SiteGround Tutorials

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Joomla 1.5 Softaculous Installation Tutorial

Joomla Fantastico Installation

How to install Joomla?

In this section you will learn how to install Joomla through Fantastico Autoinstaller. If you don't have Fantastico or you prefer to install Joomla 1.5 manually, you can check our tutorial on how to install Joomla 1.5 manually.

To start with the installation log into your cPanel and click the Fantastico De Luxe icon. You can learn more about cPanel from our cPanel Tutorial.

Find the Joomla 1.5 link on the left side of the screen and click it.

Then click New Installation.

In the following form you will have to type in some informations about your future Joomla website.

You will have to specily the following information:

• Install in directory - this determines the address where your Joomla installation will be accessible at. If you want to use Joomla for your home page (e.g. www.yourdomainname.com) just leave this field blank.
• Admin access data - the username and password for accessing the administration panel of your Joomla installation.
• Admin e-mail - your e-mail address
• Admin full name - your full name
• Site Name - the name of your website that will be displayed on the front page
• Install Sample Data? - whether sample data should be installed to your Joomla. The sample data includes sample menu items and articles. If you are new to Joomla, we strongly advise you to install the sample data.

Once you have filled in the form, proceed by clicking on the Install Joomla 1.5 button. You will be asked to confirm the installation on the next page.

At the end of the installation you will receive information on how to login to your administration panel. You should bookmark the address of the administrator panel (e.g. www.yourdomainname.com/administrator) and remember your login credentials.  

If you experience problems with the installation of your Joomla website, do not hesitate to contact your SiteGround support team. With your SiteGround Hosting account you get Free and Professional Joomla Installation, and within minutes you will have a fully functional and running Joomla website.

Manual Installation of Joomla!™

This tutorial will show you how to install Joomla manually. Alternatively, you can install Joomla using an Auto-Installer tool like Fantastico. You can also get a free professional Joomla installation with your Joomla hosting account at SiteGround.com.

How to Manually Install Joomla 1.5

To install Joomla manually follow the steps below:

Step 1.Create a MySQL database for your Joomla installation and add a new user to it. This can be done easily with cPanel by following the MySQL database tutorial. In case you are not using cPanel you can refer to the MySQL manual on creating databases and adding users to it.

Step 2. Create a folder called upload on your computer.

Step 3.Go to the Joomla download page. Download the .zip file with the latest version to the upload folder and extract it there.

Step 4.Upload all the content from upload to the directory on the server where Joomla 1.5 will be installed. SiteGround recommends using FTP for this purpose and the FTP tutorial will guide you through the necessary steps.

Step 5.Open the URL of the newly uploaded Joomla files. This will be either http://your_domain_name.com or a subdirectory such as http://your_domain_name.com/example.

Step 6.You will be redirected to the Joomla installation page:

On the first page of the installation you will be able to choose the Language for the installation.

The selected language will be valid only for the installation process. Once installed Joomla will be back in English.

We recommend selecting "English" in order to follow easier the next steps from the tutorial.

Step 7.Joomla will perform a pre-installation check of the system environment. Failing to meet a requirement or recommendation may cause functional and security problems later.

Here is a screenshot of all Joomla 1.5 requirements met on a standard SiteGround hosting account:

Step 8.Once you make sure all requirements are met, click on the [Next] button from the top right menu.

Step 9.Next you will have to accept Joomla's license and click on [Next] to continue.

Step 10. The following page will ask about the MySQL details for the new Joomla 1.5 installation.

Here are some example entries and explanations for these fields in case you have difficulties understanding exactly what information you should enter:

Step 11. Next you will have to configure your File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Leave it to the default settings and just click [Next] from the top right menu.

Step 12. From the page that appears you will be able to complete the final Joomla 1.5 settings specifying your email and specifying the admin password. Click on [Next] to proceed.

In our example we will not use the option Install Sample Data because it may cause confusion and require time to remove all the data populated later.

Step 13. In the last page of the installation wizard you will receive a confirmation that Joomla has been successfully installed.

Before being able to access your new Joomla 1.5 you must delete the installation directory. For this purpose use FTP as described in Step 3.

Well done! Your Joomla website is now installed.

If you would like to learn more about the options the manual Joomla installation offers, please contact the SiteGround support team. Our technical team is expert in Joomla related questions and able to build the perfect environment for running your Joomla 1.5 website.

How to create a website with Joomla?

How to start a Joomla site?

Joomla! is an easy to use CMS tool, which allows you to create a website with practically no design or programing skills. To start a Joomla site, you need to sign up for a hosting account and have Joomla CMS installed. At SiteGround.com you can get a free professional Joomla installation with your Joomla Hosting account .

This Joomla guide covers the following topics:

• Logging into the Joomla admin area
• Creating Articles in Joomla
  
• Creating a Contact us page
• Linking Articles to the Menu
• Creating a Poll in Joomla 1.5

Logging into the Joomla admin area

After having Joomla 1.5 installed on your account, you can begin adding your content. In this example we'll assume that your domain is your_domain_name.com. Thus the Joomla's admin panel will be accessible at:

http://your_domain_name.com/administrator

Please make sure you change your_domain_name.com to your actual domain name when following this tutorial.

To log in to your Joomla admin area, enter your login information in the Joomla! Administration Login screen:

Creating articles in Joomla 

If you have installed Joomla through Fantastico or from source with the sample data, you will already have a few articles created and published. You can take a look at how they are written and organized in order to get used to managing your articles. To see them go to Content > Article Manager from the top admin menu.

There you will see several articles listed. Once you click an article link, you will enter the Edit mode for the article. From the Edit menu you can modify the article's title, text, etc.

Before building your first article, let's remove all default articles to avoid confusion. For this purpose go back to Content > Article Manager from the top admin menu.

Then select all articles by checking the first radio button in the column and click on the [Trash] button from the top admin menu. 

Now let's create your first article which we'll call "About us".

Step 1. From the top admin menu click on [New]. 

Step 2. Then make the following changes in the corresponding fields:

Title: About us
Alias: (leave it blank)
Section: Uncategorized
Category: Uncategorized
Published: Yes (If the article is not published, it will not be shown to your visitors. It will remain only as a draft.)
Frontpage: Yes (This will allow it to appear on the first page of your site.)

In the main text field write some information about your company...

Step 3. You can also insert your company's logo. For this purpose click on the image icon at the bottom of the page: 

Step 4. Since your logo is not uploaded yet, click on the [Upload file] link to upload it. Browse your local computer and find the logo image. Click on [Start Upload] to upload it. 

Step 5. You will see a confirmation that the file has been successfully uploaded. Now it can be found in the upper part of the window along with the default Joomla images. Click on logo.png (or whatever the name of your logo is) to select it and then on [Insert] to insert it in your article.

The logo's position in the article can be easily adjusted by dragging the image.

Step 6. The last step is to save this article by clicking on the [Save] button.

For more information on how to create different type of websites, check our page on how to make a website with SiteGround Website Wizard.

How to create a website with Joomla: Contact us page

Receiving feedback from the website visitors is important for every webmaster. In this tutorial we will show you how to create a Contact Us page. It is an easy and convenient way to get in touch with the people that browse your website. For additional information on how to create your Joomla 1.5 website, you can check our tutorial on Creating a website with Joomla 1.5.

Creating a Contact us Page

Lets add a "Contact us" page with an online mail form to your Joomla website using the Joomla form component.

Step 1. First you need to create a new Contacts Category. For this purpose go to Components -> Contacts -> Categories:

Step 2. Click on [New]. Since we plan to have a simple Contact Us page, you should create only one single category. We will use "General" for its name in the tutorial. Enter "General" under title then click on [Save].

Step 3. Go to Components -> Contacts -> Contacts:

Step 4. Click on [New] and fill in the information. You have to make sure the email you enter is valid since all the mails you receive via this Joomla contact form will be sent to it.

Step 5. In order to avoid having your contact's name duplicated later, from the right box "Contacts parameters" check the button Hide next to "Name".

Step 6. Leave the rest of the default options unchanged and click on [Save] from the top-right menu.

Your Joomla contact form will be saved and you will be able to publish it on your site.

Step 7. To publish the new contact form go to Menus in the Joomla administrator area. Choose the menu where you would like the link to the new contacts page published and click New.

Step 8. Under Internal Link choose Contacts then Standard Contact Layout.

Step 9. Enter the desired link title (for example Contact Us) and choose the newly created contact from the drop down menu under Parameters (Basic) in the right part of the page. Then click [Save].

How to create a website with Joomla: Links

In this tutorial we will show you how to link your articles to your menus. After reading this tutorial you will be able to add new items to your menus and expand your website with different sections.

Linking Articles to the Menu

In order to make your pages accessible for your visitors, you should link them in the site menu. To do this, follow the steps below.

Step 1.  From the admin panel, go to Menus -> Main Menu*.

Step 2. Delete all default links. For this purpose check the first radio button to select all links and click on Trash. (There will be a warning "You cannot trash the default menu item" which can be safely disregarded)

Step 3. Let's add links to your articles and the "Contact us" page. For this purpose click on [New] from the top-left menu and select the item type. In our case it will be Internal link - Article - Article Layout:

Step 4. Fill in the information about the links. Let's call the link "About us". Then from the left Parameters - Basic click on [Select]:

Step 5. A box with all your pages will appear and you should click on "About us":

Step 6. Save the link by clicking on [Save] from the top-right menu.

How to set a page as default?

While you are still in the Menu Item Manager, let's set your page "About us" as default.

Step 1. For this purpose check its radio button and click on [Default] from the top menu:

Step 2. (Optionally) You can remove the default link "Home" because we will not need it.

How to add the Contact us page to the menu?

Step 1.  Let's add a link to the "Contact us" page. For this purpose click on the [New] icon from the top menu and choose:Internal Link -> Contacts -> Category -> Standard Contact Layout.

Step 2. Fill the information about your new menu item "Contact us" and click [Save].

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".

Step 4. To save the new poll, click on [Save] from the top right menu.

Step 5. Now the poll has to be made public, i.e. to be published. For this purpose click on Extensions -> Module Manager from the top menu:

Step 6. Choose [New] from the top - right menu, find Poll from the options listed and check it.

Step 7. Click on "Next" from the top right menu.

Step 8. Set the poll title to: What do you think about our new site?

Step 9. Set "Show title" to "No".

Step 10. From the right box, Module Parameters > Poll select the poll called "What do you think about our new site".

Step 11. Click on [Save] from the top right menu and you will have the poll published on your frontpage.

If you experience any issues creating your polls, you can contact the SiteGround support team for assistance.

Advanced options in Joomla 1.5

In the Advanced section of the Joomla 1.5 tutorial you will learn how to:

• Make the Joomla URLs search engine friendly (SEF) for better search engine indexing;
• Add a counter to your Joomla site;
• Change Joomla templates and where to search for free Joomla templates;
• How to remove the author / date posted from Joomla articles (Enabled by default);
• Optimize the performance of your website;
• Fix the most common Joomla 1.5 issues
• and answers to the most common Joomla 1.5 questions. 

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

to

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.

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].

Step 3. From the listed options check "Statistics" and click "Next" from the top right panel.

Step 4. The next page has many advanced counter options. We will change only:

Title: Counter
Show Title: No
Hit Counter: Yes (From the right box)

Step 5. Click on [Save] from the top-right menu to save the counter. 

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.

The available positions in Joomla are defined by the template you are using. In this tutorial we will show the positions 1-10 in one of Joomla's default templates which is included in the official installation package. To change the position of a certain module, you can access it from the Extensions -> Module Manager page and then change its "Position" setting. Some of the most commonly used position names are top, user1 to user6, left, right, header, footer, breadcrumb, and newsflash.

1. In the "top" position of the Joomla website the "Banners" and "Newsflash" modules are placed by default.
   
   The Banners module allows you to upload images that link to a desired URL. You can define your banners from Components -> Banners and then display the selected items by publishing the "Banners" module from the Extensions -> Module Manager page in your Joomla administrative area.
   
   The Newsflash module displays a single random article, or a number of articles in a horizontal or vertical configuration. From your Joomla administration area you can select a category of articles that will be displayed by this module.
    
2. The "Top menu" module is published into the "user3" position by default. You can easily create and manage menus from the Menus -> Menus Manager page. You can then set your "Top menu" module to display the menu you have just created.
    
3. The "Breadcrumbs" module is placed into the "breadcrumb" position. It is a convenient navigation method which displays the current page you are on and the full "path" to it. If you are in a page called "Sample Page" that is under the main menu, the "Breadcrumbs" will display Home -> Sample Page. Using Breadcrumbs is very useful especially when you have multi-level menus.
    
4. The "Search" module is published in the "user4" position of the template. It gives your users the option to search within the content of your website.
    
5. Several modules are published into the "left" position of the template. In this position you can publish vertical menus, login forms and many other modules depending on your particular needs.
    
6. The "Latest News" module is published into the "user1" position of the template. It displays the most recently added articles from the selected category or from all categories. In addition, you can specify the number of displayed articles depending on your preferences.
    
7. The "Popular" module is published into the "user2" position of the template. It will display a selected number of articles that are visited the most. You can either select a category from which the articles will be displayed or you can set the module to display the most visited articles in the entire site.
    
8. This is the main part of your website. Here are the newest articles you have set to be displayed on the front page.
    
9. A "Polls" module is published into the "right" position of the template. You can create the actual polls from the Components -> Polls page in the administrative back-end of your Joomla application. Once you have created your Polls, you can choose which one to be displayed on your website by editing the preferences of the "Polls" module from the "Module manager".
    
10. "Banners" and "Footer" modules are displayed in the "footer" position of the template. You can use the "Footer" module to display useful links, your copyright and other useful information at the bottom of your page.

In the SiteGround Joomla templates Gallery you can find a variety of free Joomla templates with different layouts and themes! Here are instructions on how to change Joomla templates or create a basic Joomla template yourself.

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. 

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>
<jdoc:include type="head" />
</head>

Those lines specify the beginning of the HTML output of your website. This PHP code - <jdoc:include type="head" /> will include in your page the Joomla header content (the page title, meta description, keywords, etc.) that you have added in the administrative end of your application.

Next, we have to add the "body" part of your website:

<body> 
 
<jdoc:include type="component" /> 
 
</body> 
</html>

The <jdoc:include type="component" /> line will display the main content of any given page.

Now, it is time to check our template. Save the index.php file and login to the Administrative end of your Joomla application. From it, make the new "tutorial_template" template default for your website. For more information on how to do that you can refer to our tutorial on how to change the default template of Joomla 1.5. Your page should look like this one depending on the content you have:

 

 

This page includes only your articles without any styling or modules displayed. Now, let's add some module positions. Edit your index.php file and change the lines between <body> and </body> to:

<div id="container"> 
    <div id="header"> <jdoc:include type="modules" name="top" /> </div>   
    <div id="sidebar_left" class="float"> <jdoc:include type="modules" name="left" /> </div> 
    <div id="content" class="float"> <jdoc:include type="component" /></div> 
    <div id="sidebar_right"class="float"> <jdoc:include type="modules" name="right" /> </div>  
    <div id="footer" class="clear"> <jdoc:include type="modules" name="footer" /> </div> 
</div>

The <jdoc:include type="modules" name="left" /> line tells the Joomla application where to insert the modules published in the "left" position. We have just added the top, left, right and footer positions to your template.

Note that we have surrounded those in <div> tags and added information about their classes and ID's. In addition, we have wrapped everything in a div with ID "container" which allows us to set the basic dimensions of your page. The div classes will be defined in the template.css file once we create it. At this point, however, your index.php should look like this:

<!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> 
<jdoc:include type="head" /> 
</head>
<body>
<div id="container"> 
    <div id="header"><jdoc:include type="modules" name="top" /> </div>   
    <div id="sidebar_left" class="float"><jdoc:include type="modules" name="left" /></div> 
    <div id="content" class="float"><jdoc:include type="component" /></div> 
    <div id="sidebar_right"class="float"><jdoc:include type="modules" name="right" /></div>  
    <div id="footer" class="clear"><jdoc:include type="modules" name="footer" /></div> 
</div> 
</body> 
</html>

Now we have to edit the templateDetails.xml file. In it, paste the following lines:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE install PUBLIC "-//Joomla! 1.5//DTD template 1.0//EN" "http://dev.joomla.org/xml/1.5/template-install.dtd">
<install version="1.5" type="template">
         <name>tutorial_template</name>
         <creationDate>02/2008</creationDate>
         <author>SiteGround</author>
         <authorEmail>templates@siteground.com</authorEmail>
         <authorUrl>http://www.siteurl.com</authorUrl>
         <copyright>SiteGround</copyright>
         <license>SG TOS</license>
         <version>1.0.0</version>
         <description>Basic Joomla Template</description>
         <files>
                 <filename>index.php</filename>
                 <filename>templateDetails.xml</filename>
                 <filename>css/template.css</filename>
         </files>
         <positions>
                 <position>left</position>
                 <position>right</position>
                 <position>top</position>
                 <position>footer</position>
         </positions>
</install>

Let's take a more detailed look on the lines of the templateDetails.xml file:

• <install version="1.5" type="template"> - This line shows the Joomla version which your template is designed for. It will allow the Joomla template installer to correctly install your template if you decide to make an archive of the template and use it on a different Joomla instance.
  
• <name>tutorial_template</name> - This line defines the name of your template. For the purpose of this tutorial, we are using "tutorial_template";
• <creationDate>02/2008</creationDate> - This line displays the creation date of your template;
• <author>SiteGround</author> - This line defines the author of the template;
• <authorEmail>user@yourdomain.com</authorEmail> - Add your e-mail in this line;
• <authorUrl>http://www.siteground.com</authorUrl> - This line specifies the website of the template creator;
• <copyright>SiteGround</copyright> - You should add the copyright information for your template in this line;
• <license>SG TOS</license> - This line specifies the type of license your template is published under;
• <version>1.0.0</version> - This line defines the version of your template;
• <description>Basic Joomla Template</description> - Here you can add additional information for your template;
• <files>
     <filename>index.php</filename>
     <filename>templateDetails.xml</filename>
     <filename>css/template.css</filename>
  </files> - Those lines specify all the files that your template uses.
• <positions>
     <position>left</position>
     <position>right</position>
     <position>top</position>
     <position>footer</position>
  </positions> - Those lines define the positions you have enabled in your template.

The next step is to add some styling to the template. First, open the index.php file and add the following line just before the </head> tag:

<link rel="stylesheet" href="<?php echo $this->baseurl ?>/templates/tutorial_template/css/template.css" type="text/css" />

This line will tell your website where to load its stylesheet file from.

Now, you should edit the css/template.css file and add the following lines to it:

   
* {
     padding: 0;
     margin: 0;
}
img {
     border: 0;
}
body {
    font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
    line-height: 1.3em;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    font-size: 13px;
    color: #0F0F0F;
}
a:link, a:visited {
    text-decoration: underline;
    font-weight: normal;
    color: #000;
    outline: none;
    text-align: left;
}
.float { 
     float: left; 
} 
.clear { 
    clear: both; 
} 
.overall {
    background-color: #fff;   
}
div.center {
    text-align: center;
    margin: 0px auto 0 auto;
    padding: 0;
    width: 950px;
    background: #FFFFFF;
}
#container {
    width:960px;
    margin: auto;
    background-color: #f4f9fc;
    border: 1px solid #e2e2e2;
    text-align: left;
}
#header {
    text-align: center;
    background-color:#f4f9fc;
    height: 80px;
}
#content {
    width: 598px;
    text-align: left;
    background-color:#f4f9fc;
    padding: 5px;
}
#sidebar_left {
    text-align: center;
    background-color:#f4f9fc;
    width: 165px;
    border-right: 1px solid #e2e2e2;
    border-bottom: 1px solid #e2e2e2;
    padding: 5px;
}
#sidebar_right { 
    background-color:#f4f9fc;
    text-align: center;
    width: 165px; 
    border-left: 1px solid #e2e2e2;
    border-bottom: 1px solid #e2e2e2;
    padding: 5px;
     }
#footer { 
    background-color:#f4f9fc;
    text-align:center;
    border-top: 1px solid #e2e2e2;
    border-bottom: 1px solid #e2e2e2;
    padding: 5px;
}

 

Those lines will add some clean basic design to the different parts of your website. You will need some basic skills in working with CSS in order to make changes in the outlook of your Joomla site.

Your template is now complete, at this point your website should look like this :

 

From now on it is up to your imagination to create the design of your website as you want it. You can add different module positions, play with the css file, add images for backgrounds and much more. Joomla's template structure gives you the freedom to create the website you have always wanted. Good luck!

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.

Step 4. Now you have to organize your menus properly in order to make them display as a drop-down menus. For the purpose of this tutorial we will create a sub-enu of the Features menu and display it as a drop-down. To do this go to the Menus -> Top Menu(or if you changed the name of this menu - the one you have set) page and click on the New button. Once you set your menu to display the desired content, make sure you set its "parent" menu. In our case that will be the Features menu.

For more information on how to create menus take a look on our tutorial on Creating articles in Joomla.

Step 5. Finally you should add to your CSS file some lines that specify the behavior of the drop-down menu. You can simply add those lines at the end of the stylesheet file of your template (usually template.css):

ul#menulist_root li ul {
    display:none;
}
ul#menulist_root li:hover ul{
    display:block;
    background:none;
}
ul#menulist_root li ul li{
 background:#000000;
    opacity:.85;
    filter: alpha(opacity=85);
    -moz-opacity: 0.85;
    clear:both;
}
ul#menulist_root li ul li a{
    background:none;
    width:66px;
}
ul#menulist_root li ul li a:hover{
    color:#AA0000;
    background:none;
}

This style sheet will display a stylish, transperant drop-down menu once you point your mouse to the Features menu (i.e. on hover). You can use different CSS to achieve the looks you want for your menus.

Well done! you have successfully added a stylish horizontal drop-down menu to your Joomla website! At this point your page should look like this:

Joomla Extension Types

Joomla Components, Modules, Plugins, Templates, and Languages

This tutorial describes the different extension types available for Joomla. For more information on how to install an extension you can check our tutorial on How to install extensions to your Joomla website.

There are five types of  Joomla extensions that you can use to add functionality to your website: Components, Modules, Plugins, Templates, and Languages. Each of these extensions adds specific functionality to your pages.

• Components can be considered as mini-applications. A component can add a completely new functionality to your website. Components can vary from search engines to entire shopping cart solutions. Each component is driven by a menu and each menu item runs a component. You can manage your components through the sub-items of the "Components" menu in your Joomla administrative panel. Each component has two parts - back-end that allows you to configure and manage its content and a front-end that displays your information in the selected way.
   
• Modules are more lightweight extensions that display information on your website. They can be attached to a component like the "Popular" module for example, which is attached to the com_content component and shows the most popular articles in your website. Modules can display information even if they are not attached to a component. Actually, they can display everything - from static HTML to complex slide shows. Your modules can be managed through the Extensions -> Module Manager page in your Joomla back-end.
   
• Plugins are usually used to add extra functionality to your website. They are complex extensions that handle different events. For example, plugins can allow you to embed movies to your articles, show tooltips and many other different types of functionalities. The legacy name of the plugins is "Mambots". You can manage your plugins from the Extensions -> Plugin Manager page in your Joomla administrative area.
   
• Templates specify the way your website looks. The Joomla template handles the entire design of your pages. In addition, the template specifies in which parts of your page the different module positions are displayed. You can change the default template of your website from the Extensions -> Template Manager menu in your Joomla admin area.
   
• Languages are core packages that translate the entire Joomla interface of your administrative panel and/or the front-end of your website. You can manage the already installed languages in your Joomla application through the Extensions -> Language Manager menu.

Our technical staff demonstrates tremendous skill and expertise in troubleshooting Joomla-related issues. If you experience any issues with the installation of your extensions, contact the SiteGround support team.

How to install Joomla extensions

When using Joomla you can easily extend the funtionality of your website by adding Joomla extensions. There many types of Joomla extensions you can add to your Joomlasite such as components, modules, plugins, which allow you to change the looks and/or functionality of your website. In Joomla 1.5 all extensions are installed in the same way.

How to install Joomla Components, Modules, etc.

In Joomla 1.5 the installation of Joomla Components, Modules, Plugins, Templates, and Languages, the so-called Joomla extensions, is done from one place and requires the same actions. For the purpose of this tutorial we'll install the VirtueMart component for Joomla 1.5. Follow the steps below to complete the installation of any Joomla module, component, etc.:

Step 1. Download VirtueMart from the official website. Make sure you download the complete package for Joomla 1.5.

Step 2. Go to your Joomla admin area > Extensions > Install/Uninstall.

Step 3. In the Upload Package File section click Browse and locate the VirtueMart archive.

Step 4. Click Upload File & Install to upload the file and complete the installation.

Step 5. Some components, including VirtueMart, need an additional step in order to complete their installation. In the case with VirtueMart you should choose whether to install sample data or not. Let's install it by clicking the Install SAMPLE DATA >> button.

This will complete the VirtueMart installation and you will be able to manage it from the Components menu > VirtueMart.
You will be able to install any other component/module/plugin/theme for Joomla 1.5 following the same steps.

Please note that components built for Joomla 1.0.x cannot be installed on Joomla 1.5 unless Legacy mode is enabled. More information on how to install Joomla 1.0.x components to Joomla 1.5 is available in our Knowledge base.

How to remove extensions from Joomla 1.5

You can remove extensions in Joomla 1.5 from the admin area > Extensions > Install/Uninstall.

Depending on the type of extension you wish to remove, you should click on one of the following - Components, Modules, Plugins, Languages, Templates.

Then from the available extensions select the one you want to uninstall and click the Uninstall button. This will remove the extension from your Joomla installation.

 

At SiteGround we will help you extend the functionality of your website according to your needs, and you can get the required extension professionally installed on your SiteGround hosting account.

Joomla Common Issues

This tutorial will show you how to fix some of the most common issues that Joomla users experience.

It covers the following topics:

• How to resolve a Database Error: Unable to connect to the database:Could not connect to database error;
• How to fix the issue with your menu items opening a 404 Page Not Found error;
• How to add your module into the desired position even if the position is not available in the Position drop-down menu;
• How to resolve an Error:"xml file is missing in package" issue when installing a new template;
• How to fix an issue with a "MySQL Server has gone away" error while installing a new extension;
• How to resolve an '404 - Component not found' error in Joomla 1.5;

 

If you encounter the following error when browsing your website:

Database Error: Unable to connect to the database:Could not connect to database

You should check the configuration.php file of your Joomla application and make sure the following lines are correct:

var $dbtype = 'mysql';
var $host = 'localhost';
var $user = 'user_jo151';
var $password = 'YourPassword';
var $db = 'user_jo151';
var $dbprefix = 'jos_';

You should make sure you are using the correct MySQL username and database in your configuration.php file.

You can use the MySQL Databases tool in your cPanel in order to check the correct username and database for your Joomla.

In addition, make sure that your MySQL username is added to your database. More information on that matter can be found in our tutorial on How to create a MySQL database and user.

This issue can also be caused by errors within the database itself. In such cases you can try restoring your Joomla database.

For more information on how to do this you can refer to our tutorial on How to backup and restore a MySQL database.

Your main website looks fine but all of your links return a "404 Page Not Found" error.

Such issues are usually caused by the SEF functionality of Joomla. There are several things you should check in order to fix this:

• Open your configuration.php file and edit the var $live_site = ' '; line to match the actual URL of your website. If your website is http://yourdomain.com for example, the line should look like this:
  
  

  var $live_site = 'http://yourdomain.com ';

   
• Go to the administrative end of your Joomla website -> Global Configuration and make sure that both Search Engine Friendly URLs and Use Apache mod_rewrite are set to Yes.
• Make sure you have renamed the htaccess.txt file in your Joomla folder to .htaccess.

If you follow all of the steps above you should have a fully operational Joomla website with the SEF functionality enabled. For testing purposes you can temporarily disable the Search Engine Friendly URLs in order to check whether they are the cause for your issues.

If you want to publish a module in a certain position but you can't find it in the "Position" drop-down menu, you can simply type it. For example, if you want to publish a menu in the "user3" position and it is not in the list, you can simply type user3 in the field. Joomla displays only the positions that have published modules in them. Therefore, if the position is defined in the template you are using you can safely type it even if it is not shown in the Position options.

If you receive an Error:"xml file is missing in package" when installing a new template, first check whether it is designed for Joomla 1.5. If it is created for Joomla 1.0 you can try enabling the Joomla Legacy plugin. For more information on how to do that you can check this article. Another reason for this issue could be that the archive you are trying to install contains the actual installation package; i.e. there is an archive within the archive. The solution is simple - you should extract the archive and install the actual installation package.

When installing a new extension you may receive a "MySQL Server has gone away" error. Usually this error occurs when you try to install a big extension and you have the FTP Layer of your Joomla application enabled. As a workaround you can disable the FTP Layer by logging to your Administrative area -> Global Configuration -> Server -> FTP Settings. There set the value of "Enable FTP" to "No". Then try installing your extension again.

If you receive a '404 - Component not found' error in Joomla 1.5 error when going to your main page you should check whether you have a default menu item published. Joomla needs a default item for the front page. In order to do this, go to your admin area -> Menus -> Your main menu. Then select the menu item that you want to be loaded when you visit your main page and click on the "Default" button at the top-right of the page.

 

 You can submit new topics/issues/solutions using the "Feedback" button at the top of this page.

Joomla Security

The purpose of this tutorial is to show you how to secure your Joomla website. There are several steps you can take to protect your Joomla application. Joomla's security can be improved significantly by following these simple steps.

• Change the administrative username of your Joomla
• Change the default table prefix of your Joomla database
• Password protect your Joomla administrative area
• Keep your Joomla up-to-date
• Use the .htaccess file to additionally secure Joomla

How to change the administrative username of your Joomla website

By default your administrative username is admin. The majority of the attackers would expect the username to be admin. Changing it will protect you against many attacks.

To do this, you should:

Step 1. Log in to the Joomla administrative area and click on the User Manager menu.

Step 2. Click on your administrative user in order to edit it. You can either check the box next to the user and click the "Edit" button or directly click on the user's full name.

Step 3. In the next page you should edit the Username field. Change it to something different than "admin" and click on the "Save" button.

Alternatively, you can do this by modifying the database of your Joomla website:

Step 1. Open the phpMyAdmin tool in your cPanel and load your Joomla database.

Step 2. Select the jos_users table from the left column and click on the Browse button to edit the rows in it.

Step 3. Locate the line for the "admin" username and click on the pen icon next to it to edit it.

Step 4. Change the value of the "username" field to something different than "admin". Using lower and upper case characters as well as numbers is highly recommended.

Step 5. Once you change your administrative username, press the Go button at the bottom right part of the page.

Now you can login to the administrative area of your Joomla application with the new username.

How to change the default table prefix of your Joomla database

Changing the default table prefix will stop the majority of attacks against your database. You can use the DB Admin component in order to do this. Although it is originally designed for Joomla 1.0.x, it works on Joomla 1.5 too.

Step 1. Install the component and go to Components > DB Admin.

Step 2. Using the intuitive interface, change the default "jos_" prefix of your Joomla 1.5 tables to a different value.

Step 3. Modify the configuration.php file in your main Joomla folder. In it locate the following line:

var $dbprefix = 'jos_';

You will have to edit it to correspond to the new table prefix you have set. For example, if you have changed the table prefix to "smth_" the line in the configuration.php file should look like this:

var $dbprefix = 'smth_';

The default table prefix of your Joomla database is now changed. This should block the majority of attacks against your database.

Password protect your administrative area

Password protecting the "administrator" folder will add an additional layer of protection to your Joomla website. For more information on how to do that you should refer to our tutorial on How to password protect directories. You should set username and password for your website different from the ones for your Joomla application.

Once you do this, you will have to login twice. First to access the login page of Joomla and then to login in the application itself.

That would make guessing your passwords a very difficult task for any attacker. In addition, even if there is a security breach within the Joomla script itself, a potential attacker won't be able to gain access to your administrative end even if s/he knows your login details.

Keep your website up-to-date

You should always keep your Joomla application up-to-date. We recommend you to subscribe to the Joomla newsletter in order to receive news about new versions. You can do this at Joomla's official download page.

Once you receive a notification that a new version of Joomla is released, you should upgrade your website immediately. For detailed information on how to upgrade your site, you can refer to our Joomla upgrade tutorials:

• How to upgrade Joomla 1.0.x
• How to upgrade Joomla 1.5.x

If your website is running Joomla 1.0.x it is recommended to migrate it to Joomla 1.5.x. In Joomla 1.5 there are many security improvements in the core elements of the application. The migration, however, should be performed with caution. You should always backup your Joomla before proceeding with the upgrade. For more information you can check our tutorial on How to upgrade from Joomla 1.0.x to Joomla 1.5.

Use the .htaccess file to additionally secure your Joomla

You should make the following changes to the .htaccess file in the Joomla directory:

• First, If you don't have a .htaccess file in your Joomla folder, you should rename the htaccess.txt file that comes with your Joomla installation package to .htaccess. To do this, you can use the File Manager tool in your cPanel. In addition, doing this will allow you to enable the SEF functionality of your Joomla application. The rules in it will block the majority of well-known attacks against your website.
• Make sure you are running your website on PHP 5.2 or newer. All SiteGround customers have their accounts running PHP 5.2 by default.
• Block the access to all files except index.php and index2.php. Note, however, that you may have to allow the access to some additional files if your extensions require them. If certain parts of your website do not appear, you can check the files that they rely on. Then, you can add them to the access rules. Generally, if you add the following lines to your .htaccess file, everything should work just fine:
  

  <Files *.php>
  deny from all
  </Files>
  <Files ~ "(^index.php|^index2.php)$">
  allow from all
  </Files>
  

The SiteGround Web Hosting servers are perfectly optimized and secured in order to provide you with the best environment for your Joomla website. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions regarding the security of your Joomla website.

Joomla backup

This tutorial will show you how to create a backup of your Joomla 1.5 website. It is important to create an archive of your website before you upgrade your Joomla application or add a new extension to it. This will provide you with the option to restore your site if anything goes wrong with your modifications.

To make a backup of your Joomla 1.5 application you need to download all your Joomla files to your computer and export the database that Joomla uses.

How to download your Joomla files?

To back up the Joomla files to your computer you can use an FTP client to connect to your account. Then navigate to your Joomla application folder and download it to your local computer. You can also check our tutorial on how to configure and use an FTP client.

How to export/backup your Joomla database?

To export/backup your database you can check the how to backup/restore MySQL database tutorial.

You can also check our tutorial on how to create a backup of your site and restore it.

Joomla Upgrade

In this tutorial section you will find useful information on how to upgrade you Joomla website to the latest stable Joomla 1.5 version. If you are using Joomla 1.0 and would like to switch to Joomla 1.5, please refer to our Upgrade from Joomla 1.0.x to Joomla 1.5 tutorial.

We recommend you to backup your Joomla website before starting any upgrades. Here is how you can backup your Joomla files and database.

How to upgrade Joomla to the latest stable version?

Upgrading from any version of Joomla 1.5.x to a newer one involves overwriting the outdated Joomla files. For this purpose Joomla provides upgrade patches for all of its previous versions to the latest one. You can find here the patch for your installation and make sure you download the one with .zip extension.

After you have downloaded the Patch Package to your local computer you should upload it to the installation directory of your Joomla.

If you have cPanel, you can upload and extract the package following the steps below:

Step 1: Open your cPanel -> File Manager and navigate to the installation folder of your Joomla application. Then click on the [Upload] button.

Step 2: Browse through your files and select the Patch Package from your local computer.

Step 3: Click on the Patch Package file in the File Manager. You need to extract the archive file using the Extract function. Click the Extract button and the files will be extracted upgrading your Joomla to the latest version.

If you don't have cPanel or you feel more comfortable using an FTP client, then you can simply extract the Joomla 1.5 patch package to your computer and then upload the extracted files to your Joomla folder using your favorite FTP client.

Overwrite the existing files with the new ones and your Joomla 1.5 will be upgraded.

In some cases the upgrade may corrupt additionally added components and modules on your Joomla. In this case you will have to re-install them.

Upgrade from Joomla 1.0 to 1.5

Upgrading Joomla to the latest stable version

More information about this can be found in our tutorial on how to upgrade Joomla 1.5 to the latest version.

How to upgrade from Joomla 1.0 to 1.5?

In this tutorial we will show you how to upgrade from Joomla 1.0.x to Joomla 1.5.x.

Note that it is highly recommended to backup your existing Joomla web site before you proceed with the migration process.

 

The Joomla upgrade to 1.5 will preserve ONLY the content of your Joomla 1.0.x. No components/modules/plugins/templates you have will be available in the upgraded Joomla 1.5.

Step 1: Install the Migrator component

The first step is to install the Migrator component to your existing Joomla 1.0.x web site. You can download the Migrator component here.

More information on how to install a component in Joomla 1.0.x can be found in our Joomla 1.0 tutorial.

Once you have installed the Migrator component, you will be able to access it from the Components menu > Migrator.

The migrator component allows you to migrate your current Joomla 1.0.x data to the Joomla 1.5 database format.

Step 2: Create Migration SQL File

To proceed with the database migration click the Create Migration SQL File button located at the bottom of the Migrator component page:

The next step is to download the extracted SQL from your 1.0.x Joomla:

You can now download your SQL dump by clicking on the Download link available on the right section of the page and upload it into your Joomla! 1.5 installation. Later, when importing this SQL file into your 1.5 installation, make sure to select Load Migration Script and use the prefix '_jos' (by default).

Step 3: Make a clean Joomla 1.5 installation

Next you should perform a manual Joomla 1.5 installation. For the purpose of this tutorial let's install Joomla 1.5 in a folder called dev.

Download the latest Joomla 1.5 package from the official website and extract it in the dev folder.

Open the dev folder by going to http://www.your-website.com/dev. You will see the Joomla start installation screen. Select your language, you should already have a database and user to fill them in.

Step 4. Perform the migration

Proceed with the installation until you reach Step 6: Configuration:

Fill the name of your web site, your admin e-mail and password details.

The key part here is to choose the Load Migration Script option:

Fill the old table prefix _jos and leave the encoding unchanged unless needed and you are familiar with this option.

By clicking on the [Browse] button you should select the Joomla 1.0.x migration dump you downloaded earlier.

Make sure to check the This script is a Joomla! 1.0 migration script. check box as well.

Proceed by clicking on the [Upload and execute] button.

Once the data is imported you should see the following screen:

Click on the [Next] button near to the upper right corner.

You need to completely remove the installation directory.

Now when you open the front end of your newly installed Joomla 1.5 you will see all the articles from the previous Joomla.

Common Joomla 1.5 Questions

In this tutorial we will answer some common questions about Joomla:

• How to remove the author / date posted from Joomla articles?
• How to change the domain name for your Joomla 1.5 site?
• How to speed up Joomla 1.5?
• How to allow user registrations in Joomla 1.5

How to remove the author / date posted from Joomla articles?

Step 1. From Joomla's admin panel go to Content - Article Manager:

Step 2. Click on "Parameters" from the top-right menu.

Step 3. A box will appear with all configurable options including author / date posted. Simply set to "Hide" any of the options you'd like disabled.

How to change the domain name for your Joomla 1.5 site?

Previous Joomla versions required a manual re-configuration when changing the domain name of your site. Joomla 1.5 does NOT require such a change as it recognizes the new domain name automatically.

How to speed up Joomla 1.5?

Joomla's performance is usually slowed down when:

• Extra features are enabled such as stats and polls;
• Additional components, modules, plugins, themes are installed;
• There are too many items on the pages.

Fortunately, Joomla provides an easy way to speed up its performance by enabling its caching function. To enable cache in Joomla, follow the steps below:

Step 1. Go to your Joomla's admin panel > Site -> Global Configuration.

Step 2. Click on the link "System" under Global Configuration:

Step 3. There you will find a box called "Cache Settings" and you have to check "Yes" besides the Cache option:

Step 4. You can leave the rest of the options unchanged and save the change by clicking [Save] at the top right menu.

Enabling the cache may prevent you from immediately seeing changes on your site. In some cases you might have to clear your Joomla cache.

How to allow user registrations in Joomla 1.5

By default user registration is allowed in Joomla 1.5. You will just have to enable the login form. To do this, follow the steps below:

Step 1. From the Joomla admin panel go to Extensions -> Module Manager:

Step 2. From the top right menu click on [New] and check the "Login" option:

Step 3. Click on "Next" from the top-right menu to proceed.

Step 4. From the options that appear we will make only one change:

Title: Login

Step 5. Save the progress by clicking on [Save] from the top menu and you will find a login form on your site.

Convert a Static Site to Joomla 1.5

If you have a static website built in FrontPage or DreamWeaver for example, this tutorial will show you how to convert it to Joomla 1.5

How to convert a static website to Joomla 1.5

Managing a static website can be a challenging task. To change a simple text in a static website you may have to make the changes locally and then upload the new files to your hosting account. On the other hand, a Joomla based website has all the flexibility a CMS application provides. This is why many people consider converting their static websites to Joomla.

The conversion process can be divided into two parts - adding your actual data and recreating the design of your website.

You should begin with adding your data first because later it will be much easier to make your design with the real information on your pages.

Adding your data consists of two main steps - creating your pages and creating your menus.

Let's start with the creation of your Main Menu and a Home item that will show the content of your front page.

Step 1. Log in to your Joomla administrative area and click on the "Menu Manager" button to start the creation of your first menu.

Step 2. Click on the "New" button to create a new menu.

Step 3. On the next page set the title and description of your menu. You have to specify a unique name for the menu. You will later use this name to assign modules to it.

Step 4. Now you have to add items to your menu. Click on the "New" button at the top-right part of the page. For the purpose of this tutorial we will create a single item called "Home".

Step 5. In the next screen you will be asked to select the menu item's type. Since this item will show your front page, expand the "Articles" category and click on the "Front Page Blog Layout" item type.

Step 6. Type "Home" in the title field. This text will appear on the menu link that will be shown on your website. You can always come back to the Menu Manager and rename the menu item.

Step 7. Click on the "Save" button at the top-right part of the page.

Step 8. The next step is to set this menu item as default. This means that when someone opens your website this will be the first page that will load. If you do not have a default item, Joomla will return a "404 Component not found" error. 

You have to click on the checkbox next to your menu item and then press the "Default" button.

Step 9. The creation of your menu is complete. You should now add a module to your website that will display your menu. To do this ,go to Extensions -> Module Manager and press the "New" button at the top of the page.

Step 10. Choose "Menu" for module type and click "Next".

Step 11. On the next page select a name for the module and set it to "Enabled".

Step 12. Select the position where the module should be displayed. For the purpose of this tutorial we'll create a horizontal menu right under the main header, so let's set "user3" as position. If the position is not available in the drop-down list, you can simply type it.

Step 13. Click on the "Save" button at the top-right part of the page.

You are now ready with the creation of your main menu and the first item in it. Once you have done that, you can add more items to your Main menu from the Menu Manager. You can check the different menu item types in order to see the differences in the way they visualize your content.

Step 14. You should now add your content to the new site. You can look at each page of your static website as a Joomla article. For more information on that matter, check our tutorial on How to create articles in Joomla.

You can check the other Joomla 1.5 tutorials we have created in order to get more information on how to create different types of pages, add extensions, etc.

Once you have added your content to Joomla, you have to edit the design of your website. To do this you have to either install an already created template or make a new one. You can check our FREE Joomla 1.5 templates and see whether you find a suitable template. If you want to start creating your design from scratch, you can refer to our tutorial on How to create a simple Joomla 1.5 template.

Joomla Email

This section of the Joomla tutorial will show how you can setup your Joomla installation so that you can use it to successfully send email messages.

It is really easy to setup your Joomla website so that it sends system messages to the website users (such as account registration confirmation emails) and gives you the possibility to send a mass mail to registered users.

A standard installation that is using the default values will be working just out of the box. It will be setup by default to use the PHP Main function to send email messages. The settings can be modified via the Joomla admin area -> Site -> Global Configuration -> Server. The corresponding settings are found under the Mail Settings section.

Bear in mind that the email address which you are using for “Mail from” should be of type email@yourdomain.com. You cannot use this functionality to send email messages using fake address.

 

The second option is to use the SMTP Server for sending email messages via Joomla. In this case you need to turn on SMTP Authentication and supply correct details for the SMTP Server you will be using as show below:

On SiteGround servers the options should be setup as follows:

SMTP Authentication – Yes
SMTP Security – None
SMTP Port – 25
SMTP Username – email@yourdomain.com Note that you should use the full email address as username including the @domain part.
SMTP Password – The correct password for the email account you supplied as Username.
SMTP Host – This can be your domain name.