Top 5 Joomla Shopping Carts

Joomla Shopping CartsWith online shops becoming more popular every year, the number of Joomla shop extensions continues to grow.

But with many shopping carts to chose from, how do you find the right one for your Joomla site?

This guide will walk you through 5 of the best Joomla e-commerce extensions currently available.

We're going to cover many details of each cart from their cost to their complexity and their support to whether or not they're ready for Joomla 3.

Read more: Top 5 Joomla Shopping Carts

Add RTL Support to Joomla Templates

joomla rtlThe web can be difficult for speakers of right-to-left (RTL) languages such as Arabic, Persian, Urdu and Hebrew.

With RTL languages, writing starts from the right of the page and continues to the left. This means your template needs to be "mirrored" to support these languages.

However, many template designers aren't experienced with RTL issues and don't provide that option.

In this tutorial, we're going to show you how to adapt an existing Joomla template so it can be used as an RTL template as well as LTR.

Because we hope to reach as many designers as possible, we're going to use English on our RTL template. You don't have to know a RTL language in order to create an RTL-ready template.

Read more: Add RTL Support to Joomla Templates

Joomla 2.5.13 and 3.1.4 Released

joomla updateBoth Joomla 2.5.13 and 3.1.4 were released this week.

Remember that updating Joomla is now as simple as logging in to your Joomla site and clicking on the flashing icon that notifies you of an update.

Both of these releases are regularly scheduled maintenance releases and only provide bug-fixes. There were no security patches.

Updating immediately is recommended but not absolutely essential.

Read more: Joomla 2.5.13 and 3.1.4 Released

Blog multiple categories by date in Joomla

Video on building a blog with Joomla

joomla blogIn this blog post we're going to show you how to set up a multi-category blog in Joomla.

By default, Joomla menu links allow you to show blog posts from only a single category.

It is possible to create a similar effect by using Joomla 3's new Tags feature.

However, this tutorial will focus on how to pull in articles from multiple categories.

Read more: Blog multiple categories by date in Joomla

Video on speeding up your Joomla site

Speed up your Joomla siteEarlier this week, I did a webinar with the Joomla hosting company CloudAccess.

We talked about how to make your Joomla site run more quickly.

We covered hosting, monitoring, cache, compression and more.

The presentation lasts for about an hour and then there's 30 minutes of questions at the end.

Read more: Video on speeding up your Joomla site

6 Fresh and Innovative Joomla Templates

By 2013, some Joomla template clubs have been running for over 7 years.

Even after over 150 templates, the best designers still manage to produce exciting new releases every month.

We're going to highlight 6 of the most innovative new Joomla templates from the last few months.

Here are some fresh and inspiring designs from Joomlashack, YooTheme, JoomlaBamboo, JoomlArt, Gavick and JoomlaXTC.

Read more: 6 Fresh and Innovative Joomla Templates

Heavy Wright customizations within minutes

Heavy Wright customizations within minutes

Did you know that Wright v.3 is all based in Bootstrap? And did you know that Bootstrap is all based in LESS rather than simple CSS? And, are you aware of the benefits of using the Wright Framerwork to create your template?

Read more: Heavy Wright customizations within minutes

5 Tips to Write Great Blog Posts

5 Tips to Write Great Blog Posts

Video on building a blog with Joomla


Writing a great blog post can be challenging if you've never done it before. That doesn't mean you can't though. You just have to put a little effort into it. Here are some guidelines for you to consider.

1. Be Clear About Your Topic

Writing a great post first starts with choosing a great topic. Address a need, fulfill a purpose, know why you are writing and to whom. When you know the why and who, crafting the message becomes easier.

Read more: 5 Tips to Write Great Blog Posts

Mondrian - The Art of Simplicity in a Free Joomla Template

Mondrian - The Art of Simplicity in a Free Joomla Template

Mondrian is both a Free and Pro Joomla Template

We are delighted to bring you Mondrian, a simple and stunning Joomla template, in its FREE and PRO versions. In Mondrian you have a cutting edge, eye-catching, clean and smooth design that will impress ANY site visitor.  Whether you need a full blown website or just a landing page, Mondrian is the perfect template for you.

Read more: Mondrian - The Art of Simplicity in a Free Joomla Template

Outstanding Design Presentations from J and Beyond 2013

J and Beyond 2013 DesignJ and Beyond, an International Joomla developer conference, took place this weekend.

Even a couple of years ago we had to wait months to see conference videos posted online. Now, conference organizers can put the videos onto YouTube within hours.

Thanks to the hard work of the J and Beyond team, nearly 50 sessions from this year's event are now available to watch on YouTube.

Over the next couple of weeks, we're going to be showcasing some of the very best sessions from this year's event.

In this blog post, we pull out the three best presentations for Joomla designers:

Read more: Outstanding Design Presentations from J and Beyond 2013