Joomla! Start to Finish: How to Plan, Execute, and Maintain Your Web Site (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) [Paperback]

Jen Kramer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 047057089X | ISBN-13: 978-0470570890 | Publication Date: February 2, 2010 | Edition: 1

Everything you need to know to plan and maintain a Joomla! site

Joomla! offers powerful functionality and ease of configuration, making it an immensely popular open source content management system. However, far more than simply downloading and installing Joomla! is required in order to create a dynamic web site. This book walks you through the critical steps that must be taken in the planning process prior to establishing a Joomla! site. Joomla! expert Jen Kramer reviews essential questions that need to be asked of a client, discusses technical solutions to a variety of challenges, and explains how a site structure should be organized.

Topics Covered:

I Want a Web Site and I Want It Blue — How Much Will That Cost?

Choosing the Right Technologies to Solve the Business Problem

Downloading and Installing Joomla!

A Brief Tour of the Joomla! Administration Interface

Creating and Configuring Menus

Installing and Configuring

Modules That Come with Joomla

Components That Come with Joomla!

Plug-Ins That Come with Joomla!

Adding Extensions to Joomla!

Home Page Tips and Tricks

Custom Templates

Advanced Template and CSS Tricks

Site Maintenance and Training

Once the groundwork has been laid, you'll discover how to host and install Joomla!, and upgrade and maintain your Joomla! site.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Everything you need to know to plan and maintain a Joomla! site

Joomla! offers powerful functionality and ease of configuration, making it an immensely popular open source content managementsystem. However, far more than simply downloading and installing Joomla! is required in order to create a dynamic web site. This book walks you through the critical steps that must be taken in the planning process prior to establishing a Joomla! site. Joomla! expert Jen Kramer reviews essential questions that need to be asked of a client, discusses technical solutions to a variety of challenges, and explains how a site structure should be organized. Once the groundwork has been laid, you'll discover how to host and install Joomla!, and upgrade and maintain your Joomla! site.

Joomla! Start to Finish:

• Sheds light on downloading and installing Joomla!, creating a site map, and tracking content and images

• Details how to perform backups with JoomlaPack

• Examines the modules, components, and plugins that come with Joomla!

• Delves into Joomla!'s default template and how to download a template from another site

• Introduces the Joomla! Extensions Directory and explains how to use it

• Describes creating customized templates from the ground up, including advanced styling tricks with CSS

• Expounds site maintenance and the importance of backups

Wrox guides are crafted to make learning programming languages and technologies easier than you think. Written by programmers for programmers, they provide a structured, tutorial format that will guide you through all the techniques involved.

wrox.com

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About the Author

Jen Kramer is Senior Interface Developer and President of 4Web Inc., a company dedicated to building highly customized Joomla! web sites. She is Program Director for the Master of Science in Internet Technologies program at the Marlboro College Graduate School, as well as a frequent speaker at Joomla! conferences.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Wrox; 1 edition (February 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047057089X
• ISBN-13: 978-0470570890
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #613,825 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

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you ONLY buy one Joomla! book - buy this one., January 29, 2010

By 

T. Canavan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joomla! Start to Finish: How to Plan, Execute, and Maintain Your Web Site (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

Review of Joomla! Start to Finish by Jen Kramer

I received a few weeks ago my review copy of Jen Kramer's new book - While I expected Ms. Kramer's book to be very good, I was treated with the surprise of a not a 'very good' book but a very GREAT book.

Ms. Kramer is a warm and extremely knowledgeable writer immediately making the reader feel comfortable. As if she is there helping you through your planning, development, struggles, and triumphs with developing a Joomla! website.

My favorite line is the title of Chapter one: "I want a website and I want it blue - how much will that cost!" - After wiping the coffee I spit off my keyboard, and quit laughing, I dove into the book.

That line in my experience is so true. A client wishes to hire a developer, they want a "clone" of oh, I don't know, [...], and they have no clue as to how to get there.

The opening chapter gives you a real-world strategy on starting down the thorny path of development. Helping you avoid the pitfalls that await you.

The book moves to what in my opinion is the next logical step [that is frequently ignored] Choosing the RIGHT technologies to solve your problem. Many times a client may be good at what THEY do, but they are hiring you to build their site. They might have an assumption they know the right tools, but your role is to guide them. This chapter offers battle-tested knowledge about picking that right tool.

She then takes you through the balance of the book, patiently introducing you to the administration console, various components and extensions that build the site. Building a critical foundation to introduce the advanced topics of template CSS and other scary things that go bump in the server.

There are many, many GOOD Joomla! books on the market, however there are not many GREAT Joomla! books on the market. Jen Kramer's book is one of the Greats.

If you buy ONLY one Joomla! book - Buy Jen Kramer's - Joomla! Start to Finish. You won't be disappointed.

Tom Canavan
Author, Joomla! Web Security

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go-to book for understanding Joomla!, March 17, 2010

By 

Immersed in Joomla! (SE Connecticut) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Joomla! Start to Finish: How to Plan, Execute, and Maintain Your Web Site (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

I really like this book - it is demystifying, extremely well-written, nicely formatted, easy to follow, and doesn't miss a beat with all the basic info.

For those HTML web developers who want to make the leap to a well-supported, globally-popular, flexible content management system for a multitude of businesses, schools and non-profit organizations, Jen Kramer has done a huge favor.

Clear, concise information, thoughtfully and logically laid-out, excellent explanations of sections, categories, articles and modules and their relationships, plus the abundance of accompanying illustrative screenshots, puts this Joomla! book at the top of the must-have list.

Bravo!Joomla! Start to Finish: How to Plan, Execute, and Maintain Your Web Site (Wrox Programmer to Programmer)
Enjoy these lynda.com DVDs by Jen Kramer:
Joomla Creating and Editing Custom Templates
Joomla! Advanced CSS

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The book never made it past "Start", May 19, 2010

By 

Ron S. (West Palm Beach, FL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Joomla! Start to Finish: How to Plan, Execute, and Maintain Your Web Site (Wrox Programmer to Programmer) (Paperback)

The book never made it past "Start". If you are a beginner, it did not adequately explain the relationships between Sections, Categories, Articles and Menus - the basis of Joomla. If you are a more advanced web designer making the transition to a Content Management System (CMS) - the book spends a scant several pages on using external templates and resolving issues.

You are better off spending a few dollars less for a basic entry level book if you are just learning the ropes of CMS. Or, for more advanced designers, spend a few dollars more and buy something that goes deeper into the subtle nuances of Joomla.