Joomla Creating and Editing Custom Templates [CD-ROM]

Jen Kramer McKibben (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 16, 2008

Custom templates are the key to making a Joomla!-driven website stand out. In Joomla! Creating and Editing Custom Templates, Jen Kramer McKibben offers instruction and insight to help Joomla! users create eye-popping websites. Jen starts with the basics, like how to add the Joomla! template codes to a static HTML layout, install the template package, and clean up styling after installation. She also shows how to make multiple layouts within the same Joomla! template, configure menus and submenus, and more. Exercise files accompany the course.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jen Kramer McKibben develops sites that are functional, usable, accessible, and supportive of business and marketing goals. She is the Program Director for the Master's of Science in Internet Technologies program (MSIT), and she teaches courses and workshops in website design and management (including Joomla!) at the Marlboro College Graduate Center. Jen earned a BS in biology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MS in Internet Strategy Management at the Marlboro College Graduate Center. She runs the New England Adobe User Group, Joomla! User Group New England, and is a Senior Interface Developer at 4Web Inc.

Product Details

• CD-ROM: 4 pages
• Publisher: lynda.com, Inc (December 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596715138
• ISBN-13: 978-1596715134
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,892,860 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jen Kramer is the president and senior interface developer at 4Web, Inc., a web development firm focused on building highly customized Joomla websites.

Jen's new book, "Joomla! 24-Hour Trainer" was released in late April 2011. Designed for non-technical users, the book features plain language and a bundled DVD, making Joomla accessible to those who are not web developers.

Her first book, "Joomla! Start to Finish: How to Plan, Execute, and Maintain Your Web Site," was released in January 2010 and targeted to web developers.

Jen is a lynda.com author for the titles "Joomla! 1.6 Essential Training", "Joomla! 1.6: Creating and Editing Custom Templates", "Joomla! 1.5: Creating and Editing Custom Templates," "Joomla! 1.5: Styling with CSS," "Preparing CMS Web Graphics and Layouts Using Open Source Tools,", "Website Strategy and Planning."

Jen was previously a senior faculty member and Program Director for the Master's of Science in Information Technologies program at the Marlboro College Graduate School, where she taught courses and workshops in web site design and management, advised students, and supervised courses and faculty pertaining to the degree. She has also taught at Champlain College, the Community College of Vermont, and the Center for Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University.

Jen earned a BS in biology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MS in Internet Strategy Management at the Marlboro College Graduate School. She runs Joomla! User Group New England.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterful introduction..., June 14, 2011

By 

Riccardo Audano (Chiavari, Italy) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joomla Creating and Editing Custom Templates (CD-ROM)

Creating your own Joomla template can be justly regarded as a very advanced and complex endeavour, but with the right master everything (well almost everything..) can be easy.. This awesome video tutorial manages to simplify, rationalize and break down the process in simple, small, clear tasks that even a beginner with an elementary knowledge of Joomla, HTML and CSS can follow. It will show you how to create a simple but elegant Joomla template starting from absolute scratch, that is from a static web page that represent your desired look, and it also teaches you a basic workflow that will make the convoluted process of testing and applying various versions of your template less painful. As a final bonus, watching the author write and tinker with the various CSS rules is also a very nice and engaging way to learn more about CSS.
If you're interested in learning how to write or modify Joomla templates do yourself a favour and get a copy of this video series...
I hope to see a lot more from this author!

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's not the teacher's fault..., February 12, 2009

By 

Kick-Azz-Angel "sherlizz" (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joomla Creating and Editing Custom Templates (CD-ROM)

Joooomlaaaa... Good grief. In my opinion it's totally overrated.
And yes, it's a breeze to make a poll, a contact form or import templates in a couple of seconds.
But the way Joomla is set up (structured) is disastrous.
Starting with your own layout and then converting it into a Joomla template, which needs to be restyled afterwards is not so wonderful.

Joomla layouts/templates are based on LEGO-BLOCKS and still heavily table infested.I thought we were supposed to stop using tables for layout purposes.
The css that underlies it, is bloated and we end up adding more css to our stylesheet to get the layout in shape.


Jen does a great job, showing us how to "work around" and get it all in the places!! But of course, being a hobbyist, I got totally lost in the PHP bit at the end how to shove the blocks from right to left and vice versa.

As said: It's not the teacher's fault. She's really (really!) good, but the weak link in this is how Joomla is structured.