Master Template for Class Web Sites

Introduction to the Template(DRAFT)

We are pleased to announce the availability of a new master template for creating class web sites. This template is based on the Joomla Content management system used successfully by the classes of 1972 and 1969. All of the software used in this template is open-source and most of it is free. A few modules are proprietary and require a small payment for use (on the order of $25 - $35).

You can see what the template looks like before it is customized for your class here. (TK add link and guest login info.)

We describe key features and benefits here.

You can install and run this template on your own server, or you can use one of several inexpensive hosting companies who specialize in hosting Joomla sites. (TK add link)

If you would like to pursue using this template, you can contact Bill Bean (TK add email and phone)

The rest of this page (and subsidiary pages) is documentation of the template. In order to use the system effectively and to understand the documentation you will need to absorb a certain amount of jargon. We'll try to make it as painless as possible.

Introduction to Joomla

Joomla is a free, open-source, extensible content manager. A content manager is a program that you install on a Web server that allows you to easily create a Web site and to manage the content that appears on the site. That is the core function of Joomla. The rest of those adjectives mean that you can use it without charge; you are free to modify it to suit your own needs; and that the basic system can be extended by adding other, independently developed modules to it.

The key pieces of Joomla Jargon that you must master before we go on are:

• Article: Just what it sounds like. A piece of text that you've written and would like to display on your Web site.
• Components: Programs that provide Joomla with extra capabilities such as displaying Google maps, or displaying galleries of photographs.
• Modules: Programs that produce output that can be displayed on your Web pages. A module might produce a list of your users, or a list of upcoming events, for example.
• Plugins: Simple programs that extend the functionality of Joomla or of a module or component.
• Front End/Back End: The front end of the system is what your users see. It's the part of the system that's open to the world, or to your registered users. The back end is a more private part of the system that allows you to administer the Web site. The back end has all the controls you need to set up and manage the site.
• Menu: A grouping of menu items. There can be more than one menu on your site and pages can have individualized menus as well as classes of users (registered or guest, for example).
• Menu Item: A single entry on a menu. It controls the text that appears on the menu and also what happens if the user selects it. A menu item, for example might take you to an article, or to a gallery of photographs.

Components Used in the Template

Community Builder GMapsPro Event List ExposePrive Nice Talk Sticky Message Pro