| |
| |
|
|
Create your own professional-quality templates with this fast, friendly guide
- Create Joomla! 1.5 Templates for your sites
- Debug, validate, and package your templates
- Tips for tweaking existing templates with Flash, extensions and JavaScript libraries
|
|
- Buy 2 books, get 18% off
- Buy 2 eBooks, get 35% off
|
Code download
Request a Review Copy
Send us feedback on this title
Ask a question about this title
Sample Chapter no. 6 "Joomla! 1.5 Template Reference" [1 MB]
Table of Contents
Language English
Paperback 284 pages [191mm x 235mm]
Release date
June 2009
ISBN 1847197167
ISBN 13 978-1-847197-16-0
Author(s)
Tessa Blakeley Silver
Topics and Technologies
Content Management, Open Source, Joomla!
Special eBook Discount Offer |
 | + |  | Buy this eBook with Learning Joomla! 1.5 Extension Development eBook and get 50% discount on both. Just enter lj15td in the 'Promotion Code' field and click 'Update' during checkout. The discount will be applied. |
|
A complete guide for web designers to all aspects of designing unique web site templates for the free Joomla! 1.5 Content Management System
Using Joomla! Templates with HTML and CSS allows you to give a unique look and feel to your site, present a "fresh face" to your pre-existing content, ensure that your site design is consistent with your brand, and build a site layout that suits your unique needs. A quality web site is easily within your grasp using these cutting-edge templates. However, even experienced web developers need help to take their designs and turn them into flexible and easily maintainable Joomla! 1.5 templates.
The release of Joomla! 1.5 meant a radically enhanced template system that is very different from that of Joomla! 1.0. Joomla! 1.5 comes complete with the ability to create template overrides and customize "module chrome". The Joomla! development team has also revamped the template process by introducing clean, understandable jdoc tags in place of the PHP function-based Mambo-derived markup that Joomla! 1.0 templates used. This book focuses squarely on the new enhancements to the Joomla! 1.5 templating process and walks web designers through the process of turning a working XHTML and CSS "mockup" into a fully functional Joomla! 1.5 template.
This well-crafted and easy-to-use book provides you with everything you need to create your own unique Joomla! 1.5 template. It guides you through setting up a basic work flow for Joomla! template design, debugging and validating the template code, creating drop-down menus and dynamic forms for your site, and packaging up your finished template in a ZIP file for users. At the end of this book you will be able to create a template that is effective, flexible, and presents a new look for the pre-existing content.
This book focuses on the new jdoc template system for Joomla! 1.5. It is geared toward web designers who need to know how to turn their designs into Joomla! 1.5 templates. It covers how to enhance and speed up your design and revision process, then focuses squarely on the Joomla! 1.5 essentials of creating a template. It covers implementing template overrides, the best approaches for implementing Flash and AJAX techniques, as well as advanced enhancements such as creating design parameters so users can have some control over the template via the administration panel. The original 1.0 book covered how to amend an existing 1.0 template before creating one from scratch, the new templating features of Joomla! 1.5 are so logical to implement we move right into creating a full table-less, semantic XHTML/CSS template from scratch.Read the full Table of Contents for Joomla! 1.5 Template Design
- Debug and validate your template code
- Use the W3C's XHTML and CSS validation tools
- Package up your finished template into a working ZIP file
- Know the standard XHTML markup and CSS classes for Joomla!
- Create Suckerfish drop-down menus
- Get Flash content quickly into your Joomla! site
- Create interactive and dynamic forms in your Joomla! site
- Download and install Joomla! Extensions for your Joomla! site
- Use the wrapper (Wrapper Menu Item) for fully working AJAX applications
Chapter 1 introduces you to the Joomla! 1.5 CMS, letting you know what you'll need to be aware of regarding the Joomla! 1.5 template project you're ready to embark on. The chapter also covers the development tools that are recommended and web skills that you'll need to begin developing a Joomla! 1.5 template for the most popular, robust, Open Source, content management system available for the Web today!
Chapter 2 covers the key elements of a Joomla! template and what considerations to make while working with your mock up. You will learn some basic techniques for image extraction and optimization, and some tips and tricks to enhance your design workflow and speed up the design revision process.
In Chapter 3, you will learn how to set up your development environment and an HTML editor for a smooth work flow. You will also learn how to make your template truly table-less by implementing template overrides.
Chapter 4 will help you understand the basic wash—rinse—repeat process of debugging and validating your template's code. You will learn how to use the W3C's XHTML and CSS validation tools and further explore the value of using Firefox as a development tool using its JavaScript Console and Firebug extension.
In Chapter 5, you will learn about the templateDetails.xml file and what each part of that file does in detail. Also, you will learn how to package up your finished template into a working ZIP file that anyone should be able to upload into their own Joomla! installation.
Chapter 6 covers key reference information under easy-to-look-up headings that will help you with your Joomla! template development. From the many CSS ID and class styles that Joomla! itself outputs to Joomla!'s jdoc tags and their controlling attributes, information in this chapter is listed along with key links to bookmark to make your template development as easy as possible.
In Chapter 7, you will learn to make your layout dynamic so it can handle collapsible columns. You'll then learn to add drop-down menus to your Joomla! template and we discuss various ways to display Flash content.
In Chapter 8, we will take look at the most popular methods to get you going with AJAX in Joomla! and help you create interactive and dynamic forms in your Joomla! site. Also, you will see some cool JavaScript toolkits and libraries you can use to make your site appear "Ajaxy". This chapter will also help you learn how to download and install Joomla! Extensions for your Joomla! site.
Chapter 9 covers how to enhance your template by adding a params.ini file so that your template's users have more dynamic control over your template's configuration right from the administration panel. For you PHP gurus out there, the basics you need to know about editing module chrome and template override files is covered. Last, you will pick up some key tips for easily implementing today's coolest CSS tricks into your template.
This book covers the "how-tos" of creating templates for Joomla! 1.5. There is also advice about what works and what to consider when working with your Joomla! 1.5 template. Because this title is about Joomla! 1.5 templates and not about CSS or semantic XHTML, an understanding of established and current XHTML and CSS techniques for achieving compliant, semantic, and accessible designs is assumed. However, quality references and links are always given so the reader can learn more about any specific CSS or XHTML technique discussed if they are unfamiliar with it.
This book is aimed at web designers who want to create their own unique templates for Joomla! 1.5. Readers should have a basic knowledge of Joomla! 1.5 (Building Websites with Joomla! 1.5 by Hagen Graf from Packt Publishing will help you with this) and also basic knowledge of table-less CSS and XHTML techniques, as well as using Dreamweaver or other text/code editors for coding purposes.
Tessa Blakeley Silver
Tessa Blakeley Silver's background is in print design and traditional illustration. She evolved over the years into web and multi-media development, where she focuses on usability and interface design.
Prior to starting her consulting and development company hyper3media (pronounced hyper-cube media) http://hyper3media.com, Tessa was the VP of Interactive Technologies at eHigherEducation, an online learning and technology company developing compelling multimedia simulations, interactions, and games that met online educational requirements like 508, AICC, and SCORM. She has also worked as a consultant and freelancer for J. Walter Thompson and The Diamond Trading Company (formerly known as DeBeers) and was a Design Specialist and Senior Associate for PricewaterhouseCoopers' East Region Marketing department.
Tessa authors several design and web technology blogs. Joomla! Template Design is her first book.
| |
|
