Available package on your Virtual Server
Joomla
Joomla! is one of the most powerful Open
Source Content
Management Systems on the planet. It is used all over the
world for everything from simple websites to complex
corporate applications. Joomla! is easy to install, simple
to manage, and reliable.
At first glance, you will appreciate user
interface improvements.
The Joomla! 1.5 Administrator is more refined and the main
menu simplified. The global configuration was substantially
reworked for simpler presentation and greater control.
An important improvement for our international community is
having Joomla!'s entire Administrator available in one's own
language using language packs made available at joomlacode.org.
Joomla! administrators will find a number of improvements in
ease of site management. A single installer is available for all
extension types, including languages. The media manager
is improved visually and functionally. Images, documents,
presentations, and more, can now be stored. Other
improvements include multi-delete capability, batch file uploads
and an ability to view media in icon and list formats.
The core article manager is simpler. Gone are
dual editor
areas from Joomla! 1.0. Now, a single editor with a
"Read More" button for separating the introduction from the
full article, supports a more natural writing process.
A very popular improvement is Joomla!'s new image manager
enabling you to browse media folders to select and insert
images directly into your article as you write.
There is also more control of article pagination than before.
The complexity of choices and steps in the
menu manager
for Joomla! 1.0 have been completely redesigned for 1.5 in
favor of simplicity and elegance. Usability improvements,
such as the ability now to change the menu type, make
changing your site much simpler. Any menu item can now
be used to designate the default page. Selecting menu types
is now an elegant drill down process supported by a new
navigation tree; collapsible parameter sections simplify
choices and increase productivity. Other helpful interface
improvements include contextual tooltips and the ability to
sort any menu manager column.
One of the more significant functional
improvements are
search engine friendly URLs, easily implemented within the
global configuration. With SEF URLs in place, system
generated duplicate content is eliminated, greatly improving
site search engine optimization.
Designers - Freedom & Imagination
Designers will notice marked improvements with
Joomla! 1.5.
Under the hood, the code base was better organized by
separating program logic from presentation logic. What this
does is empower designers with 100% control over how
Joomla!'s content is presented. Now, template designers
can use custom layouts, often referred to as template
overrides, instead of the typical table heavy output from
Joomla! core. The designer's imagination is the only limit and
implementation could not be easier since simply placing a
layout file into a designated place makes this possible.
This model is being adopted by third party developers who
want to offer the same flexibility for their extensions.
Another new addition for template designers is
an ability to
create custom module chrome. Module chrome is how
module output is wrapped in a template. While Joomla! 1.0
has a handful of ways to render modules Joomla! 1.5 gives
the designer ultimate freedom in the ability to create
whatever chrome is appropriate.
With 1.5 the need for end users to manually
edit variables
and settings in template files is ancient history. Template
parameters are a new feature that allow designers ability to
construct templates in such a way that users can change
settings from within the template manager interface.
The template manager has also been freshened up with
features such as the ability to edit any CSS file
for the template.
Developers - Rapid Development & Logical
Structure
But, the most dramatic improvements to Joomla!
1.5 exist
for developers which means good news for future
enhancements. The design and architecture of the code base
has been planned and executed using current development
methodologies and design patterns. Joomla! has been
separated into a three tiered stack to keep the internal
structure clean and allow developers to leverage the different
layers as necessary. The first and most interesting layer for
developers is the new Joomla! 1.5 framework.
With Joomla! 1.5, developers have an object-oriented,
pattern based API that follows best practices and is organized
into well structured and logical framework packages.
The Joomla! framework is built to support
backwards
compatibility to PHP 4.3 while also supporting the most current
versions of PHP 5. Developers leveraging the framework will
have easier transitions with newer versions of Joomla! since
underlying classes have been designed with forward compatibility
in mind. The idea is to ensure we have a solid foundation for future
development while taking advantage of as
much code reuse as possible.
Some highlights of the new framework include the document
package which gives the extension developer control over the
entire document rendered on any given page load whether it
be an atom feed, a PDF document, or a standard HTML page.
The parameters system gives developers a simple, yet extensible
way of generating XML based HTML forms for display.
The extensibility of the parameters system allows developers
to create their own form control objects as well as leverage the
many core control objects, ranging from date selection calendar
widgets and menu item selection boxes to standard text input fields.
Perhaps one of the most powerful features of
the framework is
the new MVC based component objects. Developing using
the MVC design pattern gives developers a platform for rapid
application development and prototyping. The clear separation
between logic and presentation helps ensure code reusability
and maintainability. Developers can hook into nearly any part
of the application stack using Joomla!'s newly reworked
events system, implemented according to the
observer design pattern.
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