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[questbg Friend questbgJoin date: May 2008Posts: 1912Downloads:0Uploads:1 Thanks: 146 Thanked: 339 times in 197 posts]

#136922

I was just wondering if JA had considered introducing a “Glossary of Terms” on the site somewhere?

It’s just that when I joined (around 8 months ago) I didn’t even know a module from a component! :-[

However, having looked around the forum today, newcomers and new web designers are faced with terms such as mootools, moomenu, highslide, dropline, breadcrumbs, transmenu, flowlist, mootabs, etc., etc.

I know, if I was joining JA today, I wouldn’t have a clue what these terms mean, which also makes a difficult situation for building a correct site, asking the correct questions and understanding other posts on the forum.

I seriously think that a glossary of terms of all these things would be most useful to new members (and even some existing members).

Thanks
Chris

[scotty Friend scottyJoin date: March 2008Posts: 2339Downloads:0Uploads:13 Thanks: 76 Thanked: 827 times in 595 posts]

#285634

Good idea.

There is one under construction here… http://help.joomla.org/content/view/1607/214/

[wooohanetworks Friend wooohanetworksJoin date: September 2008Posts: 1239Downloads:0Uploads:2 Thanks: 148 Thanked: 138 times in 41 posts]

#285636

Oh yeah, one has to be very fast with learning all that…. Could be great for those who need a glossary. I never heard about Joomla specifically one week before I joined Joomlart.com, but hey take it like the Borg from Star Trek and assimilate all knowledge and make it your own..:D

[scotty Friend scottyJoin date: March 2008Posts: 2339Downloads:0Uploads:13 Thanks: 76 Thanked: 827 times in 595 posts]

#285638

wooohanetworks;105067Oh yeah, one has to be very fast with learning all that…. Could be great for those who need a glossary. I never heard about Joomla specifically one week before I joined Joomlart.com, but hey take it like the Borg from Star Trek and assimilate all knowledge and make it your own..:D

???

Are you at the “wacky ‘baccy” again?

[bennitos Friend bennitosJoin date: May 2008Posts: 1717Downloads:0Uploads:39 Thanks: 39 Thanked: 474 times in 407 posts]

#285640

i agree, questbg maybe we can gather them here and make a new topic about it (tips/tutorial)

Found some global joomla terms:

Admin Templates
Templates used to define the layout of the Administrator (Back-end) area of your Joomla! web site.

Administrator
A User level within Joomla! with access to some Administrator (Back-end) and all Site (Front-end) functions.

Alt attribute
Author-defined alternate text for an image. The browser displays this text rather than the image, and it describes to the reader what he or she is missing on a page. It is a good practice to include the alt attribute for each image on a page to improve the display and usefulness of your document for instances in which the browser cannot load images, for users unable to view images due to sight impairment, or for people who have text-only browsers. See also: Image Tag

Archive
Content Items can be archived and managed through the Administrator (Backend). The Archive Module provides a way of displaying archived items on your web site.

Article
Discrete piece of content within the Joomla hierarchy, which may be associated with a particular Section/Category combination or may be a Static Content Item; usually displayed in the main body of your page. Within the Content hierarchy, Section is the top level and is a container for Categories. Category is the next level and is a container for the third level, Articles. See also: Content Item.

Author
User level within Joomla with access only to Site (Front-end) functions. See also: Editor, Publisher, and Registered.

Back-end (Administrator Backend)
Administrator’s Control Panel, where site Managers, Administrators, or Super Administrators log in to manage all aspects of their web site, including both features and content. See also: Front-end (Site Front-end).

Banners
A Joomla core Component, which allows you to manage and display banner ads for your web site. In the Administrator (Back-end), you can set up banners, input and associate clients with their specific banners, and specify impressions as a number or unlimited. The number of impressions seen and clicks are recorded and displayed in the Back-end under Components/Banners/Manage Banners. Banners are displayed on the Site (Front-end) using the banners module.

Blog
A style of content presentation within Joomla, displaying some or all of the Content Items in a certain section or Category. The title may appear as a link or both the title and the introductory text, with a Read More link displayed. Often the News page is written in Blog style.

Browser
A Software program used to view and interact with various types of Internet resources available on the World Wide Web. FireFox, Internet Explorer, and Safari are three common examples.

Cascading StyleSheets (CSS)
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) provide the ability to separate the layout and styles of a web page from the data or information. Styles such as fonts, font sizes, and margins can be specified in one place, then the web pages feed off this one master list, with the styles cascading throughout the page or an entire site. Cascading Style Sheets are contained in a .css file.

Category
Collection of related Content Items; for instance, the Category Airplanes may contain the Content Items Biplanes, Fixed wing, and Jets. Within the Content hierarchy, Section is the top level and is a container for Categories. Category is the next level and is a container for the third level, Articles. See also: Article and Section.

Category Name
The long name to be displayed in headings, e.g. Contact Our Corporate Headquarters in Virginia.

Category Title
The short name to appear in menus, e.g. Contact Us

Check Out (an item)
When a user edits a file, they check it out. This prevents other users from being able to edit the item at the same time, thus preventing loss of data upon saving.

Check-in
This function, available from the Site (Front-end) for Registered users with editing privileges, allows a user to make the items they were working on, previously locked and un-editable, available again. See also: Global Check-in

Client-side Scripting
Class of computer programming on the web, which is executed client-side by the user’s web browser, instead of server-side (on the web server). This type of computer programming is an important part of the Dynamic HTML (DHTML) concept, enabling web pages to be scripted; that is, to have different and changing content depending on user input, environmental conditions (such as the time of day), or other variables. See also: Server-side Scripting.

CMT
Acronym for Components, Modules, and Templates.

CMTP
Acronym for Components, Modules, Templates, and Plugins.

Components
Content elements or applications that are usually displayed in the centre 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 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://developer.joomla.org and a number of other web sites. See also:Modules.

Configuration File
The configuration.php file, found in the root directory of your Joomla installation, contains global variable information specific to your own Joomla installation, such as database user name, admin password, etc.

Content Item:
A Content Item is an item within the Section, Category hierarchy. See also:Static Content Item

Content Management System (CMS)
Software for dynamically managing web site content directly on the server.

Core Zip-file
This contains the official standard Joomla installation. This may be downloaded from http://developer.joomla.org and various other web sites. The Joomla Core software contains some built-in CMTP’s, but can be extended with third-party developer’s add-ons.

Database
An organised collection of records that you can search, sort, and analyse rapidly. Joomla is database-driven software, which means you can add, edit, or delete content that is stored in Joomla’s database. See also: Record

Document Object Model (DOM)
Form of representation of structured documents as an object-oriented model; the official World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard for representing structured documents in a platform- and language-neutral manner. DOM is also the basis for a wide range of application programming interfaces, some of which are standardised by the W3C. See also: DOMIT

DOMIT
An xml parser for PHP based on the Document Object Model (DOM) Level two specifications. It is lightweight, fast, and written purely in PHP. See also: DOM.

Dynamic HTML (DHTML)
An extension of HTML, enables, among other things, the inclusion of small animations and dynamic menus in Web pages. DHTML code makes use of Style Sheets and JavaScript.

Editor
User level within Joomla with access only to Site (Front-end) authoring and editing functions. See also: Author, Publisher, and Registered.

Extensions
Components, Modules, Templates, Plugins or Languages that extend your Joomla installation. These elements can already be bundled into the core or they can be third-party elements.

Front-end (Site Frontend)
Web site that is seen by your visitors (or Registered users. See also: Back-end (Administrator Back-end).

Frontpage/ Front Page
Built-in Component, which shows all the published Content Items from your site marked with the parameter Show on Front Page. You may configure the display of the Front Page by editing the menu item associated with it, usually the Home menu item. The ordering of your Frontpage Content Items is done using the Frontpage Manager option under the Content menu option.

Global Check-in
When an item is checked out and it is not saved or cancelled correctly (such as with a connection error or the use of “back” on the browser), it will remain checked out, and thus un-editable for all other users. Performing a Global Checkin will make those items available again. This option is only available in the Administrator (Back-end) or as a User Menu item for logged-in users.

Group
Collection of user levels, classified as either Site (Front-end) or Administrator (Back-end). See also: Administrator (Back-end), Site (Front-end).

HTML
Short for Hyper Text Markup Language, the authoring language used to create documents on the World Wide Web. See also: JavaScript, PHP

Image tag
In HTML, images are defined with the tag. See also: Alt attribute.

Installers
A menu option allowing access to Component, Language, Mambots, Module or Templates screens from which zip files can be uploaded for installation on your Joomla Web site. This option is only available to Super Administrators.

Intro Text
Required field that must contain content when creating a new Content Item or editing an existing Content Item. If text has been added to the Main Text field and the Content Item is checked to Show on Front Page, a Read More link will be shown, pointing to the full Content Item. Intro Text and Main Text are used in Content Items in the Section/Category hierarchy but not in Static Content Items. See also: Main Text

Item
An Item is a discrete piece of content within the Joomla hierarchy. An item can be an article, a content Category, a menu item or a link.

JavaScript
A common computer programming language developed by ECMA for use in web pages. JavaScript is relatively small and fast and is used for providing interactivity on web pages. See also: HTML, PHP

Joomla
Joomla is one of the finest Open Source Web Content Management Systems available.

Joomla Administrator
The Joomla Administrator is an application for administering your Joomla Web site directly on the server. It is sometimes also referred to as any of the Administrator, Back-end Admin Section, Administration Section, or the ControlPanel.

Joomla User
Joomla Users are arranged in two groups with different levels of access control. Users with access to the Front-end include Anonymous, Registered, Author, Editor, and Publisher. There are also three levels with access to the Back-end Manager, Administrator, and Super Administrator.

Main Body
Defined in the PHP code as , this displays content from Joomla components, e.g. calendar of events and Content Items etc.

Main Text
When creating or editing a Content Item, the Main Text box contains the text you do not want to show on the Front Page. It shows up after clicking the ‘Read On’ link in the Front-end of your site. See also: Intro Text

Mambot
A Mambot is a small, task-oriented function that intercepts content before it is displayed and manipulates it in some way. Joomla provides a number of Mambots in the core distribution, e.g. WYSIWYG editors, 3rd party component and module searchers, etc.

Manager
A user level within Joomla. Manager users have access to some Back-end and all Front-end functions. See also: Administrator, Super Administrator

Mass Mail
A core Joomla component that allows E-mails to be sent to All User Groups, a single Group or a User Group and Child Groups.

Media Files
Media files such as .gif, .jpg, .png or .bmp files can be used in Content Items and are organised via the Media Manager. Media files can be included in Content Items via Image Tab on Edit Content Item pages, WYSIWYG editors’ include media managers, third party components, etc.

Module Position
Names for the placement of modules within a template. There are 27 pre-named positions, e.g. left, right, top, bottom and 23 author-defined positions. Module positions are not confined by their name. Thus, the left module position, coded as may be placed anywhere in the template. See also: Modules

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. Modules are very easy to install 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. They are freely available on http://developer.joomla.org for download. An example of a module PHP code is . See also: Module Position

Newsfeed
A Newsfeed is a way of sharing content between different sites. The types of Newsfeeds currently available to display and produce (RSS versions, Atom, etc). The code is produced by the DOMIT parser. This sharing method is meant for creating a news introduction in the way the provider wants it and it normally has a link to the provider’s web site. Joomla offers you the possibility to both offer and display Newsfeeds.

Open Source (OS)
Open Source is a general term describing several parts of the Free Software Licence movement. All the source code for Joomla is open source and is readable and changeable by any user.

Parameters
Parameters can be used to alter the presentation of specific items, menus, or modules.

patTemplate
patTemplate is a system within Joomla to help create Joomla site templates.

PHP
Hypertext Pre-processor is an Open Source server side programming language extensively used for web scripts and to process data passed via the Common Gateway Interface from HTML forms etc. PHP can be written as scripts that reside on the server and may produce HTML output that downloads to the web browser. Alternatively, PHP can be embedded within HTML pages that are then saved with a .php file extension. See also: HTML, JavaScript

Polls
A core Joomla component that allows a poll to be displayed on your Joomla web site. You can define the Poll title, the time delay in seconds (Lag) between votes, up to 12 vote options and on which page(s) it should be displayed.

Preview
The Preview button enables a popup window for you to see from the , Back-end that your Content Item would look like in the , Front-end of your site

Projects
Projects can be components, modules, templates, Mambots, and scripts that are freely set up and managed by their authors at http://developer.joomla.org.

Public Back-end
See Back-end

Public Front-end
See Front-end

Published
This defines the state of various parts of your Joomla installation. For example, installed elements will only display on your web site if they are published. Content Items can be managed with a start and end date of publishing. See also: Unpublish(ed)

Publisher
A user level within Joomla. Publisher users only have access to Front-end functions. See also: Author, Editor and Registered

Record
A database record is a description of a single item as stored in a database. In a relational database, each row of each Table is a database record. See also: Database

Registered User
A user level within Joomla. Registered users only have access to Front-end functions. See also: Author, Editor and Publisher

Section
A Section is a collection of Categories that are related in some way. It is part of the Section/Category/Content Item hierarchy. A section might be called ‘Transport’, categories in this section might be ‘Boats’, ‘Cars’, and ‘Airplanes’. See also: Category.

Server-side scripting
Programs that are interpreted by the web server when a page is requested. Scripts have special extensions such as .php, .asp, and .jsp. When the server finishes processing a script, it usually sends a HTML page that can be viewed in any web browser. See also: Client-side scripting

Site
The Joomla Site is the Web site displayed to your visitors or users, containing all the content added in the Admin Section. It is sometime referred to as the ‘Frontend’.

Site Templates
Site Templates define the layout of your Joomla Web sites Front-end. See also: Admin Templates and Templates

Static Content Item
A Static Content Item is a Content Item that does not belong to the Sections/Category/Content Item hierarchy. See also: Content Item

Super Administrator
User level within Joomla with access to all Administrator (Back-end) and Site (Front-end) functions. See also: Administrator, Manager.

Syndication
A process, using a Newsfeed, by which a web site is able to share information, such as Articles, with other web sites.

Templates
Defining the layout of your Joomla web site, templates can be created for the Site (Front-end) of your site (called Site Templates), as well as for the Administrator (Back-end) called Administrator Templates. You can assign different templates to various pages of your web site. See also: Administrator Templates, patTemplate and Site Templates.

Title
Name given to an Article, which may be displayed above it in the Site (Front-end).

Title Alias
Alternative title for Articles, used by SEF scripts and dynamic title/meta scripts.

Unpublish(ed):
State of various parts of your Joomla installation, indicating whether that particular piece is visible on the site or operational (very much like an on-off switch). For example, installed elements will not be displayed on your web site if they are unpublished. Content Items can be managed with a start and end date of publishing. See also: Publish(ed).

Web Links
Core component that manages and displays hyperlinks to other web sites, organised into categories.

Workspace
Section of the Joomla Admin where the business of configuration and content publishing takes place. The workspace dynamically updates as you select tools and menu options. The workspace can include: HTML editor, article and link management and several other features.

Wrapper
Built-in Joomla Component, used to pull in and display any URL within your web site. This can be used to wrap an application (like a forum or a gallery), individual pages, or even an entire web site. An alternative name is an Iframe.

WYSIWYG Editor
Editing tool, which uses a WYSIWYG (an acronym for What You See Is What You Get) interface to allow easy editing of items in a non-code format.

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[bennitos Friend bennitosJoin date: May 2008Posts: 1717Downloads:0Uploads:39 Thanks: 39 Thanked: 474 times in 407 posts]

#285643

<em>@scotty 105065 wrote:</em><blockquote>Good idea.

There is one under construction here… http://help.joomla.org/content/view/1607/214/</blockquote>

Yeah that one is almost the same, didnt see your post as i was already busy with mine, wich took abit of time. 3 posts in that time 🙂

[anisjolly Friend anisjollyJoin date: April 2008Posts: 661Downloads:0Uploads:15 Thanks: 33 Thanked: 96 times in 55 posts]

#285645

bennitos – you’ve got too much time on your hands – and where the hell did you come up with all of that????

I vouch bennitos to knock up the glossary of terms for JA – he’s only got a couple more to go that he’s missed on that list

😛

Good going matey 😀

[bennitos Friend bennitosJoin date: May 2008Posts: 1717Downloads:0Uploads:39 Thanks: 39 Thanked: 474 times in 407 posts]

#285646

lol trust me i didnt write all that myself 🙂

Think we need to gather some JA specific terms, most joomla terms are already covered.

[wooohanetworks Friend wooohanetworksJoin date: September 2008Posts: 1239Downloads:0Uploads:2 Thanks: 148 Thanked: 138 times in 41 posts]

#285671

<em>@scotty 105069 wrote:</em><blockquote>???

Are you at the “wacky ‘baccy” again?</blockquote>

What is your problem, pro…? Maybe you rather do it like Spock and melt your brain with some Joomla Core Team Developer….”Your knowledge is my knowledge, uuhhmm…”:D:D:D

[wooohanetworks Friend wooohanetworksJoin date: September 2008Posts: 1239Downloads:0Uploads:2 Thanks: 148 Thanked: 138 times in 41 posts]

#285673

When you want a glossary of Joomlart.com Terms than simply set one forth…

You can list all the extensions and their use and what they do and where they are included.

But for certainty, this is all spread in the descriptions of the templates.

So I do not know what Joomlart.com Terms you want to make a glossary out of.

That a Joomla Glossary is useful stands out of question but this one is on Joomla.org on the right place, or otherwise, do you like to check all that often and update the one on Joomart.com you want to have. This would be work twice.

To make a glossary does not mean to just set on forth but all to update it frequently and this and that. So when you want to freelance for free and do this job, ask JA if you can and head on.

All I can say…;)

<em>@wooohanetworks 105107 wrote:</em><blockquote>What is your problem, pro…? Maybe you rather do it like Spock and melt your brain with some Joomla Core Team Developer….”Your knowledge is my knowledge, uuhhmm…”:D:D:D</blockquote>

[joeflynn Friend joeflynnJoin date: February 2009Posts: 91Downloads:0Uploads:1 Thanks: 59 Thanked: 3 times in 1 posts]

#295000

What an amazingly short sighted answer to a legitimate question.

Perhaps you are at the top of the pyramid and know everything. But the success of an enterprise like this is spreading the knowledge base and usability to those of us who are lower on the skill set portion…done well this is logarithmic growth. Done poorly, it is self-limiting and incestuous and, oh yeah, unprofitable…gone.

That you don’t understand what people want is not an asset to be bragged about.

<em>@wooohanetworks 105111 wrote:</em><blockquote>When you want a glossary of Joomlart.com Terms than simply set one forth…

You can list all the extensions and their use and what they do and where they are included.

But for certainty, this is all spread in the descriptions of the templates.

So I do not know what Joomlart.com Terms you want to make a glossary out of.

That a Joomla Glossary is useful stands out of question but this one is on Joomla.org on the right place, or otherwise, do you like to check all that often and update the one on Joomart.com you want to have. This would be work twice.

To make a glossary does not mean to just set on forth but all to update it frequently and this and that. So when you want to freelance for free and do this job, ask JA if you can and head on.

All I can say…;)</blockquote>

[wooohanetworks Friend wooohanetworksJoin date: September 2008Posts: 1239Downloads:0Uploads:2 Thanks: 148 Thanked: 138 times in 41 posts]

#295065

Think twice, it is not a one time job to make a glossary and it is amazing that you come up with such comment, think about it, and make one, especially when you know nothing, it gives the best learning effect to create one from scratch…

By the way, WHAT shall a JOOMLART.COM GLOSSARY contain??? Do you have the answer, all the Joomla stuff is Joomla and not Joomlart.com. So, do not hesitate and take the time to set forth a glossary of extensions and templates, all the other stuff is Joomla stuff and not JA stuff, so all this you can find on http://www.joomla.org in the documentation section.

http://docs.joomla.org/

Much fun with reading it!;)

[ShannonN Friend ShannonNJoin date: July 2006Posts: 1947Downloads:0Uploads:9 Thanks: 16 Thanked: 172 times in 49 posts]

#295070

bennitos;105075Yeah that one is almost the same, didnt see your post as i was already busy with mine, wich took abit of time. 3 posts in that time 🙂

Hi Ben

I think it’s a good idea, voicing my thoughts on whether its a waste of time as has been intimated, because the Joomla terms and stuff are available elsewhere, the poster of that point should be aware that it is almost impossible to encourage newbies to both Joomla and web design to go anywhere but here for information.

I’m generalizing here about Newbs, a lot are really struggling to adapt to a CMS way of doing stuff and dynamic sites are new as some come from staic pages done in notepad, DW etc one woman I’m helping can design but just cannot get the point that Joomla can be edited via backend for lots she wants to load everything into dreamweaver to edit view see layouts LOL. I’m sure there are a lot of others doing this

Most ask the most basic questions on Joomla that can be answered by a Google search, but never think to do that or as posted by one member simply go to such places as Joomla.org etc, give them a link and chances they will go there or wade through multiple pages to find one thing? Unlikely, the perception is “I want the specific answer, now and I don’t want to look for it myself that’s why I asked (you)”

They refuse to do anything (generally) 🙂 for themselves , preferring to have someone here who they perceive as knowledgeable because we have been here since 2006 etc and therefore must know everything.

If there is a glossary of terms with short explanations of it’s purposeand perhaps a small example of usage, at least there is a big chance ppl will view it when referred as they do not leave the JA forum? If they ignore the link, the referrer can simply say the link contains the answers to your question or a in depth explanation, if you choose not to go and look, . . . well I can’t help you if you won’t help yourself

I think further to this glossary, there should be stickied thread that once written is closed for posting- that describes what you need to be a Joomla web designer such as some graphic design skills in PS, FW Gimp etc for making own logos etc.

Use of Firefox with Firebug extension to locate what piece of code links to what css etc etc
Minimum hosting requirements to effectively host Joomla 1.59 such as I believe the need for PHP 5? not 4 xx as some budget hosts still have, also the dangers of getting too reliant of Fantastico methods of Joomla installs

Enough! you see my point. there are needs in the general information areas I feel will be of more benefit than not and justify the time taken to write assemble post and lock the thread as sticky only.

My view only, and I appreciate your time to read and comment responsibly on it
Thanks ShannonN

[scotty Friend scottyJoin date: March 2008Posts: 2339Downloads:0Uploads:13 Thanks: 76 Thanked: 827 times in 595 posts]

#295071

wooohanetworks;116630By the way, WHAT shall a JOOMLART.COM GLOSSARY contain???

Our first entry….Wooohanetworks – [whoa-net-wurks]
-noun ( AKA Whoo, Woo, Whoa)

1. A troll who frequents the http://www.joomlart.com forums. Spends most of his time annoying everyone else. Continually posts inaccurate and irrelevant information. Usually to be found defending himself for taking yet another thread off topic.

No doubt Whoo you’ll have a 14 page novel with a definition of me.

[scotty Friend scottyJoin date: March 2008Posts: 2339Downloads:0Uploads:13 Thanks: 76 Thanked: 827 times in 595 posts]

#295074

ShannonN;116638Enough! you see my point. there are needs in the general information areas I feel will be of more benefit than not and justify the time taken to write assemble post and lock the thread as sticky only.

I think in theory it’s a very good idea. I still think people who ask the real basic questions will continue to do so as that’s just the way they are. Maybe something a little more than just a glossary is what we need.

Something more like an FAQ maybe covering all the most commonly asked questions on the forum. Somewhere we can point the n00bs to so that we know they at least know the very basics.

Just a thought…

[Author]

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