Stage 1: Identifying Your Needs
Before we start you need to spend at least a week thinking about what you want in your site. Get out the paper and pens and do a list of content that is most important. Next create a site tree with branches from the main focuses and how the user will navigate around the site Our Quote Request form helps you through the options and possibilities that exist for your site. I will sit down with you once you have this initial plan and work on extending it and assessing your company or organization’s website needs.
a. Site Map - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitemap
While I don’t expect clients to have a full working diagram of how the site will operate (that’s my job!), the more information you can give that is displayed in a simplified way, the easier it is for me to assess your needs and develop the site you want.
I always find the best way is to draw it up on paper first, its quick and easy, and without the inevitable annoyances of drawing on a computer. Once your mock-up is made there’s a host of tools available for drawing up diagrams on your pc (or mac) – some free, some super expensive!
The top diagram in this post was drawn up using Google Docs drawing program which is free for users with a google account. There are various online tools for diagram drawing and a great post detailing some of them can be viewed here.
Once we have received your specifications, we will create one or more sample designs for you to look through. It is typical to work through several versions of the layout before a final decision is made. Only after you are completely satisfied with the design will we continue on in the process.
Depending on the content of the website, we can do all the programming in as little as a week. Included in every web design package are coupons that can be used for future service on your website as needed. If interested, we can also install a function on your website that enables you to personally update the site’s content whenever you want.
JOOMLA! Core Features
(Read more)
Joomla is a Content Manangement system.
A content management system is software that keeps track of every piece of content on your Web site, much like your local public library keeps track of books and stores them. Content can be simple text, photos, music, video, documents, or just about anything you can think of. A major advantage of using a CMS is that it requires almost no technical skill or knowledge to manage. Since the CMS manages all your content, you don't have to.
Joomla is used all over the world to power Web sites of all shapes and sizes. For example:
Here are just a few examples of Web sites that use Joomla:
More examples of companies using Joomla can be found in the Joomla Community Site Showcase.
Joomla is the most popular open source CMS currently available as evidenced by a vibrant and growing community of friendly users and talented developers. Joomla's roots go back to 2000 and, with over 200,000 community users and contributors, the future looks bright for the award-winning Joomla Project.
To successfully install and use Joomla! you must have a fully operational web server (Apache or IIS), a database (MySQL is the optimum) and the server side scripting language PHP together with specific modules that are activated within PHP for MySQL, XML, and Zlib functionality amongst others.
Whilst the community will always do its best to help you resolve issues that you may experience, Joomla! is not a web server in its own right and depends on you having a fully functioning & compatible Web server.
Joomla! is developed and tested primarily on the Apache web server versions 1.3.x + and 2.x +.
As of Joomla! 1.5.16 Microsoft IIS is also supported. It will also run on many other servers.
For database MySQL is the principle choice but other types of database may work with the necessary configuration but are less well supported at the present time. This is a situation that it is hoped will be turned around with time but for this to happen the community requires people with the appropriate skills to step forward and assist.
The minimum versions of the various constituent parts of these server components that are required are as follows:
| Software | Min Requirement | Recommended | Latest Options | Web Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHP | 4.3.10 | 4.4.7 | 5.x series | http//php.net |
| MySQL | 3.23.x or above | 5.x series | http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/5.0.html | |
| Apache | 1.3 or above | 2.2 series | http://httpd.apache.org | |
| IIS | 6 | 7 | 7.5 | http://www.iis.net/ |
| mod_mysql | ||||
| mod_xml | ||||
| mod_zlib |
You must ensure that you have the MySQL, XML, and Zlib functionality enabled within your PHP installation. This is controlled within the php.ini file. Do not use PHP 4.3.9, PHP 4.4.2 or PHP 5.0.4; these releases have known bugs that will interfere with the installation of Joomla! There was also an issue with the Zend Optimizer Version 2.5.10 for PHP 4.4.x. You should ask your host to upgrade to a later release as soon as possible where applicable. If you experience problems with Joomla! on other versions of these source server programs please take the time to check out the changelogs for your particular version, as there are often good indicators of the likely cause of issues. If there is a particular problem identified you need to notify your Host provider and encourage them to update the affected program. MySQL 6.x is not yet supported.
There are currently ongoing discussions as to whether there are additional issues with the whole 4.3.x. series of releases of PHP. It has been found that the best and most consistent results are achieved with the PHP 5.x series. Joomla! has been successfully tested on many variants within the main three OS for Windows, Linux, Apple Mac OSX. It may well work on other platforms but this is less well documented. Joomla! is also regularly used and tested through the main web browsers available such as IE6 +, Firefox 1.5 +, Safari, and Opera but it may also work with others. There have been known issues with IE6 and certain CSS display settings in template presentation and this should be borne in mind.
Ever wished you could customize the URLs on your Joomla web site? Tired of duplicate URLs killing your search engine rankings? Need a simple way to prevent common attacks on your web site?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, sh404SEF is just what you are looking for. As the most popular Joomla extension for URL management with more than 80% of the market share, and an 'Editors Pick' on the Joomla Extensions Directory, sh404SEF is the most reliable and most trusted tool for maximizing the potential of your Joomla site.
With sh404SEF you can:
Put simply, sh404SEF it is the first extension you should install on all your Joomla1.5 web sites. Get your copy today!
EventList is just that what the name would lead you to expect. It's not a calendar but an easy way to manage and present your Events for your group, company or community. EventList offers a lot features and possibilities which makes your work easier, like the Venue database, Picture resizing and much more. But also for your site visitors EventList has some additional features to offer, like a simple registration system, map service links, or the submission of new events and venues from the frontend. Additional modules are available and plugins for popular extensions like Community Builder and Joomap.
Most popular method of displaying EventList is the Simple View option which displays a table with the events with Date, Event, Category and Address.
Below you can see a screen capture of the EventList module in Simple View mode as provided on Belinda's Site
(Click on the screen capture to enlarge)
And in Venue event mode
Joomla template and theme modification | Joomla module customisation | Joomla SEO Optimisation | Joomla custom modules
| Tutorial : Merging photos |
| How I created my 'valentines day gerbera with a heart of chocolate' image. If you don't have Adobe Photoshop you can download it and try it for free for 30 days. |
I photographed the gerbera I purchased yesterday against the black armchair. I merged a photo of the chocolate heart (red) into the centre of the gerbera daisy and added a black background.
Published in
Adobe Photoshop Tutorials
Sunday, 11 January 2009 17:30
Tutorials: Add layers of textures to your imagesWritten by Vanessa Pike-Russell
Adding texture and drama to your images using textures and layers You've seen them in explore, online and in magazines but just how are they created? One of the wonderful thing about Adobe Photoshop (and clones) is that you can add layers of textures over the image you are editing and adjust the opacity and blend mode to create wonderful textures, mood and story to your image.
Next we will work on the blend mode and opacity. Make sure that the texture layer is above your image in the layers pallet and that it is selected. The first layer option on the left is is blend mode. Click to select a mode from the drop-down list. My favourite is Overlay but it is best to try more than one blend mode to find the one that is most fitting to your image and texture layer blending. Now you will click on the second layer option of opacity. It is important that the opacity (or transparent nature) of the texture is adjusted for your image. You might wish for your image to be dominant and have just a hint of the texture layer or make it the feature - it depends on your image and layer and personal preferences.
Some samples of my work edited with layers of textures by ghostbones
As you can see it gives a lovely sepia, moody image result and is easier than it looks. ResourcesTEXTURES
FAKE TTV TEXTURES SCRAPBOOKING TEXTURES
Published in
Adobe Photoshop Tutorials
SOOC is short for Straight Out Of Camera When you download the images from your camera they are like a digital negative that can be perfected in the Digital Darkroom. Most of the time a bit of contrast and curves adjustment is all you need for the colours to pop and foryour image to really stand out from the crowd. Download my photoshop actions and try adding some pop to your colours today.
Published in
Adobe Photoshop Tutorials
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