A common question we get on the Joomlabamboo forum is how to update my Joomla extensions without losing all of their settings. Some smart extension developers actually use the inbuilt Joomla method which allows an extension to install on top of the existing files on the site. The method is a simple change to the extension's xml file which adds the syntax method="upgrade" to the install declaration in the module xml file.

We are in the process of updating all of our Joomla modules and plugins to use this method but for the time being the following step by step will explain how to update Joomla modules and plugins via ftp.

Its definitely an understatement to say that Internet Explorer 6 isnt much liked in the web design and web development community and while alot of template clubs have stopped supporting IE6 in their template releases and the uptake of other browsers seems to be growing considering the latest IE6 security issue, there are still some simple tools that you can use to track down why something is happening in ie6 and not other browsers. The first thing I check when troubleshooting ie6 is the w3c html validator.

The more I work with the K2 component from Joomlaworks the more I am in awe of it. The templating engine for me is what drives the potential of this component because it effectively gives you the ability to create unlimited sub templates within a single Joomla template.

The advent of the template overrides in Joomla 1.5 was a real boon for template designers and developers because it meant that we could start overriding the core output from Joomla. This however is limited to a handful of "views" (eg blog category, frontpage etc) which soon becomes a little limiting if you want to start laying out a blog category in more than one way. 

One of the most underrated  and misunderstood plugins in the Joomla core package is the loadposition plugin. This is really an incredibly flexible solution for adding often used content and markup to your content items as well as simply loading module positions into your Joomla content.

During the Joomlabamboo rebuild I found that I was rewriting alot of basic information and so I thought that rather than rewriting it each time Id use the loadposition plugin to do the work.  This is a little step by step instruction for using the loadposition plugin on your site as way to repeat or reuse content, images or anything else in your content.

Yesterday Pierre (aka LaFrance) approached me about making a possible change to the Joomla admin feed module to display the Joomla security feed which highlights vulnerable Joomla extensions. To be honest although we released our own Joomla admin theme which changes the whole Joomla admin experience, I rarely dig into the other functionality available in the admin and I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to use the core feed module as it is.

The following is a little tweak to the Joomla admin configuration for anyone who wants to keep abreast of official security reports from the Joomla team in regards to 3rd party extension vulnerabilities.

You can read the official Joomla announcement for this new feature here.

A recurring question we get on the Joomlabamboo forum,  is how to change the welcome to the front page text that appears in a default Joomla installation. So this post is a definitive guide to removing or changing the text that appears here.

The welcome to the front-page text  is what's known as the page title. The page title is an option that is attached to the menu item that you have just clicked on.  So if you are visiting the site for the first time this menu item is the default menu item and in the default Joomla installation it is a menu item using a front page menu type.

On several Joomla related forums you will often see people suggesting ‘check with JED?’ ‘ Have you tried JED?’ as the answer to a query.  Just who is this JED character and how did he become a Joomla oracle?

Sad to say JED is not a person that has amassed a great store of Joomla related knowledge.  The term relates to the magnificent Joomla Extensions Directory.  This is a database maintained by the Joomla developers of all components, plugins and modules available for use with the Joomla platform.

I will cover the differences between components, modules and plugins in another article but for now these are the little (and not so little) pieces of extra coding that you can bolt onto a base Joomla installation to give added functionality to your projects.  If you need it then chances are that someone has already coded a solution.  A few of the better known joomla extensions are Community Builder, Jom Social, JCE and Virtuemart, but this year we have seen some interesting developments in the form of new content extensions (content construction kits) such as K2 and FlexiContent which are proving to be very popular and amassing a strong supporter base.

Do you spend a lot of time customising a Joomla setup when you start creating your site? Here is a step by step guide to short cut a lot of the setup process to get your project running faster.