Joomlaco.com - Learn Joomla - Free Joomla Templates, Downloads

Many people are asking which version of Joomla to use so I wrote this quick article to help you decide. You can read it here: Joomla 1.0.15 vs the new Joomla 1.5 which should you use?

My latest article is on "Adding a Directory to your Joomla site". I think it's important to read because it can help drive more traffic to your site and can even help you generate income. It's in the FAQ section but you can get to it from here: Joomla Directories

If you are brand new to Joomla and don't even know what it is...read this, it think it will help you understand what Joomla is.
 

We now have LearnJoomla.com tutorial videos to help you get started and show you how to install and use some of our favorite Components and Modules, Click Here for our Video Library


Watch and Learn Joomla through our Video Tutorial Library from LearnJoomla.com and Jay Addison.
Each or our Video Tutorials for Joomla will help you learn functions for maintaining and modifying your Joomla site. The Videos are in FLV (Flash Video) format compatible with PC and MAC. LearnJoomla.com

Our Free Joomla and Mambo templates section is growing weekly in our Downloads section. We have found some unique templates that are a little harder to find. If you like a template you will find a link back to the authors web site...quite often this is a great way to find great looking templates that are available at a decent price.


We will be adding more free Joomla Components, modules, mambots and other items to our downloads on a weekly basis so please check back soon. Are mission is also to locate and retrieve those hard to find and unique Joomla and Mambo components and Modules for our Downloads section.


If you own or have developed a site based on Joomla or Mambo please add it to our Joomla directory...it's free. This also goes for developers and other Joomla related portals.

Please Link to Us to help build the community, we have created a page with various standard size Joomlaco Banners and graphics for linking to our site. Thanks in advance for linking to us..


Joomlaco.com - Learn Joomla - Free Joomla Templates, Downloads

Netshine - Free Joomla Templates

We have scoured the internet for the very best free open source Joomla templates (a template is a 'theme' that defines the look-and-feel of your Joomla website), and are happy to offer these for download.
All of the templates on this page are published under the GNU/GPL license which means they are free to use and free to distribute. The templates can be modified to incorporate your own logo, images, etc., however, please note that some of these templates do impose certain conditions (such as keeping a link to the designer's site - check the copyright notice in the template's templateDetails.xml file).

The following are just a small selection of the many free templates available for Joomla. Various template designers offer free templates which are not released under the GNU/GPL license - which means we are not allowed to redistribute them - you have to get them from the designer (but they are still free).

Netshine - Free Joomla Templates

Joomlashack's new template builder

Since I first started using Joomla
years back, I've always felt that with a little knowledge of html and css making a template is quite simple - all you really have needed to know is where you want which blocks to be displayed on your site.

In fact, you've been able to do a lot with Joomla templates, and now with 1.5 can do even more - in making dynamic interfaces for websites which handle data in creative ways. Without getting to deep into the topic, I know there are a bunch of folks who are attempting to build sites with Joomla that don't really know any html and shy away from 'code.' For them, some neat tools are coming out like Joomlashack's Template Builder .

Basically, Joomlashack's created a tool to allow their customers to easily reconfigure color options of their templates by hitting up this website, changing some options in a form and previewing the result, then pasting the output code into their Joomlashack-bought Template Builder-compatible template.

I don't think this tool revolutionizes Joomla theming but its a nice step forward for commercial vendors catering to Joomla sites; though Joomlashack may pitch it as saving time and encouraging creativity, I feel its a service tool that all template sellers should offer their customers.


Why Joomla ? - Joomlashack's new template builder

How to Use Google Web Optimizer in Joomla

How to Use Google Web Optimizer in Joomla

Or..... "How to double your website revenue for free" Let's assume you have a website that is somehow generating an income. It might be a shopping cart, it might be email signs ups for an ebook. Your site will have competitors (enter your keywords in a Google search to see who they are). How can you be more competitive in that market and have a more successful site? The answer: increase your conversion rate. Jakob Nielsen put this pretty well with his formula for website success. B = V x C x L Where B = amount of business done by the site V = unique visitors coming to the site C = conversion rate (the percentage of visitors who become customers); note that the concept of conversion applies not only to ecommerce sites, but to any site where there is something you want users to do L = loyalty rate (the degree to which customers return to conduct repeat business) Now, the strategy most webmasters probably think of when trying to increase "sales" is to go out and get more traffic. But in many cases, this probably isn't the best strategy. You can get the same effect by doubling your conversion as you can doubling your traffic, and here is the best part… Doubling your conversion could be surprisingly easy!

Read the full article here "How to Use Google Web Optimizer in Joomla"

Load Joomla 1.5 pages faster by optimizing Mootools

We all know that a page that loads fast is an extremely desirable thing for a website. Our users like it, Google loves it.

An issue with Joomla 1.5 has been the relatively large size of one of the files that Joomla will load by default: mootools.js. It clocks in at 75kb, which could easily be the largest thing you are loading on your site!

Fortunately, someone else has done some work on how to optimize this file better for your needs.

Check out Rick Winkler's advice on how to reduce the size of mootools.js. Thanks Rick!

Module Positions

You can use this url to find out where all your modules are.

Great to print out and keep as a reference:

www.yourjoomlawebsite.com/index.php?tp=1

Joomlashack: Joomla Templates and Components

Joomla templates by Joomlashack, a provider of custom, free and commercial Joomla Templates for the content management system known as Joomla!, Free Joomla Templates

Joomla Templates, Components and Free Downloads for Joomla CMS - Free Joomla Templates

Joomla! 1.5 Manual start

Well you have made the most important choice so far, by selecting Joomla! 1.5 as your choice of Content Management System (CMS).

Joomla! is currently one of the most popular and effective Open Source projects and has won a number of prestigious awards in its short, but illustrious existence.

Joomla! 1.5 is the second, main incarnation of the Joomla! series of releases. The original Joomla! 1.0 series being a direct derivative of the Mambo CMS which many of the current Joomla! Developers helped create. Joomla! 1.5 is a major step forward from 1.0, with many new features and a far more integrated framework.

This manual seeks to provide you with the necessary information you need in order to safely install the basic core package onto an existing, fully operational, web server.

We will, by necessity, touch upon the essential needs for setting Joomla! up but this manual is not a detailed guide on how to build and configure a web server or database. You are essentially expected to have these in operation already.

We will take you through:

• 
  ensuring your web server meets the minimum requirements needed
  
• 
  the general steps of obtaining Joomla!
  
• 
  how to deal with both a straight forward and slightly more complex installation of the software
  
• 
  possible problems that you may encounter along the way and the resolution of many of these
  
• 
  together with additional resources and information that is available to you
  

We trust you will enjoy the process and can then look forward to tailoring Joomla! to your own specific requirements.

Installing and using Joomla! is generally straight forward, getting your perfect web site takes a lot more effort but there is much, as you will discover that has been done to make the process easier along the way.

Joomla! Help Site - Introduction

Joomla! 1.5 Installation Manual

Joomla! 1.5 Installation Manual has GOT to be the place to start. Jump over and start reading/skimming/browsing. It isn't half as technical as it looks.

Stuart

Joomla! 1.5 Installation Manual Released

Without thinking about it, we ALL need to get ourselves pover to the Joomla Forums, and into the discussion. It all builds a GREAT database of answers to like ALL my questions without even asking!

Anyway go over there and see

Stuart.

========================================

The Joomla! User Documentation Team are pleased to announce the release of the Joomla! 1.5 Installation Manual today.

The Manual covers:

* System Requirements
* Localhost and Remote Host Installations
* Obtaining Joomla
* Preparations ahead of installation
* File Transfer
* Secure Password Thinking
* Web Browser Installation
* Manual Installation
* Known Issues and Error Solving (this has yet to be populated)
* General information for anyone new to the Joomla! Community
* Further reference relating to Joomla! 1.5 (this also has yet to be populated)

The manual is available as an online resource here at the Help Site or for download in PDF file format for bedtime reading from the Joomla! Project Document Repository on Joomla! Code!. Just "right click" and select Save As from the menu of your browser.

If you have any constructive feedback please visit the User Documentation forums.

Regards

Andy Wallace

25 September 2007

Joomla! • View topic - Joomla! 1.5 Installation Manual **Updated**

Joomla! Installation instructions on GoDaddy Servers

Installing Joomla! on a GoDaddy server is not only simple, it also works perfectly without any problems.This installation instruction is based on a GoDaddy hosting plan and not applicable for any of the (Virtual) Dedicated servers.
Select GoDaddy Hosting Plan

You can select any of the hosting plans offered by GoDaddy. The hosting plan used for this installation is the cheapest available: Economy Plan for just $3.95 per month.

When you choose the hosting plan make sure you select Linux hosting with php.

If you want you can also purchase or transfer a domain name with your hosting plan if you don’t have one already. At the time of writing this document it is only $1.99 when purchased with a hosting plan.

Note:

If you already have a Windows Hosting account with GoDaddy, or if you accidentally selected Windows hosting when you purchased a hosting plan, remember that you can always change it to a Linux hosting account: in My Hosting Account click on the domain name, in the right menu Hosting Account Details you can select the option Switch Operating System.

Setup the GoDaddy Hosting Account

When you setup the hosting account do not install Front Page Extensions (FPE) if you don’t need them. If you do need FPE you can install them, they don’t seem to cause any problems with a Joomla! installation on GoDaddy.

FTP Joomla! files to your Hosting Account

Unzip or unrar the Joomla! package to a directory on your local computer and subsequently FTP the unpacked files to any directory or to the root of your hosting account. The advantage of installing Joomla! in the root is that you run Joomla! directly from your domain so you don’t have to redirect visitors of your site to a sub directory.

Setup a GoDaddy SQL Database

Go to the GoDaddy Hosting Manager of your domain and in the control panel select the MySQL icon to setup a SQL database:

On the next page select Create New Database to start the setup of a new SQL database.

In the field Enter User Name choose a user name for your database. The table name of the database is equal to your user name. Since it a shared database you might experience difficulty in finding a unique table (or user name) containing the word Joomla. A good convention is JDB_DomainName. Just remember the User Name cannot exceed 16 characters and to choose a strong password and to remember it!

Click [Continue] and verify your User Name on the next page and click [Create Database] to continue.

If the username is unique and there are no other issues, your database is created and the following page will be displayed:

During the Joomla! Installation you need some information regarding your database. Click on the User Name and the following page will be displayed:

Now it’s time to start the actual installation. Browse to your domain and if you FTP-ed the Joomla! files to a subdirectory make sure to append it to the URL.

The pre-installation check should start automatically and return the following results:

The only setting not having the recommended value is Register Globals.

Click [Next >] and read the license. Click [Next >] again to start step 1 of the installation.

Installation Joomla! Step 1

On the configuration page of the MySQL database fill in the form using the information collected in the previous steps. You can leave the MySQL Table Prefix as is. Use the password created during the GoDaddy database.

Joomla! installation will populate the database tables. If this step is successful your will be redirected to the second installation step.

Installation Joomla! Step 2

Note the word “SUCCESS!”, indicating a successful connection and population of your database.



Now just enter the name you wish to use for your site and click [Next >] to continue.

Installation Joomla! Step 3

In step 3 just verify the information presented and fill in the Joomla! administrator e-mail address and admin password for the Joomla! administration pages.



Installation Joomla! Step 4

With step 4 you successfully installed Joomla! on a GoDaddy server! Just do not forget to delete the installation directory for security reasons and to start using Joomla!

Joomla! Installation instructions on GoDaddy Servers

JS Relevant

Joomla templates are fast becoming overloaded with widgets and code bloat.

Relevant is a refreshingly clean template that let's your all important content speak for your site, and not get buried under a distracting template.

Built to be SEO optimized and take subtle advantage of Joomla 1.5's template override features, Relevant will bring a professional finish to your site.

JS Relevant Key Features

• Joomla! 1.5 Native
• Valid XHTML & CSS
• Pure CSS Suckerfish Dropdown Menu System
• 4 Bundled Color Themes
• SEO Optimized Header
• Graphic Source Files
• Special Commented Customizable CSS File
• Integrated Column Width Selector
• 10 Module Positions in 4 Variations

Get the Joomla 1.5 native Relevant template today or check out the live demo
Home

SiteGround : Free Joomla templates

SiteGround has the largest collection of free Joomla 1.5 templates with new releases every week!

More than 120 professional and FREE to download Joomla 1.0.x and Joomla 1.5 templates. New releases every week!

Easy to customize and suitable for personal and business Joomla sites, IT sites, online shops, etc. Joomla template installation tutorial. Free installation of Joomla templates for SiteGround Joomla hosting clients.

To learn how to start your Joomla site, please check their Joomla 1.5 tutorial.

Free Joomla templates - the largest Joomla template collection

JCE - A wysiwyg editor for Joomla - Home

An advanced, configurable WYSIWYG editor for Joomla! based on Moxiecode's TinyMCE.

Includes advanced Image/Media and File handling, plugin support, and an Administration interface for editor configuration.

THE ONLY EDITOR TO BOTHER WITH!

JCE 1.5.0 Release Candidate

The first, and hopefully only, release candidate of the JCE Editor Plugin has been released, as well as an update to the Admin Component, updates to the Image Manager Extended, now also at RC1, and the File Manager and Media Manager plugins.

JCE - A wysiwyg editor for Joomla - Home

joomlatemplatestyle.com: Free Joomla Templates

Joomlatemplatestyle.com offers a wide selection of free joomla templates released under the GNU/GPL License.

Our templates include:

• Golf joomla templates
• Business Joomla templates
• Sports Joomla Templates
• Clan Joomla templates
• Gaming joomla templates
• Finance joomla templates
• model joomla templates

We offer an release these free to the community, the only thing we ask is that you leave the links back to this site on the template as a small thankyou to the crew here at joomlatemplatestyle free joomla templates, for providing them to the community.

About Joomla 1.5
If you're new to web publishing systems, you'll find that Joomla! delivers sophisticated solutions to your online needs. It can deliver a robust enterprise-level website, empowered by endless extensibility for your bespoke publishing needs. Moreover, it is often the system of choice for small business or home users who want a professional looking site that's simple to deploy and use. We do content right.

So what's the catch? How much does this system cost? Well, there's good news ... and more good news! Joomla! 1.5 is free released under an Open Source license.

Had you invested in a commercial alternative, there'd be nothing but moths left in your wallet.

Joomla! is set to change all that ... Joomla! is different from the normal models for content management software. For a start, it's not complicated. Joomla! has been developed for everybody. It's licensed under the GNU/GPL license, easy to install and administer and reliable. Joomla! doesn't even require the user or administrator of the system to know HTML to operate it once it's up and running.

Free Joomla Templates 1.5 Themes Skins Layouts Styles

Joomla24 : Free Joomla Templates

Joomla24 is the Download site for Joomla Templates from Germany.

In collaboration with the biggest german Download site "www.joomlaos.de" they offer more than 1500 Templates with live previews for Joomla 1.5.

More Than 1500 Free Joomla CMS Templates

The definitive starting point on Joomla forums

GoDaddy and Joomla 1.5 -> Do these things before posting que

Joomla RC3 works well on GoDaddy shared linux hosting. This thread is a holding point for all GoDaddy specific fixes - read this post completely before posting about issues on GoDaddy.

If you run into another issue & fix that GoDaddy shared linux hosting users should know about, please let us know. (Just because you had an issue and you host with GoDaddy does not mean you should post here)


.HTACCESS DELAY
Before getting into anything, you must be made aware of the fact that new .htaccess files ARE NOT IMMEDIATELY PROCESSED. It can take up to 60 minutes before these changes actually take effect on GoDaddy. This is straight from their FAQ:

Changes made to an existing .htaccess file will be seen immediately. When a new .htaccess file is created or an existing .htaccess file is deleted, however, these changes will not be seen until the htaccess cache is cleared. This occurs every hour.

PHP5
Shared linux hosting accounts process .php files with PHP4 by default. This can cause problems with linkable titles and read more links, as well as several items. To fix it, you need to add a handler to the top of your .htaccess file for PHP5 (and wait for it to be processed) like the following two lines:
AddHandler x-httpd-php5 .php
AddHandler x-httpd-php .php4


GMAIL AUTHENTICATION
The default GMail Authentication plugin does not work with GoDaddy. The issue has to do with using another proxy to make the https request from a shared hosting account. Hopefully this will get tweaked in Joomla before the final release, but for now there is a third party plugin which implements a fix available here:
http://extensions.joomla.org/component/ ... Itemid,35/


SEO - SEF URLS
You must uncomment the "RewriteBase /" line in the .htaccess file and allow time for the change to be processed. Then, once the SEF options are turned on, it should work fine. (Remember to clear local caches before thinking you've got an error)

I have attached an .htaccess file which has been working for me with RC3 on GoDaddy. (It is named htaccess.txt and must be renamed to .htaccess)

Joomla! • View topic - GoDaddy and Joomla 1.5 -> Do these things before posting questions

Turn on caching in General Confirguration

Easily the slowest aspect of GoDaddy Joomla hosting is the shared access to MySQL.

By turning on caching, a page will be stored as a standard HTML when accessed (the home page, for example).

If the next time the page is referenced the cached version hasn't expired, it will simply send the stored file instead of reconstructing the page from the MySQL database.

When installing Joomla to GoDaddy thru Hosting Connection

Think twice before using the Value Added Application (VAA) installer -- If you use the Joomla version that installs under the VAA menu, it won't install at your root folder, but instead in the directory \joomla. That means when a visitor types in your direct URL, they won't be taken directly to the Joomla site.

Also, by downloading (from www.joomla.org) and installing manually, you can choose the Joomla version # you want to use.  

Edit the htaccess.txt file -- For Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URLs, you will need to edit the htaccess.txt file to turn on the RewriteBase option. In the file, you will find a line that reads #RewriteBase / that you need to change to RewriteBase / -- remove the pound (#) sign. 

Rename htaccess.txt -- You need to rename the htaccess.txt to .htaccess which you can do from your FTP program.

GoDaddy.com Hosting Connection

Enjoy FREE access to Joomla 1.5 on GoDaddy.com Hosting Connection! 

 

GoDaddy.com has hand-picked some of the hottest hosting applications and utilities and placed them in one easy-to-access location. Now you can enhance your Web site and get the most out of your hosting plan with quick and easy installation in just minutes! GoDaddy.com Hosting Connection gives you the unique opportunity to interact with fellow hosting customers and take advantage of their reviews of Joomla before you decide.

Go Daddy Hosting Connection

Go Daddy Hosting Connection is a Windows and Linux shared hosting resource center and community forum that focuses on the use of free value-applications to expand and augment your hosted site with the most popular attractions on the Web. 

The community section in Go Daddy Hosting Connection features user reviews and feedback on the applications and gives you the option to post your own review. 

You can install Joomla 1.5 it directly from Go Daddy Hosting Connection by clicking Install Now! in your hosting account. 

What is a domain name?

A domain name is a Web address, such as godaddy.com, that is linked to an IP address (which represents a physical point on the Internet). When someone types a domain name into a Web browser, the requested Web page displays.

A domain name consists of a top-level and a second-level domain. A top-level domain (TLD) is the part of the domain name located to the right of the dot (godaddy.com). The most common top-level domains are .COM, .NET, and .ORG. Some other popular top-level domains are .BIZ, .INFO, .NAME and .WS. These TLDs have certain guidelines but are, for the most part, available to any registrant, anywhere in the world.

The part of the domain name located to the left of the dot — "godaddy," in this case — is called the second-level domain (SLD) name. The second-level domain name is the "readable" part of the address and refers to the organization or entity behind the Internet address. Second-level domain names must be registered with an Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)-accredited registrar.

Joomla CMS

Joomla CMS is the latest rage in website designing. It is getting popularity due to its easy accessibility and dynamic features.

I just completed creating another new website and ALL on my own. Well that's the kind of freedom Joomla web designing has provided you. Your website will look and feel exactly the way you like it. You need not worry about designers fussing over your ideas, or the exuberant cost that you have to pay for good website designing.

Joomla is the easiest way to be introduced to CMS (Content Mangement System of a website). For those who are still unaware of what Joomla exactly is, let me tell you. Joomla is an open source content management system, that is used to build a website and used henceforth, for any editing that the website might require.

Small and Medium sized enterprises can develop a medium sized website, are really in love with this easy to use web designing technique. It is most suitable for websites that have a lot of content and which needs regular changing and editing. Corporate websites, institutions, portals, and several others have used Joomla successfully and have declared it as the best web designing tool they have tried so far.

The reason why Joomla has been recognized as the best tool award is that it has an active community working for it and supporting it continuously. There are many plug-ins and extensions that come along with the Joomla package, to expand the functionalities of this CMS system. 

With Joomla you can make a simple 3-4 page website (the way I did for The Great Fiji Butterflyfish Count) or you can also create a forum or a blog from it. Manage client contacts, online library of documents, podcasts, calendars, gallery, booking system or videos.

The best part of Joomla CMS is that it also provides different levels of user access. This will help you keep track of your website management. Different rights can be given to different users to edit or change certain sections. 

All of this combined makes Joomla one of the best CMS tools introduced so far.