Cory Webb's How to Joomla!

One thing I often need to do while developing a template is change certain parts of the template depending on which page I am on. For example, let's say I am developing a template for a site that runs Virtuemart, and I want to have 3 columns on every non-Virtuemart page, and 2 columns on every Virteumart page. A solution that I often like to use is to make the column "collapsable" when the value of "option" is "com_virtuemart". When "option" is equal to "com_virtuemart", that simply means that the Virtuemart component is loaded.

Today I created a blank template for Joomla! 1.5. My main purpose for creating the template was to give myself a basis for creating future templates, since it contains the basic necessary files for creating a template. This template loads the component and the "debug" module position. There are no CSS styles in the template.css file, but the file is referenced in the index.php file. The template is released under the GPL, so feel free to use it however you want in accordance with the GPL.

Click here to download the template.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will no longer be writing "Blog" posts here at HowToJoomla.net. I will continue writing tips, tricks & tutorials here as often as I can, but all blog posts will be written over at my new blog, http://blog.corywebb.com/. The main reason for this is that I want to keep HowToJoomla a place for tutorials, and I feel like my blog posts here are distracting from that purpose. I will also no longer be writing blog posts at JoomlaForm.com in favor of blogging at my new blog. So, if you are interested, head on over to http://blog.corywebb.com/ and check it out. There is only one post there for now until I have time to get everything set up and start writing. Thanks for visiting!

Back in September, I gave you my first impressions of the templates in the Joomla! 1.5 template contest. Rob Schley announced today that it is time to vote for the winner, and I am pleased to see that three of my top 5 choices made the top 5.

After reviewing the top 5 candidates, I have decided to throw my support behind RedEvo_Aphelion. If you get a chance, head over and vote for your favorite template. The winning template will be included with the core distribution of Joomla! 1.5. Good luck to all 5 candidates!

I mentioned Joomla! CSS Guide several months ago as a great resource for Joomla template designers because it offered a comprehensive list of all the core CSS classes and ID's output from Joomla and its core components. I went to the site a few months ago to find that the site was off line. I got an e-mail this morning from the founder of Joomla! CSS Guide letting me know that the site is back online, so I went to check it out.

Unfortunately, the CSS guide is no longer free. Visitors to the site now must purchase a membership in the site's professional template club to gain access to the CSS guides. In my opinion, this is a huge mistake. The CSS guide is a great resource and a great way to draw traffic to the site. If the guide were free, it would attract more traffic and more potential customers for the template club.

My Advice

My advice to Joomla! CSS Guide is to make the CSS guide a free resource for anyone visiting your website. You will see an increase in traffic and more potential customers for your template club.

My advice to you is, if you feel the CSS guide and templates are worth paying for, go ahead and pay for them, but I will not be purchasing a membership.

Best of luck to Joomla! CSS Guide. I hope your business model works out for you, but I have a feeling you will be unlocking the CSS guide when you realize its value as a magnet to your site.

I recently read "Mastering Joomla! 1.5 Extension and Framework Development" by James Kennard, and I must say I really enjoyed it. Every time I read a book about Joomla! framework and extension development, I get all sorts of new ideas. This time was no exception. The book provides a thorough description of the topics surrounding Joomla! 1.5 extension development, and it is a great reference book. I would not recommend reading the book cover-to-cover, but I think it is a great resource to have handy when attempting to develop extensions for Joomal! 1.5. The book was written for experience PHP developers who already have a working knowledge of Joomla! For those wanting to learn Joomla! extension devleopment, I recommend starting with Joe Leblanc's book, "Learning Joomla! 1.5 Extension Development", and having "Mastering Joomla! 1.5 Extension and Framework Development" as a reference for getting more in depth with the framework.

I have been working with JoomlaShack for a year-and-a-half, and you could not ask for a better group of people to work with. They have recently announced the JoomlaShack Developer Club, which is a way for professional web developers to use JoomlaShack's high-quality Joomla! templates on unlimited domains, have access to a private developer section of the JoomlaShack forums, gain Professional Developer status on the JoomlaShack forums, and have access to JoomlaShack's top notch educational resources. The cost of $499/year may seem steep for the average user, but this program is not aimed at the average user. For a professional developer, the time and money saved by using JoomlaShack's templates more than make up the cost of joining the club. I highly recommend this club, not only for the great features, but for the opportunity to work with a great group of people. Join here.

I just read on Steve Burge's blog that Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich's website is running Joomla! Not only that, but he is running RS Gallery 2 as his photo gallery, and I designed the logo for RS Gallery 2. The logo is used as the default image for a gallery with no images, so the logo appears on the photo gallery page of his website.

I can now tell everyone I know that something I designed ended up on a presidential candidate's website. Too bad it's not a candidate I support.

Today I came across an interesting website called ScratchBack. They offer a product called the ScratchBack TopSpot widget, which is basically a digital tip jar for your website. It seems like a fun way to add some interaction to your website while making a little bit of extra money. The basic concept is the visitor pays a small fee (like leaving a tip at a restaurant), and in return, the visitor leaves a link to his or her website with a brief message that displays when your mouse hovers over the link. The last person to leave a tip gets the number 1 spot in the top spots list, and the person before that gets bumped down to the next spot automatically. Right now, I only have 10 spots. Once 10 people have left a tip after you, your link gets bumped off of the list.

If you visit HowToJoomla often and find this site useful, now you have a fun, interactive way to give back. Plus, a link to your website will appear in a prominent position on every page of HowToJoomla.net. All for just $2.00 USD!

Click here to visit the ScratchBack website and get a TopSpots widget for your website.

A few weeks ago, I tried out a new free online language learning tool called Mango. I went through a couple of lessons for learning to speak German, and overall I thought it was a great tool. Tonight, I got an e-mail from them saying that their site had moved and been improved, and when I visited the site, I found out that the new site is powered by Joomla! It looks like they are using a customized RocketTheme template, and the application itself is an Adobe Flash-based application. This site is a great example of the power of Joomla!

Click here to visit the Mango website.