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Joomla 1.5 – HTML5 Template Starting Point

Rick — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 20:04:59 +0000

After staring in awe at Paul Irish’s HTML5 boilerplate, I quickly decided it was genius and wanted to get a starting point for any future Joomla projects where we at XID deem html5 ok to use (which from this point on should be most). I took a few minutes and redid / added some Joomla-esque requirements (such as the head jdoc, correct paths to the files for a J! template, etc.).

Remember, this is a J! 1.5 starting point for your template, just as Paul’s boilerplate is a starting point. There’s no fancy template framework, grid system, or anything that isn’t present in Paul’s template. It’s the same thing with some Joomla! goodness attached.

For those that are interested, someone is working on HTML5 overrides for Joomla templates. I briefly looked at it but didn’t implement them here as I have some questions on the semantic implementation of the ‘header’ and ‘section’ use in the overrides. The overrides use them for the different J! articles, blogs, etc. Everything I’ve read indicates ‘header’ and ‘sections’ elements should be used differently but I’m not 100% convinced either…so I’m going to make that your decision to implement. For more information on the ‘section’ element, read here, information on the ‘header’ element read here.

I took an hour and converted my old test template “Usability” using the boilerplate. It was easy, quick, and works flawlessly in IE (though I haven’t tested in IE6 yet). I didn’t take the time to strip out the old CSS overrides from the Blueprint framework but the boilerplates’ are still used.

Download the Joomla 1.5 optimized version of Paul Irish’s Boilerplate here

Download the HTML5 version of Usability here.

Thanks to:

Paul Irish’s HTML5 Boilerplate (of course)
Brian Teeman (The first time I heard of the setGenerator() method was from his blog)

ECWID Shopping Cart Joomla Extensions

Rick — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:59:28 +0000

Recently I was introduced to a new hosted shopping cart solution called ECWID. I played with it for about 10 minutes and really liked the idea behind it. I was also surprised how fast it loaded the hosted cart. I was able to whip out several extensions for Joomla that help integrate the cart…

Here’s a video of it in action

Keep in mind: The extensions come without support and might have a bug or two. If someone would like to take the time and get it in a repository like Joomla Forge or Google Code let me know and I’ll post a link here.

Download the extensions

UPDATE

The above extensions are now in an SVN repository on Google Code. Check it out and contribute here!

JOOMLA 1.5 Administration Lesson 2: Community

Rick — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:50:10 +0000

The second video of the basic J! 1.5 Admin series briefly covers the main Joomla! website and how to use the most common, necessary aspects of it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Quick links from the video:

Missed the other lessons?

JOOMLA 1.5 Administration Lesson 1: Intro to Joomla

Rick — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 23:34:08 +0000

Here’s the first video in a series of Basic Joomla Administration videos. This intro to JOOMLA reviews the general features and benefits of using JOOMLA.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What is JOOMLA?

Joomla is an open-source cms that can be applied to almost anyone’s need

From a Business point of view:

It allows you to manage your website and empower others within your company to contribute, administer, etc.
It provides a platform that is open to almost any specific need

From a Development Point of View:

JOOMLA! Shouldn’t be just viewed as a way to administer content. It provides a framework from which to build any application you may need.

Because of its flexible templating engine, a re-design of your site won’t constitute a complete re-do of the every web page. Simply change the template and a few minor things and you will have a whole new look.

Joomla’s framework includes many features such as built in security, user management, easy extendability…..thus enabling the dev of your site to stay focused on your specific needs / applications.

Joomla has a well documented framework and a very active community

Joomla Features

The JOOMLA! CMS is no rookie in the market! It has been deployed by companies such as Porche Brazil to provide their website backbone. Joomla’s content publishing allows you to quickly create content for websites, control access to your documents, administer user created content, and more.

The modules in Joomla provide easy to move blocked of code. Moving something on your site now doesn’t require you to change every page on your site.

The Joomla components allow you to install mini-applications in your site; thus allowing you to install applications such as e-commerce / shopping carts, photo galleries, form builders, forums, and more!

The user manager provides extendible control over registered and special users. From simple, public access, to control over authors publishers, and administrators

Open Source

A lot of people think “second class” when they hear “open source”. This is probably justifiable depending on what they have used. However, JOOMLA! ranks within the premium products of the Open Source community; showcasing a world-class team of developers and a thriving community.

Building from scratch a system similar to Joomla would cost tens of thousands of dollars. Thus by selecting Joomla as your CMS / Development, you eliminate large chunks of start-up costs and let your budget focus specifically on the immediate need of your site / application.

Joomla is the most popular GPL CMS in the world. Its community can be found in almost every country, it’s system translated in many languages, and can be used to fit almost any need.

Want to see the other lessons?

Lesson One – Introduction (current page)
Lesson Two – The Community
Lesson Three – Installation
Lesson Four – Admin Overview