Just started developing with Joomla! (2.5), completely newb, read through the docs talking about Plugins, Components and Modules. Having a hard time figuring out which to choose and how to implement. I'd like to have a table similar to the one used in the Plugin Manager in the Joomla! administrator backend where the the results can be searched, filtered and even individual entries can be toggled (Enable/Disable by clicking on Status circle). Can someone point me to a tutorial or even some example code I can in developing this?
I’ve already read a few sites including this (http://www.inmotionhosting.com/support/website/joomla-25/plugin-vs-module-vs-component).
If you want to create page in administrator panel with tables, that display some items, you should develop joomla component.
Look for this: http://docs.joomla.org/Developing_a_Model-View-Controller_(MVC)_Component_for_Joomla!2.5
Note, that only components can provide extended administrator interface for managing some entries, create pages on font-end. Plugins intended only for processing output of components and modules. And modules intended only for display some html on specific positions in front-end template.
Related
I am building in Joomla! version 3.3.6 for my first time. I have built a ton of custom Wordpress in the past. The first challenge I have encoutnered, is the requirement of building a page which does not look anything like the template pages. The client desires a landing splash page, with large images and a gradient background. However, they are using a template already. Now, I know that I shouldn't start my research on Stack Overflow, so I've watched hours of tutorials for beginners on Lynda.com. No one seems to be covering this topic. Any help would be really appreciated.
To explain this idea, I will compare to what I would do in Wordpress. I would create a file named "page-splash.php" and give it a template name: Splash. Then I would fill this page with my choice code. Finally I would create a "Page" object in wp backend and give it the "template" of "splash".
This is very possible and often accomplished in Joomla.
You would simply need a second template installed and assigned to the page. In Joomla, you could technically have a different template installed for every single page if you wanted to. But in this case, you just need a 2nd template.
Start by building a bare bones template, as found here: https://docs.joomla.org/Creating_a_basic_Joomla!_template (or copy the current template from /templates/ directory and update the templateDetails.xml file so it will install as a second template)
Install 2nd template via Extension Manager
Next, make sure your new page is linked within the Menu Manager (as you will need a menu assignment to call the new template in next step)
Go to Template Manager and you can assign your new template to the menu item defined in the previous step.
You now have 2 independent templates running on the same installation and they can be styled and configured independent of one another.
Assigning more than one template is such a common task in Joomla that you can find more details about this in the official documentation: https://docs.joomla.org/J3.x:Switching_templates
Joomla is by Default not a Blog/Template layout cms, but rather a web application builder.
You can get extensions to create custom templates that make Joomla function like a blog application such as ZOO or K2. I would not go the route of creating individual templates for each page as it would be similar to installing a different theme for each page on a WordPress site.
I am to develop a Joomla 3.1 Template. The template should consist of a static header and footer, as well as multiple pages, all of which need their own styling. Further, the client would like to be able to add 'events' to a specific listings page. Customers should be able to book said events via a simple form.
Thanks to some really basic guides, I have the header and footer down, as well as some simple template options. However, I am now running into some problems;
How would I approach the content section? Ideally, a page would consist of multiple, editable sections. The client would be able to edit said sections in the backend without having to deal with or accidentally changing the layout or styling of the page itself. Since there are multiple pages, I obviously need different views/containers for each of them. Is this possible and if so, how?
Another problem is the documentation, which I found to be very lacking. Even google only got me so far (basic structure, index.php, templateDetails.xml and so forth). Are there any other resources I may have missed or do I really need to refer to other templates (most of which, obviously, aren't free) and use var_dump all the time?
Writing this, I just realized that I could theoretically build a template for every single page but ... that surely can't be right, right?
If someone could provide a basic outline or at least tell me how you personally would tackle a project like this, it'd be very much appreciated.
All the best
Edit;
I just found some video tutorials but since my bandwidth is limited, I cannot watch them. Please take this into account when writing an answer. Thanks.
I have only one word for you :
GANTRY :D
gantry-framework.org
Joomla revolves around menu items that point to components. For each menu item, you can assign modules to different positions within the template to create a unique page. You only need one template if you really understand how Joomla templating works.
Joomla has very good documentation here - http://docs.joomla.org/
Few things to remember -
Component - this is a type of content or app of sorts. A component will define what content is and how it is displayed. This can be anything from blog articles and categories to an event registration system to a message board or social network. Menu items generally will point to a view in a component.
Modules - these are used to display additional content around the component output. This can be a menu, or a login box, or a weather widget or anything else you can come up with. Modules can be assigned to or excluded from the various menu items on your site.
Plugin - plugins are used to change the final output on a site. They can be used to insert Youtube videos, or forms within content, or even to alter the meta tags on a page.
Understanding how extensions work is an important first step. Once you get how those work, learning how templates and template overrides work will give you most of what you need to know to build a basic Joomla site.
I want to develop a joomla 2.5 porfolio extension.
So I need something in the backend to enter a couple of details.
On my frontpage I want to have listed the six latest projects and there will be a page in the frontend where all projects are listed.
I'm new to this whole joomla thing. At the moment I'm reading through the joomla docs and tutorials.
I'm a little bit confused because I'm not really sure which type of extension do I need.
Can all this be done with a single component or a module or do I have to mix both?
Because what I've understood so far a component can just be displayed as a independent page.
And a module has to be included in a page. Like {lastSixProjects}?
Can some please enlighten me a little bit?
If you want to create a page with portofolio only, you may create a component without a module...
If you want to put your portofolio in eg.: articles pages, search page, in a sidebar etc (like a image slideshow plugin) you must create a module (with a component assigned to it)
Please read this: http://docs.joomla.org/Extension_types_%28general_definitions%29 .
I undestrand that you want to put your portofolio in your front page... in this chase you MUST create a module.
Little explanation:
A module is an extension (similary to boxes, or widgets) that are arranged arround a component (in this chase com_content - on your FrontPage). Eg: Ads Module, Search Box Module etc.
A component is a super complex extension (similary to mini applications). It has an administration part and front-end part. All Joomla! pages loads a component. Eg: Content component, Search component etc.
I hope this will help you.
You want a component. Please read this: http://docs.joomla.org/Extension_types_%28general_definitions%29
Agree on 2 previous answers, you need a component with at least one table to store your projects. Then you need to link to a menu a view of the elements on a table. You should be able to make it work in 15 minutes with this component creator for Joomla http://www.component-creator.com/
I want to create a multilingual site using Joomla. The site will be in English and Hindi. Along with the static pages the Administrator should be able to post his research may be as a blog and a registered member can read the post and add his comments and/or questions. The administrator will then reply the comment and/or the question.
I'm new to Joomla and could not figure out how to start with this project. I must use all the extensions which are free to use. Is there any option for this or Should I create my own blogging system ? I need to set up donation functionality as well.
My advise will be to use one of this component to set up the admin blog : http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/authoring-a-content/blog
And here is a module for the donation : http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/e-commerce/donations
Do not create your own blogging system, you can easly achieve your project with Joomla!
I would recommend using K2 as a replacement for the built in Joomla articles and categories. It has a ton of features that would allow you to make a blog and manage all of your other content pages as well all within one component. It is also a lot more flexible than a component that is specifically for blogging so you can set it up to suite your needs.
You will probably want to install a multilingual component as well. For 1.7/2.5 you will need to use FaLang unless you want to wait for JoomFish to come out for 2.5.
K2 - http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/authoring-a-content/content-construction/8061
FaLang - http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/languages/multi-lingual-content/18210
JoomFish - http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/languages/multi-lingual-content/460
Is this a common task in your Drupal work when you're asked to create a custom admin section in Drupal for your content?
For instance, you have a few content types and user wants not only to view them, but to search using different filters, to add new items - all inside the same admin subsection.
In essence, this is classic search/grid/record screen/pages and while in typical Drupal distribution content management screents are kind of scattered around, I am talking about more organized spage, e.g. in which Grid (View) also has "Add new" link and you don't have to scroll to "Create content" menu which relates to a different section.
What is your experience and opinion in this relation?
I'm actually working on something like this right now where I work. We've built a custom module to solve Drupal's biggest problem of having unorganized content by organizing it in a nice tree structure. What we've decided to do is go ahead and create a whole new section within the admin just for managing content through this module (it contains a lot more functionality than just a tree structure). There were two big deciding factors when deciding to do this.
We knew we weren't going to be releasing this module so we didn't need to worry about integration with other modules because any such integration would be done by us.
The non-technical staff that this was presented to preferred this method over having several different admin pages with different pieces of functionality on each one, despite all the functionality being related. They viewed at as simply being easier to use.
The point behind my explanation is this: if it makes sense in your situation, then I'd say make either a new section or a new page with several tabs on it. There's a lot of deciding factors to consider:
Do I (or my) clients like the Drupal admin as is?
Do I need to worry about integration with third party modules?
Is time of the essence (this one is a big one)?
How extensible do I need the new admin page(s) to be?
Is upgrading to the newest version of Drupal of big importance (from 5 to 6 and later from 6 to 7 and so on)?
Many non-developers I've talked to abhor the Drupal admin and most content editors I've talked to or worked with prefer having a single admin page they can go to to manage all of their content. As a result, our setup is well received by our clients even though some within the Drupal community may not agree with it.
you can use views_bulk_operation module to show content (or users) to execute (batch) operations on them. in this way you get a sortable grid with search capabilities (exposed filters), pagination and the possibility to execute custom bulk actions. from here it's easy to add a link "create new" in the view footer. furthermore, you can use link as "local tasks" to organize views in tabs.
usually i use simplemenu for the admin backend and i hide the navigation menu in the sidebar for all but administrators.
Another option - much easier to deliver - would be to create a new menu only visible to the administrators - and dependent on the content displayed - with links to the pages for common tasks. Particular views, for example, or to add new content of the currently displayed type, etc.