J1.5:Get to know the Administrator Back-end of Joomla!

The "J1.5" namespace is an archived namespace. This page contains information for a Joomla! version which is no longer supported. It exists only as a historical reference, it will not be improved and its content may be incomplete and/or contain broken links.

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Hands-on the Administrator Back-end

The aim of this document is to give you a feel for what can be done using the Administrator Back-end of a Joomla! site. It is also intended to provide background for understanding of how to set up a Joomla site. It is not therefore intended to be a comprehensive reference to everything that can be done. But there is a section on how you can find out a great deal more in detail.

Who is it written for?

Everyone: who needs to look after a Joomla! site.

It is written on the assumption that you do not have much experience using this kind of management tool.

If you are an experienced developer - there are cross references to more comprehensive documentation at the end.

People who need only to enter and update content on a site will not normally use the Back-end.

What is the Back-end?

The Back-end of a Joomla! site is the administrative interface. It is not seen by visitors to the site and access is limited to users who have appropriate permissions. (cross ref to permissions doc) It is used to manage the content, appearance and functioning of the site. It is here too that the basis of a new site is created.

Administrator permissions:

• Super Administrator: Can do anything and in particular they can alter configurations and install new extensions.
• Administrators: Can do most things, apart from installing extensions, altering site-wide configurations or the Super administrator user accounts.
• Managers: Can login to the admin pages but are limited to the main menu and managing the content.

It is obvious that administrators need to be aware that they can alter content and the whole way in which the site functions, so their role is important - even if it is hidden from the Front-end.

The mechanics of using the Back-end

Using 'localhost'

Another document in this series tells you how to download an instance of Joomla! on your own computer. (cross ref) This is a very good way to explore the way that the Back-end works because you can try things without doing any harm to an established site. An instance of Joomla! with the sample data is particularly valuable here.

Login to the Back-end

• Enter the address of the site that you are going to use.

The localhost site with sample data is a good place to start - and if you have a localhost installation on your own computer, then use it - http://localhost/joomla15/administrator

If you are using an established site - the address is the one for the Front-end with the addition of 'administrator'

• Enter the Username and password that you have for the site.

The username is not necessarily 'admin' although this is the default. On many site the administrators have usernames that do not indicate that they are administrators - for security reasons.

Logging out: This returns you to the Administrator login screen.

• Most sites log you out automatically if you have not done anything on the site for a defined length of time - usually about 15 minutes. This is for security.

• Logging out yourself:

Click on the Logout link in the top-right corner of the Administrator screen.

The Control Panel

When you login to the Back-end of a site, the Control Panel opens.

Screen of an established site showing the Control Panel. Here there are two visitors logged in to the site and note that the Super Administrator, logged in to the Administator page, has a username which does not include 'admin'.

Screen of Sample data inlocalhost showing the Control Panel (cross ref to localhost). Here all the options to the right (Site Information) are closed, although the 'Joomla! Welcome screen is displayed byt default. This is almost the same as the other Controal panel apart from some additional Site Information choices.

The whole Control Panel is roughly divided into three sections:-

1. Control icons are in the main part of the screen
2. Menus are along the top
3. Site Information is to the right

The Control Icons on the main part of the screen

This provides administrators with a quick way to access the most frequently used tasks to manage the whole web site. Exploring each of these will give a sense of what an administrator can do. List them with brief comment

An example in more detail - Article Manager

All the various manager interfaces are similar and are designed to show key information and can be used for many tasks. This illustrates how Mangement pages work. Normally the items being managed (such as Users or Sections) are listed and there are icons for doing various tasks

To Note in particular:

• Filter: this allows you to find something by typing in all or part of a name.
• Sorting columns: you can order Articles by clicking on the header of each column
• Find Articles in the heirachy: There are pull-down lists to select Articles by Category / Section / Author. This is useful for a large site
• Icons at the top: There are icons to allow various manipulations of content - such as Publish, Trash (ie delete) Edit and New.
• Help gives full information about the Article Manager.

Click the icon to use the Help which is good and comprehensive. There are similar Help facilites in the menus of all the main Manager functions.

An example of a Workspace page

Once you open a specific task in the Manager page, you are usually taken to a page with a Workspace layout. This can work in any site to which you hav e access - the examples use the localhost sample data.

• Navigate back to the main Control Panel interface. From the Menu:-

Select Site / Control Panel

To view an example of a Workspace screen:-

Open Manage Sections

The Management screen is similar to that for Articles in that it allows you to manipulate Sections. To see the Workspace:-

• Choose any Section

Click on the Tick box

• To edit

Click on the Edit icon

Editing a Section - a similar but blank one displays for adding a new Section

screen

The key elements allow you to alter (or enter) information required.

2. Site Information

The display here can vary according to how the site has been set up. Four display by default - see earlier screen cross reference. The Site information for the Sample data in localhost shows that they give a very useful overview of the activity on the site.

• Open each choice and explore what is shows

They give a summary about:-

• Logged in Users: who is logged in (you can also log them out from this screen)
• Popular: shown in the screen shot: the most popular articles with the numbers of hits and the date they were created
• Recent added Articles: new content
• Menu stats: hits on the Menus

In the sample data there are also two addition ones (Welcome to Joomla! and Joomla! Security) which give information about Joomla! Welcome to Joomla! is open by default when the Administor part of the site is accessed.

3. The menus

These give access to all the functionality available in the site. The exact content of the Menus, and especially the Component Menu, depends on how the site has been set up. For example, this shows the basic menus under Components as they are on the Sample data.

If extra features (Extensions) have been added, they too appear on the menu. Here is an an established site where some Extensions (notably an editor JCE and Community Builder) have been installed which can be viewed through the menu system

• Look at each menu in turn

When you begin, you won't necessarily understand or remember it all. But pulling down the menus and seeing what is there shows you what more you will need to find out to progress.

Cross-references and further information

• Help on-line: The Help icon on the menu on all the Management pages has a link to the Joomla! documentation web site. In each Manager section the Help gives comprehensive information about what all the features do.

If you are an experienced reader of Help - this will not be too difficult, but beginners may find they do not understand all the vocabulary. Persist - you will understand more of it as you get experience using a site which builds your understanding of concepts and associated vocabulary. Developers will welcome the added detail of the on-line Help.

• Joomla! Administrator's Manual - on-line http://docs.joomla.org/Administrators
• Quick start guide http://help.joomla.org/ghop/feb2008/task048/joomla_15_quickstart.pdf
• http://community.joomla.org/august-2008/article/522-introductory-learning-joomla-using-sample-data.html

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--Lorna Scammell December 2010