How to create drop-down menus in Joomla 1.5

This tutorial will show you how to create horizontal drop-down menus in your Joomla 1.5 website using the Extended Menu extension.

Disclaimer: Please note that this is an example tutorial. Exact steps might differ depending on the Joomla 1.5 template you are using for your website. In order to successfully accomplish creating a drop-down menu it might require at least basic knowledge of Joomla 1.5 CSS and the ability to adjust the CSS code according to the specific needs of your website.

Step 1.You need to install the Extended Menu module in your Joomla application. For more information on how to install extensions to Joomla check our tutorial on How to install extensions to your Joomla website. The module can be downloaded from the Official website of its creators.

Step 2.Go to Extensions -> Module Manager and click on the newly installed Extended Menu module.

Step 3. Now you have to configure the Extended Menu module. It provides you with the ability to set many different variables that change the way your menus will work. You can, however, leave most of the settings in their default values. You can only change the Menu Style option to Tree List ,Active Menu Class to Both, Enable Menu Template to No and Element Id to Yes. In addition you have to select which menu should be loaded from the Menu Name drop-down box.

Create a simple Joomla 1.5 template

This tutorial will show you how to create a simple Joomla 1.5 template. You can get ideas how to create your new Joomla template from our Free Joomla templates gallery.

How to create a basic Joomla 1.5 template?

First, open the "templates" directory in your Joomla installation. Then create a subfolder in it named "tutorial_template". All the files of your template will reside in it.

Inside your new directory, create a file called index.php, and another named templateDetails.xml. Then create a folder named css and in it - a new file name template.css. In order to create these files, you can use a simple Notepad and store the files on your computer, and upload them later via FTP or the File Manager of your cPanel.

Those are the basic files that each Joomla template needs to function properly. O

index.php - Specifies the available module positions and the path to your Stylesheet file. This is the main "section" of your template;

templateDetails.xml - This is a system file that provides information about your template to the Joomla application;

css/template.css - The stylesheet file of your template. It defines the looks of your website;

Once you have done that, change the default template for your website to the newly created one. For more information how to do this, check our tutorial on Changing the default template of Joomla 1.5.

Now, let's take a detailed look on what each file should contain:

The index.php file should start with:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" lang="<?php echo $this->language; ?>" >
<head>

Joomla Templates

This tutorial will show you how to change the default template of your Joomla 1.5 website. You can download many beautiful templates from our Joomla 1.5 templates gallery. Alternatively, you can create your own template. For more information on that matter you can check our tutorial on How to create a simple Joomla 1.5 template. If you do not have a Joomla website yet, SiteGround's Joomla Hosting package will provide you with the ideal environment to build your site!

Changing the default template of Joomla 1.5

One of Joomla's great features is the option to easily change its templates. SiteGround offers many FREE Joomla Templates!

When you find the template you like, download it to your local computer and follow the steps below to install it on your website:

Step 1. Log in your Joomla admin panel and go to Extensions -> Install/Uninstall:

Step 2. There is a box "Upload Package File" and you have to use [Browse..] to find the template file you have downloaded.

Step 3. Once you find the file, click on [Upload File & Install].

Step 4. Now that you have your new template installed, you should apply it to your site. This can be done from Joomla's admin panel, Extensions -> Template manager:

Step 5. Check the radio button next to your new template and from the top right menu choose "Default".
And that's it :) You have successfully redesigned your website in just 2 easy to follow steps.

Joomla Layout

This tutorial will explain the different parts of the Joomla layout. If you don't have a Joomla website installed yet, you can check our tutorial on How to install Joomla. You can also get a free professional Joomla installation with your Joomla Hosting account at SiteGround.com.

How to change the Joomla Frontpage Layout?

The layout and content positioning of your Joomla website is defined by the Joomla template you currently use. Below you can see a screenshot that represents the basic items,added by the default Joomla template. You will find a short explanation of each item under the image. This will help you understand better the structure and key concepts of a Joomla website layout and how to change it.

Advanced options in Joomla 1.5: Counter

This tutorial will show you how to add a counter to your Joomla. It will display the number of people that have visited your website. With Joomla you can do this with just a few clicks.

Adding a counter to your site

Joomla 1.5 offers an easy way to add an advanced web counter to your site. To add the counter, follow the steps below:

Step 1. Log in to your Joomla admin panel and go to Extensions -> Module Manager:

Step 2. From the top right menu choose [New].

Advanced options in Joomla 1.5: SEF URLs

This tutorial will show you how to enable the "Search Engine Friendly" URLs functionality of your Joomla 1.5 application. When SEO is enabled, your links will be in human-readable format and this will help your website rank higher in search results. If you are looking for the perfect environment to create your Joomla website, you can check our Joomla hosting package.

Search Engine Optimization

To have the website better indexed by search engines such as Google and Yahoo, the pages have to be with meaningful names. That's why SiteGround recommends using Joomla's SEO functionality.

To enable SEO for your Joomla website, follow the steps below:

Step 1. Enable mod_rewrite. Mod_rewrite is installed on all SiteGround servers and in order to enable the rewrite rules, you will have to rename the htaccess.txt file in your Joomla installation directory to .htaccess.

Step 2. Enable Joomla's SEO functionality from Site -> Global configuration in the admin panel.

Step 3. In the SEO Settings section change Search Engine Friendly URLs and Use Apache mod_rewrite to Yes.

Step 4. Click on [Save] from the top right menu.
This will change the link to, for example, the "About us" page from:

http://your_domain_name.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=2

http://your_domain_name.com/About-us

If you experience any issues with enabling the SEF functionality of your Joomla, do not hesitate to contact our Support Team. We are experts in Joomla related questions and will happily assist you.

How to create a website with Joomla: Poll

In this tutorial we will show you how to add a poll to your website.

Creating a Poll in Joomla 1.5

Let's place a poll in order to find out what visitors think about your new site. Follow the steps below to add a poll to your Joomla site:

Step 1. From the top menu in the Joomla admin area choose Components -> Polls:

Step 2. Click [New] from the top right menu. Let's call the poll: "What do you think about our site?".

Step 3. In the left menu we will list the poll options: "Great", "Not bad", "Awful".

all version joomla

Friday, January 6, 2012

How to create drop-down menus in Joomla 1.5

How to create drop-down menus in Joomla 1.5