You'll see how the content in the mainbody and the modules in the surrounding content area change depending on the menu hyperlink you click: 1.. calls an article, the most common type of
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Time for action – tour the example site
Let's take a closer look at the demo site and see some real life examples of page layouts You'll see how the content in the mainbody and the modules in the surrounding content area change depending on the menu hyperlink you click:
1. Enter the URL of your site (for example, http://www.mysite.com) in your web browser If in Chapter 2 you have installed Joomla! into another folder,
the URL would be http://www.mysite.com/otherfoldername You'll re-cognize the home page, as displayed in the following screenshot The mainbody (the visible part of it outlined in the screenshot) consists of several article
intro texts; above it, to its left-hand side and right-hand side, are modules
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2. Let's explore how the layout changes on a different page In the Main Menu, click on
Joomla! Overview You'll notice that the mainbody displays what Joomla! calls an
article, the most common type of page content (the mainbody is again outlined in the following screenshot):
The mainbody takes up more screen space this time On the right-hand side
column, the home page modules have disappeared This is part of the site
design; the right-hand side column doesn't display when it contains no content
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3. In the Main Menu, click on More about Joomla! You'll see another type of page
layout The mainbody now contains a short list of links to content sections:
The Project, The CMS, and The Community.
4. Now check out one last type of page layout On the Main Menu, click on The
News As you can see, the mainbody displays a series of short introductions
(or teasers) Below each intro is a Read more link that shows the full article.
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What just happened?
At first sight, the Joomla! example site may seem overwhelming There are many bits of content, many hyperlink lists, menus, and many different types of web page layouts But
in fact, many pages on Joomla! sites are built around the four page layouts you've just discovered: the home page, content pages (with one main article in the mainbody), and two types of "pages in between" These "pages in between" function as hyperlink lists combined with either short descriptions of the content section or introductory texts to the articles themselves These "in-betweens" help users discover the site contents by offering them an overview of articles on related topics
You've also discovered how the mainbody can be combined with different modules In the example site, the home page is jam-packed with modules All of the other pages just show a few module items in the top bar and left-hand side column On those pages, the right-hand side column has no content and its place has been taken by the mainbody content
Have a go hero – get familiar with the example site contents
Take some time to browse your example site By now, you'll be able to see the framework behind the different pages and understand how different combinations of mainbody and modules are put together to create unique web pages
You'll also notice that there is more to explore than just pages with "classic content" (articles, text, and images) that we've seen so far Although classic content pages may be at the core
of many websites, in a dynamic site all kinds of dynamic content can be displayed in the mainbody Have a go at the Poll on the home page, or try out the Search box You'll see the mainbody will show the (dynamic) poll and search results
For now, we won't go any deeper into these different types of dynamic content—though it's important to realize that they exist and that they take Joomla!'s capabilities much further than just plain old "presentation of text and images" We'll cover this subject in more detail
in the next few chapters
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Taking control: Administering your site in the backend
The backend is the cockpit of your Joomla! jet It's the administration interface that lets you take your website to new heights From the backend, you manage your site It's organized quite neatly, so you'll learn to find your way around it pretty fast Let's have a closer look at the backend interface right now
Time for action – log in to the backend
1. To access the backend of your site, you'll add /administrator to the
address of your website If your site is http://www.mysite.com, type http:// www.mysite.com/administrator in the address bar of your browser
2. There it is, the secret entrance to your site! You'll see a login prompt:
3 Enter your username (by default, that's admin) and the password you've entered when installing Joomla! (see also Chapter 2) Click on the Login button.
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4. After you've successfully entered your credentials, you'll enter the actual ad-ministration interface: the backend home page (the Control Panel) This interface provides access to all of the functions that you need as a site administrator,
(such as adding content, changing menus, customizing the layout, and so on):
What just happened?
You've logged in to the backend of your site, and—lo and behold!—you've entered the
Control Panel, only accessible to users with special access rights You'll be coming back there
for every site management activity As the site administrator, you'll probably want to make a shortcut in your browser to the /administrator URL
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Taking a closer look at the Control Panel
Let's look at the Control Panel in more detail In the following screenshot, the four main screen areas of the Control Panel are outlined:
1 Menu bar
The top menu bar is an essential feature of the Control Panel This is really where all of the action is The seven items in this drop-down menu (listed as follows) give you access to all of Joomla!'s content management tools and functions:
Site: User access management, file management, global configuration
Menus: Menu management
Content: Add or change articles, change site structure
Components: Manage special features, such as banners and polls
Extensions: Manage extensions and templates which extend the functionality
and capabilities of your website
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Tools: Send simple e-mail messages to site users (private messages), clear site
cache, and so on
Help: Joomla!'s online help function
This top menu is the one you'll use over and over again when working on your site For now, we'll first have a look at the other panels and controls; after that we will start exploring the wide range of capabilities hidden behind all of the top menu items
2 Shortcut buttons
A series of buttons that offer quick access to frequently used functions (which you can also access through the top menu), such as adding a new article or changing site settings
3 Preview and Info Bar
In this part of the Control Panel you'll find the following functions:
Preview: Open the website's home page in a new browser tab or window
Information on the number of private messages (messages sent to you by other users of the site) to be read by you, and the number of users logged in
Logout: Logout from the backend
4 Information panels
Click on the title of these six information panels to show their content The Welcome to
Joomla! panel contains helpful links for new users The other panels are self-explanatory.
Click on the title (such as Logged In Users or Popular) to browse up-to-date information on your site's users and content The Joomla! Security Newsfeed panel keeps you informed on
security issues
Understanding backend tools and controls
The Control Panel is the home page of the backend Whatever action you want to perform,
the dozens of links on the Control Panel page lead you to the appropriate tools or Managers,
as Joomla! calls them Examples are the Article Manager, the Menu Manager, and the User
Manager That's where the real action takes place.
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Although there are many different Managers and other types of administration tools, it's quite easy to grasp the way they work All of the interface pages share the same base layout and show a toolbar in the top right position of the screen In the following screenshot you
can see the control buttons of Joomla!'s Article Manager toolbar:
Many Managers share commonly used features, such as New, Edit, Copy, and Trash Let's
look at the functions of the toolbar buttons in more detail:
It's pretty straightforward to grasp what the buttons are about:
Unarchive, Archive: Archive articles and make these accessible only through a
special archive menu
Publish: Make an article visible to your visitors
Unpublish: Make an article invisible to your visitors (without throwing it away)
Move: Move an article to another content category
Copy: Create a duplicate of an article
Trash: Send an article to the Trash (to delete it)
Edit: Edit an article
New: Create a new article
Parameters: Change general article settings
Help: Browse to Joomla!'s online help
The toolbar is context sensitive It will display the buttons relevant to the current activity
When you click on the Edit button in the Article Manager you'll be taken to the article editor
screen In this screen you'll see the following set of toolbar buttons:
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Preview: Open a pop-up screen giving you a rough impression of what the
formatted article will look like
Save: Save changes and close the current window (this takes you back to the Article Manager)
Apply: Save changes, without closing the current window
Close: Cancel without saving any changes
Help: Browse to Joomla!'s online help
As you can see, most toolbar buttons are self-explanatory Note, however, the difference
between the Apply and Save buttons Click on Apply to save changes without leaving the current page You'll find that when editing the text of an article, it's easiest to click on Apply and Preview to check the results in a new browser window To correct a typo or change
the article layout you don't have to re-select the article and open it again for editing When
you're satisfied with the results, click on Save to leave the editing screen The same applies
to any occurrence of Save and Apply on other Joomla! interface screens.
Clicking on the Apply button every now and then, when writing a long
article, will ensure your article contents are saved You can lose all of the unsaved changes when you leave the article editor open (without action) for more than 15 minutes Later in this chapter you'll learn how
to change this 15 minute setting to allow you to take some more time for your well-deserved coffee breaks
Getting your feet wet: Start administering your site
We have had a first look at the Control Panel screen layout and the main backend toolbars You're probably dying to try out how the thing actually works! I'll test your patience just a little more First, we'll make some more sense of the Control Panel and find out what you really need to know to get started on this impressive tool box After all, its main menu bar consists of seven menu options with more than 40 submenu items That's a wealth of CMS power—but it's also quite daunting
We won't go into all of the menu items and their capabilities here; rather, you'll learn how to use the important menu options as you go along building your site in the next chapters For now, let's go ahead and see what the primary functions are
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