Joomla Interview Questions

What is Joomla

Joomla! is a content management system platform for
publishing content on the World Wide Web and intranets as
well as a Model–view–controller (MVC) Web Application
Development framework.
---Joomla! came into being as the result of the fork of
Mambo by the development team on August 17, 2005.
---Open Source
---Customize modules
---Built-in modules & plugins
---Develop by PHP
---MySql Support
---Admin & User Section
---User Management
---Media Manager
---Language Manager
---Banner Management & many more...

What are Positions?
Site templates divides the "pages" displayed on a site into a series of positions, each with a different name.

You can view the location of positions in your default template from the administrator go to Site =>Preview=>Inline with Positions.

You can annotate your positions through the administrator (backend). Go to Site=>Template Manage=>Module Positions.

You can add or remove positions by modifying your template html.

You assign a module to a position using the module manager.

Modules=>Site Modules
On the left side of the page, on the third line, there is a drop down menu that lets you select the position.

Notes:
Modules that are not pubished will not display.
Modules can be assigned to unused positions (positions not in the template) if you want to have them published but not displayed in a position (for example, if you want to display a module in content).
Multiple modules may be assigned to the same position. They will be displayed in the order shown for modules in that position in the module manager.
If you want to display a module in more than one position, use the module manager to copy the module and assign the copy to the second position.

How do I change the favicon?

The joomla favicon is stored in the /images folder. The file is called favicon.ico. By definition a favicon must be 16x16 pixels.
If you wish to use your own favicon, rename the default joomla favicon.ico file and put your file with that name in the images directory.

Alternatively, you can change the favicon in the Joomla! global configuration Site tab (on the bottom).

Depending on your browser, you may not see the icon immediately. This is because the favicons are cached, which is why they can appear in your bookmark list. So, to see your favicon, you will need to clear your browser cache.

What are section, categories and content items?
Joomla! is a content management system. Sections and categories allow you to organize your content.

The basic structure is:
Sections include Categories.
Categories include content items.

Section A
Category A1
content items
Category A2
content items
Category A3
content items

Section B
Category B1
content items
Category B2
content items
Category B3
content items

Section C

Category C1
content items
Category C2
content items
Category C3
content items

The content items are what you would think of as web pages in a traditional html site.

Both section and category "pages" can be created to serve (more or less) as the home pages for the categories and sections, respectively.

Although it makes sense to organize your work into categories and sections, you do not need to show these to your users. Using your menus, you can link directly to sections, categories and content items. You can also select numerous options for the display of content associated with each type of link.

What determines what is shown on my frontpage?

Frontpage is a component that is part of the core of Joomla!, like the front page of a newspaper, it shows (usually) multiple pieces of content arranged in some way.

When you install Joomla! the front page component is by default set as the homepage of your site (that is it is the first link on your Main Menu) but front page does not have to be your "home" page.

What exactly appears on the front page and how it is laid out is controlled in two ways. First, if you open the menu link in your menu manager in the backend there are numerous parameters that control the number of items shown, the number of columns etc.

To control which items are shown you must also indicate that an item should be placed on the front page by editing the parameters for the content item. In the backend this will be indicated by a check mark in the front page column of the list of content items.

In addition, you can use the front page manager (in the content menu of the backend) to control the publication dates and other variables for content items that are on the front page.

How do I change the image(s) in my template?
One common template change is to use your own graphic/image. Simple graphics (not banners) are linked in the html file. Simply change the reference to the image of your choice in the html file of your template. In the adminsitrative interface do this by going to Site =>Template manager and then selecting your template. Click the icon for html.

Keep in mind that it if it is a different size than the original image this may change the appearance of the site in unexpected ways.

Additional information:

The images for a given template are generally located in this folder:
/templates/templatename/images (Substitute the name of the template you are using in place of "templatename").

A trick for finding the name of the image is to put your cursor over it and click right. Select view image. This will display the image and give its full url. Sometimes the images are background images. This is viewable in Firefox or you can look for the background tag in your page source.

How to upload an image:

There are many ways to upload images. Which one you use will depend on your host and server.
1. You can use an ftp client.
2. You can use a cpanel file manager.
3. You can use the media manager.
4. You can use various extensions that allow uploading, including joomlaexplorer and galleries.

How do I remove the page title from the front page of my site?
# First log into the administrative back end.
# On the top menu click "Menu"->"mainmenu"
# Click "Home".
# On the right side of the screen in the parameters section, locate the “Page Title” parameter that is next to the radio buttons “Show” and “Hide”.
# Click the “Hide” radio button.
# Click the “Save” button to make your change permanent.

How do I eliminate the pathway or breadcrumbs?

In this case the breadcrumb for that page would look like: "Home >> Books >> Pages >> New Page".

If you wish to eliminate the pathway entirely, edit your template html (index) file. Usually it will look like this:

If you wish to eliminate it on a specific page, such as just the home page, you can modify the template in this way:
New line:if($option != "" && $option != "com_frontpage")
New line:{
New line:?>
Existing:

Existing:
Existing:

New line:}
New line:?>
Understanding: The first line says that if the option in the url does not equal com_frontpage (!="com_frontpage") display the pathway. In php ! means not.

What are components?

Content elements or applications that are usually displayed in the center of the main content area of a template. This depends on the design of the template in use.
Components are core elements of Joomla!’s functionality. These core elements include Content, Banners, Contact, News Feeds, Polls and Web Links.
Members of the Joomla! community produce third party Joomla! components on a continuous basis.
They are freely available to download from http://extensions.joomla.org/ and a number of other web sites.

What are modules?

Modules extend the capabilities of Joomla! giving the software new functionality. Modules are small content items that can be displayed anywhere that your template allows it to be displayed by assigning them to positions and pages through the module manager in the administrative interface.
Modules are installed in the Admin Section. Joomla! modules may include: Main Menu, Top menu, Template Chooser, Polls, Newsflash, Hit Counter, etc.
Members of the Joomla! Community produce Joomla! modules on a continuous basis. Many are freely available at http://forge.joomla.org/ for download.


What is the difference between Joomla and Drupal?

Drupal use smarty template where as on the other hand
Joomla dose not

Joomla uses plugin and modules whereas Drupl has module only

In drupal php code can be written directly whereas in
Joomla you need to install plugin for php support

Drupal is SEO Friendly whereas in Joomla you need to buy a plugin.

Drupal use smarty where as Joomla use his own code format.

In Druapl we can create multiple website with single installation.


Joomla! Features:

Completely database driven site engines
*
News, products or services sections fully editable and manageable
*
Topics sections can be added to by contributing authors
*
Fully customizable layouts including left, center and right menu boxes
*
Browser upload of images to your own library for use anywhere in the site
*
Dynamic Forum/Poll/Voting booth for on-the-spot results
*
Runs on Linux, FreeBSD, MacOSX server, Solaris and AIX



What are some real world examples of what Joomla! can do?

Joomla is used all over the world to power Web sites of all shapes and sizes. For example:

* Corporate Web sites or portals
* Corporate intranets and extranets
* Online magazines, newspapers, and publications
* E-commerce and online reservations
* Government applications
* Small business Web sites
* Non-profit and organizational Web sites
* Community-based portals
* School and church Web sites
* Personal or family homepages