This tutorial is designed to show you some of the most basic features that Joomla provides and give you a quick peek at the backend interface and commonly used areas.
Note: This Tutorial was designed for Joomla 1.5, but most of what is shown here will also apply to Joomla 1.6. Some menu items have moved in 1.6 but all operations are similar.
You can access your website administration area from any computer that has internet access. Simply go to your website and add /administrator to the web address. Here you can log in with your access code.
Example: www.yoursite.com/administrator
If you do not have an access code, contact your website administrator. If you are interested in our services and would like to log in to a demo site please Contact Us for more information.
The Main control panel has buttons to frequently accessed areas of the site
Above the buttons is the main navigation which provides access to all administration areas. The main areas you will deal with are:
Article Manager
Get there: Control Panel Button or under Content > Article Manager
Menu Manager
Get there: Navigation Menu Under Menus
Module Manager
Get there: Navigation Menu Under Extensions > Module Manager
Components Menu
Get there: Navigation Menu > Components
Contains control panels for your site extensions (Contact Forms, Flash Headers, Photo Galleries, ECT)
On the right side of the control panel there are collapsible menus that display helpful information about your website. Click the green arrows to open the panels.
Near the top right, you can click the preview button to see your website at anytime. This link is available on every page in Joomla
You can return to the Control Panel by using the menu "Site" > "Control Panel"
Also under the Site Menu is the User Manager, where you can set new passwords, create users and set user permissions.
Under that is the Media Manager, where you can upload and organize photos, videos and other file related media on your website.
In Joomla, an "Article" is a piece of primary content. It can either be a page or a blog post, and the majority of your important content will usually consist of articles.
To see the articles on your site, click the "Article Manager" button or select Article Manager from the Navigation menu under Content.
The article manager contains a list of all Articles on your website
From here you can add new content or edit existing content.
To edit content, click it's name to open the article editor, or to create a new article click the green "New" button near the top right of the screen.
This is the article editor screen. At the top, you can enter your title and choose category assignments. Under that is the editor, very similar to a word processor program.
In this example we are using the default Joomla text editor. You can find more information about how the editor works here:
http://www.joomlacontenteditor.net/support/documentation/56-editor
An overview of the editor buttons:
http://www.joomlacontenteditor.net/support/documentation/56-editor/142-buttons-overview
On the right side of the screen there are stats for your article, under that the collapsible boxes give you control over other parameters. The bottom box is where you can enter meta information for your content.
At the top right you can save your changes or click close to return to the article manager.
You can return to the Control Panel by using the menu "Site" > "Control Panel"
In joomla your pages are controlled by menus, meaning you must assign your article to a menu item before it can be seen on your website. There are numerous options for Joomla menu items, we'll take a look at the most simple, creating a page from an article.
To access the menu for your site, use the menu and mouse over "Menu" > "Main Menu *"
This takes you to a list of your menu items
Click on the name of any menu item to look at the settings
At the top left you can change the name of the link and at the top right you can assign which article is displayed on this page of your website.
Near the bottom, where it says "Parent Item" is where you can assign your pages to become dropdowns or sub navigated pages by selecting the page you wish to assign it to.
Hit save or close at the top right to return to the menu manager.
You can return to the Control Panel by using the menu "Site" > "Control Panel"
Besides Articles, "Modules" offer another option for displaying content. If a piece of content you are looking for cannot be found in the Article Manager, there is a good chance you will find it in the Module Manager, under the Extensions Menu.
Modules can be text / content or contain functionality for searching, different content displays, slideshows, or just about anything else you can think of. Aside from functionality, the main difference between an article and a module is that modules can appear in different positions on your webpages. While an article is always in the middle of the page, modules can be positioned above, below or on the sides of your article content. Modules can also be assigned to appear on all pages, single pages or multiple pages of your choosing.
Your website can consist of entirely modules, should you choose to put it together this way. Module content does not have the meta tag features that articles do, but they do offer many positioning options. You can manage the settings and content from the Module Manager, located under the "Extensions" menu
This brings up a list of the modules you are currently using. Click the title to view the settings or content for any particular module. You can also create new modules from this window by clicking the green "New" button.
Components are extensions of Joomla's basic features.Depending on your website, you will have different components installed, this menu will contain the link to the control panels for each of your components.
For this example we'll take a look at ProForms, a contact form system that is included with all NetSense Media websites. Most components will have similar interface, the simplicity or complexity of the interface is dependent on the manufacturer of the component.
Proforms is a component that controls all of the contact forms on your website. Clicking the template button in proforms will take you to where you add and edit form elements for those forms, as well as create new forms.
The forms button will control the link settings, response message and other parameters of your form.
You can return to the Control Panel by using the menu "Site" > "Control Panel"
You can either click the "Logout" button at the top right of the screen to get out, or simply close your browser window.
This ends the basic tour of Joomla, each of the topics covered here will be covered in more detail in future tutorials.
Our tutorials are provided primarily as a courtesy for our clients, although we hope that all will find them helpful. If you are not a Netsense Media client, we are not able to provide complementary support for these tutorials or the topics discussed in them. If you require our assistance with your website, please contact us for an estimate.
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