Joomla! VirtueMart 1.1 Theme and Template Design is a new book from Packt that will allow users to customize their Joomla! VirtueMart templates and themes with the help of necessary screenshots and explained code. Written by Joseph Kwan, this book is a comprehensive reference to all the templates in the VirtueMart default theme including usage of each template and all available fields.
template
The Magnolia CMS and the U.S. Navy
A couple weeks ago, one of Magnolia's press people gave me a sneak preview of a case study for how the Magnolia CMS was being used by one of their partners in redesigning the recruitment website of the United States Navy, Navy.com. I was given the opportunity to write a story about the redesign before the case study was published online. It was a great opportunity I was being offered but I just wasn't able to find the time in my schedule to write the story.
So it is only fitting, that I at least talk about this case study on the Navy's use of the Magnolia content management system on Veteran's Day. The recent Navy.com was redesigned to be more interactive, more responsive to user needs, and better integrated with social media communities nurtured by the U.S. Navy. Additionally, the site needed to support the Navy’s recently launched new brand, “America’s Navy. A Global Force For Good™”.
As mentioned in the case study, integrators spent six months researching and evaluating open source content management systems. Their evaluation was platform-agnostic; they considered Java, PHP and Python solutions in their research. Key evaluation criteria were:
- Easy to learn and easy to use for content authors
- Short learning curve for designers and developers
- Easy to integrate with custom business objects
- Compliant with Web standards and accessibility guidelines
- Scalable and robust
Magnolia CMS Enterprise Edition, together with the Magnolia STK and Blossom module, met all of these criteria. Navy.com is now running on Magnolia CMS Enterprise Edition with Magnolia STK and Blossom, Magnolia's instant Spring integration. The infrastructure supporting this site includes an Apache Web Server, Tomcat Application Server, MySQL Database, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
Flash Flip Book with CMS from FlashMoto: Additional Customization Options
FlashMoto.com, an advanced Flash CMS provider, managed to integrate a page flip component into their Flash CMS templates, and now FlashMoto control panel makes it possible to manage the content of a flip book without touching the source code. Users may easily update pages via intuitive and friendly WYSIWYG editor that visualizes all changes.
FlashMint and FlashMoto have signed a partnership.
Flashmint has signed a partnership with FlashMoto! If you ever thought that FlashMoto should have a bigger collection of their templates, or FlashMint CMS templates need some more powerful interface, you should probably guess what's the point of this collaboration.
FlashMoto Design Collection Updated with New Templates
Recently FlashMoto.com introduced an arsenal of new Flash CMS templates that impress with their site structure, content presentation and unusual design approaches. These Flash CMS designs embody the most effective methods of putting form and content together. Brilliant technique and professional animation help the visitors focus on the most significant elements of the website.
These Flash CMS templates are designed for being used with an advanced FlashMoto Flash content management system and are equipped with:
- a convenient WYSIWYG editor,
- video and image gallery components,
- rich media library,
- video and MP3 player components,
- info module component,
- all necessary SEO tools (Google Analytics & Webmaster Tools integration, deep linking), etc.
A couple of words should be mentioned concerning a Flash Photo gallery, as it is one of the leading components of FlashMoto CMS. These Flash galleries, with flexible image management for web designers and impressive visual presentation for users, are a good solution to present the multimedia content.
New template development framework for Joomla
The brand new Morph framework for Joomla is now available in second round of beta.
Compared to your average Joomla template, "Morph" is just as easy to install. That said, it is NOT your average template.
Morph for Joomla is a whole new concept, but already a tool that users refer to as "a Joomla game changer".
WHO IS MORPH FOR?
Morph is designed from the ground up to be completely scalable, extensible and usable by everyone developing websites in Joomla, from beginners to advanced.
If you are a seasoned Joomla user you can easily tap into the more advanced features, which gives you fine grained control on a per page basis.
Create Professional Quality Joomla! 1.5 Templates for your Website
Packt is pleased to announce a new book on Joomla! 1.5 , which aims to help users debug, validate, and package templates. Written by Tessa Blakely Silver, Joomla! 1.5 Template Design is a complete guide for web designers to create unique website templates for Joomla! 1.5.
Joomla! is an award-winning Content Management System (CMS), which enables users to build websites and powerful online applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use and extensibility, have made Joomla one of the most popular CMSes available. Joomla! 1.5 has a radically enhanced template system that is very different from that of Joomla! 1.0, and comes complete with the ability to create template overrides and customize "module chrome".
Joomla! 1.5 Template Design focuses squarely on the new enhancements to the Joomla! 1.5 templating process and walks web designers through the process of turning a working XHTML and CSS "mockup" into a fully functional Joomla! 1.5 template. It is designed to help users create effective and flexible templates and help them tweak their existing templates with Flash, extensions and JavaScript libraries.
Users will learn to set up a basic workflow for Joomla! template design and create Suckerfish drop-down menus and dynamic forms for their website. They will also learn how to package finished templates in a ZIP file and use the W3C's XHTML and CSS validation tools. Additionally, they will also learn how to use the wrapper (Wrapper Menu Item) for fully working AJAX applications.
New cool design project - CoolBrushDesign!
It is an excellent opportunity to make your dreams into reality! The site is rich in variety of styles and impressive design ideas. So every client can order a design for its own taste, from Techno style to Gamour style. Creative ideas and compliance with clients' wishes are guaranteed. Come and see it with your own eyes!
Book on Skins and Templates for MediaWiki
Packt is pleased to announce a new book on designing skins for a MediaWiki website. Written by web designer Richard Carter, MediaWiki Skins Design teaches the users how to customize the appearance of their MediaWiki site by creating custom skins.
Dimensions - RocketTheme's Stunning New Design
"The incredible new RocketTheme Dimensions template [for Joomla!] features a beautiful new look and feel designed to allow for the quickest and easiest customization of any RocketTheme template to date. Change your background and customize your colors in minutes without ever setting foot in an image editor.
Dimensions also introduces a sleek new integrated tabbed module system that harnesses the power of RokSlide, providing you with a powerful new way to display your content. The features don't stop there. Dimensions has many more powerful features under the hood, including the exclusive RokMooMenu, 15 versatile module positions with subtle module variations, RokZoom integration, and so much more!"
Learn to Create Professional Quality Joomla! Templates
Packt is pleased to announce a new book on designing Joomla! templates. Written by Tessa Blakeley Silver, Joomla! Template Design is a complete guide for web designers to all aspects of designing unique website templates for the free Joomla! PHP Content Management System. Please visit http://www.packtpub.com
The Joomla! template is a series of files within the Joomla! CMS that controls the presentation of content. A template is the basic foundation design for viewing a Joomla! website. To produce the effect of a "complete" website, the template works hand in hand with the content stored in the Joomla! databases.
The Joomla! development team recently announced that they are committing themselves to the GPL license and that all propriety extensions will need to comply to the same license. This has caused some confusion concerning the distribution of templates. This is because a template package is made up of different files; some that the GNU GPL applies to and others that it doesn’t. Joomla!’s official stance is that non-code elements of a template package are just data acted upon by the software and may be licensed in any way that the author deems fit. Therefore, the current uncertainty over third party development of templates will require more users to create their own quality, professional-level templates.
