Joomla! 1.5x Customization: Make Your Site Adapt to Your Needs

This is an excellent book for the newbies that would like to start a web site with Joomla!. It provides overview of tools and Joomla! setting that you should know to build up a site.



Chapters:

1. The Skills Required to Customize Joomla! - list of technologies and programming languages used by Joomla! That's only a list with short explanation to remind you about particular technology. If you want to study it more you'll have to deep dive into a different books
   


2. Setting Up Our Environment - this is very practical chapter for those who aren't webmasters or don't know what tools to use for file transfer, code management, DB management, digging into html/css code, etc. If you don't know the best practices then you can learn them. For me the Firebug overview was useful as it describes powerful tool for customizing a website (not only based on Joomla!) that I missed.
   
   
3. Planning Our Site - planning, planning, planning. This is chapter for those who mean it seriously. I'd wish to my wife to read it. It would save me a lot of time. I'd need to make some thing twice or even three times.
   In this chapter you'll find also short overview of the most used Joomla extensions.
   
   
4. Installing and Configuring Extensions - have you started to play with the Joomla! yet? If not then you'll be guided to create a new website "Buy new house in Japan". It's useful exercise before you'll create your own site.
   
   
5. Installing and Modifying Templates - this is one of the best things about Joomla! You can easily change the look of your website. How it's possible? The "data" of your website are stored in database. By the template you define how they are displayed to the visitors of your website.
   
6. Customizing Modules - there is a plenty of modules to download at the internet. But sometimes they don't fit exactly to your needs. Then you have to customize them a little bit (of course, only if the license allows it).
   
   
7. Customizing Plugins - the same as in previous chapter but now for plugins.
   
   
8. Customizing Components - the same as in previous chapters however you'll learn about the difference between the old components of Joomla 1.0 and Joomla 1.5. MVC rules.
   
   
9. Finding and Fixing Problems - what are the most common problems? Errors in PHP, server settings, conflict in libraries etc. When this information isn't enough then you can ask the Joomla! community.
   
   
10. Promoting and Tracking
    
    
11. Monetizing Our Site
    

I read this book quickly. Mainly because I've already created a website with Joomla! However it describes useful techniques and solutions. I wouldn't hack so many things and I'd save lot of time if I'd read it.


The most useful for me was the introduction to FireBug -as I'm not a web developer- and the tips and trick for the common mistakes. Enjoy the reading.