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Joomla

Joomla 2.5 Basic Training | Video Tutorial

Published: 21 July 2013
Written by manager
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Categories: Joomla, Web Design Tutorials

Here are some real world examples of what Joomla can provide for individuals seeking a professional website?

Joomla is used all over the world to power Web sites of all shapes and sizes. For example:

  • Corporate Web sites or portals
  • Corporate intranets and extranets
  • Online magazines, newspapers, and publications
  • E-commerce and online reservations
  • Government Agencies and applications
  • Small to large business Web sites
  • Non-profit and organization Web sites
  • Community-based portals
  • School and church Websites
  • Personal or family homepages

AdverGroup Web Design is located in Arlington Heights, IL. As a local web design firm we assist many clients in the Chicago area.  However, the nature of our business being the “World Wide Web”, allows us to serve many national web design clients as well. Having served a wide spectrum of web design clients, we have grown with the many experiences and successes of past projects. Thus resulting in our ability to provide solutions that suit the needs of our clients, big or small!

Joomla is a FREE open source solution. 

We can assist you in installing and configuring Joomla. AdverGroup produces these video tutorials to assist clients and the general public, in learning more about the Joomla Content Management System and third part components developed to work with Joomla. Contact AdverGroup Web Design today by clicking here.

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SOLVED: Issue with Kunena Forum | Latest Activity Module (Joomla)

Published: 30 April 2013
Written by manager
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Categories: Joomla

Where as, the module reflected this error message in the Kunena Forum Component’s activity stream:  

Warning: mb_substr() expects parameter 3 to be long, string given in public_html/libraries/phputf8/mbstring/core.php

The fix for this very annoying Kunena error was a simple configuration modification. If you are experiencing this issue with the Kunena Forum Component, then contact AdverGroup Web Design so that we may troubleshoot your Joomla website and remedy your error. We can solve this issue for Kunena Latest 1.7.1, Kunena Latest 2.x and Kunena Latest 3.x.

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How to Update your Joomla Image Slider | S5 Image Fader Tutorial

Published: 19 February 2013
Written by manager
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Categories: Joomla
 CLICK ON IMAGE TO ZOOM IN:
 Step 1
 How to update S5 Image Slider-small
  Step 2
  How to update S5 Image Slider--Inside Module-small
 Basic Setttings
  How to update S5 Image Slider basic options SMALL

Step 1: Navigate to the module manager by using the top navigation bar in your Joomla Administrator Section. Once you are in the “Module Manager Section”. You will need to select the correct Image Slider Module that you wish to update (as multiple S5 image sliders can exist and may be assigned to a variety of different articles/menus items).

Step 2:  Once you have selected the module you wish to modify, you can modify the images used in your slider by entering the file path to the image that you have uploaded (** For best results, it is important that you prepare your images to maintain the same dimensions as set in your module settings for module height and width). You can upload images using the Media Manager provided in the Joomla CMS or you can upload images via FTP.  Within the S5 Module, you will enter the image file path in the blank form area titled “Image Location URL”.  An example of a file path is  /images/GALLERY/Home1.jpg

The S5 Image and Content Fader allows for up to 10 images to be utilized. Be sure to update the images to reflect the order you wish them to be reflected on the front end. If you wish this image to link to a specific page then enter the URL in the blank form area titled “Image Hyperlink URL”.

Save your module and verify the front end to make sure you placed the correct image path.

Basic Option:  Basic setting such as module height, width and image delay time can be revised by clicking on the Basic Options tab on the right side of the module screen. Here you can select other tools that can be enabled. Tools such as picture carousel, navigation arrows and slide text can be enabled or disabled here. If you opt to have “slide text” enabled, then be sure to enter in the slide text in the areas that provide blank form entries for Title1 -10.

The image fader is powered by Shape5 S5 Effects. This means you will not receive any conflicts with other javascript libraries, your template, modules or components you might be using. This module now includes an image reflection that can be enabled or disabled if you experience conflicts with Mootools.

AdverGroup Web Design is located in Arlington Heights, IL. We are Joomla Experts serving clients in Chicago and through out the United States. For assitance setting up and configuring this module for use in your Joomla website, contact AdverGroup Web Design today!

 

 

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How to get Joomla Article Images to Pop Out Using Lightbox

Published: 15 December 2012
Written by manager
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Categories: Joomla

So what exactly is Lightbox? Lightbox is a JavaScript technique used to display large images. The effect has gained widespread popularity due to its simple yet elegant style and easy implementation.

In order to achieve Lightbox function ability for Joomla Article Images you must first have the following components and plugins installed prior to proceeding:

Attention: The below directives are for those with development experience. If you are new to Joomla, you may want to contact us so that we can assist you in achieving the function ability described in this article.

Download these 3 Components/Plugins

  1. JCE Editor http://www.joomlacontenteditor.net/downloads/editor
  2. JCE MediaBox Archive http://www.joomlacontenteditor.net/downloads/mediabox
  3. Rockettheme RoxBox  http://www.rockettheme.com/extensions-joomla

 Steps to achieve Lightbox Image function ability in Joomla Articles.

  1. Download the the most current JCE Editor and RockeTThemeRokboxPlugin.
  2. Enable them in the Plugin Manger in the Joomla admin area. Settings for how the lightbox is displayed are set with the plugin in the plugin manger for Joomla, not in any of the JCE settings. This is one advantage of using this system is it gives some control over how your lightbox is displayed.
  3. In the JCE editor, insert or edit the image using the extended image tool. After inserting the small image in your article or module, upload the larger image using the upload dialog or FTP program.
  4. Click the pop-up tab and select RoxBox as the Compatibility mode. Type in the URL for the larger image you uploaded and type a caption if you want to. Make sure to check the enable check box before clicking the update button at the bottom of the page.

The above directives will result in a nice animated light box with a soft drop shadow around the lightbox.

It is also possible to group images with in an article, so that when the lightbox is opened the remaining articles in the image will appear. For example “Image 1 of 5”.

If you have interest in such function ability please contact us so that we can assist you!

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Big Name Joomla Users: Leonardo Di Caprio, MTV and McDonalds

Published: 15 October 2012
Written by manager
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Categories: Industry News

Big Name Joomla Users: Leonardo Di Caprio, MTV and McDonaldsPublished on: Oct 15, 2012 

I personally have developed over 100 web sites for clients in the Chicago Area! Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS), which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use and extensibility, have made Joomla the most popular Web site software available.

Many of my clients have expressed great satisfaction with the Joomla sites that I have developed for them. In addition to walking our clients through the development process, AdverGroup also develops video tutorials that walk our clients step by step through the Joomla Content Management System teaching them how to update their own website with out incurring additional fees on web maintenance.

Joomla seems to be the right solution for me. How do I get started? Yes, Joomla is Free and many hosting companies provide easy install options, however clients are best served hiring a professional web designer to deploy this highly effective and powerful web development application.  There are many tricks of the trade that AdverGroup Web Design will implement to ensure your site looks professional and is configured in a manner that ensures optimal SEO implementation.

Contact us today to discuss all that we can do to assist you in communicating your ideas and information through your professionally designed Joomla Website!

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Are Website Builders Bad for SEO? ie Wix, GoDaddy Website Builder, Etc.

Published: 9 October 2012
Written by manager
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Categories: Industry News, Search Engine Optimization

Are free website builders bad for SEO? ie Wix, GoDaddy Website Builder, ZenfolioMany business owners ask, “Why do I need to pay a web designer to create a web site, when there are so many Free Solutions?” The answer is very simple. You get what you pay for. A free web site may be quick and easy (cutting many corners in regards to SEO), while a professional web designer will not only provide a professional design, they would also ensure your site has been SEO Optimized. This includes more than just adding keywords and meta-tag descriptions. A site that is optimized for SEO, has many other facets that only a professional web designer is privy to.

With all due respect, if you are a Plumber or even a Dentist looking to build a website for your company, will you develop a more attractive and effective website than a professional web designer? The Free Web Builder may help you in the “Attractive Department”, but what about the “Effective Department”? Will your phone ring as a result of your SEO? Probably not!

I must say that my perspective in this article not only knocks the idea of using a Free Website Builder, it also stresses the importance of using a professional web designer to develop your CMS infrastructure. It is likely a professional is a bit more hip to the industry than the average small business owner attempting to set up their own website. Remember your competition may very well employ a professional to develop their website. Do you know about web design and SEO to compete? I do not mean to discourage the “do it yourself” mentality. I actually encourage it with the use of a content management system that is configured correctly for SEO.

Web Builders are Bad for SEO. Hire a pro search engine optimization professionalThe result of building your website using a free website builder provided by a Hosting Company is this:

  • Only people that you have made aware of your sites actual domain will find your site.
  • Nobody will find your site “organically” using any search engine. (Unless of course if they enter your company name, and if they already know your company name, searching for you in a search engine is not relevant to SEO.)

Testing SEO for FREE Website Building Solutions offered by Hosting Companies.

I implore you to test the SEO of any Free Website Building Solution. For Example, if you are business who has built your website using any of the free web site building solutions provided by . Google your Industry + town, you will see where you come up on the Search Engines. Keep looking, keep looking…………keep looking! I can guarantee that you will not find any websites on 1st page Search Engine results that use Hosting Company Web Builders.

Another great tool to test your site’s SEO is this Meta-Tag Analyzer. SeoCentro designed this Meta Tag analysis tool to help webmasters analyze their web pages. This search engine optimization tool analyze not only the Meta Tags but try to use the same spider technology as the search engines spiders them self.

In closing, here is a quick run down of some Hosting Companies that provide Free Website Building Solutions. Many of their deliverables appear attractive and desirable. However it is what they do not list that is the most important items that you need, Search Engine Optimization and Expand Ability.

 *** I must precede this next section of this article with this statement: I strongly advise against the use of any of the following solutions for a business website. If you wish to implement a “Do it Yourself Solution” I would suggest WordPress or Joomla. There are many FREE online tutorials that can assist you in configuring these same Open Source Solutions that all professional web designers are using.

_____________________________________________

WIX They provide 100’s of customizable templates. Wix advertises that they have everything you need to create HTML 5 and Flash Websites with no web design experience required.

 

 

Put your business online! Get a $5.99 .COM/.NET from GoDaddy!

GoDaddy.com Website Builder boasts that you can get online in minutes with our new and improved “Do it Yourself” Website Builder, featuring hundreds of stunning drag-&-drop templates. They list what is included in there services.

 

 

Getting back to the word “Free”, it is not a bad word, as even professional web developers utilize free open source solutions such as WordPress and Joomla (which both provide “Quick Install” features on most major hosting companies). The difference from Open Source tools and Free Web Building Solutions offered by hosting companies is that all “Free Web Builder Solutions” are all the same in regards to targeting customers that lack sufficient knowledge in HTML language to code their websites. Open Source tools require a little more “know how” to set up and configure correctly, how ever they also provide easy to use content management tools and much more abilities to expand in regards to function abilities.

AdverGroup Web Design provides various web development packages that result in a professional website built in a Content Management System with Search Engine Optimization included! Contact us today to discuss how we can assist you in the building a website that will make your phone ring!

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K2 Blog Component for Joomla | Video Tutorial

Published: 10 September 2012
Written by manager
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Categories: Joomla

✔ WHAT IS K2 ?
K2 provides an out-of-the box integrated solution featuring rich content forms for items (think of Joomla! articles with additional fields for article images, videos, image galleries and attachments), nested-level categories, tags, comments, a system to extend the item base form with additional fields (similar to CCK for those acquainted with Drupal), a powerful plugin API to extend item, category and user forms, ACL, frontend editing, sub-templates & a lot more!

✔ FEATURES

Since K2 is extensible with additional fields to its base item form, you can easily create category-specific content types, e.g. article, blog post, product page, directory listing.

K2 offers as standard:
– nested-level categories (no section/category restrictions)
– commenting, integrated with Google’s reCaptcha & Akismet
– tags
– item image (useful for articles/catalogs)
– image galleries
– videos
– attachments
– user pages (author blogs/user profiles)
– smart ACL for frontend editing
– unique plugin system to extend item, category & user forms
– ajax-based frontend editing
– ajax-based comments moderation
– Google AJAX Search integration

K2 is a FREE Component and can be downloaded at http://getk2.org. 

AdverGroup assists both local and national web design clients. AdverGroup Web Design is located in Arlington Heights,IL. Arlington Heights is suburb just north of Chicago, IL.  We can assist you in installing and configuring this component for use on your Joomla website. AdverGroup produces these video tutorials to assist clients and the general public in learning more about the Joomla Content Management system and third part components developed to work with Joomla. Contact AdverGroup Web Design today by clicking here.

 

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Error Code Solved: Joomla Admin Section Menu Manager Issue

Published: 28 August 2012
Written by manager
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Categories: Error Code Solutions

The error code appeared as follows:

Notice: Use of undefined constant JPATH_PLATFORM – assumed ‘JPATH_PLATFORM’ in /home/content/23/9673423/html/administrator/components/com_menus/tables/menu.php on line 13

Fatal error: Class ‘JTableMenu’ not found in /home/content/23/9673423/html/administrator/components/com_menus/tables/menu.php on line 20

AdverGroup Web Design can solve this issue. Contact us today for to achieve the solution to this common Joomla error.

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PDF Viewer for Joomla | Flash Magazine Video Tutorial

Published: 3 August 2012
Written by manager
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Categories: Web Design Tutorials

I must share one downfall to this component: The Flash Magazine Deluxe Joomla Component is not viewable on iPhones or iPads. The PDF’s that result from this component are rendered in FLASH. FLASH is not currently viewable on Phones or iPads.

The special flipping effect raises visitor’s attention to the information you present. Using Flash Magazine component you can make attractive interactive services portfolio or shop goods catalogue. You can INSERT SOUND, PICTURES, TEXT, LINKS and even VIDEO into your online pages.

Flash Magazine component offers rich variety of features:

  • User-focused Navigation Panel
  • Thumbnails (quick page navigation with preview);
  • Page zooming and full screen mode;
  • Slideshow page scrolling mode;
  • Magazine printing and PDF download options to get the magazine offline version.
  • Feature-rich Interface Settings
  • You can choose the resolution for your flash magazine (book);
  • You are free to change background, elements and additional color to make your flipping book attractive;
  • 5 professional templates are included;
  • Front page of the flash magazine (book);
  • Pop-up window with magazine or book description in Magazines Management, which is very suitable, especially if you have a lot of online magazines or books.

This extension requires registration to download at www.joomplace.com.  AdverGroup Web Design can assist you in configuring this component for use on your Joomla website. AdverGroup produces these video tutorials to assist clients and the general public in learning more about the Joomla Content Management system and third part components developed to work with Joomla. Contact AdverGroup Web Design today by clicking here.

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Content Management Systems | Updating Your Own Website

Published: 20 July 2012
Written by manager
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Categories: Content Management Systems, Industry News

Content Management Systems | Updating Your Own WebsiteWith the advent of Web Content Management Systems, began an era where a regular person could easily update, edit, publish and modify a web sites content using a web based control panel. This means a person without web design training or expensive software programs could update their website as easy as posting status, text and images on social networking sites such as FaceBook or LinkedIN. A much added bonus is that, those who have developed their sites in a CMS no longer suffer from paying expensive hourly maintenance fees as they manage to keep their site up to date.

Features and function abilities of the various Content Management Systems differ from system to system; many simpler systems showcase only a handful of features, while others are much more complex and powerful. The industry offers “Open Source” (Free & Community Driven) and “Proprietary” (PAID and Custom Developed) systems. Both Open Source and Proprietary Options offer pros and cons. Whereas Open Source options, such as WordPress and Joomla have proven to be a more cost effective solution for many small business owners. While Proprietary Systems are custom developed resources that are built to achieve special function ability, security features and compatibility to offline systems. However in current times, it is a safe assumption that Proprietary software’s role as the primary innovator in the global market is most certainly over. As I often say myself, “Why try to rebuild the wheel, this has been done before”. Being that Open Source solutions are community drivin, the envelope is constantly being pushed!

One last note in the Open Source versus Proprietary discussion: As I finish rooting in the corner for Open Source solutions, I feel that I must point out that there are always anomalies. As I myself have experienced projects that have outgrown Open Source solutions, it does happen! Sometimes you have projects that push the envelope beyond what Open Source can do. Even though Open Source offers worlds of possibilities (being that extension are always being developed to extend the core function of open source), it is the core structure of data management that ends up being the defining factor in some cases of Open Source versus Proprietary.

Joomla-VERSUS-Word-Press | AdverGroup Web Design ChicagoAgain, most web design projects do not require special function ability that is setting the world on fire! As a matter of fact, there are many published stories of businesses that built million-dollar enterprises based on open source. One interesting piece of information is that as of July 2012, WordPress is listed as the 19th overall busiest website in the world on www.alexa.com! While back in 2007 Joomla boasted that over 30 million of the worlds websites were using Joomla!

As I have already alluded to, the two big dogs in the world of Open Source Content Management are Joomla and WordPress. While both are designed to have easy install and set up (even if you’re not an advanced user) to achieve a custom design and correctly configured website, you are best served hiring a professional to set up and customize your site. Aside from ensuring that a custom and professional image is conveyed, there are many facets of a CMS such as component installation and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tweaks that are critical with the initial set up and configuration of these sites. Once your site is set up, accessing your control panel is as easy as logging into the Admin Section of your site. Here you can edit your web sites content (articles) using a Wordpad editor that is similar to Microsoft Word. You can edit text (fonts, colors, sizes, & links) add images to gallerries, post blogs, sell items and more! 

In closing, there is another overall benefit to being able to keeping your site fresh. Aside form not looking foolish when your site holds outdated information, the more often your site is updated, the better search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing crawl or index your sites content! As frequency of site updates is one of the many criteria that is important to Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Click here to view a Joomla Video Tutorial produced by AdverGroup

AdverGroup specializes in Joomla and WordPress web development. Contact us to discuss your needs, as we certainly can offer you a solution that fits your budget!

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