1. Open the Article for editing either by clicking the Content > Article Manager menu item to go to the Article Manager, select the Article and click the Edit toolbar button.

2. Decide where you would like the introduction to finish and the read more link to appear. This is usually a couple of paragraphs in. Place the cursor in this position.

3. Click the Read more... editor button at the bottom of the editor. A horizontal rule will appear where the split in the article is placed.

4. Click the Save or Apply toolbar buttons to save the Article.

Note: The horizontal rule will not be displayed in the Article. It is only used as a marker for the system when displaying the page. The read more link may be removed by deleting the horizontal bar in the same way as text. Select by clicking on the line, note the line break will NOT be highlighted when selected, however the horizontal bar icon on the WYSIWYG toolbar will show it is selected, then click delete.

When the read more link is clicked the entire Article will be displayed unless the Article parameter Show Intro text has been set to Hide. In this case only the content after the read more link will be displayed.

Example:

Frontend = http://www.yoursite.com/

Backend = http://www.yoursite.com/administrator

or

Example:

Frontend = http://www.yoursite.com/main/

Backend = http://www.yoursite.com/main/administrator

If your site has any additional code behind the domain name, you can still navigate to your control panel by adding '/administrator' in place of it.

Example:

Frontend = http://www.yoursite.com/index.php

Backend = http://www.yoursite.com/administrator

Your browser will take you to a login screen. Enter your username and password and click on the login button to enter the control panel.

If you do not have a username you will have to ask your site administrator for one.

Watch the Logginbackend Demo - Flash File

How to use Mass Mail:

Log into the Backend

Select Tools>Mass Mail from the toolbar.

General Menu Definitions

• Preview – Opens a popup window that displays a preview of the Article. This is normally not needed when using a WYSIWYG editor, such as TinyMCE or JCE. However, if you are using a plain text editor (for example, the 'No Editor' option), this preview lets you see what the Article will look like when shown on the web site.
• Save – Save any changes made and close the window and return to the “Article Manger Menu”
• Apply  – Save any changes and stay in current article
• Close – Cancel and changes (no saving of changes) and return to the “Article Manager Menu”
• Help - Opens this Help Screen.

General Heading Definitions

• Title - The Title for this item. This may or may not display on the page, depending on the parameter values you choose.
• Published - Whether or not this item is published. Select “Yes” or “No” from the radio button group to set the Published state for this item.
• Alias - The internal name of the item. Normally, you can leave this blank and Joomla! will fill in a default value. The default value is the Title or Name in lower case and with dashes instead of spaces. You may enter the Alias manually. The Alias should consist of lowercase letters, and no blank spaces are allowed. Use a hyphen (-) instead. The Alias will be used in the URL when SEF is activated.
• Front Page - Select “No” or “Yes” from the radio button group to indicate whether this Article will show on the Front Page. Most of the time this option will be set to the value of “No”
• Section - Select the Section for this Article from the drop-down list box. Note that you can select 'Uncategorized' if you do not want this Article associated with a Section or Category. This can be used for Articles that are displayed in an Article Layout as static content.
• Category - Select the Category for this Article from the drop-down list box. If you selected 'Uncategorized' for the Section, the Category will automatically be 'Uncategorized'.

On the right side of the header area, information about the Article is displayed, as shown below:

• Reset button - Press this button to change the Hits to 0.

Parameters - Article

This section allows you to enter parameters for this Article, as shown below:

These entries are optional. Joomla! automatically creates default entries for these values.

• Author - Select the Author from the drop-down list box. Default is the current user.
• Author Alias - This optional field allows you to enter in an alias for this Author for this Article. This allows you to display a different Author name for this Article.
• Access Level - Who has access to this item. Current options are:
  • Public: Everyone has access
  • Registered: Only registered users have access
  • Special: Only users with author status or higher have access

You can change an item's Access Level by clicking on the icon in the column.

• Created Date - This field defaults to the current time when the Article was created. You can enter in a different date and time or click on the calendar icon to find the desired date.
• Start Publishing - Date and time to start publishing. Use this field if you want to enter content ahead of time and then have it published automatically at a future time.
• Finish Publishing - Date and time to finish publishing. Use this field if you want to have content automatically changed to Unpublished state at a future time (for example, when it is no longer applicable).

Parameters ( Advanced) – These Parameters will not be changed (usually) as these are set at the Article Manager Level and no other changes are needed.

This section allows you to enter additional parameters for this Article, as shown below:

These parameters allow you to override the parameters set in the Parameter/Global Configuration setup in the Article Manager and the Parmeters - Component settings in the Menu Item Manager.

A value of 'Use Global' means that either the setting from the Menu Item or the setting from the Global Configuration will control the action. A setting other than 'Use Global' will always control the action and override settings from these other areas. The setting here takes top priority. The setting in the Menu Item is second priority. The setting in the Global Configuration controls if both of the other setting are set to 'Use Global'.

• Show Title - (Use Global/No/Yes). Whether or not to show the Article's Title.
• Title Linkable - (No/Yes/Use Global) Whether or not the Title of the Article will be a hyperlink to the Article.
• Intro Text - (Use Global/Hide/Show). Hide or Show the Article's Intro Text when the 'Read more...' link is selected. Intro Text is the first part of the Article before a 'Read more...' break. If this parameter is 'Show', when the User selects the 'Read more...' link, the entire article will display. If this parameter is 'Hide', when the User selects the 'Read more...' link, only the part of the Article after the 'Read more...' link will display.
• Section Name - (Hide/Show/Use Global) Whether or not the Section Name will display.
• Section Title Linkable - (No/Yes/Use Global) Whether or not the Title of the Section will be a hyperlink to the Section page.
• Category Title - (Hide/Show/Use Global) Whether or not the Category Title will display.
• Category Title Linkable - (No/Yes/Use Global) Whether or not the Title of the Category will be a hyperlink to the Category page.
• Article Rating - (Use Global/Hide/Show). Hide or show the Article Rating.
• Author Name - (Hide/Show/Use Global) Whether or not to display the Author Name.
• Created Date and Time - (Hide/Show/Use Global) Whether or not to display the date and time the Article was created.
• Modified Date and Time - (Hide/Show/Use Global) Whether or not to display the date and time the Article was last modified.
• PDF Icon - (Hide/Show/Use Global) Whether or not to display a button to allow the Article to be rendered in a new window in PDF format. This allows the User to view, print, or save the Article as a PDF file.
• Print Icon - (Hide/Show/Use Global) Whether or not to display a button to allow the Article to be printed. This allows the User to print the current Article in a printer-friendly format.
• E-mail Icon - (Hide/Show/Use Global) Whether or not to display a button to allow a link to the Article to be e-mailed. This displays a form that allows the user to send an e-mail with a link to the current Article.
• Content Language - Language in which this Article is written. This is optional. If no language is selected, the default language for the site is assumed.
• Key Reference - Optional text key that an Article may be referenced by (for example, a help reference). A normal Joomla! link to an Article is in the form "<home URL>/index2.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=34". In this example, Joomla! is using the "com_content" component, using an "article" layout, showing the Article whose ID is "22", and using the Menu Item whose ItemID is "34". The Key Reference of an Article can be used in a URL instead of the Article's ID. For example, if an Article's Key Reference is "whats.new", then the URL "<home URL>/index2.php/?option=com_content&view=article&Itemid=34&task=findkey&keyref=whats.new" could also be used to display the page. The "task=findkey" tells Joomla! to search by Key Reference, and the "keyref=whats.new" provides the Key Reference to search for. Using the Key Reference to link to Articles is more flexible than using Article ID, since you can edit the Key Reference field of existing Articles. Note that, if more than one Article has the same Key Reference, this URL will only find the first Article with this Key Reference.
• Alternative Read more: text - Optional text to display next to the 'Read more...' link. If no entry is made, the Article Title is used.

Metadata Information - These Parameters will not be changed (usually) unless there is specific search engine needs for a specific article.

This section allows you to enter Metadata Information for this Article. Metadata is information about the Article that is not displayed but is available to Search Engines and other systems to classify the Article. This gives you more control over how the content will be analyzed by these programs. All of these entries are optional. The entry screen is shown below:

•  Metadata Description - Optional Metadata Description for this Article.
•  Metadata Keywords - Optional entry for keywords. Must be entered separated by commas (for example, "cats, dogs, pets") and may be entered in upper or lower case. (For example, "CATS" will match "cats" or "Cats"). Keywords can be used in several ways:
  • To help Search Engines and other systems classify the content of the Article.
  • In combination with Banner tags, to display specific Banners based on the Article content. For example, say you have one Banner with an ad for dog products and another Banner for cat products. You can have your dog Banner display when a User is viewing a dog-related Article and your cat Banner display for a cat-related Article. To do this, you would:
    • Add the keywords 'dog' and 'cat' to the appropriate Articles.
    • Add the Tags 'dog' and 'cat' to the appropriate Banners in the Banner Manager New/Edit screen.
    • Set the Banner module Parameter 'Search By Tags' to 'Yes in the Banner Module Edit screen.
  • In combination with the Related Articles module, to display Articles that share at least one keyword in common. For example, if the current Article displayed has the keywords "cats, dogs, monkeys", any other Articles with at least one of these keywords will show in the Related Articles module.

• Robots - Optional keywords for Robots. Robots are automated software programs that surf the web and catalog web content. If special keywords are desired for Robots to use, enter them here.
• Author - Optional entry for an Author name within the metadata.

This article assumes the following knowledge level.

• The JCE editor is being used as the article editor.
• Ability to login to Joomla backend.
• Appropriate user security to maintain articles.
• Ability to navigate around Joomla back menu system.
• Understanding of defined Sections.
• Understanding of defined Categories.

This document will not go into more advanced editing and formatting topics, such as the following:

• Tables
• Image Resizing
• Item Bulleting
• Embedding Video
• Attaching Files
• And other items that may not mentioned in this document

Step 1 - After signing into Joomla, Click on Article Manager to go to the list of current articles on the website. There are 2 ways to get to the Article Manager as noted below.

Control Panel view

Drop down menu view

Step 2 - The following menu will appear listing all articles of various publication stages.

Step 3 - Click on the “New” icon in the upper right of the screen to bring up a new/empty article.

Step 4 - Enter information in the following fields:

• Title – Name of the Article
• Alias – Do not enter information, Joomla system will populated with appropriate information.
• Published – Should be “Yes”
• Front Page - Should be “No”, unless the article is suppose to be a Front Page only article
• Section – Select the appropriate Section
• Category – Select the appropriate Category
• Open Content Area – Area where article information is captured along with images and formatting of article information

 Note: when assigning Section and Category insure that the correct Section and Category is selected so that article appears in the correct website area. This is important especially if article is a News article or a Blog entry. Uncategorized Sections and Categories are usually manually assigned to Menu or Module areas.

Fields that are optional for entered information

• Author – Individual who created the article.
• Access Level – Should be “Public” unless article is only suppose be seen be registered users
• Created Date – Date the article was created
• Start Publishing – Should match Created Date unless the article is to be published at a later date and time. (Format CCYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ) HH – Hours in military time 00-23.
• Finish Publishing – Should be Never unless the article is to stop publishing on a given date and time. (Format CCYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS ) HH – Hours in military time 00-23.

Step 5 - Enter Article information in the Open Content Area that you would like as part of the article. Images and formatting can be done using the JCE editor.

Clicking on the Question Mark in the Upper Left Hand will bring up a menu that describes the buttons on the JCE Editor. Selecting Buttons Overview shows information on icons that are used to format the information in the Open Content window. Example “B” – Bold, “I” – Italicized. The editor is a similar format/usage to Word editor options.

Step 6 - When done editing the article click the Save icon to save the article and return to the Article Manager.

Step 7 - Once saved, and if the article is published, check the website to verify that the article appears on the website and has all the correct information entered.

Note: Remember to Click on the “Apply” icon periodically to save the changes, as there is NO automatic save feature for the article in Joomla.

This article assumes the following knowledge level.

• The JCE editor is being used as the article editor.
• Ability to login to Joomla backend.
• Appropriate user security to maintain articles.
• Ability to navigate around Joomla back menu system.
• Understanding of defined Sections.
• Understanding of defined Categories.

This document will not go into more advanced editing and formatting topics, such as the following:

• Tables
• Image Resizing
• Item Bulleting
• Embedding Video
• Attaching Files
• And other items that may not mentioned in this document

Step 1 - After signing into Joomla, Click on Article Manager to go to the list of current articles on the website. There are 2 ways to get to the Article Manager as noted below..

Control Panel view

Drop down menu view

Step 2 - The following menu will appear listing all articles of various publication stages

Step 3 - Find the article you want to edit and click on its title to bring the article up in the JCE editor.

Step 4 - Update Article information in the Open Content Area that is part of the article. Images and formatting can be done using the JCE editor.

Step 5 - When done editing the article click the Save icon to save the article and return to the Article Manager.

Step 6 - Once saved, and if the article is published, check the website to verify that the article appears on the website and has all the correct information entered.

Note: Remember to Click on the “Apply” icon periodically to save the changes, as there is NO automatic save feature for the article in Joomla.

There are a couple of assumptions for the based the assumptions are as follows:

• Editor being used is JCE Editor.
• The Word document has been uploaded to a directory accessible to the JCE Editor.
• The document will not show how to create a directory to hold Word documents.
• The document will not show how to up load or FTP Word documents to Joomla directory.

Step 1 - Have Article open and have text area to attach Word Document to be defined.

Step 2 - Highlight text area where Word Document will be attached.

Step 3 - Click on the “Insert/Edit Link” button.

Step 4 - When the “Advance Link” Window comes up, click on the “Browse” button.

Step 5 - Navigate to the directory where documents reside and select the document to be attached to article on the highlighted word.

Step 6 - Click on the “Insert” button on the “Browser” window and then click on the “Insert Button” on the “Advanced Link” Window.

Step 7 - The previously highlighted word will now be underlined and a different color signifying a link attached to the word.

Step 8 - Click “Apply” or “Save” to save the changes to the article.

Step 9 - Check the article on the website to insure the link works and is attached to the correct document.

There are a couple of assumptions for the based the assumptions are as follows:

• Editor being used is JCE Editor.
• The Excel document has been uploaded to a directory accessible to the JCE Editor.
• The document will not show how to create a directory to hold Excel documents.
• The document will not show how to up load or FTP Excel documents to Joomla directory.

Step 1 - Have Article open and have text area to attach Excel Document to be defined.

Step 2 - Highlight text area where Excel Document will be attached.

Step 3 - Click on the “Insert/Edit Link” button.

Step 4 - When the “Advance Link” Window comes up, click on the “Browse” button.

Step 5 - Navigate to the directory where documents reside and select the document to be attached to article on the highlighted word.

Step 6 - Click on the “Insert” button on the “Browser” window and then click on the “Insert Button” on the “Advanced Link” Window.

Step 7 - The previously highlighted word will now be underlined and a different color signifying a link attached to the word.

Step 8 - Click “Apply” or “Save” to save the changes to the article.

Step 9 - Check the article on the website to insure the link works and is attached to the correct document.

There are a couple of assumptions for the based the assumptions are as follows:

• Editor being used is JCE Editor.
• The Excel document has been uploaded to a directory accessible to the JCE Editor.
• The document will not show how to create a directory to hold Excel documents.
• The document will not show how to up load or FTP Excel documents to Joomla directory.

Step 1 - Have Article open and have text area to attach Excel Document to be defined.

Step 2 - Highlight text area where Excel Document will be attached.

Step 3 - Click on the “Insert/Edit Link” button.

Step 4 - When the “Advance Link” Window comes up, click on the “Browse” button.

Step 5 - Navigate to the directory where documents reside and select the document to be attached to article on the highlighted word.

Step 6 - Click on the “Insert” button on the “Browser” window and then click on the “Insert Button” on the “Advanced Link” Window.

Step 7 - The previously highlighted word will now be underlined and a different color signifying a link attached to the word.

Step 8 - Click “Apply” or “Save” to save the changes to the article.

Step 9 - Check the article on the website to insure the link works and is attached to the correct document.

The following are base knowledge items needed to complete this task:

• How to login as authorized invdividual to update articles from the Joomla backend.
• How to create or modify a Joomla article.
• How to define/find a URL link.
• How to test that the URL link works properly.

Step 1 - Open the article where the URL link is to be placed.

Step 2 - Create URL link text or identify text where URL link will be attached.

In the example below I used "URL Test Text".

Step 3 - Highlight previously created text and then Click the "Insert/Edit Link" icon -

Step 4 - Enter URL link information in the "URL". (example: http://www.webtomix.com)

Note: Make sure to include the "http://" information prior to the actual URL.

Step 5 - Select Target from the "Target" drop down box.

Note: there are 4 options possible, the suggested option to select is "Open in New Window". This will open the link specified in a new window leaving the previous window viewable.

Here is what the complete setup options look like:

Step 6 - Click the "Insert" button at the bottom of the form and the URL text will be underlined and a different color.

Step 7 - Either click the "Save" or the "Apply" icon in the upper right corner to save the changes made to the article.

The URL link has been created and attached to the specified text area. The link can be tested by bringing the article up thru the website and clicking on the text to see if the URL specified is displayed in a new window. If the URL is not displayed or a 404 error is displayed, go back and check to be sure the URL specified is correct.

Note: the previous steps can also be used to create URL links to images in an article. Instead of selecting specific text to link to a URL, you select an image in the article with which to attach the URL link.