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Upgrading 1.5 from an existing 1.5x version

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Written by: Matthew Murphy
Category: How-To Guides
Hits: 66
Upgrading 1.5 from an existing 1.5x version
It is risky to upgrade a live site without testing the upgrade process first. So before upgrading the live site you need to set up a test site which is as close as possible to the configuration of your live site, then test the upgrade on that. When you are happy with the process you can apply it to the live site (having taken a fresh backup of the live site first, of course).

You interested in having your Joomla 1.5.x site automaticly updated for you? If so check out this

Step 1: Download the patch package To download the most recent patch package and to obtain the MD5 hash:

From the joomla.org home page, click the Joomla! 1.5.x download link On the Joomla! 1.5.x release page, click the Joomla!1.5.xupdates link in the left column. Click the word Files in the blue bar to expand the list of patch packages available. Locate the row that matches your current installation version. On that row, select the patch package (zip, tar.gz and tar.bz2) that is most convenient for you. Verify the download using the MD5 hash listed in the right column on the same line as the package you selected. If you have questions about these instructions, read the Additional Information below this table.

Additional information:

 

 

Step 2: Make a copy of your live site Ideally this should be on the same platform (operating system, PHP and database version) as the live site, but don't worry if this is not possible. Making a working copy of a Joomla! website involves copying the files and the database (these are separate activities). You will then need to amend the configuration.php to reflect the new location. Check that your test site is fully functional.

Step 3: Install the patch package on the copy site There are different ways of installing a package file depending on your particular circumstances. If you have difficulty with one of these methods, then simply try another.

Alternative 1: Unpack the package file on your local computer then use an FTP client to upload them to your site. Alternative 2: Use an FTP client to upload the package to your site, then use a terminal session (eg. SSH) to connect to your site and unpack the files there. Alternative 3: If your hosting provider gives you access to your site via some sort of web control panel like CPanel or Plesk, you can use the control panel file manager to upload the package, then use a terminal session (which might also be available via the control panel) to unpack the package file and overwrite all changed files on the server. If you are using CPanel, there is specific information on Uploading and extracting an archive file with CPanel. Step 4: Test thoroughly Check out as much of the functionality on your test site as possible. If there are any problems that will affect the way that you will need to handle the live upgrade then make a written note of them for later.

If you find errors you might check out the following possibilities:

Ensure that all of the files were properly transferred. There have been verified reports of some FTP clients not properly transferring files across to a server without notifying the user of such a problem. One possible cause of this problem is that under certain circumstances the web server locks the files it is using and the FTP-server can't update those files. If this is the case you might try taking the site offline shortly during the FTP transfer. Step 5: Backup your live site Take a full backup copy of your live site immediately prior to upgrading. You may want to take your site offline prior to doing this so that updates are not lost.

Step 6: Install the patch package on your live site There are different ways of installing a package file depending on your particular circumstances. If you have difficulty with one of these methods, then simply try another.

Alternative 1: Unpack the package file on your local computer then use an FTP client to upload them to your site. Alternative 2: Use an FTP client to upload the package to your site, then use a terminal session (eg. SSH) to connect to your site and unpack the files there. Alternative 3: If your hosting provider gives you access to your site via some sort of web control panel like CPanel or Plesk, you can use the control panel file manager to upload the package, then use a terminal session (which might also be available via the control panel) to unpack the package file and overwrite all changed files on the server. If you are using CPanel, there is specific information on target="_blank" rel="nofollow"Uploading and extracting an archive file with CPanel. The alternative selected may be different from that used in step 3 if the hosting platform for the site is different.

Step 7: Make any other changes required Referring to your notes from step 4, make any other changes that are required to bring the site into operation following the patch installation.

Step 8: Check your live site to make sure it is working correctly Don't assume that the upgrade will work flawlessly just because the test upgrade worked. Check to make sure that nothing untoward has happened. It could be that differences between the live site and test site platforms will bring out a problem that you did not notice during testing. If you find a problem and it cannot be resolved quickly you might have to rollback the upgrade using the backup copy you created in step 5.

Hopefully all will be well and you can relax

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36 Questions to Ask Your Host Before Buying

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Written by: Matthew Murphy
Category: How-To Guides
Hits: 31
36 Questions to Ask Your Host Before Buying Getting a website is essential for business. Making a mistake could cost you money as well as lost reputation. We have put together 36 questions across 10 areas that you should as any hosting company before you purchase a website. How they answer these questions will determine if this is the right website solution for you.

Technical Support:

Technical support should be readily available. Your average hold time should not exceed a couple of minutes. If the hold time for support is long, this means that there are a lot of problems with the product or there support is understaffed.

1. How strong is their technical support division?
2. What do they provide?
3. When are they available?
4. Does tech support cost extra?

Security:

The website hosting servers should be hosted at a remote location with multiple backup across multiple locations. The servers should also be dual firewall protected. If the websites are hosted in this type of an environment, it means that you are protected against any power failure, natural disaster, or people trying to steal your information. You can check how many servers a company is hosting by asking them for the address of one of the companies they host. Then go to http://whois.sc, and look up that name. Whois will tell you how many sites they are hosting. Use a company that is hosting several thousand websites.

5. How secure is the site?
6. What type of protection do they offer?
7. How can they insure that unauthorized users will not compromise the integrity of your Web site?

Storage:

The amount of storage your website hosting offers is related to how large your website can become. You want to make sure that you have enough space to not only to build your current website, but to expand in the future.

8. How much storage do they offer?
9. A typical Web site uses between 20-30 MB.
10. Do they offer enough extra megabytes to for your business to grow into? 100MB is a good starting point.

Domains:

Getting a Domain name for your business is one of the most important things you could do. To find out more about domains, read our article …

11. Will the hosting company register your Domain name?
12. How long will it take?
13. Is there any extra cost to you?

Design:

There are 3 basic website design options. 1) Hire a web developer to design the entire website. 2) A template solution that is inexpensive, but modifications are limited. 3) A table based solution where the initial content is provided by the hosting company but everything including the entire layout can be changed. Make sure which type you are purchasing and if this is the correct solution for you.

14. Do they have a builder that you can manage easily?
15. What type of computer background do you need to design your site?
16. Do you have internal control over content and updates?

Email:

There are 2 types of email. The first is POP 3. This email type is attached to the domain name, and the email can be viewed from a web mail Internet browser window, or downloaded to a program such as Outlook or Eudora. The second email type is a forwarding address or email alias, where you have an email address that is @YourDomain, but it forwards to a different email address. POP 3 is usually more desirable because you can view your email from a variety of applications, and it strengthens your company image.

17. How many email aliases comes with your package?
18. Will they have your domain name in them for a more professional appearance?
19. What is the cost to add extra emails?
20. Are there any additional costs?

Search Engine Optimization:

You should submit your website to the search engines, such as Google, about once a month. This will help to rank you higher in the search rankings

21. Are search engine submissions included in your package?
22. How does it work?
23. Do you have internal control over content and updates?

Cost:

Make sure there are no hidden costs. Some companies will give you a low price knowing that they can charge you for additional services latter on.

24. What are the costs involved?
25. What are the initial setup fees and what do you get exactly?
26. What are the monthly maintenance fees are what do they cover?
27. Are there any additional charges?
28. If so, what are they and why?

Contract:

29. Am I locked into a contract?
31. May I cancel at anytime?
32. Are there any penalty fees for switching or closing my account?
33. What happens to my content?

Value:

34. What makes them better than their competition?
35. Do they offer extra features, storage space, better technical support?
36. What exactly sets them apart?

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Joomla Core Parameters

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Written by: Matthew Murphy
Category: How-To Guides
Hits: 51
Available extension parameter types and how to use them When you create an extension (component, module, plugin or template) you can implement parameters in the .XML file. With this parameters you can set options, and use them in the main file, the .PHP file. There are 20 extension parameter types available in Joomla! 1.5. You can use them easily and in this document you will find a description for all of them. You can also add your own parameters, but this will not be described in this article.

Table of contents
XML file Parameters Core parameters Calendar Category Editors File list Folder list Help sites Hidden Image list Language List Menu Menu item Password Radio Section Spacer SQL Text Text area Time zones
XML file
You need an XML file for every extension. It is used mainly to install the extension. A particular XML file looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<install version="1.5" type="extension type">
<name>Name of your extension</name>
<creationDate>Created Date</creationDate>
<author>Your name</author>
<authorEmail>Your e-mail address</authorEmail>
<authorUrl>Your website</authorUrl>
<copyright>Copyright</copyright>
<license>License, for example GNU/GPL</license>
<version>Version of the extension</version>
<description>Description of the extension</description>
<files>
<filename>add the files between those tags</filename>
</files>
<languages>
<language tag="en-GB">Language file</language>
</languages>
<params>
Place the parameters between these tags.
</params>
</install>
Parameters
The parameters should be placed between the <params> and </params> tags. You can also add groups. For example, the 'Advanced' group. This will look like this:
<params>
'Normal' parameters
</params>
<params group="advanced">
Advanced parameters
</params>

Note: You can not add groups to templates.
Core Parameters
There are 20 parameter types available within your Joomla! 1.5 installation.
These are:
Calendar, Category, Editors, File list, Folder list, Help sites, Hidden, Image list, Language, List, Menu, Menu item, Password, Radio, Section, Spacer, SQL, Text, Text area and  Time zones, and will be described here in detail.
Each one is described in the following order:
Description Screen shot of output XML file Implementation in PHP file Reference Calendar
Description: This parameter shows a text box where you can fill in the date. You can also choose the date from a calendar, which pops up after you clicked on the icon next to the text box.
Screen shot:
XML file: Use the following code in the XML file to create a parameter like this.
Name: The name used to implement  in the PHP file.
Type: For a calendar parameter, use 'Calendar'.
Default: The default date.
Label: The name displayed at the output of the parameter.
Description: The description displayed as a tool tip.
Format: The format of the date.

<param name="calendar" type="Calendar" default="5-10-2008" label="Calendar" description="" format="%d-%m-%Y"  />
PHP file: For example, get the parameter, named publish_up, like this:
$publish_up = new JDate($row->publish_up);
Reference: administrator\components\com_content\admin.content.html.php, 122-168

Category
Description: This parameter shows a drop down list of categories from a section.
Screen shot:
XML file: Use the following code in the XML file to create a parameter like this.
Name: The name used to implement  in the PHP file.
Type: For a category parameter, use 'Category'.
Label: The name displayed at the output of the parameter.
Description: The description displayed as a tool tip.
Section: The section ID number, can be found in the Section Mana
<param name="category" type="Category" label="Category" description="" section="3"  />

PHP file: For example, get use the parameter, named category, like this:
$category[$section->id][]
Reference: administrator\components\com_content\controller.php, 452-530
Editors
Description: This parameter shows a drop down list of the available WYSIWYG editors.
Screen shot:
XML file: Use the following code in the XML file to create a parameter like this.
<param name="editors" type="Editors" default="" label="Editors" description=""  />
Name: The name used to implement  in the PHP file.
Type: For an editor parameter, use 'Editor'.
Default: The default editor.
Label: The name displayed at the output of the parameter.
Description: The description displayed as a tool tip.
PHP file: For example, get the parameter, named editors, like this:

$this->lists['Editors']
Reference: administrator\components\com_config\controllers\application.php, 86

File list
Description: This parameter shows a drop down list of files from a certain directory.

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