Joomla tips

Sometimes, we all need to get a reminder on what to do to improve our Joomla sites. I know I do. The site has been sitting there for a long time and you know it needs to be updated and improved. You just don't know where to start. Maybe what you need is a kick you know where to get started.

In this post I've listed 10 things you could do to improve your own or a client's Joomla site.

Joomla 1.5 installs with three pre-installed templates. These templates are good as a starting point when learning Joomla. Still, if you want to create a Joomla website, you will want to look at other templates as well.

There are a lot of templates out there. Both free and commercial. I usually recommend spending a few dollars on a template from a professional provider if you're creating a business website. You will get those dollars back in less frustrations, better search engine rankings and easier customization. The support is also better (not always, though).

This tutorial will show you how to install a Joomla template and how to get started customizing it.

Many people ask how to upgrade their JoomlaPack installation.

It's quite simple, really:

if you have JoomlaPack version 1.x:

1. Uninstall
2. Install the new version

if you have JoomlaPack version 2.x:

• Just install the new version without uninstalling.

Recommended related reading

• How to set up a reliable Joomla backup solution
• Think you have backup? Think again!

I see that many people look for information on how to upgrade sh404SEF. This Joomla extension is a component, which means it's like an application inside your Joomla site.

Most Joomla components have their own tables in the Joomla site database. This is where the settings and data that the component uses are stored. These tables are (normally) not deleted when you uninstall the component. In the case of sh404SEF they are not deleted when you uninstall. At least that is how the component is set up by default.

Last week, I published a post about my hard disk crash and backup problems. This is definitely not something I would wish on others.

Even though the hard disk was not recoverable (without a spending a LOT of cash), I was rather lucky. With emphazis on lucky! There was not too much information lost and I've been able to recover from the crash with minor real damage. It could have been a lot worse!

This week, I would like to focus on backup - what you can do to secure yourself from losing your Joomla web site.

I regularly scan the unaswered questions in the Joomla forums. Many times, the questions posted have to do with how the output of Joomla is presented. This may have to do with the template, but oftentimes it has to do with the CSS (stylesheet) of the Joomla template.

New users are often unaware of how CSS and Joomla works. There are sometimes confusion regarding if the problem relates to the Joomla core, or the template installed. In this post I will try and give you an overview on how to use CSS in Joomla.

Before Christmas, I experienced the nightmare of all webmasters. A hard disk on one of my servers went bad and I was unable to mount it.

- Oh well, I thought, that's not a big problem. I have a nightly backup.

When I called the hosting company - I was confident I had a couple of hours worth of work ahead of me. Boy, was I in for a shock...

Advanced SEO by CloudAccess is a Joomla extension that seamlessly integrates more flexible titles into your content items.

Featuring smart plugin architecture, the SEO extension provides high quality solution without hacking the core files of Joomla.

A short tip showing you the best way to link directly to Joomla articles when using SEF URLs (search engine friendly URLs).

I get a lot of questions about the menu I use on this blog. Many readers like it and wonder if I've made it myself or if it's a component.

The menu is part of the YooTheme template I'm using.