Showing posts with label content management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label content management. Show all posts

Joomla 1.5: Beginner's Guide Review

Joomla 1.5: Beginner's Guide
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In the early days of the web, a business would put up a website with a few HTML pages, some contact info, and be done with it. This was fine until their competitors started offering more dynamic content and services on-line. Customers began to have higher expectations for on-line services, and the web has evolved to meet these new realities. It's changes like these that have sparked the 'CMS Revolution', where businesses and individuals are empowered by software tools like Joomla! 1.5. Tools that allow a non technical person to build and maintain a website quickly and easily. Joomla 1.5 Beginner's Guide by Eric Tiggeler is a new book that covers a broad range of topics to get you up and running on your new Joomla! 1.5 based website.
You'll learn how easy it is to install Joomla! 1.5 on your own computer or a web server. Using a practical example website, follow the step by step guide to creating a basic site in just one hour. You'll learn techniques for organizing your content and navigation. This means that as the site grows, it remains easy to find what you're looking for, both as an administrator, and as a visitor browsing the site. Beyond the basics of site administration, you'll learn best practices to help you get the most from your website. Tips for attracting search engine traffic are included, as well as ways to enable visitor interaction, to keep people engaged with your content. In addition to the practical examples given, each section concludes with a quiz, to help reinforce learning in an entertaining way.
Even if you're new to web design concepts like HTML and CSS, you won't have any difficulty understanding this book. By following the practical, clearly worded examples, you'll learn everything you need to know to build and maintain a professional looking website. The material in this book will meet the needs of most website administrators. This is because Joomla! 1.5, and the many extensions available, are built with ease of use in mind. If you want to learn more advanced topics, this book doesn't cover those, but will still give you a solid grounding in Joomla! 1.5 administration. So for the more experienced web developers, it's also a great way to fast track your knowledge about the CMS.
So why are open source CMS solutions becoming so popular? On the one hand, it's about moving from static HTML based websites, to dynamic CMS solutions. This allows websites to deliver an engaging experience that's not possible with only static HTML. In many cases, it's also about users being empowered to publish their content directly, rather than relying on expensive and restrictive proprietary products and services, such as proprietary portal software. Joomla! 1.5 is free software, maintained by a word-wide user community, with the goal of empowering anyone to build and maintain their own website. I hope you enjoy this book, and that is helps you get the most from your Joomla! 1.5 based website.
Note: I'm a member of the Packt affiliate program. I'm providing disclosure of this fact, so that my readers can make informed decisions.

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Written with a fast-paced but friendly and engaging approach, this Packt Beginner's guide is designed to be placed alongside the computer as your guide and mentor to meet real-world web building challenges. Step-by-step tutorials are bolstered by explanations of the reasoning behind what you are doing. You will quickly pick up the necessary skills, tips, and tricks for building a successful Joomla! web site with practical examples that help you to learn by experiment and play. If you want to build and maintain your own web site, the Joomla! Beginner's Guide is perfect for you. It helps you build on the skills and knowledge you may already have on creating web sites-but even if you're new to this subject, you won't have any difficulty understanding the clear and friendly instructions and explanations. You learn how to build and maintain web sites without having to dive deep into HTML and CSS.

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Umbraco User's Guide Review

Umbraco User's Guide
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I have used umbraco for a couple of years now and have really enjoyed it.
With the new version of umbraco coming out just around the corner (v5) i was excited to see that they just released a book.
Spoiler: If you are looking for a book talking about v5 (mvc or razor) this isn't it.
Even though I have used umbraco for so long there was still a few things that I learned from the book.
This book in my opinion is for an entry level umbraco developer or admins who needs to get ramped up on the framework quickly or someone who has used the framework to confirm they are following the best practice and making the most of the tool set.
What developers/admins can get out of this book:
- installation instructions
- Upgrade how to demo
- Document Type structure best practices
- Data types what they are and how to use them
- User permissions
- Sample code demos
-- xslt
-- c# usercontrols
-- 3 lines of razor syntax
- Sample project demo (actually worth doing)
What admins (non developers) can get out of this book:
- How data types are used or intended to be used
- Publishing content from staging to production
- Intermediate understanding of what umbraco is and how it can be used
- Gives you an outside the box view of other uses for umbraco document type properties
-- you don't have to just give users a WYSIWYG if you need more control of content placement / styling -> you can define specific fields for them to enter content into and then embed those fields into your templates so you have full control over styling and placement.
-- also (which was a new way of thinking to me) you do not have to grant users access to the media section. If you only wanted them to be able to upload images specifically for the use on a document type you might as well just give them an upload field and place the image where you need it to go. It is easier for the user (UX) and you have more control of the media library as well.
I will keep this one on my book shelf and will use it as a 'De Facto' resource for members of my team and those who I train on the framework.

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The first guide to show you how to power your site using Umbraco.
More companies are turning to the power and simplicity ofUmbraco's web content management system to build robust,customized sites. Written by leaders in the Umbraco community,this invaluable guide takes you through every aspect of thisopen source tool. Code samples using XHTML, CSS, XSLT, andC# are integrated throughout the pages to illustrate key conceptsthat you can apply. As you work through the chapters, you'llprogress from building a basic Umbraco site to a sophisticatedone that meets the needs of your organization.
Umbraco User's Guide:
Explains how to install Umbraco and walks you through itsXML structure
Discusses how to create templates while building your understandingof layouts
Offers best practices for developing content, designing types, organizing templates, and using the rich text editor
Walks you through XSLT and .NET controls
Helps you build sample applications and troubleshoot any issues that arise
Covers how to create your own classified ads site by combining document types, templates, styles, macros, and more

Nik Wahlberg is the founder of Scandia Consulting, a full-service consultancy specializing in custom web application development. He is a Level 2 Certified Umbraco Professional.
Paul Sterling is a member of the Umbraco Core Team and the creator of theUmbraco Store. He is also the founder of the Commerce for Umbraco opensource project.
Wrox guides are crafted to make learning programming languages and technologies easier than you think, providing a structured, tutorial format that will guide you through all the techniques involved.

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Joomla 1.5 Template Design Review

Joomla 1.5 Template Design
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I, too, can only give this book two stars, which is unfortunate, because had a little bit more care been taken this could have easily been a five-star book.
The main reason I can only give the book two stars is due to the same concerns that have been previously expressed...the code and style sheets are not in sync with the text of the book (and I'm only in Chapter 2). I've had to constantly replace the code and style sheets I've typed in from the book with the code and style sheets downloaded from the site. More often than not, changes have been made to the code or style sheets as the book progresses without the author even indicating that such changes have been made. This is not something that someone who has purchased this book should have to contend with.

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This book covers the "how-tos" of creating templates for Joomla! 1.5. There is also advice about what works and what to consider when working with your Joomla! 1.5 template. Because this title is about Joomla! 1.5 templates and not about CSS or semantic XHTML, an understanding of established and current XHTML and CSS techniques for achieving compliant, semantic, and accessible designs is assumed. However, quality references and links are always given so the reader can learn more about any specific CSS or XHTML technique discussed if they are unfamiliar with it. This book is aimed at web designers who want to create their own unique templates for Joomla! 1.5. Readers should have a basic knowledge of Joomla! 1.5 (Building Websites with Joomla! 1.5 by Hagen Graf from Packt Publishing will help you with this) and also basic knowledge of table-less CSS and XHTML techniques, as well as using Dreamweaver or other text/code editors for coding purposes.

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Audience, Relevance, and Search: Targeting Web Audiences with Relevant Content Review

Audience, Relevance, and Search: Targeting Web Audiences with Relevant Content
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If you're looking for a guide that explains SEO in all its glory, READ THIS BOOK. I found it to be comprehensive in scope, very clearly written, and especially well organized. Everything from linguistic characteristics of keywords and how keywords work to site architecture ... and lots more. Great information about gaining page rank and using social media to create success. Tons of useful charts and graphs. There are many books out there that claim to give you this kind of information -- Do yourself a favor and start with this one.

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How much more effective would companies be if all the content they created for the Web reached its specific target audience? In this book, three pioneering IBM content and search experts show how to get closer to this goal than ever before. Readers will discover how to write highly relevant content containing the keywords and long-tail phrases their targeted users actually use. By doing so, they will learn how to go beyond merely "maximising" traffic to actually delivering the right content to the right visitors at the right time. They will even learn how to prove the relevancy of their Web content. More than any other book, Audience, Relevance, and Search is relentlessly focused on the search and content optimisation problems that Web professionals face right now. Drawing on 45+ years of collective experience in Web publishing and search effectiveness, the authors share powerful insights into these and other crucial challenges: * What's the best way to optimize keywords and other content for Google's newest PageRank algorithm? * How can personally relevant content be developed for the widely diverse Web audiences that visit large sites?* How can users be steered to content that's relevant to them and away from content that isn't? * Can content be aligned to users' roles, or where they stand in the purchasing cycle? * How can analytical tools and dashboards be used to determine which content is relevant to their audiences, and how relevant it is?

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Beginning Joomla (Expert's Voice in Open Source) Review

Beginning Joomla (Expert's Voice in Open Source)
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This book does a nice job to get you up and running with a Joomla!-website (chapters 1 to 3), and then in chapter 4 nicely points your way in getting your own content organized and in place, but then, when it comes to questions like "How do I put related but different articles together in one 'page'" it lets you down completely. The way you use menu's to lay out a page doesn't get real attention, instead you only get an overview of the different manager screens, no explanation of the coworking of menu and module manager.
I expected this to come in chapter 6, but then the author moves to things like creating new templates, using extensions and other things that are surely interesting to know, but of more intermediate to advanced level. The beginners level however seems to be somewhat unfinished. I really have looked to see if pages where missing in my copy somewhere in chapter 4 or 5, but they weren't.
This book could have been so much better if the more advanced chapters where left for a second volume and that space was used for more info about concepts and real world examples. The books promises to make you from novice to professional, but you really can't get there if the foundation is too weak.

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This Second Edition of Beginning Joomla! updates to the new features included in Joomla 1.6. Author Dan Rahmel shows site managers and developers alike how to build impressive and complex websites using the number one open source content management system, Joomla!While it is simple to install Joomla! and use its base features (http://www.joomla.org/) many users will want to customize it to their specific needs, tweaking the design templates and extending its capabilities.Beginning Joomla! is the most up-to-date guide available for users seeking to resolve the many common yet confusing questions surrounding these tasks. Along the way, the book takes special care to focus on implementing many of today's most desired website features, such as MySpace-like user profile management, photo galleries, and e-commerce.The new features for Joomla 1.6 such as access management, content versioning, multi-blogger components and the expanded search capabilities are all covered in this new edition.

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Curation Nation: How to Win in a World Where Consumers are Creators Review

Curation Nation: How to Win in a World Where Consumers are Creators
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Curation Nation could use some curation itself. The book contains a lot of information, but it doesn't really say anything. The first 100 pages summary: there is a lot of crap on the Internet and it needs to be curated... I know that already, that's why I bought your book!
It goes on to profile different acts of curation such as the Huffington Post, aggregation through twitter, blogging, etc. Nothing really jaw dropping. Don't expect a unique insight here. Chapter 4 says don't piss of your consumers with crappy customer service because they have a voice now...this book was published in 2011 right? Do people/companies not know this by now? Did we really need a whole chapter on this?
The book's plea is "attention is the new economy." I partly agree with this, but don't expect this book to give any spectacular information on how to turn that attention into a tangible profit making business. While the book's purpose is not solely making money off of curation, it does suggests more of a "build it and they shall come" strategy hoping for your attention to somehow be monetized later through advertisers. If that floats your boat, this book may be for you.
Curation Nation contains thoughts from notable figures such as Clay Shirky, Alan Webber, Robert Scoble, Andrew Keen, Seth Godin, Mark Cuban, and others. Unfortunately none of the interviews led you the reader to know where curation is headed...all they know is we need it. Again, I know we need it, that's why I bought this book for some direction and to help make sense of it all. Ughhh
Alan Webber perhaps gives the best quote from the book: "Nobody has figured out a killer model of what exactly is exciting about a wonderfully produced movie, magazine, book, or record. Creating unique, memorable content isn't a formula -it's a happy accident. In the same way publishers struggle to figure out curation, there will be few leaders and lots of followers searching for the future economic model for content."
Curation Nation is for the lowest common denominator who are absolutely clueless that there is too much unfiltered information online and that it needs to be sorted. It will fill you in, provide you with a history of how we got here (unnecessary to the book) and where we currently are with no breathtaking insights. You'll get a bunch of information, but again, the book doesn't say much other than we need curation.
With the text being 259 Pages, it could have been cut AT LEAST in half. The future of curation fascinates me very much and I wanted to like this book. I expected this book to be GREAT judging by all the big name endorsements...but sadly I was let down.
P.S. If you happen to stumble across this book in the bookstore, just skip to the conclusion...you'll get all you need to know about the book saving you time in our limited "attention based economy."

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Business Leaders Are Buzzing About Curation Nation

"An indispensible guide to the brave new media world."—Arianna Huffington, editor in chief, the Huffington Post

"Gives me hope for the future of the Information Age. Rosenbaum argues for the growing importance of people—creative, smart, hip—who can spot trends, find patterns, and make meaning out of the flood of data that threatens to overwhelm us."—Daniel H. Pink, New York Timesbestselling author of Drive

"A testament to the strategic mind of a genius and a road map for developing engaging consumer experiences by curating content around your brand." —Bonin Bough, Global Director, Digital and Social Media, PepsiCo

"Perfectly on-trend—an insightful guide to the future. So entertaining you won't put it down."—Chris Meyer, author of Blur

"Read this book. Embrace curation, and you'll be ready to ‘crush it' with focus and passion in the noisy new world of massive data overload."—Gary Vaynerchuk, New York Timesbestselling author of Crush It

"Provides a wealth of real-world examples of how businesses can use the Web to give their customers a valuable curated experience."—Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com, and New York Timesbestselling author of Delivering Happiness

"Our best hope for sorting the good from the mediocre in our increasingly overwhelming media landscape."—Clay Shirky, author of Cognitive Surplusand Here Comes Everybody

About the Book:

Let's face it, we're drowning in data. Our inboxes are flooded with spam, we have too many "friends" on Facebook, and our Twitter accounts have become downright unmanageable. Creating content is easy; finding what matters is hard.

Fortunately, there is a new magic that makes the Web work. It's called curation, and it enables people to sort through the digital excess and find what's relevant.

In Curation Nation, Steven Rosenbaum reveals why brands, publishers, and content entrepreneurs must embrace aggregation and curation to grow an existing business or launch a new one. In fact, he asserts that curation is the only way to be competitive in the future.

Overwhelmed by too much content, people are hungry for an experience that both takes advantage of the Web's breadth and depth and provides a measure of human sorting and filtering that search engines simply can't achieve. In these shifting sands lies an extraordinary business opportunity: you can become a trusted source of value in an otherwise meaningless chaos of digital noise.

In Curation Nation, Rosenbaum "curates the curators" by gathering togetherpriceless insight and advice from the top thinkers in media, advertising, publishing, commerce, and Web technologies. This groundbreaking book levels the playing field, giving your business equal access to the content abundance presently driving consumer adoption of the Web.

As the sheer volume of digital information in the world increases, the demand for quality and context becomes more urgent. Curation will soon be a part of your business and your digital world.Understand it now, join in early, and reap the many benefits Curation Nation has to offer.

Learn more at CurationNation.org.


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The Official Joomla Book (Joomla Press) Review

The Official Joomla Book (Joomla Press)
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Advertised as a "comprehensive Joomla! reference for every administrator, developer, designer, and content manager", I expected a lot more from this book. As a PHP developer who has worked extensively with Wordpress writing custom code and templates, I'm very disappointed by the misleading product description. While good for getting acquainted with CMS concepts and getting your feet wet with Joomla for project manager types, this book is not for programmers looking for a O'Reilly-styled reference manual on coding Joomla modules or creating your own templates. There isn't a single block of PHP code anywhere in this entire book.
It leans heavily towards the non-technical aspects of Joomla and web management principles in general and seems to be written for a tech-savvy, but non-programmer lay audience. In the beginning is a chapter of non-Joomla fluff like branding (choosing a memorable logo), identifying your target audience, how to register a domain name, color schemes, search engine optimization, and choosing a hosting provider. This is all well and good for a web development principles "For Dummies" book, but for a book that's already thin at 300 pages and billed as a comprehensive reference book, this feels like an attempt at length padding. The next few chapters are about how to use the Joomla menu system itself to do things like navigate the site, upload files, and add new content, then moves onto a few examples of Joomla as used for business, schools, and non-profits, followed by useful plugins and a chapter of interviews from Joomla users, ending with an appendix of links and a glossary.
For experienced developers looking for actual technical material on how to write your own extensions and modules, you won't find it here. Discussion of CSS, the most fundamental and powerful way of changing the entire look of your site without any programming, is discussed here in a scant few pages and scattered mentions. After looking through this book, I am no closer to understanding how to work with Joomla's API and create my own templates from scratch. The jdoc statement, for example, is briefly explained in a paltry 2 pages.
In short, this is a good book for getting to know the basics of content management systems and core Joomla admin/content-creation capabilities, but for users looking to actually write code to extend Joomla's functionality, you'll find very little of use here. This book tries to be all things to all people, but it doesn't work. In the installation chapter at the beginning, for example, the book assumes your hosting provider has Cpanel and phpMyAdmin (administrators), yet the remainder of the book is very non-technical (content-managers). Somewhere, they forgot the developer. The interviews chapter takes up 38 pages and is almost completely useless to most people and reads like a product testimonial commercial. The participants are all asked many of the same questions (what attracted you to Joomla, do you use open-source software). Another nit is that the book is all black and white, minus the cover. Lastly, you get a free online version of the book, but for only 45 days.

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The Official Joomla! Book is the authoritative and comprehensive Joomla! reference for every administrator, developer, designer, and content manager. Distilling the unsurpassed experience of two long-time Joomla! contributors, it teaches exactly what you need to know, through practical example sites and crystal-clear explanations.
If you're new to Joomla!, you'll learn how to quickly create usable, effective sites. If you're an experienced Joomla! user, you'll learn how to make your sites more flexible, feature-rich, visually attractive, and useful. And whether new or experienced, you'll learn how Joomla! really works, so you can fully leverage its power whenever you're ready. You'll also get to know the Joomla! community by hearing from twelve community members through in-depth interviews, and you'll learn how to participate in the Joomla! project in ways that make sense for you.

The Official Joomla! Book covers everything from installation to usability, templates to extensions. The authors explain each key concept conversationally, helping you learn to help yourself and confidently gain control over Joomla! and the sites you build with it. They also present chapter-length application case studies for business, non-profits, and education. You will learn how to


Plan sites effectively before you start building them
Create production sites quickly while avoiding common mistakes
Install and configure Joomla! for maximum efficiency
Create and edit content for your Joomla! site
Customize and work with Joomla! templates
Work with extensions: components, modules, plugins, and languages
Efficiently administer Joomla! sites
Participate in the Joomla! community as a user and contributor


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Joomla 1.5: A User's Guide: Building a Successful Joomla Powered Website (2nd Edition) Review

Joomla 1.5: A User's Guide: Building a Successful Joomla Powered Website (2nd Edition)
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I recommend to every Joomla user who is less than "expert level" -- read this book! I have been working with Joomla 1.0 for about 5 months, so already had a basic understanding of many of the terms: component, module, etc. I purchased this book just before Christmas and took it with me to read on the holiday roadtrip. You know you are reading a great computer-related book when you can read and understand and make copious notes in the book margins...without sitting in front of a computer! Not only did it "fill in the blanks" about much of my understanding re: Joomla (any version), but I felt excited, and much more confident, about using Joomla 1.5. Great overview of Joomla, great details, great tips! A well-written user's guide. Thank you!

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The Best Easy-to-Use Guide to Joomla!TM--The World's #1 Open Source Content Management System If you want to build sophisticated websites that can be easily edited and updated, you need to master Joomla. Now there's an easy-to-read, easy-to-use guide to Joomla! for every site manager, administrator, and developer. Leading Joomla! consultant Barrie North covers all you need to get results: installation, administration, site organization, template development, content updates, and a whole lot more. You'll find tips, tricks, and troubleshooting solutions, as well as three start-to-finish case studies.

New to Joomla? No problem! This book starts with the simplest design and system concepts and builds your expertise step-by-step. You'll rapidly master Joomla!'s power, even if you have no content management, scripting, or CSS expertise. Experienced with Joomla!? You'll turn to this book constantly for its authoritative, plain-English, example-rich Joomla! 1.5 reference content.


Understand content management, what Joomla! does, and how its components fit together

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Return on Engagement: Content, Strategy, and Design Techniques for Digital Marketing Review

Return on Engagement: Content, Strategy, and Design Techniques for Digital Marketing
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First off, David Meerman Scott praises the book on the back cover. If you don't know who he is, check out his Gobbledygook Manifesto [...]
In it he says, "Marketers don't understand buyers, the problems buyers face, or how their product helps solve these problems. That's where the gobbledygook happens." He also states, "Because these writers don't understand how their products solve customer problems, they cover by explaining how the product works and pepper this blather with industry jargon." Return on Engagement (ROE) is far from that and exactly the type of book that satisfies David Meerman Scott.
I read Tim's first book, Managing Interactive Products, and Tim sticks to his guns again: be real, have something to offer, and be interesting. He shows marketers how to do that and drive the right audience to your site by focusing earning their trust. Tim explains that the reality is that blogs, social media sites, etc., should be used to help people, build a reputation, earn their trust, and then earn their business as they become advocates for you and your brand.
You probably already know a little bit about the digital technologies mentioned in this book. However, ROE shows how to create a digital strategy and the workflow to execute the tactics. Tim starts by explaining how to listen to online conversations and learn what ideas people have about you and how and why these should form your strategy. He teaches the importance of relevant content, how to publish effectively, and how to integrate your keyword strategy across all touch points/channels.
This books gets you thinking and jotting down notes. All sections contain bullet points with relevant questions that you should answer during your planning stage. Tim practices what he preaches. This book is part of the off-site technique to drive traffic to his site. It's all about driving people to the web. That's why you have to visit the website to download the mobile chapter. Highly suggested!


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Learning eZ publish 3: Building Content Management Solutions--Leaders of the eZ publish community guide you through this complex and powerful PHP-based Content Management System Review

Learning eZ publish 3: Building Content Management Solutions--Leaders of the eZ publish community guide you through this complex and powerful PHP-based Content Management System
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With this book, our intrepid micro-publisher has sought to lay out an understanding of the complex content management system eZ Publish (www.eZ.no). eZ Publish is a very powerful php based CMS solution, and really does meet the requirements of an Enterprise CMS solution.
However, it has not been a very well documented project despite great efforts by the developers, especially for the more complex functionality.
This book addresses many of the things that are left wanted by the documentation, such as the modification of core classes. However, it oddly combines them with basic information like how to set up the system -- information which was almost out of date before the book was released.
Sadly, the book fails to go deep enough to satiate the demand of our more technical users while also failing to provide enough introductory material for beginners. This lack of clear audience focus plagues the book and lessens it's utility for real world developer or beginners.
This book is absolutely worth the money, if you've got a little php under your belt and you're looking to really buckle down and start developing eZ Publish sites. But if you're a beginner, or you don't have a solid understanding of php, you'll probably find this book to be over your head past the first chapter.
This publisher is coming out with a revised version which I am sure will address many of these issues, as they are one of the best computer book publishers to hit the scene since WROX. The fourthcoming Plone book by the same publisher looks like a good title, and the OpenCMS book by Packt Publishers is very good.

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This book takes you through the process of designing and building content-rich web sites and applications using eZ publish. Famed for its power and flexibility, eZ publish can be daunting on first approach. Moreover, it has advanced features that reward the investment in learning. This book exists to ease experienced PHP developers into thinking and developing the eZ publish way. With hard-won experience of the practical difficulties faced by developers working with eZ publish, and technical approval from eZ systems (creators of eZ publish) this book is a distillation of the authors expertise, and the perfect way to master the system. This book is for Web developers new to eZ publish, while experienced developers of eZ publish who want to consolidate their knowledge will learn new techniques from eZ publish masters. It has also been designed for those new to eZ publish while also being aimed at experienced developers who want to consolidate their knowledge and learn new tricks from eZ publish masters.

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Mastering Mambo: E-Commerce, Templates, Module Development, SEO, Security, and Performance Review

Mastering Mambo: E-Commerce, Templates, Module Development, SEO, Security, and Performance
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I am not really a Mambo newbie, I've been toying with it on a casual basis for about a little over a year. So working around in the admin section, adding content through the front end, and any other mundane routines I am very comfortable with. Thankfully, that kind of information isn't what Mastering Mambo offers.
What Tobias Hauser and Christian Wenz do offer in their book is a very comprehensive guide to using Mambo for your development needs. There are many different aspects involved in any web project. What I really enjoyed about this book is that as a beginner programmer, I was able to pick this book up and understand it really well.
Tips are offered throughout the book so as to make the most efficient use of Mambo. Some tips offered include how to preview sites using mambo templates. Another tip involves using an XML validator to prevent error messages when installing templates, modules, or components.
I would venture to say this book is probably good for both the beginning programmer as well as the advanced programmer. The beginner will benefit by being exposed to programming concepts and how to develop business logic. The advanced programmer will be able to use this to pick up on the specifics of Mambo.
While my particular interest in this book was to learn more about developing modules and components, that certainly isn't the only thing addressed in this book. This book is a very good survey of how flexible Mambo is and provides information on how to customize the design, increase functionality, marketing with SEO, and security issues.

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Mastering Mambo is a professional-level guide to Mambo's most powerful and useful features. You will develop powerful interactive sites that fit perfectly with your unique requirements. Create attractive custom layouts for Mambo. Build multilingual, internationalised sites. Open an online store for your Mambo site, complete with support for gift coupons, automatic invoicing, and more. Turn your site into a community with discussion forums. Discover more of the available Mambo extensions and how to use them. Optimize your site for performance, search engines, security, and accessibility. Develop your own components, modules and Mambots. Master DOCMAN, the document manager for Mambo, to turn your Mambo site into a dynamic repository of shared documents and files. Mastering Mambo is the book for anybody who has developed a Mambo web site, and wants to expand what their site can do and make the most of this powerful content management system. It is not a tutorial in the Mambo basics. Nor is it a comprehensive reference to Mambo's workings. Instead, it shows you how to employ Mambo's most powerful and useful features in your own site or intranet.

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Joomla 1.5 Site Blueprints Review

Joomla 1.5 Site Blueprints
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Timi Ogunjobi author, has a few publications about web design in the topic: Joomla!, as well as Drupal. The first chapter was devoted to preliminary issues, this way so even person which didn't deal earlier with Joomla! will be happy to find some info.
The author focused on the functionalities, and so each chapter shows how to use the popular ones, including those built into the system. Reading the chapters you will learn how to build: business page (Chapter 2), club page (chapter 3), the on-line magazine (Chapter 4), events web page (chapter 5), social networking (Chapter 6), shop (chapter 7), directory (Chapter 8), gallery (Chapter 9), Google maps (chapter 10) and using the RSS web page (chapter 11).
This book is aimed at people who haven't used Joomla! 1.5 before and want to learn how to build popular web pages. Unlike many other Joomla books, this one gets you how to build web page very quickly, very practical publication for beginners. If you are an experience Joomla! web designer or web developer, sorry but this is not the book you need. Because, it doesn't cover a lot of questions a user might have if he build a website for demanding customer.
In the case of Internet Magazine (Chapter 4) - useful tips, but too little (or more accurately lack of!) Described modules, which simplify the construction of this type of party. It is a pity that the author did not write about the components using separate CCK such as K2.
So, If are you a beginner buy it ! You will get clear and full of useful informations with lots of screen shots.


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The hands-on example projects in this book are based on fictitious website development briefs, and they illustrate practical ways of applying Joomla! The book dives straight into the process of constructing the featured projects. A chapter is dedicated to each example website project. Each chapter is a separate project booklet, written independently of any other chapter. Each chapter contains a fictitious brief from which we derive the list of core and contributed extensions that we will need to implement the project. Then each chapter progresses into step-by-step instructions for building the web project, aided by the extensive use of screenshots. This book is for Joomla! developers who want to build a range of Joomla! sites, and see how to apply the many available Joomla! extensions and features in different scenarios. If you would like to try building websites as a freelancer or give your business a professional quality web presence, this is a great book to help you get started.

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