Data

I am happy I got the form on the site. What happens to the data once you submitted I naively though it would just end up in a folder that I could use. I need a little extra help from a higher power.

If I had been more observant when I created the menu for the form I would have seen that below was formdata. I created a new menu called Visdata and liked it to the formdata and the original forms relative's records.

The records are displayed as a table at present I looking for an easy route to extract the data.

Forms

A couple of weeks ago I started think about the form that I want to have on my site. I went to Joomla Extensions Down loaded a couple including Jforms.

Jform lay out

I spent the next half a day trying to get it to work when I went back to the site it said that tutorials would follow. I must have downloaded 4 or 5 and got rid of them. I spoke to any one that could be of help there did not seem to be one that would fit my requirements and without understanding how they work I did not want to spend $50 only to find it was not fit for the job.

VisForms

At last a little light at the end of the tunnel I have downloaded another free form make form VisForms and after reviewing a again the tutorials on forms from other brands I have managed to make a form.

The first thing you do is to go to components after you have installed the plugin. Listed will be Visforms open and click on new to start to create a new form.

After giving it a title and name on the top right hand side is a button called fields this is how you create the and name the field in the form. You can assign attributes to each field, text, numbers, dates, upload, ect.

Once the fields are created you then have to link it to a menu.

When creating a new menu and selecting type in the selection will be a list, choose form under the heading Visforms and than link it to the from you created in this case relative's records. Now you have the menu item it will display the page with the form on.

 The form is on the site however I am having a little trouble getting it to work.

Headbashing afternoon

Had a bit of a head bashing afternoon Just when I though I was getting to grips with Joomla what seems to be for no reason my introduction entry has changed its look.

loss of text

My Introduction has changed a list. I added another article and that seem to change the text to a list. My first problem was I did not want the new article on the front page. I started by retracing my steps and unpublished the new article that removed it from the list. After going back and forth over each element, Menu, Category, and Article. I discovered that I had changed the menu type to a blog list from a single article.

All returned to normal.

As you can see from the screen grab all has returned to normal.

That what I wanted to know

Today big question was what do I do with all this stuff that came when I installed Joomla. I was at a point of think of uninstalling it all and starting again so as not to have the sample data installed. The guide came to the rescue. The opening par of the next chapter show you how to delete content, article and generally all the sample data install. The guide also states that this data can be recovered as it not truly deleted and can be found somewhere in the data base. Thing are removed to the trash and then permanently deleted when you empty the trash.

The Bold came at the start of this chapter is you can make a website in an hour. in truth it took all day. First order of the day was to create a logo in Photoshop with drop shadows and saved as a png on a transparent back ground.

Created logo

I have not got the name for the site worked out yet so this is my holding position. The logo is put in position via the template manager and at this moment is inserted in to the template Beez 2 via the advanced options and up loaded into a folder that holds other elements. The next task is to replace the header image, this is the first time tat we are going to access directly to the code via a ftp program, I am using Filezilla to gain access to the folder where the banner image is held and by changing the name of the banner currently using and renaming the file to the banners original it will take up an used by the site.

Banner image

I did however have an issue when I did this I put it in the wrong image folder, there are a lot of sub-folder with the same name and its important that you use the right one. The next action was to use the template manager to alter the css of the text under the logo, those familiar with code will find this easy. All we had to do is change the font height which was expressed in em and the font color.
 The rest of the chapter takes you through adding articles and categories and linking menu and setting up a contact page .

 I created a short form to help me remember what to do when creating content.

Creating a Category

Content/Category Manager/add a new category
populate the category with an article

Creating an article

Content/Article Manager/add a new article
assign to a category you have created
assign category to a menu 

Creating a menu

Menu/main menu/add a new menu item
assign a menu type
assign a category

I know this is very simplistic but it works for me. I don't believe you can create a menu unless you have a category and that has been my starting point when adding something new.

Switch of guides

I have worked my way through the Guide by Taty Sena and it is time to get into Joomla in a deeper way. I have found a guide by Eric Tiggeler Joomla! 2.5 Beginner's Guide.

 After a quick read through the start of the book I have started at chapter 3. The installation I had on my laptop was 3.2 and the new installation is 2.5. Though the terminology is the same it really helps that this guide is meant for 2.5, over the last week or so I have seen so many tutorials for 2.5 that are really tutorials for 1.7. Though there may be some difference between the version sometime it is enough to put you of the flow of the tutorial.

Chapter 3 Getting to know Joomla, The main area cover at the start of the tutorial are the front end and back end. What you see when you see the web site and what you see when you need to work on the website.

Detailed break down of Front and Back.

The guide take you through how to create an article and ho to add it to the first page of the sample site. This guide seems to always know what you might ask next as you follow it train of thought.

Creating your first article

At the end of the chapter it give a summary of what I have learned. The difference between static websites and Joomla websites. The key element to Joomla sites is that they are build up of a collection of building blocks dynamically constructed from the database. I have an understanding of the element that make up the font and back end. How to create content and how to rearrange elements through the module manager and the site setting in the global panel.

Joomla and Web space

I have had Joomla on  a local server on my laptop. The one draw back is that all the work I do with Joomla for this project has to be via the laptop and if I want to work, where ever I work I must take the laptop. Before I get to far into the project I am going to install Joomla on a site I have. This will allow me to work on it from any device and at any location.

After logging on to my host provider I navigate to the panel web Hosting services and click on web hosting management.

I am given  the option to create a data base. After the base is created the provider give you a pass word and user name to access the data base, seen below blanked out.

You can either create a directory using Filezilla and the manually up load in much the same way you have done to installation on your lap top but this time to your own web space. My provider has a one click installation alowing you to create a directory via their site and then  installs Joomla to your web space  ready for you to use. The first action I took was to change the default log in and now I am am up and running.

Publishing content

I have started to get to grips with Joomla, the architecture of Joomla needs every article to belong to a section and a category, which can also include a unspecified category. I have been given a good piece of house keeping try not to use uncategorised as it will become the deposit for lots of junk.  The guide give a good analogy is think of a section as being a draw in a filing cabinet and a category a is a folder in that cabinet, lastly the article is the document inside the folder.

Structural relationship in Joomla

I have started by creating a category in the administration part of Joomla (backend) I navigate to content and the drop down menu give me the choice to make a category, at present I only have to give it a title sit can be identified when I create an article. I return to the same section and create an article I have to give a title and then a category from the ones I have created. This now links the article to the category,  the next thing I need to do is link the category to a section (menu name) This is done in the menu section where I choose main menu new. I have to chose the menu type and what section is linked to it. the last thing to do is to view the site via a preview button on the tool bar.

                          This is the first things I have put on screens via Joomla  a small start.