Joomla Frequently Asked Questions

These are the questions i am asking as i learn joomla. I saved the answers here for when i forget them again. I hope they will be helpful to you too!

General

Templates

How do i see the "positions" on my joomla page?

Three ways to do this:

• You can look in the template file: /path_to_your_joomla_site/templates/template_name/index.php
  Wherever you see a line that looks like:
  <jdoc:include type="modules" name="user1" style="xhtml" />
  "user1" is a "position"
• You can add '?tp=1' to the url of any joomla page
  (for example, http://localhost/news/story.html?tp=1)
  and the page will come up with the positions showing, outlined in red.
• In the back-end admin, you can go to Extensions → Template Manager → [click on the template name] → Preview
  and it will show you the template page, with the positions, outlined in red.

More info at:
http://www.dart-creations.com/joomla/joomla-tutorials/joomla-1.5-template-positions.html
Including how modules and positions are related, how to add a new position, and more.

How do i install a new template?

Select Extensions → Install/Uninstall from the drop-down menu in the Back-end of your Joomla! installation. For details see http://help.joomla.org/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1476&Itemid=278#Install_Screen

This is also how you install other "extensions": components, modules, and plug-ins.

It is my understanding (and experience) that for a template, you can just upload the whole folder into the templates directory, and it will appear in the template admin screen and work just fine. All the other things *have* to be installed through the Extensions → Install/Uninstall, so that Joomla knows there are there.

Install Joomla

Words and Concepts

What are extensions, components, modules, and plug-ins?

Extensions are add-ons that change or expand how Joomla works. They add things that do not exist in the standard Joomla installation.
There are five types of extensions:

1. Template – the web page!
   Controls the way the content of a web site is displayed, including the location and layout of elements, colors, fonts, and so on. Templates allow the appearance of the web site to be separated from its content.
2. Component – does something extra on the page.
   A mini-application that displays in the main body of the page.
   Examples: Contacts, the Front Page, and News Feeds.
3. Module – like a widget.
   A smaller Extension, typically used for rendering a small element that displays across multiple pages.
   Examples: Menus and Related Items.
4. Plugin
   A section of code that runs when a pre-defined event happens within Joomla!. Example: editors are Plugins that run when an edit session is opened.
5. The Language Extension
   This allows for the Front-end and Back-end of Joomla! to be presented in any language for which a language Extension exists. This way, Joomla! can be released in a new language with no changes to the core program.

Know more

Joomla sites

www.joomla.org

Home of Joomla

help.joomla.org

Joomla help pages site (the same pages that come when you click "Help" in your Joomla install.

docs.joomla.org

Joomla documentation site.

faq.html
Written 27 June 2009
Revised 27 June 2009

All content not copyright by anyone else is copyright © 2003–2009 James Walker.
License for use is the GNU Free Documentation License. Find it:
here in the License directory
or at the Free Software Foundation, www.fsf.org