Introduction to Joomla 3.x Settings 1 Joomla Information · Ramblers-Webs - run by volunteers for volunteers 2.5 Component - Akeeba Backup We have purchased Akeeba Backup Pro. We

Ramblers-Webs - run by volunteers for volunteers

Introduction to Joomla 3.x Settings

This document sets out how Joomla is installed on the standard Joomla web site hosted by Ramblers-webs.org.uk. It relates to version 3.x of Joomla.

It also outlines how to get further information about editing a Joomla 3.x and describes the changes/additions we have made to a standard Joomla 3.x installation.

1 Joomla Information

1.1 First Access

The administrators will have informed you of the url for your new site. This will be something like

• http://new.yourdomain.org.uk or

• http://123.234.12.34/yourdomain.org.uk/www01 .

The second example is a temporary address and is used when your domain name has yetto be transferred to our servers.

To access the administration area of our site just add /administrator to the url

e.g. http://new.yourdomain.org.uk/administrator

1.1.1 First log in

The administrators will also have given you an initial username and password. When you first log in you MUST change the username, password, name and email address for this account by using the User Manager.

Note: Some people have assumed that they can use an @ramblers-webs.org.uk email address. We do not set up email addresses of this form and you should use your normal email address for the above account.

Note: Joomla will be installed in a folder , such as www01, please do not rename this folder as some settings depend on this name staying the same.

1.2 Getting information about Joomla

To get information on how to edit a Joomla site you should look at the How to articles and documents on http://www.ramblers-webs.org.uk/

Ramblers-webs Joomla3 v03 10 Feb 2014

http://www.ramblers-webs.org.uk/


There are articles about Joomla and also Documents you can download, you must log in to the site to access the later. Look for the Easy Start guide. There are also a number of training videos on the web, e.g. at http://www.buildajoomlawebsite.com and http://www.siteground.com/tutorials/joomla-video/. Many of these are quite good to get you started. Note you can miss out the information about installation as we do that for you. Google “Joomla training ” and see what you can find.

If you cannot find answers either above or elsewhere on the web then we would suggest you use the Forum on our site to ask other web masters.

2 Joomla SettingsThe two main areas where we have added functionality to Joomla are

• Security/Backups – additional components for backing up your site and for checking that it has not been compromised.

• Branding – an additional Template and modules/css files to give a Ramblers look toyour site

2.1 Users

In addition to the web master's account there are a set of song title user accounts.

These should NOT be removed as they are for the Ramblers-Webs administrators so that they can access your web site to do updates or provide support.

New accounts can be set up using the User Manager.

2.2 Articles

You will find some initial articles and categories set up. The typography articles are there so you can see some of the editing options you can use. Whether the categories are suitable for you will depend on the types of article you plan to add to the site. Feel free to change or delete any of the articles or categories.

2.3 Web Links and Contacts

As with articles above you will find some initial data set up in these data types. Please change , delete or add to these as you require.

2.4 Joomla Extensions Joomla 3.x

This section lists the extensions we have added to Joomla.

NOTE: while you are able to install extensions to your site you should be aware that some extensions can have security loopholes and can cause failure of your site. It is advisable to always backup a site prior to adding a new extension.


http://www.siteground.com/tutorials/joomla-video/

http://www.buildajoomlawebsite.com/


2.5 Component - Akeeba Backup

We have purchased Akeeba Backup Pro. We use this to automatically backup your Joomla website once a week. Additionally, you can use it to manually backup your site, for example before or after making major changes to your site.

We currently store the last 10 backups in the default Akeeba folder on the server. This is going to change as backup files should not be kept on the Cloud Next server.

For additional security we recommend you may wish to download a backup file(s) to your own PC. This does not need to be done very often, say just once a month or before/after a major change. Backups can be accessed via the administrator area, visit Components >Akeeba > Manage Backups.

Please see section below about Akeeba Emails.

https://www.akeebabackup.com/

2.6 Component – Eyesite

We install a package called Eyesite. This package is able to scan all the executable code on the site so it can notify us of changes. Hackers can sometime exploit weaknesses in software to make changes to web sites. Eyesite allows us to review changes to make surethey are ones that we instigated. Please see section below about Eyesite emails.

http://www.lesarbresdesign.info/extensions/eyesite

2.7 Component - Admin Tools

This component has a number of tools that the Ramblers-Webs administrators will use.

https://www.akeebabackup.com/

2.8 Component - JCE (Administrator)

This is an upgraded WYSIWYG editor for articles and such.

http://www.joomlacontenteditor.net/

2.9 Component - Version Verification Tool

Some sites may have this extension installed. It allows administrators to check if any standard Joomla files have been modified or deleted.

http://www.sourcecoast.com/

2.10 Plugin - Sourcer

This plug in allows source code to be included in a module (and article?). We use it to include the Met Office weather forecast widget code in a custom HTML module.

http://www.nonumber.nl/



2.11 Plugin – JHackguard

This extension monitors all user input to the site to help protect Joomla websites from hacking attacks.

http://www.siteground.com/

2.12 Plugin - JCE MediaBoxs

This is part of the JCE editor and allows for pop-up windows, useful for displaying pictures.

http://www.joomlacontenteditor.net/

2.13 Ramblers Branding

The Ramblers have defined a set of guidelines on branding documents and web sites. These colours are the Ramblers colours defined in the branding document. Search for branding on the Ramblers.org.uk web site.In particular the guide defines a set of colours that should be used.The colours are based on the Pantone system and are

• p0110,p0159,p0186,p0555,p0583,p1815,p4485,p5565,p7474

Here is a representation of these colours, note that the colours may appear different in different applications.

Pantone 0110

Pantone 0159

Pantone 0186

Pantone 0555

Pantone 0583

Pantone 1815

Pantone 4485

Pantone 5565

Pantone 7474

2.14 Ramblers Template

To get a Ramblers look and feel we currently use a Template from Joomlashine called Epic Pro, two Ramblers modules and a set of Ramblers CSS files (style-sheets)



2.14.1 JSN Epic Pro

http://www.joomlashine.com/

A JSN guide to configuring this template is available on our site.

This template is the standard template from Joomlashine but with the standard colours converted to Ramblers colours.

The following table shows how the six Epic colours have been mapped to Ramblers colours.

RA colour Epic Pro colour

Pantone 0159 Orange

Pantone 0555 Green

Pantone 1815 Red

Pantone 4485 Violet

Pantone 5565 Grey

Pantone 7474 Blue

To specify the colour scheme you need to use the Color & Style Settings section

In this example the colour is set to blue which gives Pantone 7474.

In addition to this option you may also select one of the following style-sheets.

Firstly ramblers.css style-sheet which adds

• Modules to be defined with Ramblers colours (see section below)

• Use Ramblers colours for headings and links, as ramblers.org.uk

• Allow Ramblers coloured buttons on pages

• Sets a white background colour either site of the main page



Secondly style sheets called ramblers_pxxx.css where xxx is one of the pantone colours from the list above. There style-sheets set the first level colour of a main menu.

To specify the style-sheets you require the SEO & Accessibility section of the Template. Specify the css files in the Custom CSS Files(s) field.

2.15 Rambler Styled Modules

The above section describes how to activate the ramblers.css file. This file allows the definition of Modules using Ramblers colours. There are three types

2.15.1 Heading

2.15.2 Full colour

2.15.3 Outline



To specify one of this colours schemes you specify a value in the Module Class Suffix such as

• ramod_pantone5565 – for a full colour module

• ramod_heading0555 – for a heading module

• ramod_outline0110 – for an outline display

The final number can be any of the Ramblers pantone colours.

2.16 Social network links

Epic Pro allows you to set up links to social network sites. Please note that by default thisoption is not displayed. This is because the location of the Icons on the web site can conflict with the header.

In place of this we have set up a Social module which can be displayed in a number of positions. This can be found by going to the Module Manager. The module is a custom HTML module. Each Icon you wish to use should be linked to the correct social network account and any others deleted. The html for this is shown below, note that none of the links/hrefs below are correct. Note also that each LI tab has a class (e.g. Twitter) which enables the correct icon to be displayed. <div id="jsn-social-icons" class="pull-right"><ul><li class="twitter"><a title="Twitter" href="https://twitter.com/RamblersGB" target="_blank"> Twitter</a></li><li class="facebook"><a title="Facebook" href="/facebook" target="_blank"> Facebook</a></li><li class="googleplus"><a title="Google+" href="http://google.co.uk" target="_blank"> Google+</a></li><li class="youtube"><a title="YouTube" href="/utube" target="_blank"> YouTube</a></li><li class="flickr"><a title="Flickr" href="/flickr" target="_blank"> Flickr</a></li><li class="pinterest"><a title="Pinterest" href="/pinterest" target="_blank"> Pinterest</a></li><li class="myspace"><a title="MySpace" href="/myspace" target="_blank">



MySpace</a></li><li class="dribble"><a title="Dribble" href="/dribble" target="_blank"> Dribble</a></li><li class="stumbleupon"><a title="StumbleUpon" href="/stumbleupon" target="_blank"> StumbleUpon</a></li><li class="yahoo"><a title="Yahoo" href="/yahoo" target="_blank"> Yahoo</a></li><li class="skype"><a title="Skype" href="/skype" target="_blank"> Skype</a></li><li class="rss"><a title="RSS" href="/rss" target="_blank"> RSS</a></li></ul></div>

2.16.1 Module – RAFooter

This Module displays the text for a standard Ramblers footer (in the footer position) of your site. You need to change copyright information in the footer. Change the start year tothe first year of your web site and the copyright text to the name of your Group or Area.

2.16.2 Module - RAHeader

This Module provides a configurable banner. It is displayed in the Logo position of Epic Pro. You may select the

• Logo image and size displayed

• The background colour

• An additional horizon image and its size

• The main title and sub title of the site and their colours

The Module uses a css file called ramblersheader.css. If required you may customise this css file to get your required banner. Please take a backup of the file prior to changing it.

The css file can be accessed using the HCP. It is stored in the web sites folder (www0x) under Modules > RAHeader > css

Images can be uploaded by Media Manager and then used within this module as either a logo or a horizon image.

2.16.2.1 Standard Images

A set of useful images should be in a folder called ramblerstemplates. This folder is normally in the standard images folder accessed by Media Manager. There are two sub folders

• one containing horizon images and

• one containing Ramblers logos.

The logo92 images are best for use in the header.

2.17 Displaying Images Picture Gallery

The following extensions can be added to your site.



2.17.1 JSN ImageShow

This module allows a number of slide show style presentations to be made, full documentation is available on our site.


2.17.2 JoomGallery

Another option is Joomla Gallery, again documentation is available on our site. Once you have decided which software you want to use to display pictures then it may be wise to ask the administrators to un-install unwanted options.

http://www.en.joomgallery.net/

2.18 JSN Forms

If you need to add any forms to your web site then we have a license for a package calledJSN UniForm. This allows you to add forms that users can fill in to supply information. This extension is not normally installed by default.


2.19 Document Storage

If you need to be able to store documents on your site then we have a license for a package called eDocman that allows you to store documents and search for them by name or category. This is not normally installed by default.

http://joomdonation.com/

2.20 Walks RSS Feed Module

At present there is a problem with the standard Joomla feed extension not always working. This has been reported. In the meantime we have installed a MODIFIED version of a free Joomlaworks RSS Feed extension. It has been modified to

• Display correctly in our Ramblers customised modules

• Display the data in the order sent

• Modified to correctly cache walks finder RSS feeds (it would not display multiple feeds correctly) This issue has also been reported.

3 htaccess and SEO settingsJoomla comes with an htaccess file but it is named as htaccess.txt rather than .htaccess.

This file provides additional security and the ability to have more SEO friendly urls. Joomla sites that the administrators create have this file installed (renamed to .htaccess).



3.1 User friendly URLs

Once a domain is hosted by us it is possible set your site up to have more friendly URLs. These are set in the Global Configuration section of your site. Under the Site tab look for the SEO Settings. Three settings can be set on.

• Search Engine Friendly URLs

• Use URL rewriting

• Adds Suffix to URL

4 Hosting Control Panel Settings

4.1 Email Forwarding

An email address of [email protected] is set to forward to the Ramblers-Webs administrators and to the web master for the site. This is used by the scheduled tasks below.

4.2 Scheduled Tasks

The following settings should be set up for a production web set.

Two tasks are scheduled to

• Backup the site every week in the early hours of Monday morning

• Run Eyesight each night, this checks for changes to the site in case a hacker has accessed the site

If you are setting up a new site these tasks will probably not be set up as there is a limit tothe number of scheduled tasks available. You should manually backup your site occasionally using Akeeba Backup and also run an Eyesite Scan. Run the scan and when it has completed refresh the screen to see what changes have been made.



5 System Emails – what should I do?

5.1 Akeeba Backup Emails

If you have a Joomla site then you should receive a weekly email telling you that a backuphas been made. The title of email will consist of "Backup" followed by the domain name.

The text of the email will be similar to that below.Akeeba Backup has completed backing up your site using the front-end backup feature. You may visit the site's administrator section to download the backup.

The new backup was taken with profile #1. It consists of 1 part(s). The full list of files of this backup set is the following:

site-www.newarkramblers.org.uk-20130708-023901.jpa

If you do not receive these emails then you should contact an administrator.

NOTE: if you have more than one Joomla site, e.g. You are working on a new version of your site, then the second Joomla site may not have a regular scheduled backup. This is because we are limited on the number of scheduled tasks that can be run. In this case you should use Akeeba to make backups using the site's administrator section.

5.2 Eyesite Emails

Eyesite is run every night on production sites. If there is a change to the files for that site you will get an email like the one below.

Subject Eyesite detected changes to www.ramblers-webs.org.uk

Total changes outstanding 1New changes detected 12/07/13 01:35:42:CHANGED /home/sites/ramblers-webs.org.uk/public_html/www02/configuration.php Original date/time 2013-02-28 08:21:11, size: 2180 New date/time 2013-07-11 16:42:52, size: 2183

If you know about the changes, e.g. you uploaded some new image files, then you should go into the site's administrator section and using Eyesite (Components > Eyesite) and use the Accept or Accept All buttons.

If you do not recognise the changes, then one of the administrators may have updated your site. If there are a large number of changes or you are suspicious then contact the administrators. The administrators also receive these emails and will investigate (or approve) any suspicious changes.

5.3 Software Updates

There is another document that describes how to update a Joomla 3.x web site.



6 Ramblers Branding Colours

Html code Red Green Blue EpicColour

Pantone 0110

#D7A900 215 169 0

Pantone 0159

#C75B12 199 91 18 Orange

Pantone 0186

#C60C30 198 12 48

Pantone 0555

#206C49 32 108 73 Green

Pantone 0583

#A8B400 168 180 0

Pantone 1815

#782327 120 35 39 Red

Pantone 4485

#5B491F 91 73 31 Violet

Pantone 5565

#8BA69C 139 165 156 Grey

Pantone 7474

#007A87 0 122 135 Blue
