Joomla! Magazine

August 2008

Joomla! 1.5 Web site Per André Rønsen Soul Kids

Per André Rønsen combines creative talents in theology, music, and design with Soul Kids!

Sometimes designing and building a Web site is a long and tiring process. One of my latest projects SoulKids.no was nothing like that; it was quick and easy! Pure fun. SoulKids is a children’s choir starting up this fall, and my job was to design and build a basic site for promo use.

The design process

The design obviously needed to communicate to the parents. At the same time, I wanted to demonstrate that this is not the typical children’s choir; this is an urban, up-to-date group doing modern RnB, Hip hop and break dance. If a mother asks her son if he’s interested in joining, and he’s not convinced, she can go: "Look here, it actually looks like something you would like!" At least, that was the goal.

Graphically, I was inspired by the kind of back-to-the-80’ies t-shirts that are popular among young European girls these days; long t-shirts with short arms, and large, black print. After I was done with the logo design, I really wanted to keep the feel of the large fonts. I drew a simple mock up by hand (I always do that, even though I’m a terrible drawer), and roughly laid out the different parts. And since the site was not overly complex, I simply gave the logo half of the home page view. Big is beautiful!

The home page had two purposes: To say a few words about what SoulKids was all about, and to urge the visitor to make contact. To illustrate the fun and lively side of the choir, I grabbed a stock photography of some kids, cropped it, and added some Photoshop candy. A custom photo would be better, but since the choir is all new, this was the best solution.

Except for the work on the front page picture, I did all of the design in Adobe Fireworks. To me, Fireworks is a lot quicker for putting up boxes and elements, dragging them around and changing colors. Besides, it has a nice Pages-function for designing sub-pages without having to duplicate the common design elements. For this site, I only designed the front page, though...lazy, I guess!

Implementing Joomla! goodness

I already had a super basic b/w custom template at hand that I use for Joomla!-stuff. The code is easy to read, it has some semantic div’s and classes in Norwegian, and it validates nicely. This way, the actual xHTML/CSS is done after I have installed Joomla! locally (using MAMP). In fact, I always keep a custom Joomla!-installation in Norwegian ready for use. It has my custom template as default, and it has has some lovely extensions pre-installed:

This installation also has a couple of menus ready for use, and some menu elements linking to static pages (like About us, etc). When I build a new site, I let JoomlaPack make me a copy, and I’m good to go.

For SoulKids the only really interactive part is the contact form. I needed something simple that I didn’t have to fight with, so I went for ALFContact. Yes, it is a funny name, but it works! The standard contact form in core would work too, but it’s not as quick to implement and simplify. For a static gallery, Ozio Gallery is a good choice; it has some nice features, and it’s easy to customise. Nice and flashy!

Why Joomla!?

There is always an option to build using pure HTML. But building with Joomla! is really building for tomorrow. Today this site is pretty static, but after some time, there will be a need for posting news, events and articles; that’s when a fullblown CMS comes in handy. Besides, theming for Joomla! is really simple! This project took less than three days from start to finish. Don’t tell the client ;).

Tools in use

MAMP
Smultron (I love the snippets )
CSS Edit (I love the folders)
Cyberduck
Firefox w/ Firebug + Web developer extensions
Adobe Fireworks + Photoshop
Macbook + LG screen

18 Votes

36 Comments

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Paul makes this comment

2008-11-14 10:57:13

Thanks Brad. Will spread the word. Well done once again to Joomla team for pushing the envelope and making things easier. I was thinking of implementing the same thing on one of my client's websites.
carmen allgood makes this comment

2008-11-14 20:23:18

Hi Ya ~ I registered and never received a confirmation, and have some questions regarding the joomla template I purchased. Can you help me out here?
Thanks ~ Carmen
mariusvr makes this comment

2008-11-15 01:44:05

Google is part of dictionaries with the term googling becoming universal. I always use google for any search and magically I always find the answer

For searching the forum I still use the phpBB3 based search, as this lists the results in chronological order. This allows me to find any new support issues for my Joomla extension and answer any questions of people who wandered to the Joomla forum for help.

The google search is much better for your server load and i understand why this is your preferred option. As long as the advanced search will still be available, I will be happy camper.

There is sooo much information on the Joomla forums that everybody should do a search before posting, as the answer is most likely aleady there. Just search

Thanks for the blog!

Marius
Marco makes this comment

2008-11-17 10:36:13

We will spread the word. And you can start spreading the word yourself by putting the search box on the homepage...
Jeffrey Adams makes this comment

2008-11-17 16:58:52

The problem I have is with the Joomla Extensions search feature. It is useless in finding a specific module, EVEN when you know the exact name of what you are searching for. I've searched for modules before entering the exact name and it doesn't even list it on the first few pages. Nowadays I go straight to Google. When will Joomla implement Google search for the Extensions section? This has been so frustrating for Joomla users!
Amina makes this comment

2008-11-17 23:17:14

Can someone please tell me what this means and why my site is showing this message?
http://www.somelikeitclassic.com/clients/installation/index.php
Cathy makes this comment

2008-11-18 17:34:37

I had someone design my site with Dreamweaver. The site is beautiful but they didn't do a very good job on updating or SEO. I want to take it over but I'm not very familiar with Dreamweaver(I'm pulling out my hair with tutorial and just can't figure it out). Is Joomla something that can help me? Can I transfer the files to Joomla and keep the site looking the same and it will just be easier to manage? Any suggestions? Advice?
Thanks!
Tyler Tamplen makes this comment

2008-11-20 15:16:51

I am trying to add ads to my website. We are a high school newspaper and we are wanting to add the ads to our page but I have no idea how to accomplish this. I am new to this so if yall have any tips they would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Tyler
dhsjournalism0809@gmail.com
amy.stephen makes this comment

2008-11-20 19:05:14

This one makes me giggle. OK - the title of Brad's blog might have encouraged some of you to go ahead and ask your support questions here. But, in reading the actual post, one can see that he was talking about using the Search Facility to help answer your questions. So, give that a try and if you find you still have questions, please ask those questions in the Forums (button at the top of the page.) Thanks! Have fun with Joomla!
John makes this comment

2008-11-21 05:19:26

I've been working on a joomla site, and am a novice, but am slowly doing okay. All of a sudden, my page has gotten too wide. I can go into control panel and shrink things, but everything else shrinks tremendously. My main culprit seems to be the left of my 3 main homepage columns. It's suddenly much wideer on my computer, although my developer says it looks fine on his. Is there anyway to crunch the width of one column? I've tried everything I could think of, including shrinking font size and changing the alignment justifications, without success.
Thanks,
John
Ruben Cu makes this comment

2008-11-21 13:27:26

www.kfisherrestodaet.com - I have asked a group of HS students as part of their HS Thesis create this website for me and paid the corresponding annual fee. After graduation, they gave me all the access to the website. I have worked on it, edited etc. Now i want to keep the website for my restaurant. My question is how do i keep the Web Hosting service to keep the website existence? where do i pay etc? Pls. send me information how to maintain my website, the payment etc to my rscujr@yahoo.com email address. Appreciate your help. Thanks.
Valentine makes this comment

2008-11-21 13:52:15

Someone recently help me to set up a website but no i can't seem to load and delete extra dropdown means and link a zip or excel spreadsheet on it.
I also would like to know how to change the wording and the images on the homepages.
Please can you help?
Valentine
amy.stephen makes this comment

2008-11-21 15:50:31

It might be that my tinhat is fitting a bit too snug, but, I'm beginning to think that Brad might be conducting a sociological experiment to prove people do not read.

Ask support questions in the forums, please. Thanks everyone!
Ian makes this comment

2008-11-21 19:19:21

This is the funniest blog and comment trail i've read in a very long time. I was having a hell of a day until i came across this. Thanks Brad.
marius makes this comment

2008-11-22 00:32:13

Yes this is hilarious indeed. That in a blog telling people to search the forum, people do the opposite and don't search at all and just post their question here. The sad truth that some people will not follow any guidance.

since you said you are here to help, please answer the following question:

Is it true that toilets swirl the other way around in Australia when you flush the toilet? this question has really been bothering me. Brad please help!
brad makes this comment

2008-11-22 07:51:22

marius,

It is true!
sed makes this comment

2008-11-23 04:08:14

hi, i'm from indonesia!
i cant instal modul or extension in my website.
the security warning is : JFolder::create: Path not in open_basedir paths
Warning! Failed to move file.
please help how to solve this trouble.
thanks.
yin makes this comment

2008-11-23 15:13:14

please help me, I can't install joomla 1.5.8 full stable package because of these errors:
Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: Cannot send session cookie - headers already sent by (output started at C $:\$ xampp\htdocs\joomla15\libraries\joomla\session\session.php:412) in C $:\$ xampp\htdocs\joomla15\libraries\joomla\session\session.php on line 412

Warning: session_start() [function.session-start]: Cannot send session cache limiter - headers already sent (output started at C $:\$ xampp\htdocs\joomla15\libraries\joomla\session\session.php:412) in C $:\$ xampp\htdocs\joomla15\libraries\joomla\session\session.php on line 412

why???
brad makes this comment

2008-11-23 20:05:40

sed,

Read this very carefully: http://community.joomla.org/blogs/leadership/526-have-questions-we-have-answers.html
Ella makes this comment

2008-11-24 18:42:44

I would like to move from Jooomla 1.0 to the latest version of Joomla. Is there a way to update the version without losing my current information?
amy.stephen makes this comment

2008-11-25 02:12:10

Yes, Ella. To get started, read http://community.joomla.org/blogs/leadership/526-have-questions-we-have-answers.html . Then, if you have questions, please ask in the Joomla! forums. (Button at the top of the page.) Thanks!
Ashiq makes this comment

2008-11-25 05:21:26

Can anyone here please tell me how to get the code to put in a module or component to listen radio online?
sandeep makes this comment

2008-11-25 08:13:22

i have setup joomla on my webspace. can i add google advertisement in joomla page or not
sandeep patil makes this comment

2008-11-25 08:19:11

dear sir

i have setup joomla on my webspace. can i add google advertisements on the joomla page.if yes then where
Mark Law makes this comment

2008-12-04 22:43:15

where are my keys?
adriano makes this comment

2008-12-06 01:41:22

Hi,

I have joomla 1.5 already installed but I want to custumize it, so now i need and user name and a password and I dont know how to get it can you please help?

Thanks in advance,
Adriano
amy.stephen makes this comment

2008-12-06 04:19:21

Read blog posts before commenting, please.

Ask support questions -> http://forum.joomla.org/

Beginner Documentation -> http://docs.joomla.org/Beginners

@Mark - check your dresser or coat pockets.

Have fun with Joomla!
Jayjoomluh makes this comment

2008-12-06 07:39:50

WOW,

not only are people not reading this blog and asking for support in the right place, they are leaving a ton of email addresses wide open for the spam robots, i dont agree with the search the way it is, but one tip is if you want something in the forum, go to google and search, it will take you to a direct thread without having to sort through the results on the forum

hope this helps!
rugerio makes this comment

2008-12-07 16:49:19

I have just setup a Joomla website with siteground but would like to know how to set JOOMLA up froe membership access.Does anyone know?Can you help me?
Kalyan makes this comment

2008-12-09 02:02:13

hi,
i have created my website contents using joomla, i got domain name and all stuffs that we need to launch a site. i want to know, "WHAT ARE THE FILES WE NEED TO UPLOAD INTO THE SERVER DATABASE?"

I hope you will understand my query, please give suggestion and tell me the way to do it.
thanks
amy.stephen makes this comment

2008-12-09 05:31:33

Please read the post before commenting and ask support questions in the forums. Thanks!
Charne makes this comment

2008-12-09 09:11:11

I am looking for some one that can help me with a login issue. I need to login with a username and password and the page that comes up must be user specific, all the other users need to have their own page that comes up once logged in.
Sopheak makes this comment

2009-06-14 10:39:57

I have installed joom la 1.5.8 in computer. But i met some problem as...

1. I want to create main menu to be the sub menu of top menu, so how can i do that?
Sopheak makes this comment

2009-06-14 10:44:08

I use Mac Os 10.5.2 to install the Joom la. but when i tried to upload & install a new joom la template, it does not work. The test say : there was an error uploading this file to the server. How can i fix this problem?
sudha makes this comment

2009-06-15 11:36:14

Hi,
Is possible to give a authorized URL(like gmail,yahoo) link in search components, to search this sites keywords?
I m GOing fro interview makes this comment

2009-09-18 07:24:41

hi
I m GOing fro interview

i want for the?

i want Quetin and answer plz give me ?