HowToJoomla! Blog: Web Tools

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.

Recently, I wrote about how to change your favicon for your Joomla!-powered site. Today, I came across a great site for generating a favicon. Check it out (http://www.favicon.cc).

Mozilla just recently released Firefox 2.0, somehow they managed to improve upon the best browser available. The most useful new feature (among many) is built-in spell checking. Maybe now, people will stop misspelling words like "definitely" and "separate" in their forum and blog posts. (Yes, those are the correct spellings.)

If you haven't already done it, I highly recommend installing the latest version of Firefox (and please please please stop using Internet Explorer). Then maybe all you guys from the UK can stop misspelling "color" by adding the superfluous "u".

I just came across this great little tool in the Joomla! forums. It's called BrowserShots.org, and basically it gives you screenshots of what your web page looks like in various browsers. This is a must-have for any designer trying to guarantee cross-browser compatibility for their templates without having access to all of the different browsers.

By the way, if anyone is interested, here is what HowToJoomla looks like in different browsers.

I just came across a list of free icons at MaxPower. There are some really good ones with no usage restrictions. Enjoy!