Time for action—tour the example site

Let's take a closer look at the demo site and see some real life examples of page layouts. You'll see how the content in the mainbody and the modules in the surrounding content area change depending on the menu hyperlink you click:

  1. Enter the URL of your site (for example, http://www.mysite.com) in your web browser. If in Chapter 2 you have installed Joomla! into another folder, the URL would be http://www.mysite.com/otherfoldername. You'll recognize the home page, as displayed in the following screenshot. The mainbody (the visible part of it outlined in the screenshot) consists of several article intro texts; above it, to its left-hand side and right-hand side, are modules.
  2. Let's explore how the layout changes on a different page. In the Main Menu, click on Joomla! Overview. You'll notice that the mainbody displays what Joomla! calls an article, the most common type of page content (the mainbody is again outlined in the following screenshot):

    The mainbody takes up more screen space this time. On the right-hand side column, the home page modules have disappeared. This is part of the site design; the right-hand side column doesn't display when it contains no content.

  3. In the Main Menu, click on More about Joomla!. You'll see another type of page layout. The mainbody now contains a short list of links to content sections: The Project, The CMS, and The Community.
  4. Now check out one last type of page layout. On the Main Menu, click on The News. As you can see, the mainbody displays a series of short introductions (or teasers). Below each intro is a Read more link that shows the full article.

What just happened?

At first sight, the Joomla! example site may seem overwhelming. There are many bits of content, many hyperlink lists, menus, and many different types of web page layouts. But in fact, many pages on Joomla! sites are built around the four page layouts you've just discovered: the home page, content pages (with one main article in the mainbody), and two types of "pages in between". These "pages in between" function as hyperlink lists combined with either short descriptions of the content section or introductory texts to the articles themselves. These "in-betweens" help users discover the site contents by offering them an overview of articles on related topics.

You've also discovered how the mainbody can be combined with different modules. In the example site, the home page is jam-packed with modules. All of the other pages just show a few module items in the top bar and left-hand side column. On those pages, the right-hand side column has no content and its place has been taken by the mainbody content.

Have a go hero—get familiar with the example site contents

Take some time to browse your example site. By now, you'll be able to see the framework behind the different pages and understand how different combinations of mainbody and modules are put together to create unique web pages.

You'll also notice that there is more to explore than just pages with "classic content" (articles, text, and images) that we've seen so far. Although classic content pages may be at the core of many websites, in a dynamic site all kinds of dynamic content can be displayed in the mainbody. Have a go at the Poll on the home page, or try out the Search box. You'll see the mainbody will show the (dynamic) poll and search results.

For now, we won't go any deeper into these different types of dynamic content—though it's important to realize that they exist and that they take Joomla!'s capabilities much further than just plain old "presentation of text and images". We'll cover this subject in more detail in the next few chapters.

上一章目录下一章