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  • Add caching to your modules

    In several previous tips(like Turn caching on!, Caching reloaded, Give a boost to your Joomla site and couple of others) I urged you to turn caching on wherever is appropriate. Recently one of my readers had criticized me, because he tried to follow the tip, but on several modules he used simply he didn't found the option to turn cache on (or off) in module settings.

    Indeed, this might be a problem, since some modules does not have this option! this little detail don't need to stop you to do so!

  • Adding spatial navigation and tabindex to your custom forms

    Having correctly implemented spatial navigation in your custom forms is more important, than ever these days. Unfortunately Joomla's core JForm does not support adding the required info easily (for example by creating an XML file which will output the correct code.

  • Ajax - preferred by some, hated by others

    Ajax is not a genuine Joomla technology, it is just one of programming techniques to made a web page more attractive.

  • Avoid easy Joomla version detection

    There is a surprisingly easy way to detect your Joomla version - and one don't need sophisticated tools, like BlindElephant or his siblings to do it. And this information can be used by hackers to make you scream...

  • Blank page when accessing Joom!Fish

    It's weird and scary - in a perfectly functioning Joomla site I installed one of my favourite components, Joom!Fish - remember, I'm the multilang guy Tongue out - and all I got was a blank screen. Obviously, something gone south... but what?

  • Error: 500 - String could not be parsed as XML

    Today I had a big surprise, several of my sites went out of business with the "Error: 500 - String could not be parsed as XML" message. I checked everything, and found no clues what can be happened. the sites weren't hacked, files or database has no signs to being tampered width or being damaged.

    And usual bug-hunting tactics as unpublishing modules for example revealed also nothing.

  • How To Create A RSS Feed For Joomla 1.7+

    After I upgraded this site to Joomla 1.7 I wondering, how I can create a RSS feed with all entries to re-create the original functionality we had in the initial site. The problem is that Joomla 1.7 use for this purpose the "Syndication Feeds" module, which picks up the Featured Articles menu item (if any) to create a RSS feed from the currently displayed page.... This works fine - relatively - if you use the default Joomla setup, the Featured Articles menu item being your default homepage. But this isn't my case - and this isn't anymore the case of most of the sites... so I needed to find out something else.

  • How to reuse Joomla 1.5 Templates?

    This seems to be an ever returning question in Joomla world, you might already read the first part of the sequel: How to reuse Joomla 1.0 templates?. So, let's go one step further, and let's see how we can easily reuse those nice Joomla 1.5 templates in the post-Joomla 1.7 world (more specifically under Joomla 2.5). Don't expect a fully covering guide on how to convert Joomla 1.5 template to Joomla 2.5 template, but instead a detailed description on what I usually do - less theory, more practical knowledge.

  • JavaScript hijacking

    JavaScript hijacking is a technique that an attacker can use to masquerade as a valid user and read sensitive data from a vulnerable Web application, particularly one using Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). Nearly all major Ajax applications have been found vulnerable.

  • Making templates translateable

    Joomla is a truly international application and supports the translation of all strings contained within it. Templates are no exception on this. They are a bit neglected, but a little extra time spent here will ensure that the strings used in your templates are translatable will pay back - and will give you an edge over your competitors.

  • Module Chrome - an evolving concept

    Styling the output of the Joomla was - and is - one of greatest challenges. One of tools making this easier for template developers is the "module chrome" concept/toolset introduced with Joomla 1.0 and constantly evolving ever since.

  • Sitemap in robots.txt

    Are you a SEO-conscioncious webmaster? Of course, you are!

    And you already have a nice, standards-compliant XML sitemap! Congrats! (Maybe you used a Joomla component to generate it on the fly - Brilliant!) You even had submitted it to the Google! Great! And you think you can enjoy from now that well-deserved pina colada, right? Hold on, you have some important tasks to do!

  • XML Parsing Error at. Error

    After moving a site to a new server I found this error in the backend - at least one error per page, but casually even more.

    XML Parsing Error at. Error

    No error number, no line number... What a heck!