Control Panel menu is the menu which will bring you back into the first page of administration area. In that page, there are icons of shortcut that is used to go to another page. It is chosen from the functions that oftens to get used.

Picture 3.4 Control panel area

This menu controls all of the things that can affects you site entirely. You can considere this menu as the main menu for controlling the site. All of the management is summarized into the menus under the site menu. There are 5 menus inside the site menu. You can know its function as you can see in the picture 3.3.

Picture 3.3 The short explanation of site menu

Next is one by one explanation about those menus.

thoughts

After learning about Joomla! at a glance, in this chapter, we will try to modify Joomla! We will add and change everything that appears in the Joomla! page.

As we know that in order to modify website, we have to enter as the administrator. Generally, the back end structure page can be seen as in the picture 3.1.

Picture 3.1 The administrator page structure

The most important part in the back end structure is menu. Why? It is because we can jump from one page into another page through menu. By understanding the present structure, we can find the page that we want.

Generally, menu can be described as the following:

Picture 3.2 The structure menu in the administrator page

By using mindmap as in the picture 3.2, you can see all of the menus clearly. From those menus, Joomla! is being controlled. Each of the menu will be discussed detailly in the next sub chapter as the following.

The web administration management (usually called as back end) in Joomla! You can enter into this administration area through the following address:
[domainname]/administrator

In this tutorial training context, you can access it through the following address:
http://localhost/myjoomla/administrator/
Read the rest of this entry »

Functions are the elements that are made for the interaction possibility. These functions are called as modules. A function needs a space in page and its content has the certain function.

The default functions such as the following:

• Polling is the module that you can use for knowing the visitor’s opinion about the issue that you offer. You can also use it in order to know of what the visitor like and dislike about everything in your web. Well, this is the simple way in receiving ideas from your visitors.
  
  Picture 2.12 The vote module

  
  Picture 2.13 Who�s Online module

• Who is online? This module is used to knowing who is visiting your situs in the present.
• Login Area is the module for visitors in order to get enter into the protected area. The page where the visitors does not have to login called as public area. In this module, there is form login that you usually get from the form login in the email web. The visitors must have to enter valid username and password. In this module, there is also a link for the visitors so that they can register theirselves become the website member. The administrator can agree or disagree. If the administrator agrees with the visitor’s membership, user can login and enter into the protected area. If the member forgets of the password and username, do not have to be worry. There is a link which can help you in remembering the member’s username and password again.
  
  Picture 2.14 Login module

• Search Field is the module for searching of the web matter or content. It is one of the easy form that is offered to the visitors.
  
  Picture 2.15 Search field

• Feeds are the web feature that is popular nowadays. It is the summary of the standar web article collection. Lately, feed becomes so interested. There are a lot of applications that acts as feed reader. With its feed reader, the visitors do not have to open all of the web page, but they only have to take a look at the title they are interest in.

Nowadays, the income style that comes from the internet is adverstisement. There are a lot of advertisement agencies in the Internet, starting from the professional class such as Google until the local player. Joomla! understands about the user needs in wielding ads as one of the media in getting dollar. For this needs, there is already space for ads by default.

There are two spaces in Joomla! by default such as banner with the size of 180 x 300 pixel:

Picture 2.10 The ads space with size of 180 x 300

Then banner under the content part with the size of 468 x 60 pixel:

Picture 2.11 The ads banner with the size of 468 x 60 pixel

If you are really interested in getting income from ads, you can read the books or the articles in the Internet about Google AdSense, Text-link-ads, chitika, etc. Nowadays, there are a lot of alternative and ways in getting money in the Internet.

Here is the core of the making web, content! Content can be article, static page, link directory, shopping page, guest book, etc. But, generally, it can be described as the following:

Picture 2.8 The variant content of Joomla!

• First Page. When you open the web for the first time, you will be presented by some articles in the middle block. The page that appears for the first time when you open the web is called as front page, first page, or home page. The example of the front page as in the picture 2.9.

  That picture is taken from the Joomla! default front page. As you can see in the picture 2.9, the content is not only consisting of one kind block, but you can arrange it with the variety structure.

• Latest News is the article list/the last news. It is one of the ways in guiding the situs visitor in order to read the articles. By collecting it in one block, then it will raise the visitor’s attention.
• Populer is the article list/the last news that is oftened to get read by the visitor. By putting it in the special area, the visitor can see which one of the popular article easily.

Picture 2.9 The front page example in Joomla!

Menu is the web page element that is used for visitors in order to make them easy to access one page into another page. Menu is the visitor�s navigation in exploring a situs web.

Picture 2.4 Menu type in Joomla!

Generally, you will get some of the variant menu in Joomla! such as the following:

• Top Menu is the menu that is located in the upper page of web. Usually, it is used for putting the important page links. You can imagine it as the important pages shortcut. Usually, it will not show a lot of links, but it will only show the real important one such as company information, product, sevices, contact, etc.

  

  Picture 2.5 The top menu example in Joomla!

• Main Menu is the menu that is usually located in the side page. It is also the central navigation for exploring the whole of the web page. That is why this central navigation righteously always appears in every page. It contains, at least, a link to the front page. But usually, this menu is usually contains a lot of links or at least, it is more detail than top menu.

  

  Picture 2.6 The example of the main menu

• Other Menu is the menu that gives the flexibility for organizing links. You can use it for the special needs such as collecting navigation from shopping cart component or etc.

  

  Picture 2.7 The example of the other menu

The pictures of the example above are the Joomla! standard menu appearance. If you are installing Joomla! by inputting the data example, you will get all of the appearance as you can see in the picture 2.2.