Part II: Working with Content and Users 236 Note Before you can begin, you must move the template files to your server, by using either FTP, your hosting ser- vice’s file manager, or the Install function in Joomla’s Extensions Manager. After the template files are on your server, you can complete the process. Cross-Reference To find out how to add more templates to your system, see Chapter 20. Publishing Articles on the Front Page If you are using the default front page features, you can control the articles that appear on your front page via the Article Manager and the Front Page Manager. The Article Manager gives you the ability to assign pages to the front page. The Front Page Manager allows you to manage the articles assigned to the front page. Joomla! 1.6 Joomla! 1.6 does not include the Front Page Manager feature, instead providing for the management of the front page items via the Featured Article Manager. The new Featured Article Manager functions in essentially the same fashion as the old Front Page Manager and can be found under the Components menu, under the sub- heading articles. Setting an article as Featured will result in that article appearing on the front page and also appearing inside the Featured Article Manager. Working with the Front Page Manager The Front Page Manager holds only those articles that you have assigned to the Front Page. When an article is unassigned to the Front Page, you can remove it from the Front Page Manager. The Manager enables you to see all the articles assigned to the Front Page in one place and to perform basic management tasks, such as reordering the articles or moving them to the Article Archive. Cross-Reference Working with articles and the Article Manager are discussed in Chapter 5. Article Archives are covered in Chapter 2. The Front Page Manager is located under the Content menu on the main admin navigation bar; clicking on that option opens the Front Page Manager in your browser, as shown in Figure 9.6. Chapter 9: Managing the Front Page of Your Site 237 FIGURE 9.6 Joomla! 1.5.x’s Front Page Manager interface. The toolbar at the top of the Front Page Manager provides quick access to the following functions: l Archive: Select one or more active articles from the list and then click this icon to archive them. l Publish: Select one or more articles from the list and then click this icon to publish them. l Unpublish: Select one or more articles from the list and then click this icon to unpublish them. l Remove: Select one or more articles from the list and then click this icon to remove them from the front page. l Help: Click to access the online Help files related to the active screen. Part II: Working with Content and Users 238 Below the toolbar and above the list of articles are five sorting and searching tools to help you manage long lists of articles: l The Filter field on the left works like a search box. Type a word or phrase into the field and then click Go. The page reloads and displays the results of the search. To clear the screen and return to a full listing, click the Reset button. l The Select Section filter allows you to filter and display the articles according to the sec- tion to which they are assigned. To reset this filter, change the combo box back to the default setting. l The Select Category filter allows you to filter and display the articles according to the category to which they are assigned. To reset this filter, change the combo box back to the default setting. l The Select Author filter allows you to filter and display the articles according to the author associated with them. To reset this filter, change the combo box back to the default setting. l The Select State filter on the far right allows you to filter and display the articles accord- ing to whether they are published or unpublished. This provides an easy way to identify all articles that are currently active on the front page. To reset this filter, change the combo box back to the default setting. The main content area of the screen contains a list of all the articles that are currently assigned to the Front Page of your Joomla! site. The columns provided are: l # : An indexing number assigned by Joomla! This number cannot be changed. l Checkbox (no label): Click a radio button to select an article; do this if you want to use several of the toolbar options. l Title: This field displays the full name of the article. Click on the name to edit the article. l Published: A green checkmark in this column indicates the publication state of the article. As indicated by the legend that appears at the very bottom of the Article Manager, the icon that is displayed indicates the publication state. You can click on the icon to publish or unpublish the article, depending on its state: l A yellow dot against an article icon indicates the article is approved and scheduled for publication but is pending. l A green checkmark against an article icon indicates the article is currently published. l A red circle with an X against an article icon indicates the article was published but has expired. l A red circle with an X in it (without an article icon) indicates the article is neither pub- lished nor scheduled for publication. l A gray circle with a crossbar (without an article icon) indicates the article is archived. Chapter 9: Managing the Front Page of Your Site 239 Tip If you hover the cursor over the Published icon, the system displays the article’s start and stop publication dates. l Order: The number indicates the order of the article, relative to the other articles. You can reorder the articles either by clicking on the green arrows to move an item up or down in the order, or by entering numbers for the order and then clicking the save icon at the top of the column. l Access Level: Shows the access level set for that article. The options are Public, Registered, and Special. Click the word to change between the three options. l ID: The system-generated user ID number. This number is used internally by the system and cannot be changed by the user. l Section: Shows the name of the section to which the article is assigned. Click on the name of the section to open the Section editing dialogue. l Category: Shows the name of the category to which the article is assigned. Click on the name of the category to open the Category editing dialogue. l Author: Shows the name of the author of the article. Click on the name of the author to open the User editing dialogue for the author. Finally, at the bottom of the screen, below the content area, is the Display # option. Change the value in the combo box control to alter the number of articles that are displayed on the page. The default value can be altered by changing the List Length option on the Global Configuration Manager. Working without the Front Page Manager If you have chosen for your Front Page a Menu Item Type other than Front Page Blog Layout, you will not be able to manage the contents with the Front Page Manager; you need to manually con- trol your front page content. The method for managing the Front Page content depends upon the Menu Item Type chosen for the front page. For example, if you have chosen to display a single article on the front page and have done so by designating as your front page the Menu Item Type named article layout, you will control the contents of the front page directly from the Basic Parameters of the Article Layout Menu Item dialogue. In contrast, if you have chosen to display for your home page the contents of a section or a category, you can manage the order and appearance of the articles from the Section or Category Manager. The key here is that if you do not use the default option, you can forget about controlling your front page in the default fashion; assigning articles to the front page has no impact on the front page, and the Front Page Manager is rendered useless. Given these disadvantages, most people think twice before exploring options other than the default front page setup. Part II: Working with Content and Users 240 Tip Chances are you can achieve your goals for the front page without abandoning the Front Page Menu Item Type. Before you decide to abandon the default setup, explore thoroughly the results that can be achieved through a combination of the options built into the system, including parameter settings, block assignments, and template assignment. Proper, perhaps even creative, use of the default options allows you to retain all the system’s functionality and thereby ease the burden of maintaining the site over time. Publishing Component Output on the Front Page The default components in your Joomla! system are capable of displaying output either through modules or on a page. Displaying component output in the content area of a page requires the cre- ation of a menu item that links directly to the component. In the case of the front page, however, this option is not available if you are using the default front page setup. In the default system, it is possible to use the output of the following components as the site’s front page: contacts, news feeds, polls, and web links. In all cases, this is done by creating a menu item of the appropriate Menu Item Type and then setting the menu item as the front page. (I discuss this earlier in this chapter.) Although the display of component output on the front page is unlikely to be an issue for most site owners, it is more likely to arise if you are using third-party components to provide more advanced functionality to your site. The good news is that many third-party components that supply significant output also provide options for getting it on the front page. If all else fails, you can explore options for getting the output on the front page through the use of modules, as I discuss in the following section. Publishing Modules on the Front Page Modules can be published on any page, including the front page, if Module Position Holders are available in the active template. In the default system, much of the output you see on the front page of the site is provided by modules, as shown in Figure 9.7. One of the advantages to using modules to place content on your pages is the fact that you can show modules on specific pages and in specific positions; this gives you the ability to provide your site with a great deal of variety simply through creative use of module assignments. In most tem- plates, the Module Position Holders fold up and disappear from sight when nothing is assigned to them. This feature has many practical advantages. In addition to avoiding the appearance of blank spots or holes on your page when a module is unpublished, you can also use module assignments to control whether a page displays one, two, or three columns. For example, in the default system, the front page uses a three-column layout. You can change that easily into a two-column layout simply by hiding all the modules on one side of the page, thereby allowing the content area to expand and fill the space previously occupied by the modules, as shown in Figure 9.8. Chapter 9: Managing the Front Page of Your Site 241 FIGURE 9.7 The front page of the default Joomla! 1.5.x site, with the modules marked. Module Module Module Module Module Module Part II: Working with Content and Users 242 FIGURE 9.8 The front page of the default Joomla! 1.5.x. site, in this case with the modules on the right side of the page unpublished, which allows the content area to expand and create a two-column layout. Chapter 9: Managing the Front Page of Your Site 243 Tip Modules provide many options for content display. When there are Module Position Holders placed at the top or bottom of the content area, you can assign component output or additional content to those module posi- tions. This provides you with alternative content areas that can be managed independently and without reli- ance on the Front Page Manager. Additionally, as discussed in Chapter 7, you can insert modules inside of articles, thereby giving you even more flexibility. Summary In this chapter, we have covered the various tasks associated with managing the front page of your site. You learned the following: l How to assign articles to the front page l How to control front page layout l How to use the Front Page Manager l How to configure the default system to give you variety on your front page l Alternatives to the default system’s approach to front page management l Working with component and module output on the front page. . Joomla! 1. 5 .x site, with the modules marked. Module Module Module Module Module Module Part II: Working with Content and Users 242 FIGURE 9.8 The front page of the default Joomla! 1. 5 .x. site,. expand and fill the space previously occupied by the modules, as shown in Figure 9.8. Chapter 9: Managing the Front Page of Your Site 2 41 FIGURE 9.7 The front page of the default Joomla! 1. 5 .x. The Front Page Manager allows you to manage the articles assigned to the front page. Joomla! 1. 6 Joomla! 1. 6 does not include the Front Page Manager feature, instead providing for the management