Joomla Admin - for adults only!

Backing up the website. As a minimum, the MySQL database should be saved regularly from the host's webserver to your own computer. The database is most easily accessed through the host's Control Panel.

However, better and easier is to use the AKEEBA component for backing up the whole website. It is VERY useful also for migrating a Joomla website from one server to another - including from your own computer, after design and testing, to a hosted domain. There is an issue over conflicting versions of PHP. Using Akeeba with the latest versions of XAMPP causes errors. See the Akeeba documentation to check which versions of XAMPP and PHP you should be using. The main point is one of compatibility between the XAMPP version of PHP conflicting with what is used in the online Joomla website. To use AKEEBA go to the BACK END control panel and click the AKEEBA Backup Notification Module on a menu bar below the Quick Icons pane. There are extensive modifications that can be made to the configuration via its own Control Panel. Click COMPONENTS on the Joomla Control Panel and select AKEEBA to configure. See also the PDF AKEEBA MANUAL. AKEEBA is currently configured to output a JPA file which will be called something like site-www.yourwebsite.co.uk-20110621-193522.jpa and saved in public_html/joomla/administrator/components/com_akeeba/backup on your website.

There is a SECURITY issue. The backup file contains a COMPLETE copy of the website - including passwords. In theory it could be hacked. Best practice is to REMOVE the JPA file from the website and store it on your own computer. If you configure the AKEEBA module to execute a regular backup, you must also configure your memory to remove the JPA file! If regular backups are not performed, you should backup the website after any substantial changes that you would not want lost. Similarly, if you plan radical changes it is as well to backup what is there before you start, so you can restore it things go awry. I only keep the two most recent backups.

To use the JPA backup to restore or move a website, use FTP to upload the BACKUP JPA to the root directory of your domain AND a PHP file called KICKSTART. A copy is in joomla/store/kickstart.php on your website. Then use a browser to navigate to the KICKSTART file via the FRONT END of your website - in this case engagedigital.co.uk/joomla/kickstart.php - and follow the prompt i.e. click the bright green button saying START! Bob should be your uncle and Fanny your aunt. If not, consult the KICKSTART MANUAL.

UPDATING Joomla 1.6 and later

• Navigate to Extensions in the Back End, click Extension Manager and open the Update tab. This may say there are no updates when in fact there are updates. So,
• Click on the Purge Cache icon to clear out the cache.
• Click on the Find Updates icon on the toolbar. Any available updates will then be listed including those for extensions.
• Select the update (using the checkbox) and click on the Update icon in the toolbar.

IMPORTANT: This process may take a few minutes. WAIT for the success message!

I have edited the TEMPLATE HTML so if you re-install the TEMPLATE the chances are things will not look the same - which may be what you want!

To edit a TEMPLATE and/or its associated CSS files from the BACKEND go to Template Manager. There are 2 tabs; Styles and Templates. The default view seems to open the Styles view. Click the Templates tab which opens a page showing all the installed TEMPLATES with a thumbnail screenshot of each. Scroll to the TEMPLATE you want to edit and click on its name. This opens a new Template Manager window called Customise Template. On the left are links for the Template Master Files and on the right links for Stylesheets. There many be lots of Stylesheets! so be sure to edit the correct one.

If you come across comments in either the TEMPLATE file or the CSS Stylesheets prefixed by dL they are insertions of mine preceeding entries or edits of mine.

To alter what appears above each ARTICLE in the way of Joomla automatic additions, e.g. author, date, category etc, the GLOBAL settings are made in ARTICLE MANAGER and by selecting the OPTIONS icon. These settings can be over-ridden on individual article using the ARTICLE OPTIONS drop down list to the right of the editing pane.