Installing and Configuring Joomla! 1.5 - Joomla & VirtueMart Tips & How To's

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Installing and Configuring Joomla! 1.5
  • Joomla 1.5
  • Joomla Jobs!
by Santonu Kumar Dhar | September 2010 | Joomla! Open Source
Before we start how to develop a jobsite with Joomla!, we need to install and configure Joomla! 1.5 and Jobs! extension along with all of its modules.

Joomla! has earned a reputation of being one of the most powerful CMS programs around, as its core team emerged from another popular open source Content Management System (CMS) program called Mambo. Joomla! was downloaded more than 2.5 million times within the first year of its release. It has over 200,000 community users and contributors. Although Joomla! is so popular, building jobsites with Joomla! is a new concept.


To build a jobsite, you need to use a jobs and recruitment extension (such as Jobs!, Jobline!, or JS Jobs) in your Joomla! website. We will use the Jobs! extension because it provides all of the functionalities that a professional jobsite should have. It provides graphical user interface for administrator, employer, and jobseeker. Before we start how to develop a jobsite with Joomla!, we need to install and configure Joomla! 1.5 and Jobs! extension along with all of its modules.


This article by Santonu Kumar Dhar, author of the book Building job sites with Joomla!, explains:


· Prerequisites for installation of Joomla! 1.5 and Jobs!


· Setting up a local server environment


· Uploading installation packages and files to server


· Creating database and user for the database


· Installing and configuring Joomla! 1.5



Building job sites with Joomla!

Building job sites with Joomla!


A practical stepwise tutorial to build your professional website using Joomla!


· Build your own monster.com using Joomla!


· Take your job site to the next level using commercial Jobs! Extension


· Administrate and publish your Joomla! job site easily using the Joomla! 1.5 administrator panel and Jobs! Pro control panel interface


· Boost your job site ranking in search engines using Joomla! SEO



Read more about this book


 


Introduction

You may have various approaches for building a jobsite, with job search and registration facilities for users and providing several services to your clients such as job posting, online application process, resume search, and so on. Joomla! is one of the best approaches and an affordable solution for building your jobsite, even if you are a novice to Joomla!. This is because Joomla! is a free, open source Content Management System (CMS) , which provides one of the most powerful web application development frameworks available today. These are all reasons for building a jobsite with Joomla!:


· It has a friendly interface for all types of users—designers, developers, authors, and administrators.


· This CMS is growing rapidly and improving since its release. Joomla! is designed to be easy to install and set up even if you're not an advanced user.


· Another advantage is that you need less time and effort to build a jobsite with Joomla!.


You need to use a Joomla! jobsite extension to build your jobsite and you can use the commercial extension Jobs! because it's fully equipped to operate a jobsite, featuring tools to manage jobs, resumes, applications, and subscriptions. If you are looking for a jobsite such as Monster, Career Builder, a niche jobs listing such as Tech Crunch, or just posting job ads on your company site, Jobs! is an ideal solution. To know more about this extension, visit its official website http://www.instantphp.com/


Jobs! has two variations—Jobs! Pro and Jobs! Basic . The Jobs! Pro provides some additional features and facilities, which are not available in Jobs! Basic. You can use any one of them, depending upon your needs and budget. But if you need full control over your jobsite and more customization facilities, then Jobs! Pro is recommended. You can install Jobs! component and its modules easily, like any other Joomla! extension. You need to spend only a few minutes to install and configure Joomla! 1.5 and Jobs! Pro 1.3 or Jobs! Basic 1.0. It is a stepwise setup process. But first you must ensure that your system meets all the requirements that are recommended by developers.


Prerequisites for installation of Joomla! 1.5 and Jobs!

Joomla! is written in PHP and mainly uses MySQL database to store and manipulate information. Before installing Joomla! 1.5 and Jobs! extension, we need a server environment, that includes the following:


Software/Application


Minimum


Requirement


Recommended


Version


Website


PHP


5


5.2


http//php.net


MySQL


4.1 or above


5


http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/5.0.html


Apache


1.3 or above


 


http://httpd.apache.org


IIS


6


7


http://www.iis.net/


mod_mysql


mod_xml


mod_zlib


 


 


 


You must ensure that you have the MySQL, XML, and zlib functionality enabled within your PHP installation. This is controlled within the php.ini file.


Setting up a local server environment

In order to run Joomla! properly, we need a server environment with pre-installed PHP and MySQL. In this case, you can use a virtual server or can choose other hosting options. But if you want to try out Joomla! on your own computer before using a remote server, we can set up a local server environment.


To set up a server environment, we can use XAMPP solution. It comes equipped with Apache HTTP server, PHP, and MySQL. Installing these components individually is quite difficult and needs more time and effort.


To install XAMPP, download the latest version of XAMPP 1.7.x from the Apache friends website: http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html.


Windows operating system users can install XAMPP for Windows in two different variations—self-extracting RAR archive and ZIP archive.


If you want to use self-extracting RAR archive, first download the .exe file and then follow these steps:


1. Run the installer file, choose a directory, and click on the Install button.


jobs1


After extracting XAMPP, the setup script setup_xampp.bat will start automatically.


2. After the installation is done, click on Start All Programs | Apache Friends | XAMPP | XAMPP Control Pane|.


jobs2


3. Start Apache and MySQL by clicking on the Start buttons beside each item. If prompted by Windows Firewall, click on the Unblock button.


For more information on installing XAMPP on Windows or troubleshooting, go to the Windows FAQs page: http://www.apachefriends.org/en/faqxampp- windows.html.


If you are using Linux platform, download the compressed .tar.gz file and follow these steps for installation:


4. Go to a Linux shell and log in as the system administrator root:


su


5. Extract the downloaded archive file to /opt:


tar xvfz xampp-linux-1.7.3a.tar.gz -C /opt


XAMPP is now installed in the /opt/lampp directory.


6. To start XAMPP, call the command:


/opt/lampp/lampp start


You should now see something similar to the following on your screen:


Starting XAMPP 1.7.3a...


LAMPP: Starting Apache...


LAMPP: Starting MySQL...


LAMPP started.


 


For more information on installing XAMPP on Linux or troubleshooting, go to the Linux FAQs page: http://www.apachefriends.org/en/faq-xampp-linux.html.


If you want to use XAMPP in MAC operating system , download the .dmg file and follow these steps:


1. Open the DMG-Image.


2. Drag and drop the XAMPP folder into your Applications folder.


3. XAMPP is now installed in the /Applications/XAMPP directory.


4. To start XAMPP open XAMPP Control and start Apache and MySQL.


5. After installation of XAMPP in a system, to test your installation, type the following URL in the browser: http://localhost/.


You will see the XAMPP start page.


Uploading installation packages and files to server

Now, we need to copy or transfer Joomla! installation package files to server. Before copying the installation package, we must download Joomla_1.5.15-Stable-Full_ Package.zip from the webpage http://www.joomla.org/download.html, and then extract and unzip it. You can use WinZip or WinRAR to unzip these files. After unzipping the files, you have to copy files on your server root folder (for Apache, it is htdocs folder). If you are not using the XAMPP or local server environment, you need the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) software to transfer files to your server root folder, such as htdocs or wwwroot. The popular FTP software is FileZilla, which is absolutely free and available for different platforms, including Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. You can get it from the website http://filezilla-project.org/.


Creating database and user

Before installing and configuring Joomla! and Jobs! extension, we also need to create a database and a database user. You can easily add a new database and any user by using phpMyAdmin in XAMPP server environment. To add a database, by using phpMyAdmin, you must follow the following steps:


· Type the address http://localhost/phpmyadmin in the web browser. The front page of phpMyAdmin will be displayed.


· Type a name for the database you want to create. For example, my_db in the Create new Database field and then click on the Create button to create the database.


jobs3


· To be connected with the database, we need a user account. You can add a user account by clicking on the Privileges tab of phpMyAdmin.


jobs4


· You will see all users' information. Click on Add a new User link of Privileges window. After clicking on the link, a new window will appear. Provide the required information in the Login Information section of this window and then click on the Go button.


jobs5


We have now completed the preparation stage of installing Joomla!.



Building job sites with Joomla!

Building job sites with Joomla!


A practical stepwise tutorial to build your professional website using Joomla!


· Build your own monster.com using Joomla!


· Take your job site to the next level using commercial Jobs! Extension


· Administrate and publish your Joomla! job site easily using the Joomla! 1.5 administrator panel and Jobs! Pro control panel interface


· Boost your job site ranking in search engines using Joomla! SEO



Read more about this book


(For more resources on Joomla!, see here.)


Installing and configuring Joomla! 1.5

We are now ready to install Joomla! 1.5. Open a web browser and type the address of your server directory in which you have copied Joomla!1.5 package files. For example, if you have copied files to a folder named joomla in root htdocs directory of XAMPP local server environment, you must type the following address in your web browser: http://localhost/joomla.


You will be automatically redirected to the Joomla! installation wizard and then follow these steps:


1. Choosing language:


The first step lets you to select a language to use during the Joomla! installation steps. Choose the language you want to use and then click on Next.


jobs6


2. Pre-installation check:


Here, pre-installation check will be completed, which is important to determine compatibility of Joomla! with your system. To run Joomla! 1.5 properly, you must carefully check recommended settings for PHP and ensure that your system meets all the requirements.


If some settings are not the same as recommended, these settings will be highlighted in red. You can solve them by changing the PHP settings in php.ini file in your server. You will find the list of the php.ini directives that you can set to configure your PHP setup in the following webpage: http://www.php.net/manual/en/ini.list.php.


jobs7


On Unix-based systems (Linux, Mac OS X), attention should be given to writing rights. This is particularly important for the configuration.php file. At the end of the installation, this file gets created with its individual values. If the installer does not have writing rights, Joomla! cannot create this file and the installation will fail. If this happens, try to configure the rights appropriately and click on Check Again. After checking successfully, click on Next.


3. License:


In this step, you need to carefully read the license agreement and accept it. Joomla! is available with the GNU/GPL license. The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a widely used free software license, originally written for the GNU. For more details, visit the webpage: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html.


Something similar to the following screenshot will appear. After reading and accepting the license agreement, click on Next.


jobs8


4. Database Configuration:


In this step, you have to set up Joomla! to connect with database and run on your server. Type the URL of your database host in the Host Name field, then provide the username you have created earlier in the User Name field; provide also the password in the Password field and your database name in the Database Name field.


For example, type something like the following:


Host Name: http://localhost


Username: Santonu


Password: 1234


Database Name: my_db


jobs9


After providing the database information, click on Next.


5. FTP Configuration:


To solve the problem of PHP safe-mode restrictions, you can use an FTP layer to upload files and handle all the file system operations. To use an FTP layer, type an FTP username in the FTP User field and a password in the FTP Password field.


It is always recommended to skip this step. You can enable this anytime from the Global configuration window, in case of any security problems. Now click on the Next button to go to the next step.


jobs10


6. Main Configuration:


This step enables you to configure Joomla! and this is the main configuration step of the Joomla! installation. First, you have to provide the name of your website in the Site Name field. This name will normally appear in the title section of a web browser.


Then provide your e-mail address and also provide admin password and then retype the password in the Confirm Admin Password field. By default, your super administrator username is admin. You cannot define another username during installation but you can change it later from the admin panel.


jobs11


If you are a beginner, you can click on Install Sample Data to load sample data and then click on Next.


7. Finish:


In this step, your Joomla! installation steps will be completed Congratulations! Joomla! is now installed, as shown in the following screenshot. This means you have successfully completed the installation steps.


jobs12


Now you have to remove the Joomla! installation folder first, and then click on the Site button to view your Joomla! website or click on the Admin button to take a tour of the Joomla! administrator panel. You can easily remove this folder. Go to your server root directory where Joomla! is installed. Delete the entire installation folder.


If you are using a hosting solution instead of a local server, you can remove this folder in two ways:


· By using the File Manager tool in your hosting control panel (such as C-Panel, Plesk)


· By using an FTP client (such as FileZilla and SmartFTP)


Summary

In this article, we took a look at the prerequisites for installation of Joomla! 1.5 and Jobs!. We also took a look at the installation and configuration of Joomla! 1.5.


In the next article, we will learn how to manage sections, categories, articles, and extensions. We will also take a look at the installation and configuration of Jobs!


 


 



Building job sites with Joomla!

Building job sites with Joomla!


A practical stepwise tutorial to build your professional website using Joomla!


· Build your own monster.com using Joomla!


· Take your job site to the next level using commercial Jobs! Extension


· Administrate and publish your Joomla! job site easily using the Joomla! 1.5 administrator panel and Jobs! Pro control panel interface


· Boost your job site ranking in search engines using Joomla! SEO



 




Last Updated on Saturday, 16 October 2010 12:44
 
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Installing and Configuring Joomla! 1.5 |Joomla & VirtueMart Tips & How To's



GJC Website Design UK, Joomla Developer, VirtueMart Developer, Template Developer, web site designs, England, Britain, UK, Belgium, search-engine optimisation (SEO). Multilingual.


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