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This sample content is excerpted from the forthcoming book, titled Joomla! A User's Guide: Building a Joomla! Powered Website, to publish in May, 2007, by Prentice Hall Professional. It is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5.
This guide quickly leads you through installing Joomla. Both a
local installation to use as you read this guide (if you don't have a hosting
account or have a slow internet connection) and real web server installations
are described.
In This Guide
- How do you install Joomla?
- Where can you install Joomla?
- How can you create a test environment or your
local computer?
- Where do I get the Joomla files from?
- How can get support for installing Joomla?
Running and Testing Joomla Without a Hosting Account
Joomla is a complex series of PHP scripts that run on a web
server. When you browse a Joomla site, these scripting are being generated on
the fly and creating what you see on the pages of the site. The key words here
are web server.
You cannot download Joomla and try to run it on your computer
like an exe file. It has to have a web server, which means you need to have a
hosting account. Sounds obvious, but I have had a couple of people ask if they
needed windows XP to run Joomla!
Now, before we shell out our hard earned money for a hosting
account, there is something else you can do first. You can actually run a web
server on your local computer, in other words, your desktop or laptop. This is
known as having a localhost. It may sound like I just contradicted myself from
the previous paragraph, but not quite. You can't "run" Joomla itself on your
own computer, but you can install a localhost web server for it to "run on".
What you need to pull this off is some software that runs Apache,
PHP and MySQL on your computer. These are the same software packages that power
websites. There are two popular ones that are both free (GPL license):
I am going to quickly run through setting up WAMP, note that this
package is windows specific.
Download WAMP from www.wampserver.com/en, and then install it. It will create a folder
c:/wamp/www.
Head over to www.joomla.org and get the version of Joomla you want to install (about
a 4MB file).
Joomla
comes in a zip file, unzip it into a folder inside WAMP, eg. c:/wamp/www/Joomla
Run
WAMP, you should get a handy icon in your system tray which will look similar
to Figure 3.1.
Figure 3.1
Winamp icons in icon tray (windows)
You need the dial to be white to continue. Note if you run Skype,
it interferes with WAMP and so you have to start WAMP without Skype running
(and then start Skype if you need it)
Now open a browser and go to http://localhost (no "www"). You should see a page which looks like Figure 3.2.
Figure 3.2
Browser view of Winamp http://localhost
If you are not seeing this then you should stop and figure out
why. You have to get this page before you can proceed. The WAMP site has some
helpful troubleshooting FAQ's and a forum. You should see your folder called
"Joomla" in the list of Your Projects. Click on that folder and you will get
taken to that "website".
Note:
At some point you will probably want to transfer your Joomla
installation from your local computer to a host. Some guides how to do this can
be found on the Joomla forums: see FAQ's forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,5556.0.html and forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,5703.0.html
Installing a Joomla Site on a Hosting Account
So let's assume you either have a hosting account, or are going
to get yourself one. There are some minimum requirements for Joomla to run, and
they are slightly different for the different versions.
For information, here are the minimum requirements for Joomla 1.5
You must ensure that you have MySQL, XML and Zlib support built
into your PHP. For assistance in making sure you have the proper support I
recommend that you refer to the Joomla Help Forums, specifically help.joomla.org/content/view/34/132/
For Joomla 1.5 it's recommended you have PHP 4.4.3 or above (for
enhanced security).
A thread on the Joomla forums lists various hosting companies who
are active Joomla community members. The list can be found at forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,6856.0.html
Note that from now on, the steps are more or less the same
whether you are installing Joomla on a localhost or on a remote web server.
Getting the Joomla Files
This part is easy. Head on over to www.joomla.org and you will
see a link to the download section on the home page, it looks Figure 3.3.:
Figure 3.3
Download button at www.joomla.org
The version number is the number given. This image shows that
it's the 11th release in the 1.0 series.
Or you can head straight to the Forge and you will see all
possible downloads:
forge.joomla.org/sf/frs/do/viewSummary/projects.joomla/frs
All versions are here as well as various upgrades from one
release to another, important if you already have an installation of Joomla.
Important Note:
You cannot upgrade from Joomla 1.0 to Joomla 1.5. There are
significant enough changes in the code that simply over writing files would
break your site. The developer team has carefully chosen to talk about
migration.
"Joomla 1.5 does not provide an upgrade path from earlier versions.
Converting an older site to a Joomla 1.5 site requires creation of a new empty
site using Joomla 1.5 and then populating the new site with the content from
the old site. This migration of content is not a one-to-one process and
involves conversions and modifications to the content dump."
dev.joomla.org/component/option,com_jd-wp/Itemid,33/p,107/
This has been a deliberate choice to minimize the number of users
who might attempt the "overwrite the files" technique. More can be found in the
forum:
"Joomla 1.5 is so significantly changed from 1.0 that there is no
'upgrade' path. This is the reason that we are providing a migration path. The
concept is to build a new site and to migrate data from the old site.
Extensions need to be installed and configured as if the site is new. The core
data migration does reconstruct menu items for core elements and also keeps
core module records with configuration settings."
David Gal - forum.joomla.org/index.php/topic,63232.0.html
Unzipping the files
You need to unzip, or unpack the big Joomla files you have onto
your server. If you are running as a localhost, your server would be the WAMP
directory mentioned above. If you are on a web host, you will need to upload
the file and then unpack it. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is with cpanel's
file manager. Almost all hosting companies provide it. Use this file manager to
upload the zip file to public_html (or whatever you have on your host). You can
then use it to extract the files. Just click on the name of the file and the
option to extract will appear to the right as shown in Figure 3.4.
Figure 3.4
Extracting a file in Cpanel's file manager
Note:
I don't recommend using Fantasico. Its an instant installer of
common open source scripts. Many hosts provide it but don't always have the
most current file releases.
Installing Joomla through a Web Browser
If you have got this far that means you have unzipped the Joomla
package to either a remote web host or your local computer. Now for the fun
stuff!
Using your browser of choice (Firefox of course), navigate to the
location of all the Joomla files. In my case here it is http://localhost/Joomla.
You will see the first installation screen (Figure 3.5).
Figure 3.5
The Choose Language Screen
Figure 3.5 is the first look at some of the internationalization
features of Joomla 1.5, you can select amongst many languages for the
installation instructions. After you have selected your language the next
screen you will be presented with (Figure 3.6) is the Pre-Installation Check
Screen.
Figure 3.6
The Pre-Installation Check Screen
A critical part in the installation process, this checks if all
the minimum system requirements are met.
The first set are required minimums, if they are red (not met)
then you need to find a new environment (change hosts), talk them into changing
their environment (upgrading PHP for example). Note that the last item is a
permissions issue on a file that is much easier to rectify. You can usually
change permissions through the cpanel provided by your host. This is a tool that is standard with almost all hosting
companies.
The second set is recommended settings. If you don't meet them
you can still install Joomla but it you experience problems with functionality
and security.
Once you are green to go, click next which will bring you to the
License Screen (Figure 3.7).
Figure 3.7
The License screen
Joomla is released under a GNU/GPL license. One of the most
common questions regarding this license is "can I remove the footer link that
says Powered by Joomla". It's actually perfectly OK to do this, you just have
to keep the copyright statement in the source code. However, I would recommend
that you keep the link.
Why?
Joomla is an open source project; it receives no funding from any
kind of revenue from selling its software. The bottom line is that thousands of
developers around the world are developing this software that you are using
right now. If you had to buy it from a commercial company, it would cost over a million dollars, but you are getting it for free. In return, keep the
link, it will help the project gain in popularity and grow. Don't hide the fact
that you are using Joomla, be proud of it! And don't be concerned about any
kind of SEO dilution with an extra link off your page. Links to authoritative
sites actually help you SEO! If you are feeling generous, make a donation to the project.
OK, I'll get off my soapbox now…and move to the next screen
Database Configuration (Figure 3.8).
Figure 3.8
The database configuration screen
This is one of the main pages of the installation process; it's
where you need to enter important information about the database that your
Joomla site will use. Note you will see a drop down for the database type.
Joomla 1.5 only really runs on SQL, but some of the foundation has been laid
for the next release, 2.0, to use more types, for example Oracle.
The hostname will almost always be "localhost"
The Username and password will have been provided by your hosting
company, usually in an email you got when you created the account.
If you are installing on a localhost using WAMP or XAMPP, the
Username is usually "root" and the password is nothing/blank.
Once you have entered this information, click Get Privileges and
the Joomla installer checks to see if that user has rights to create a
database. You should see the message in Figure 3.9
Figure 3.9
User privilege confirmation dialog
If you made an error, or the user does not have sufficient
permissions, then you get the message in
Figure 3.10 (after a small delay).
Figure 3.10
User privilege error dialog
If the user you have does not have permissions then you can ask
your hosting company to pre-create a SQL database for you to use.
Available collations refer to various character sets available
for different languages. When you click the button you get a list of what is
available similar to Figure 3.11.
Figure 3.11
Collation options
Pick a Database name for the SQL database that Joomla will use.
Use some sort of name that is not confusing. Other scripts use SQL databases
and before you know it you might have several on your server and will need to
tell them apart. Don't use spaces in the name.
If you are running several Joomla sites but only have access to
one database, you will need to use a table prefix to distinguish them. You'll
need to enter the prefix in the advanced settings (Figure 3.12)
Note if your user did not have database creation privileges and
you were provided with a database instead you would obviously put that in as
the name.
The advanced settings are concerned with what content the site
starts with and also the table prefixes mentioned previously.
Figure 3.12
Advanced configuration settings
If you have an existing site and you are reinstalling over the
top, you will need to select Drop Existing Tables. If you need to keep a back
of them, select Backup Old Tables. Using "jos" as a table prefix is conventional
unless you have multiple sites in the same database.
FTP Configuration
You may have noticed that this step, FTP Configuration is grayed
out on these screenshots. That's because the installation wizard cleverly
detects whether you are on a localhost or on a liver server. If you are on a
windows localhost, like I was when I took these screenshots, you don't need an
FTP configuration; it doesn't apply, so the installer skips that step.
So if you are on a remote host, the screen looks like Figure 3.13.
Figure 3.13
FTP configuration screen
What is this FTP filesystem anyway?
The previous version of Joomla, the 1.0.X series had issues with
ownership of files on a server. It's a little bit technical, to give you an
idea, its possible for files on an Apache web server to be owned by a user
called "nobody". Go figure. Anyway, there would be conflicts with who owned
files, whether it was the FTP account or Apache itself. This would lead to
permission problems when Joomla would try to upload files.
The solution in 1.5 is for Joomla to actually use an FTP account
for everything, and then there are no conflicts.
If that was all a little confusing to you, just create an FTP
account for Joomla to use and enter the details in this screen.
Main Configuration
Figure 3.14
Main configuration screen
The Main Configuration page determines how you will insert
content into your site. You have three choices:
- Install Sample Data
This installs the default Joomla content that you have probably
seen all over the web with "Welcome to Joomla". Note that is also includes all
the menus, navigation links and sections/categories. If you are learning how to
use Joomla this is highly recommended. Its easier to adapt and revise than to
start from scratch.
- Load SQL script
This is a SQL file that might have a customized set of content
- Migration from previous versions
This is a special function that is part of a process to migrate a
Joomla site running on 1.0 to 1.5 and requires a special component to do so.
This is discussed more in the Appendix.
Give your site a name (pay attention to SEO keywords) and then
enter the super administration information. This will be the first user in the
site and automatically gets that status. Note that if you don't change the
password, it will use the one shown on the left. Make sure you write it down!
Cross your eyes, close your fingers and click next. Hopefully you
will see the screen shown in Figure 3.15.
Figure 3.15
Installation confirmation screen
If you do get this result, you can investigate different language
options, view the site or jump right to the administration of your site.
If you don't get this page, then you have some work to do. Often
issues arise because of server environments. If the solution is not obvious, a
useful step is to copy the error message or the main part of it and then search
for it both on the Joomla help forums, forum.joomla.org and in Google. The
chances are if you get an error, someone else has before you.
A useful trick is to include the message in double quotations in
the search box so you search for the exact phrase.
Guide Summary
- Installing Joomla is a three step process:
- Uploading
the Joomla package
- Unpacking
it
- Using
a browser based wizard to complete installation
- You can install Joomla on a hosted web server or
you local (personal) computer
- To run Joomla locally you will need some free 3rd party software
- You cannot upgrade from a Joomla 1.0.X site to a
1.5 version, you must use a special migration tool.
- Joomla is created by a world wide community of
volunteers. Show your support by showing on your website that it is powered by
Joomla.
This sample content has been provided by Pearson Education doing business as Prentice Hall Professional at this early stage to create awareness for this upcoming book. It has not been copyedited or proofread yet; we trust that you will judge this book on technical merit, not on grammatical and punctuation errors that will be fixed at a later stage.
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