Menu

Richard Pearce

When I met Joomla, I had no idea how much it would impact my future. The relationship was frosty at first. Hostile in fact. I was happy the way things were, but Joomla insisted that life could be even better, if I was prepared to make some changes. The problem was, the path to our ultimate happiness required a solution that had not yet been built. And it was up to me to produce the solution. Okay - sure, Joomla did provide the materials, but no cohesive way of moulding it all together.



I made a tentative approach, but was sternly rebuked. Something about having inadequate permissions. I tried again but couldn't find a way to have even the most simple of conversations. Sadly we parted and I went back to my long-term partner, Dreamweaver.



But I knew I was missing out on something. It nagged me day and night until I decided to try again. It was easier this time. Things started to look bright and I was optimistic that I had found my lifelong partner. But alas we fell at the final hurdle. We had come so far, surely something seemingly so small as a menu item couldn't come between us. But is was so. And so tragically we separated again.



This time my reunion with my previous HTML editor was not so pleasant. We were never right for each other. So I knuckled down with a new determination to use the few resources I had to build a Joomla website. The details aren't important. All you need to know is that everything finally came together and now Joomla and I are best of friends.



I want you to enjoy this friendship too, so I have produced a methodical step-by-step solution to learning Joomla. Start with our free course The Basics. Then move on to our advanced courses. I also publish hints and tips via this blog. Your first steps might also be tentative, but with my help, you are guaranteed to save a lot of time and frustration.



Connect with Richard: Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | LinkedIn

Owner of Build a Joomla Website. Responsible for 1 wife, 4 kids and 17 fish.

Website Review: Daniel Kaminsky Attorney

Website Review: Daniel Kaminsky Attorney

This is the first of a series of website video reviews. There are three main points covered - but do you think I covered the most important ones?

Recent Comments
Younes Aitouazdi
can you please review my website: http://www.transgateslimo.com, I did submit it before, and I am not using it yet, I am trying to... Read More
Wednesday, 15 May 2013 11:08
Richard Pearce
If it was submitted then it is in the list. There are no guarantees that I will do them all, and as there are 57 more to consider,... Read More
Wednesday, 15 May 2013 13:55
Lyndon Baxter
Thanks Richard, very informative and I agree with most of what you said, however, I think you could have gone further with the com... Read More
Wednesday, 15 May 2013 12:25
Continue reading
33434 Hits
5 Comments

Webinar: How to get Higher Rankings for your Joomla Site

Webinar: How to get Higher Rankings for your Joomla Site

Joomla is sometimes criticised for not being search engine friendly. Is this true? Can a Joomla-powered website rank high in the search engines? How do you create a perfectly optimised Joomla page? Join me for this free webinar where I unravel the mysteries of the search engines.

Recent Comments
Bruce
Hi Richard, the time of the webinar says last Wednesday (17th) evening, and you only posted today (Friday 19th) Can you confirm o... Read More
Friday, 19 April 2013 18:11
Richard Pearce
That's just a generic image to illustrate that on the registration page you should click the time zone image to convert the time t... Read More
Friday, 19 April 2013 18:28
Continue reading
41666 Hits
2 Comments

Webinar: How to Speed up Your Joomla Site

Webinar: How to Speed up Your Joomla Site

Join myself and Joomla Performance Guru Daniel Kanchev for this free webinar that will teach you tips and tricks to improve the performance of your Joomla website. Places for this event are strictly limited so register now!

Recent Comments
Ric Raftis
Got a question for you Richard with regard to Siteground. For years I have been redirecting sites to resolve without the www both ... Read More
Friday, 12 April 2013 12:10
Richard Pearce
Ric, A couple of things ... You should only have one version of the site "active". The convention is to use the 'WWW' version an... Read More
Tuesday, 16 April 2013 17:43
james ellis
Richard, Thanks for your efforts. Please keep up the good fight. I'm eager to hear of more opportunities in 2013. Sorry, mate, b... Read More
Saturday, 13 April 2013 05:09
Continue reading
49333 Hits
3 Comments

Get an Expert Joomla Website Review – for Free

Get an Expert Joomla Website Review – for Free

When you look at someone else’s finished website, it doesn’t look like it would be that hard to reproduce. However despite good planning, when you build your own site, you will face a series of hurdles. They’re not insurmountable of course and the whole purpose of this website is to help you smash through any barriers. But once you cross the finish line and your website is live, how do you know if you’ve run a good race? In this post I invite you to find out with a website review.

Recent Comments
Kevin Morrison
Very generous offer Richard, count me in as a tester if you want and I am sure many more that follow you would be happy to offer t... Read More
Thursday, 28 March 2013 08:54
Tom
Great offer Richard - I would be thrilled to be selected... you can't hurt my feelings. I am here to learn.
Thursday, 04 April 2013 07:20
Les Zetlein
I'm a complete novice Joomla user, and it's mainly through your invaluable advice Richard that I've been able to put my site toget... Read More
Friday, 05 April 2013 17:10
Continue reading
18389 Hits
3 Comments

Testing and Troubleshooting the User Experience

Testing and Troubleshooting the User Experience

The biggest feature to hit Joomla 1.6 was the vast improvement with access control. However this greatness comes with responsibility and it can be a pain to test a development site or troubleshoot issues with a live site. Joomla Administrators would love to be able to login as a particular user, without knowing that user's password. Well ... it turns out that this is indeed possible.

Recent Comments
Ric Raftis
What a fantastic extension Richard. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I've already shared it with a couple of others. Having... Read More
Thursday, 21 March 2013 11:26
Clemon Allison
Hi Richard, I'm having a time troubleshooting an issue with trying to get the admin page to come up after I go through the install... Read More
Saturday, 27 April 2013 00:04
Richard Pearce
The only time I have had issues in the past is when something was showing as 'No' in the pre-installation section of the web insta... Read More
Monday, 29 April 2013 13:14
Continue reading
27606 Hits
3 Comments

Build a Wordpress Website

No - that's not a typo. We have just released a series of 20 lessons to our members on How to Build a WordPress Website.

Tags:
Recent Comments
Richard Pearce
Coke vs. Pepsi is a very different comparison to two open source CMS platforms. Customers have told us that they wished we provide... Read More
Tuesday, 26 February 2013 17:59
Tim John
Don't quite understand Bob's reasoning here. I already have "life access" so, for me, it's essentially something for nothing! Any ... Read More
Tuesday, 26 February 2013 20:34
Amory Kandy
Despite I love joomla, I'm so glad there is a chance to learn the other platform as well. Thank you so much. I really appreciate i... Read More
Tuesday, 26 February 2013 19:21
Continue reading
12380 Hits
8 Comments

How to add a PDF to a Joomla Article

How to add a PDF to a Joomla Article

VIDEO: A common request we receive is how to upload a PDF (or any file) to a Joomla site and then link to it in an article or module. Well, here is a step-by-step video demonstration on how to do just that.

Recent Comments
Richard Pearce
I downloaded the latest version specifically for this demonstration.
Thursday, 07 February 2013 20:24
Joe Podcast
Hi Richard, Been receiving your emails for some time now. So after the last one being the 200th one we wrote an article about yo... Read More
Sunday, 10 February 2013 03:03
Giovanni Yarabek
Hi Richard: With this process (described above) - is there a way to make the .PDF also a download for site visitors? #2. Is there... Read More
Thursday, 21 February 2013 05:40
Continue reading
81175 Hits
12 Comments

Sydney Joomla Training

I am running a classroom Joomla training course in Sydney, Australia on Saturday 23rd February.

Recent Comments
JP Fourie
Richard, the bus service will not make it. Hope you make a video available at a later stage. Thank you JP
Wednesday, 06 February 2013 11:01
Richard Pearce
At 8 hours in length, that would be a rather long webinar. Our online courses can't replicate the experience you get in a classroo... Read More
Thursday, 07 February 2013 19:24
Tina Maniacco
Hi Richard, Could you please provide the course times? I need to be back in Brisbane by 5pm on the 23rd Feb, so I'm trying to wor... Read More
Friday, 08 February 2013 11:48
Continue reading
15802 Hits
9 Comments

Introducing Personal Joomla Consultations

Are you looking for a head start to your Joomla website development? Worried that you won't have anyone to turn to if you hit a hurdle? Then take advantage of our new personal Joomla consultation service. 

Tags:
Continue reading
5448 Hits
0 Comments

Two Become One

Our two advanced Joomla Training courses have merged into one complete package.

Continue reading
6736 Hits
0 Comments

Free Joomla TutorialLearn Joomla for free with our 16 lesson, 2 hour course.

Get Started