Removing Content Items

Joomla has some preconfigured Content Items that might not fit in your website. To delete them:

1. Go to Content: All Content Items.
   
   
2. Mark Items you want to delete.
   
   
3. Click on Trash Icon on right top corner.
   
   

You can do the same thing with Modules.

1. Go to Modules: Site Modules.
2. Select Modules you don`t need and click on Delete Icon.

Note: Doing this will delete your modules. I prefer unpublishing them. It has the same effect for visitors, but unpublished modules remain in administration area and can be used later.

Managing Content | Customizing Joomla Front Page

All of the Content Items can be configured to be shown on Front Page. Well actually, only their Intro Text is shown. You can customize it by:

1. Going to Content: All Content Items.
2. For each Content Item you can set if it is Published or Unpublished on Front Page. Toggle by clicking on Red Cross or Green Tick in the All Content Items table(Front Page Column).
3. Once there are some items published you can customize and set order of appearance by going to Content: Front Page Manager.