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LiSUG Conference October 2008 - SUNY IT – Utica NY
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Clean Out the Cobwebs:
Rethinking Your Web Presence with Joomla CMS
Mark A. Smith – LiSUG Conference October 2008 - SUNY IT – Utica NY
Apologies In Advance.
What I’ll Try & Cover
What is a Content Management System?
Why a CMS Might Be an Option for Your Library
What is Needed to Run Joomla?
A “Look-see” At Joomla Driven Library Sites
Basic Concepts that Form the System
Tour of Administrative Module
Time Permitting: Demos of Site & Content Creation
Joomla: Not Your Father’s Website
Content Management System (CMS)
Both Website & Repository
Database Driven
Modular – Extensible – Plug & Play
Template Design Structure
Administrative Backend Managed
Show Me What You Mean
A Couple More
Mystery Site - Made With Joomla
Scholes Library – A very modest implementation
built with sweat equity and much trial and error
Why Is Joomla An Option For You?
Open Source and Free (Active User Community)
Easy to Keep Your Content Fresh
Archives All of Your Content (text, images, links, etc)
No Programming or Coding Required .. No HTML, CSS, XML, CFM, etc.
Easy WYSIWYG & Distributable Editing
More Good’ness
Change Design Elements & Templates Instantly
Embedded Relational, Hierarchical Linking Structure for Content
Administrative Backend Organizes & Monitors Content (including Statistics)
Portable (exportable database)
… And More
Templates Do All The Work (but html/css editable from within the admin module)
Multiple Media Format Friendly
Highly Customizable at Every Level (from item to site-wide)
User Accounting (if you want to go there)
.. And more
And The Fun Part
Extensible Web Apps Plug-ins for 2.0’ness
Polls, Blogs, RSS feeds, Search, Contacts, Breadcrumbs, Popularity, Page Delivery, etc. Out of the Box
Other Functionality - Calendars, wikis, image galleries, media players, editors, forums, etc. Widely developed & easily added
In A Nutshell
The System Provides
an End-User & Content Creator
Environment that is:
Familiar, Flexible & Customizable
Sounds Good! What Do I Need?
A minimally cooperative IT department OR your own server
MYSQL and PHP
Joomla Software: versions for Win Server and Unix
Time to Experiment (learning curve to initially customize the structure)
A Plan to Rethink Your Content & Nav. Structure
Got $6.95
A message from our sponsor (kidding):
The Evil Outsourcing Option:
Could Try Bluehost or Another Hosting Service
& You Are Up & Running Without Any IT Guys
Proof of Concept Approach
OK. How Does the Thing Work?
The Basics
1. Organizing the Information
2. Layout: Template / Module Positions
3. Functionality: Modules-Components-Extensions
4. Navigation - Menus
1. Organization
Hierarchical Organization
Sections
Categories .. may have multiple categories under a section
Articles .. may have multiple articles under a category
Departments
Borr.Policies
GettingLib. Card
Circulation
Section
Staff
Category
Article
Reference
StaffAsk A Libn
2. Layouts Ruled By Templates
Your “Look” is governed by Templates.
Templates contain a map of “module positions”that identify where you might wish to position content
Templates can be built, borrowed, purchased, stolen, etc. And they are editable (HTML,CSS)
Scholes Module Map
3. Functionality
Modules-Components-Extensions … Oh My!banners, contacts, polls, blogs, RSS feeds, breadcrumbs, popularity, page delivery, calendars, wikis, image galleries, newsflash, ratings, media players, editors, forums, stats, related items, etc.
Joomla comes with a great deal of functionality right out of the box.
Other extensions are widely available (many free)
A Limited Set For Our Library
Bluehost – Out of the Box
4. Navigation
All Done with “Menus”
A robust function within Admin
Menus utilize your Sections, Categories, & Articles structure that automates menus that are logical. (ie. a menu of all your categories)
The most powerful & frustrating concept/feature in Joomla. I initially found it difficult to wrap my head around this.
Under the Hood
A Look at Scholes Joomla Admin.
Sections / Categories / Articles
Menus
Front Page Manager
Media Manager .. etc
Joomla May Not Be For You ..
If you lack IT Support to Install and Maintian Server. (You won’t need server access or much help from
them.)
If your site design must exactly/closely match a campus design (but could build your own template)
If you are easily frustrated by a learning curve. (However, much simpler than Aleph. And once the layout is done ..its a snap to maintain).
.
What Are Other Libraries Doing With Joomla?
Joomla in LibrariesCommunity / Showcase
Do We Have Time? Demos/Tutorials
Overview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3UgF9y2C3k
Modules
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaPcsRRULTc
Menus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvjVkze3fTs
Materials & Resources
Presentation Materials, Links & Joomla
Resources available at
http://lisug08joomla.wordpress.com/
Demo Account: (login: lisug/sunyla) - will self-destruct 11/1/08
Questions?
Playtime
What do you want to see?
Change Templates (same content)
Add an RSS Feed
Download and add a template/module
Create a Poll
Build a Section/Category
