Posts Tagged ‘joomla’
Reviewing Habari
Yesterday, I decided to install the blogging software Habari on my computer to see what the buzz was about. Overall, I’m impressed with the system and I think it shows a lot of promise for the future. It’s all written in modern PHP 5 (5.2 is the minimum) with PDO so you are not tied to MySQL. Installation was very easy (after I added FollowSymLinks to my .htaccess file). The backend is slick and powered with keyboard shortcuts. Performance seemed fast, but a localhost environment doesn’t really give you a good measure of this so YMMV.
My only complaint about the system is one that I also have with WordPress: the theming system breaks everything into entirely too many pieces. Tags open in one file and close in another. Loops are all over the place. You have to create a class in theme.php to pull in and assign data to the theme. This will certainly difficult for most designers to get their heads around.
I’m definitely a fan of Joomla!’s templating system. While Joomla! is a more general-purpose content management system and Habari is focused on blogging, I think the overall concept could be ported. In Joomla! templates, you have all of the essential markup from <html> to </html> in one file. Within this file, you add named placeholders (bottom, left, right, main, banner, etc…). What goes into these placeholders is determined by the admin of the Joomla! site. This makes it easy for admins to rearrange the elements to suit their desires, while template designers need not touch a line of PHP. In Joomla! templates, desigers can rely on the default core output, then override specific elements only when necessary.
Habari is still in alpha (version 0.6), but it seems to be maturing very quickly. If you’re doing blog sites and are up for something new, definitely give Habari a test. I’m looking forward to the betas and stable copies, but hope that the templating can be simplified drastically.
Joomla! 1.5 Essential Training, now live!
Recently, I recorded a Joomla! 1.5 video training series for Lynda.com. As of today, the videos are now live! This video series walks you through installing Joomla!, adding content, creating navigation, and adding extensions. You can sample some of the first videos on the site before subscribing to the Online Training Library.
JoomlaEXPO ’08 wrap up
The first JoomlaEXPO was held this past Friday in Chicago. We had a full house with 251 people attending.
We had three sessions on Joomla! coding (including mine) that each focused on a different aspect of Joomla! programming. My session was on the differences between coding in Joomla! 1.0 and 1.5, highlighting some of my new favorite features. (You can download the PowerPoint slides here.) Azrul then followed up with a full presentation on how to create SEF URLs for your component while avoiding some common SEF URL pitfalls. Steve talked about different framework features and debugging tools, then unveiled his Community ACL component.
I was also able to hear Victor Drover’s session on GPL software business models. He’s currently using a hybrid model where he sells access to his site and also does consulting work. His main point was that chasing down software pirates is a waste of time, so make it a moot point by offering your software under the GPL.
The one thing that struck me about this event was that the third-party developer community was very well represented. However, no one group totally dominated the conference: we a had a good mix of template designers, website producers, system admins, hosts, programmers, and Joomla! users. At the beginning of the event, we were given a set of color-coded stickers to identify ourselves. In a community as diverse as Joomla!’s, this was definitely helpful!
Special thanks goes out to the conference organizers. I know firsthand that putting together an event of this type takes a lot of effort and persistence. This one was very well attended for a first (or even a third) year conference and I’m already looking forward to the next!
UPDATE: Now you can see the presentation below:
Slot open in Creating Joomla! Extensions class
Quick Joomla! University update: there is a slot available in my Creating Joomla! Extensions session on May 17th in Chicago. I’ll be covering the basics of how to create a component, a module, and a plugin. We’ll then get into Model-View-Controller style components and go over some commonly performed Joomla! programming tasks. Sign up today!
UPDATE: The course is now filled.
Room for 50 more!
JoomlaEXPO 2008 recently registered its 200th attendee. To celebrate, fifty more seats have been added! Get them before they’re gone!
Ready for a change
After spending some time working with Drupal yesterday, I had a string of epiphanies. I now understand the power and simplicity of the platform; I will soon be dropping my Joomla! work. There are several reasons for the change:
- I’ve made too many excuses for Joomla!’s two-step categorization system. Nodes and taxonomies are more flexible (and have a nice ring to them).
- Joomla! has too many extension types and too many 3PD extensions are needed to run a real site. Most of the functionality I need should be in the core to begin with.
- I spend considerable time moderating my forum, so the next logical step is to go with an integrated comment system on all of my content. Drupal is far superior in this regard.
Finally, many of you are aware of my current license plate. Fortunately, the DMV also has my new favorite CMS available as well. It’s ordered and on the way:
Joomla EXPO early bird rate ends March 25th
Quick reminder: the early bird rate for Joomla EXPO 2008 ends tomorrow night; register now as tickets are selling very quickly!
UPDATE: it appears that the early bird rate has been extended through Saturday the 29th.
Joomla training in Chicago
In addition to Joomla! Expo, I’ll also be one of the trainers for Joomla University the next day. My specialty will be in writing Joomla! 1.5 extensions from scratch. However, if you’re more interested in security, SEO, templating, tinkering, or just getting your first site up, there are sessions there for you too!
JoomlaEXPO 2008
The first JoomlaEXPO will be held in Chicago on May 16th. Speakers include Barrie North (CompassDesigns.net and JoomlaShack.com), Tom Canavan (JoomlaJabber.com podcast), Victor Drover PhD (JCal, Anything-Digital.com), Steve Pignataro (corephp.com), Azrul Rahim (JomComment and MyBlog, azrul.com), Steve Burge (SEO Expert, alledia.com), and some guy named Joseph LeBlanc. The local JoomlaChicago will also be on hand with Mike Carson (online training, itdtraining.com) and John and Linda Coonen (web consulting and marketing, CoffeeGroup.us).
This promises to be the largest gathering of Joomla! professionals to date; you won’t want to miss it! Tickets are $100 at the early bird rate and seating is capped at 200, so register now!
Drupal vs. Joomla!: because some of you just want to hear it
Recently, I’ve been thinking about the differences between Joomla! and Drupal, as people seem to ask me about this all too frequently. The best analogy I can come up with is this: Drupal is like a model airplane, while Joomla! is like a model train set. Both accomplish the same task: keeping an 8 to 80 year old entertained for several hours by modeling a mode of transportation. However, both accomplish this task in different ways.
When you open the box for a model airplane, you’ll find a lot of little pieces. The fun of putting together a model airplane comes through learning how they all fit together. You see all of the details of the fuselage; the representation is usually highly accurate.
When you start a model railroad, you’ll get a toy train engine with a few cars and some tracks. The engine and cars come preassembled, but you still get to lay out the tracks and experiment with different configurations. Assuming you have things wired correctly and the engine is on the track, your model train will start moving as soon as you flip the switch.
It would be highly contentious (if not flat out false) to claim that one of these toys is inherently better than the other. They are simply different models of real life vehicles. You will learn different things through each, but still end up with scaled models in the end.
I like my “model train” CMS. I’ve tried the “airplane” CMS and simply don’t like it as much. Each time Drupal makes a new release, I download it to see what’s new. I’m particularly pleased with the installation process: it’s much smoother than what it was a few years ago. If you like Drupal and it serves your needs, don’t let me stop you from using it: it’s good software. But I’m sticking with Joomla! because I prefer its approach over Drupal’s.
