Book Details

Language English
Paperback 380 pages [191mm x 235mm]
Release date February 2007
ISBN 1847192386
ISBN 13 978-1-847192-38-7
Author(s) Hagen Graf

What’s new in Joomla 1.5?

Joomla! 1.5, currently on beta release, is a major advancement for Joomla!. Previous updates of Joomla! 1.0 represented ongoing bug fixes following the split from Mambo. The jump to version 1.5 represents fundamental changes in a total overhaul and upgrade of Joomla!.

What's new in Packt’s Joomla 1.5 Beta book?

The book has been rewritten for v 1.5, apart from parts of Chapter 1 that cover CMS and Joomla! history. The presentation style is similar to that of the v 1.0 book and similar issues are discussed.

Advice about which book to buy, and book upgrades

If you want to download Joomla! to use live now, you should use the latest v 1.0.x release and you need to buy the v 1.0 book. If you choose to migrate to Joomla! 1.5 when the stable release is available, you can get a reduced price upgrade offer from Packt for the version of the book covering the v 1.5 stable release by contacting us at that time.

If you have downloaded the Joomla! 1.5 beta to look at, and might either use it for a new project or to migrate an existing one, then you need to buy the v1.5 beta book now and get free electronic updates through to the stable release. When you buy the v1.5 Beta book from Packt directly you will receive the free eBook upgrades as soon as they are available.

This book is a fast paced tutorial to creating a website using Joomla! 1.5 Beta 1. If you’ve never used Joomla! or even any web content management system before, then this book will walk you through each step in a friendly and accessible way.

Final Version Upgrade Offer

If you buy this book now from Packtpub.com, we will send you free eBook versions of all future versions of this title up to and including the final 1.5 release. Joomla! 1.5 Beta 1 was officially released on October 12, 2006.  This book covers Beta 1. We currently expect to update the book for either the final release or another beta in mid 2007.  

Existing Book Upgrade Offer

If you bought version 1.0 of this book, then you are eligible for a discount when you buy this new version. If you bought the book from us at Packtpub.com direct then you should receive an email with your offer. If you bought the book from another retailer, please contact us for details of your upgrade offer. 

In Detail

Improvements include:

Internationalization: UTF-8 coding throughout, support of right-to-left text flow, and optional language files for all static text facilitate I18n of public front end and administrative back end alike.

User Plug-ins: Allow alternative login mechanisms etc.

Databases: An abstraction interface supports MySQL 4.x or 5.x and future use of other databases.

FTP: A new FTP interface avoids PHP safe mode access problems.

XML-RPC: Support for web service integration of external applications.

Joomla! Framework: Fundamental overhaul of the core functionality provides a better framework for component and extension developers.

Accessibility: Separation of front-end programming logic and presentation aids compliance with accessibility standards and future barrier-free websites.

SEF: Improved support for search-engine friendly URLs with extensions.

These changes mean that you cannot upgrade an existing Joomla! 1.0.x site to 1.5 by simply overwriting the files. Instead you must migrate the site, using a migrator component to dump the old site and an import facility in the Joomla! 1.5 installation, or manually. Since Joomla! 1.5 is on beta release, it should not yet be used in a production environment or if you have important data.

Joomla 1.5 is an improved version of the Joomla Content Management System, which is one of the leading Open-source CMSes.  While still in its Beta 1 version, Joomla! 1.5 is still as easy to use as its earlier stable version, but with substantial improvements. Joomla! 1.5 implements the core requirements of a full-featured CMS. It has a powerful and extensible templating system with the ability to upload and manage many different data types. User access control, content approval, rich administrative control, and content display scheduling are all built-in. New features and extensions are constantly added to the core system, with many more being available and supported by the community.

From installation, to initial set up and content entry, and then on to customization for your own look and feel, this book will help you get a working Joomla! based website fast. You will also learn to build your own template and extension.
You don’t have to be an experienced web developer or designer to get a great looking site with a full set of functions using this book and Joomla! This book will guide through every step. The book takes a practical approach of teaching how to install and configure Joomla! 1.5, customizing it, creating your templates and extensions, and finally building your own website.

Two new chapters cover building your own website and three bonus templates. Chapter list:
- Terms, Concepts, and Deliberations
- Installation
- A Tour of Your New Website
- Customizing Joomla!
- Components and Extensions
- Writing Your Own Joomla! Templates
- Your Own Components, Modules, and Plug-Ins
- A Website with Joomla!
- Bonus Templates
- Appendix: Online Resources

What you will learn from this book

• Joomla! 1.5 features.
• Installing Joomla! and its supporting software [Apache/MySQL/PHP].
• Customizing Joomla! 1.5.
• Using third-party components for your website.
• Creating your own templates and extending Joomla!'s functionality with new components, modules, and plugins.
• Building your website.
  
  Approach

This book provides you with step by step instructions on working with Joomla! 1.5. This book not only covers the customization of Joomla! but also teaches you to create your own templates, components, and finally your own website. This book is based on beta 1.5 version and hence it is advisable not to use it for production server. The book does not aim to cover every feature of Joomla! nor is it a comprehensive guide to extending Joomla!.

Who this book is written for

This book is suitable for web developers, designers, webmasters, content editors and marketing professionals who want to develop a fully featured web presence in a simple and straightforward process. It does not require any detailed knowledge of programming or web development, and any IT confident individual will be able to use the book to produce an impressive website. 

Author(s)Hagen Graf

Hagen Graf was born in July 1964. Born and raised in Lower Saxony, Germany, his first contact with a computer was in the late seventies with a Radioshack TRS 80. As a salesperson, he organized his customers' data by programming suitable applications. This gave him a big advantage over other salesmen. With the intention of honing his skills, he joined evening courses in programming and became a programmer.

Nowadays he works in his wife's consulting company as a trainer, consultant, and programmer (http://www.cocoate.com). Hagen Graf has published other books in German, about the Apache web server, about security problems in Windows XP, about Mambo, and about Drupal. Since 2001, he has been engaged in a nonprofit e-learning community called "machm-it.org e.V.", as well as in several national and international projects.

All the projects are related to content management, community building, and harnessing the power of social software like wikis and weblogs. He chose Joomla! CMS because of its simplicity and easy-to-use administration. You can access and comment on his blog (http://www.bloghouse.org/en/hagen).