January 19, 200917 yr Hello, Whilst I am quite capable of designing websites with XHTML and CSS and so on I am still having trouble implemtening a CMS that easily allow my clients to upate their website without having to keep coming back to me. Allow me to explain, lets look at the example of Joomla: http://docs.joomla.org/How_to_Convert_an_e...a!_Web_site It appears that I have to rebuild the site as a template in the Joomla CMS engine? I do not want to have to do this, I have already designed the site. I thought a CMS would allow me to point to parts on my website allowing the client to just update that part of the website. Can people please explain to me how I can offer a CMS solution to an existing website as I am completely stuck on this. Thanks
January 20, 200917 yr CMS is a management system for content. Meaning that yes, you do have to create a template for Joomla to fill in. Your customer can then create content, as much as they want, from the admin interface. Try not to think of Joomla, or any CMS, as a set of webpages. But as content that get's wrapped by a template. On that note, building a template from your existing layout is pretty straight forward as far as web design goes. Joomla and many CMS use code tags that are dropped into your template, and they are rendered on the fly when the page loads. For example, Joomla would have a snippet like <div id="pillmenu"> <jdoc:include type="modules" name="user3" /> </div> The Joomla engine knows that whatever you assigned to the user3 position from the admin section, should be rendered at this point in the page. In this case it looks like it will be the drop down menu. But it could be a module anywhere on the page. Then this code... <td> <jdoc:include type="component" /> <jdoc:include type="modules" name="footer" style="xhtml"/> </td> Would render the main content for the component. If the component the user clicked on was the article component then a list of articles would be rendered. If there was an article ID in the url, then that specific article would be rendered. This layout comes from a three column layout, so the footer module will be rendered below the component. I believe copyright info in this case. The "component" is generally loaded as the meat of the page, the central focus. And the modules are secondary small tidbits of info, or links to other things, maybe stats or polls. The best way to see how all this works, is to download a template from Joomla and play with it. Ask away if you have any more questions. Aric
January 20, 200917 yr Author CMS is a management system for content. Meaning that yes, you do have to create a template for Joomla to fill in. Your customer can then create content, as much as they want, from the admin interface. Try not to think of Joomla, or any CMS, as a set of webpages. But as content that get's wrapped by a template. On that note, building a template from your existing layout is pretty straight forward as far as web design goes. Joomla and many CMS use code tags that are dropped into your template, and they are rendered on the fly when the page loads. For example, Joomla would have a snippet like <div id="pillmenu"> <jdoc:include type="modules" name="user3" /> </div> The Joomla engine knows that whatever you assigned to the user3 position from the admin section, should be rendered at this point in the page. In this case it looks like it will be the drop down menu. But it could be a module anywhere on the page. Then this code... <td> <jdoc:include type="component" /> <jdoc:include type="modules" name="footer" style="xhtml"/> </td> Would render the main content for the component. If the component the user clicked on was the article component then a list of articles would be rendered. If there was an article ID in the url, then that specific article would be rendered. This layout comes from a three column layout, so the footer module will be rendered below the component. I believe copyright info in this case. The "component" is generally loaded as the meat of the page, the central focus. And the modules are secondary small tidbits of info, or links to other things, maybe stats or polls. The best way to see how all this works, is to download a template from Joomla and play with it. Ask away if you have any more questions. Aric I do have more questions.. The joomla site would be at www.website.com/joomla , i want the website to be at www.website.com. How do i correct it? Does this make sense? About the template, so do I have to copy and paste the HTML into a joomla template? Can I still point to CSS files and so on? Would you say that Joomla is easy enough for non-technical minded clients to edit their site? Does it render a previously W3C compliant page non-compliant?
January 20, 200917 yr If you don't want to have to turn your site into a template you could just use cushycms, which allows your client to log in and then just change the areas you have selected.
January 20, 200917 yr The joomla site would be at www.website.com/joomla , i want the website to be at www.website.com. How do i correct it? Does this make sense? Just install the Joomla script in the root folder of your site - upload all the files to /public_html/ (or equvilient) and not /public_html/joomla/ About the template, so do I have to copy and paste the HTML into a joomla template? All CMS's come with a default set of templates which you need to tweak by adding your own HTML. You can copy/paste from your existing editor or edit the templates online. Can I still point to CSS files and so on? Yes Would you say that Joomla is easy enough for non-technical minded clients to edit their site? I tested Joomla on a few customer and they hated it, citing it was too complex for them Does it render a previously W3C compliant page non-compliant? Out of the box it should validate. If you add any extensions/modules I'd say many of them will have errors in which you'll have to tidy up.
January 20, 200917 yr Author Wow thanks for the advice...BlueDreamer what would you reccomend for a CMS with a similar scope of functionality like Joomla that is incredible easy (and not tacky looking) for a non-technical minded person to update their site?
January 20, 200917 yr How much functionality are you looking for? there are CMS's and CMS's! A wishlist of features would be useful. Don't not use Joomla just because my clients didn't like it, every clients has different needs and abilities. Quite often I will show a client 2 or 3 CMS's that will do the job and they choose their preferred one. So when you've got a shortlist it might be worth doing the same.
January 21, 200917 yr Author How much functionality are you looking for? there are CMS's and CMS's! A wishlist of features would be useful. Don't not use Joomla just because my clients didn't like it, every clients has different needs and abilities. Quite often I will show a client 2 or 3 CMS's that will do the job and they choose their preferred one. So when you've got a shortlist it might be worth doing the same. What are the two or three CM's that you suggest? I will look into them. My 'wishlist' is simply a CMS that allows clients to easily edit their site, and integrate pages like newfeeds/blogs etc. Oh, and if it has an admin area it has to have a nice design that doesnt put clients off (for example I thought Modx looked tacky) thanks
January 21, 200917 yr Other CMS could be; Wordpress Blogger Drupal I can't find the link off the top of my head nor in my favorites but I know of a site where you can test drive most CMS's to see which best suits you. Edit: Found it, opensourceCMS
January 21, 200917 yr Oh, and if it has an admin area it has to have a nice design that doesnt put clients off (for example I thought Modx looked tacky) Can I just ask... Tacky in what way? There are numerous themes available for the admin area of modx, and as a "plug and play" CMS, it's one of the best I've found. Adapting site designs for modx is easy, as it is literally just adding a couple of tags. Rendered pages, like most modern CMS' are valid (tho, as pointed out by bluedreamer, various mods and plugins may well change that fact).
January 21, 200917 yr Author Can I just ask... Tacky in what way? There are numerous themes available for the admin area of modx, and as a "plug and play" CMS, it's one of the best I've found. Just didnt think the Admin area looked that nice, but now you've said it can be redesigned, I might reconsider. Yes I am guilting of dismissing it without looking to much into it Currently Im looking at: drupal, modx, joomla Trying to decide which one is best for me Can you also offer some insight as to why you think ModX is the best?
January 21, 200917 yr Author Other CMS could be;Wordpress Blogger Drupal I can't find the link off the top of my head nor in my favorites but I know of a site where you can test drive most CMS's to see which best suits you. Edit: Found it, opensourceCMS Thankyou, using that site right now to decide which one is best for me
January 21, 200917 yr Can you also offer some insight as to why you think ModX is the best? Personally, I like modx due to the ease with which you can incorporate it into existing sites, how simple it is to control user permissions etc. Like most CMS/Blogging platforms, there are a wealth of add-ons/mods available, the support forums are extremely helpful, there is a wealth of information available in the wiki. "Out of the box", it comes with pretty much all the add-ons you'd need for a normal, everyday site, like the "wayfinder" snippet, which dynamically creates menus for you, allowing multi-level drop down menus without any need for you to "get your hands dirty". The eForm snippet, which allows for easy creation of contact forms, with or without captcha, with or without field validation. There are loads of manager (admin) area templates available, and all are easily customised to fit your needs. By default, you can edit pages "on the fly" from the front end with the included quickEdit plugin. I'd advise having a read of the features page, and having a good look around their site and the associated forums and wiki. It's light-weight, SEO friendly, creates valid code, and is very simple to get to grips with.
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