There are a huge number of free and commercial templates for the front-end of Joomla but did you know you can also change the template used for the back-end Administrator? The clever folks at JoomlaPraise have released AdminPraise2 which gives your Administrator a new look and new functionality. I especially like the Activity Log which shows you who has made recent updates to your site and what they did.
As of Joomla version 1.6, Sections have been removed from the Article management layout. Nested Categories have replaced the Sections / Categories structure in versions 1.6 and above.
The following post has been left published for archival purposes.
As I demonstrate in lesson 7a of the Build a Joomla Website tutorials, you need to create sections and categories to store your articles. However there is another option. In the Section drop-down menu, choose "Uncategorised". This will save the article but it will not be stored in a section or category. This is handy if you have something like a privacy policy article that doesn't really belong anywhere else. To link to this article from a menu, use the Article Layout type.
By now you have no doubt become familiar with the HTML editor that appears in the Article editing window. For many people this is all you need but if you want more flexibility and features, you really should check out the alternatives on the Joomla Extension Directory. The most popular by far is JCE and it tends to be the first extension I install with any new site. It is easier to use, makes linking within your site a breeze and it even has a spell checker.
Last week I told you why I love using templates. But they are not always the best approach so let's have a look at why I hate templates.
I have a love/hate affair with templates. All Joomla pages are displayed using a base file called a template. Free and commercial templates are available from various providers. You can also create your own templates if you know how and I will be producing some training on this process in the future. Let me tell you why I love using templates from specialist template providers when developing Joomla websites.
