Joomla 1.5 Tutorial

How to install and run Apache web and MySQL database servers using XAMPP.

2009-11-20T10:42:00.000-08:00

Joomla requires a PHP webserver and MySQL like the one package in Xampp.
Mos beginning web developers are daunted by the thought of having to install and configure Apache web server, mySQL database server and even an FTP host. Before Xampp, you will need to run individual installers and having gone this path I can tell it wasn't an easy task for a newbie. If you don't know yet what these programs are, please see my notes below :

Apache - open source web server software. This basically allow you to use your computer as a web host. If you have this on your computer, you can run HTML, PHP, etc over http in your browser.
MySQL is a database server like Oracle and MS SQL 2000. You can use it in conjuction with a scripting language like PHP to save and retrive information.

XAMPP is package of these software, you can get it from this URL : http://www.apachefriens.org/en/xampp.html

There are available download pakacges for each major OS :

Get the appropriate distribution for your OS. Once downloaded, run it to install the software. To start using the software, double click the file called xampp-control.exe :

You should see a window similar to the one below :

The button labels of each module (i.g. service) are either Start or Stop. If you see "Start" it means the service is curently stopped. In the example above. Apache is stop since the button says "start". Click on the "Start" button to start the Apache service. Click the "Admin..." button to access the Admin page :

You should see your browser open pointing to the local XAMPP page :

You can play with the links under the Demos to see some interesting applications. Phonebook is one simple application that you can see actual database transactions :

The Joomla web pages are stored in the htdocs folder inside the XAMPP folder. If you have a folder containing your HTML or PHP project, put them there. To test if it work, open your browser and type in the URL like below : http://localhost/[foldername]/filename.htm.

Just replace foldername and filename.htm to the actual folder and filename that you have.

I hope this little introduction to XAMPP gets some of you excited to try out more dynamic platforms like PHP. Unlike ordinary HTML, PHP is more powerful and what you can do with it just depends on your imagination. Who knows ? You might create your very own killer app!

Original source : http://online-tech-tips.com/

Joomla 1.5 Installation manually.

2009-11-19T06:30:00.000-08:00

Joomla is a popular web-based manage your content management solution (CMS). As a CMS, it lets you manage your sites' content like document, pictures, html and other web document. This free web application could be used as corporate or comunity website, complete with a secured login/logout for users, administration and of course content editing and management.

Joomla requires a PHP webserver and MySQL like the one pakacged in Xampp. We have written about Xampp and SQLyog to guide you with the installation of the required software. The step below will guide you with installing joomla.

You can get the joomla package from their official website : http://www.joomla.org/.

Step 1. Start the Apache and MySQL service. In Xampp you will need to click the start button next to each process :

Step 2. Put the unzipped Joomla package on the htdocs folder of Xampp. I have Xampp installed on my C:\Xampp directory, so the Joomla folder goes to the C:\Xampp\htdocs folder :

You can rename the Joomla folder to anything you want. In my setup i renamed it to myJoomla.

Step 3. Browse the URL where Joomla is placed. If you have it on your computer with folder named "myJoomla" the URL will be http://localhost/myJoomla. You should see the Joomla installer open on your web browser.

Step 4. Follow the seven steps of the Joomla installer. First step is the language so just choose the language that you want to use. At the second step it is important that you meet the pre-installation check wherein a list of all minimum requirements need to be met :

Step 5. Read carefully the license agreement, press next if you agree to the statements provided in the agreement.

Step 6. Create a mySQL account that will be used by Joomla so it can save data to the MySQL database. Enter the account detail on the fields.

Step 7. You will not need to enable the FTP setting on the FTP configuration screen. This is not required on a windows OS since you can directly alter thr Joomla files using explorer. If you use a secured web host, you should set FTP account that can access the root directory. You might need to get with the host admin to get the username and password if you want it to be a generic account separate from your user account.

Step 8. Enter the main configuration setting. Enter your preferred site name, admin email and password :

Step 9. At this point you will get a hurdle with a message saying that you need to remove the installation directory :

Go to the Joomla directory and delete the "installaion" sub-directory. Only this directory needs to be removed so make sure not to touch the other files and directories.

Step 10. Whew! you're done! You now have your own Joomla website. If you used the same "myJoomla" folder name the the URL will be http://localhost/myJoomla/.

Isn't it a breeze to setup Joomla ? On the next post we talk about how to customize Joomla.

Original source : http://www.online-tech-tips.com

Joomla Installation via Fantastigo

2009-11-19T05:47:00.000-08:00

In this section you will learn how to install joomla 1.5 via the fantastigo autoinstaller. If you don't have fantastigo or you prefer to install joomla 1.5 manually, you can check our tutorial "How do i install joomla 1.5 manually?".
To start with the installation log into your cpanel and click the Fantastigo De Luxe icon, you can learn more about cPanel from our cPanel tutorial.

Find the joomla 1.5 link on the left side of the screen and click it :

Then click New Installation.

In the following from you will have to type in some information abaout your future joomla website.

You will have to specily the following information :

Install in directory - This determine the address where your joomla installation will be accessible at. If you want to use joomla for your home page (e.g. www.youdomainname.com) Just leave this field blank.
Admin access data - The username and password for accessing the administration panel of your joomla installation.
Admin e-mail - your e-mail address.
Admin full name - your full name.
Site name - The name of your website that will be displayed on the front page.
Install Sample data - Wheither sample data should be install to your joomla. The sample data includes sample menu items and articles. If you are new joomla, we strongly advise you to install the sample data.

Once you have field in the form, proceed by clicking on the Install Joomla 1.5 button, you will be added to confirm the installation on the next page.
At the end of the installation you will recieve information on how to login to your administration panel. You should bookmark the address of the administrator panel (e.g. www.yourdomainname.com/administrator) and remember your login credential.

Source : http://www.siteground.com/