When I wrote How to Create a Basic Template, I created a basic template and made it available for download from this site. To track the number of times it was downloaded (1241 at the time of writing this), I installed the DocMan component to use as a file reopsitory.

Last month, the Joomla! core team announced a template contest for Joomla! 1.5. The top 5 templates (chosen by the core team) receive Joomla! swag as prizes, and the grand prize winner is rewarded with having his or her template distributed with the stable release of Joomla! 1.5. Saturday was the deadline for submitting templates to the contest via the forum. I have spent some time looking through the templates, and based on first impressions, here are my favorites so far (in no particular order).

If you've been around Joomla! or other open source software for a while, you have likely heard of Packt Publishing. They have published dozens of books covering a wide array of open source software, including 4 books about Joomla! I just got a press release about a new website developed by Packt called InstallationWiki.org, which assists users in the installation of several popular open source applications, including Joomla! 1.0 and Joomla! 1.5. Here is their press release.

New Website Launched that Promises to ease the Software Installation Process

InstallationWiki.org is a new website designed to provide users with comprehensive, free guides to installing software. The website will largely be driven and populated by content supplied and edited by experts, and hopes to bridge the gap between software experts and software users.

Quality, relevant and free information on installing software is often difficult to find, especially when new versions and editions are being released on a regular basis. The aim of InstallationWiki.org is to provide people with a one-stop source of information for installing whichever piece of software they’re working with.

The Installation Wiki will provide myriad benefits for a variety of individuals; acting as a resource for software users, whilst supporting the software community through gaining exposure for their respective programs.

InstallationWiki.org has been developed using the open source MediaWiki software package and is supported by UK publisher Packt. The site has initially been populated using installation chapters from Packt books. “We’re more than happy to provide InstallationWiki.org with content from our books” explains Packt spokesman, Damian Carvill. “Packt is pleased to support the idea of providing an online repository of guides for installing software and we’re honored to populate the Wiki with its first content” he adds.

InstallationWiki.org is inviting software experts to share their knowledge by adding to the content on the site, helping it grow into an exhaustive library whilst increasing their position of authority in the subject.

InstallationWiki.org is free to use and open for everyone to contribute to. It is expected to grow and expand over the coming months with more installation guides and features. For more information, please visit www.InstallationWiki.org.

For almost a year (The first article was written on September 8, 2006.), I have done my best to bring you tips and tricks for working with Joomla! to make your website great. In that time, I have written over 36 articles with tips and tricks for Joomla! 1.0.x, and no articles specifically for Joomla! 1.5.

There are several reasons that I have avoided writing about Joomla! 1.5, but the main reason is that we have not yet seen a stable release of the code. With the recent release of Joomla! 1.5 RC 1, I figured that it was time for me to start writing about Joomla! 1.5. Before I can delve into Joomla! 1.5 tips and tricks, there are some housekeeping duties I need to do with HowToJoomla. Mainly, I need to go back over the 36 Joomla! 1.0.x articles I have written and label them as "This how-to written for Joomla! 1.0.x only." Because there are several differences between the two versions, I want to make sure that there is no confusion which version is covered by each article.

In the coming days, you will start to see new labels pop up on each of the older how-to articles. In the coming weeks, if time permits I plan to start adding how-to's specific for Joomla! 1.5.

Thank you for visiting HowToJoomla.net! I truly hope that you find the information in this site useful for building your Joomla!-powered websites.