Meeting Date: 8-11-08

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Next meeting will be virtual Aug 26, 2008

Has AnyOne Completed a 1.0.x to 1.5.x Migration?

No one present had actually completed a migration although it is a subject on many people's minds. We spent a little time in discussing possible issues and pitfalls. This may be a good topic for a future meeting. If you have experience in this area, let us know.

Configuration Management

The discussion about migration naturally led to a discussion about development sites, backups and version control.

Recommendations:

• You should always have a development site locally or otherwise in addition to your production site. That way you can test out new components, modules, templates, etc. without bringing down your production site.
• Always back up your site before installing anything new: upgrades, components, etc.
• Back up your site on a regular basis.
• Use version control/source control software for your code.

Tim Stiles mentioned Assembla.com, a site that provides free hosted version control software (Subversion) and free hosted work ticketing software (Trac).

For backing up Joomla sites, Yaani-Mai Gaddy and Wilma both highly recommend Joomlapack

CLEARING THE CACHE

Debbie asked about clearing the Joomla! Cache.

In 1.5:

• Log into the Administrator Panel
• Select Tools from the top administrative menu bar.
• Select Clean Cache from the Tools drop-down menu.

TEMPLATES

We spent some time discussing template sites and clubs and why we liked and didn't like about them.

• RocketTheme Template Club: This club is a big favorite of many Joomla designers. The templates always have lots of cool stuff, tutorials, excellent forum, RocketLaunch installers. They may sometimes be a little complex for the newbie unless you keep your template modifications to a minimum.
• Icetheme.com: Yaani-Mai brought up this relatively new template club that offers some interesting themes and good pricing on the club. They are currently offering a 20% discount on the developer's level of membership with the appropriate discount code.
• Joomlart Template Club: This is a favored template club among many of our members. As a plus, Joomlart gives its members credits for participation on their site and those credits can be used to reduce the cost of renewals and upgrades. Members also have access to Joomlart modules and components. Joomlart was the winner of the Joomla! 1.5 template contest and, as a result, their winning JA Purity template now comes standard with every Joomla! 1.5 installation.
• YooTheme: While they have some decent templates, Wilma stated that you might consider joining just to get access to the YooTheme extensions which are very cool, updated frequently, and very well supported.
• Gavick: Gavick has been producing templates for over a year now but the Gavick Pro modules and components provide the real value.
• JoomlaShack Without a doubt, Barry North produces EXCELLENT templates! The cost of the templates reflects this. Template pricing is much more expensive for JoomlaShack than for other template clubs.
• TemplatePlazza: TemplatePlazza.com has some really nice and flexible templates. Their templates tend to each be target to a specific need or type of site (eCommerce, Community, Property Sites, etc.) which makes it an excellent place to go and get ideas.

ECOMMERCE

Someone asked about the best eCommerce tool: VirtueMart, OSCommerce, Zen Cart, etc. Tim Stiles brought up a new open-source ecommerce solution called Magento that holds a lot of promise. Check ot MagentoCommerce.com for more information