Help15:Screen.config.15

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Description

The Global Configuration screen allows you to configure the Joomla! site with your personal settings.

Version Changes

The following information lists the changes from version 1.0.x to 1.5:

• The following tabs have been removed:
  • Locale
  • Content
  • Database
  • Metadata
  • Mail
  • Cache
  • Statistics
  • SEO
• The following changes have been made to the Site tab:
  • Options that have been removed:
    • System Error Message
    • Front-end Login
    • Favourites Site Icon
  • Show Unauthorised Links has been moved to the Parameters options of the Article Manager
  • The following options have been moved to the new System tab
    • Allow User Registration
    • Use New Account Activation
    • Front-end User Parameters
  • All settings originally under the Metadata tab have been grouped together as Metadata Settings and placed under this tab
  • All settings originally under the SEO tab have been grouped together as SEO Settings and placed under this tab
    • Dynamic Page Titles have been changed to Add suffix to URLs (REVIEW: ACCURATE STATEMENT?)
    • Use Apache mod_rewrite has been added
  • The following options have been grouped together and labeled as Site Settings:
    • Site Offline
    • Offline Message
    • Site Name
    • Default WYSIWYG Editor
    • List Length
• The following changes have been made to the Server tab
  • Options that have been removed:
    • Absolute Path
    • Live Site
    • Admin Session Lifetime
    • Remember Expired Admin page
    • Session Authentication Method
    • File Creation
    • Directory Creation
  • Time Offset, originally under the Locale tab, is now under this tab under Locale Settings
  • All settings originally located under the Database tab have been grouped together as Database Settings and placed under this tab
  • Site Session Lifetime has been renamed to Session Lifetime and has been moved to the new System tab under Session Settings
  • Help Server has been changed to a drop down box
  • All settings originally located under the Mail tab have been grouped together as Mail Settings and placed under this tab
• All settings originally located in the Content tab have been moved to the new Parameters options of the Article Manager
• All settings originally located in the Cache tab have been moved to the new System tab.
  • Cache Folder has been replaced with a drop down box unable to be changed. (REVIEW: ACCURATE STATEMENT?)

Column Headers

Site

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Site Settings

Site Offline

This setting shows when the site is offline. Only Administrators will be able to see the site when Site Offline is set to Yes. The default setting is No.

Offline Message

The message that will be displayed on the site when the site is offline.

Site Name

The name of the site.

Default WYSIWYG Editor

(WYSIWYG stands for What You See Is What You Get) The default editor to use when creating articles.

List Length

The length of lists in the Control Panel for all Users. By default, this is set to 20.

Feed Length

The number of content items to be shown in the feed(s). By default, this is set to 10.

Metadata Settings

Global Site Meta Description

This is the description of the site which is indexed by search engine spiders.

Global Site Meta Keywords

These keywords describe the site and are the basis for improving the ability of search engine spiders ability to index the site.

Show Title Meta Tag

It shows the Meta information of each article. This Meta information is used by search engine spiders when indexing the site. Each article can have it's own Meta Data information (set under the Metadata Information pane when creating or editing an article). Refer to Article Manager - New/Edit for more information.

Show Author Meta Tag

It shows the Author Meta information for articles and is used by search engine spiders when indexing the site. Refer to Article Manager - New/Edit for more information.

SEO Settings

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.

Search Engine Friendly URLs

When set to Yes, URLs are rewritten to be more friendly for search engine spiders. An example: instead of viewing the following URL www.yourname.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=etc..., the URL will be www.yourname.com/alias. Most of the items created in Joomla! have an Alias box where a search engine friendly URL can be inserted. The default setting is No.

Use Apache mod_rewrite

When set to Yes, Joomla! will use the mod_rewrite settings of Apache when creating search engine friendly URLs. Please note: it is advised that you do not modify the .htaccess file without working knowledge of how it works and is used. Use of the included .htaccess file (provided with Joomla!) is required if planned on using this setting by renaming htaccess.txt to .htaccess. To learn more about .htaccess files, refer to Apache.org's Documentation[1]. By default, this setting is set to No. (REVIEW: ACCURATE STATEMENT?)

Add suffix to URLs

When set to Yes, Joomla! will add .html at the end of the URLs. The default setting is No.

System

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System Settings

Secret Word

It is generated when Joomla! is first installed and is not changeable. It is used for security functions.

Path to Log folder

The path where the logs should be stored. Joomla! installer should automatically fill in this folder.

Enable Web Services

This feature enables Joomla! to make RPC (Remote Procedure Calls) using HTTP as the transport medium and XML as the encoding language. This function should remain on to ensure that many third party extensions works. The default setting Yes.

Help Server

The server used to get help information when clicking the Help image (visible in many screens and options of the administration panel). By default, it uses Joomla!'s main help site.

User Settings

Allow User Registration

This determines whether users can register on the site. The default setting is Yes.

New User Registration Type

If Allow User Registration is set to Yes, this setting tells Joomla! what level of access should be given to new users who register. The default setting is Registered.

New User Account Activation

This setting determines whether a new user will have to activate their account before they can use it. If set to Yes, users will be sent an email containing a link to a web address. Following the link will activate the account. By default, this setting is set to Yes.

Front-end User Parameters

When set to Show and logged in via the front-end, users will be able to select their language, article editor, and help site preferences from within their Details screen. The default setting is Show.

Media Settings

Legal Extensions (File Types)

The file types allowed for uploading. By default, when Joomla! is installed, the basic image and document files are set.

Maximum Size (in bytes)

The maximum file size allowed for an upload in bytes. The default setting is 10000000.

Path to File Folder

The path where non-images media files are located (non-images refers to files such as videos and document files). Upon installation this path is automatically filled in. It may be modified to fit how a site's directories are setup.

Path to Image Folder

The path where images are stored. Upon installation this path is automatically filled in. It may be modified to fit how the directories are setup on the site.

Restrict Uploads

This feature restricts uploads by user type. The default setting is Yes.

Check MIME Types

This uses MIME Magic or Fileinfo to verify files. The default setting is Yes. If invalid MIME type errors are received then change the setting to No.

Legal Image Extensions (File Types)

This sets the legal images that can be uploaded. It operates by checking the file image headers. By default, Joomla! only allows bmp,gif,jpg,png.

Ignored Extensions

This sets what extensions are ignored for MIME type checking and restricts uploads. By default, no extensions are added.

Legal MIME Types

This sets the list of legal MIME types for uploads. By default, Joomla! automatically includes the standard file types. It is recommended that you should not touch this setting unless you know what you are doing.

Illegal MIME Types

This sets the list of illegal MIME types for uploads. By default, Joomla! automatically blocks HTML MIME types. It is recommended that you should not touch this setting unless you know what you are doing.

Debug Settings

Debug System

This will turn on the debugging system of Joomla!. When set to Yes, this tool will provide diagnostic information, language translations, and SQL errors. If any such issues or errors are identified, it/they will be displayed at the bottom of each page below the footer on every page in both the front-end and back-end.

Debug Language

This will turn on the debugging indicators (*...*) or (?...?) for the Joomla! Language files. Debug Language will work without the Debug System tool set to on. But it will not provide additional detailed references which would help in correcting any errors.

Cache Settings

Cache

This setting sets whether site caching is enabled or not. When enabled, it keeps a local copy of the content on the server to speed up accessing and lessen stress on the database. The default setting is No.

Cache Time

This setting sets the maximum length of time (in minutes) for a cache file to be stored before it i refreshed. The default setting is 15 minutes.

Cache Handler

This setting sets how the cache operates. There is only one caching mechanism which is file-based.

Session Settings

Session Lifetime

This setting sets how long a session should last and how long a user can remain signed in for (before logging them off for being inactive). The default setting is 15 minutes.

Session Handler

This setting sets how the session should be handled once a user connects and logs into the site. The default setting is set to Database.

Server

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Server Settings

Path to Temp-folder

The path where files are temporary stored. This is filled in by default when Joomla! is installed.

GZIP Page Compression

Compressing pages typically quickens site speed. The default setting is No.

Error Reporting

This sets the appropriate level of reporting. The default setting is System Default.

Locale Settings

Time Zone

This tool sets the current date and time. The set time should be where the site's server is located. The default setting is (UTC 00:00) Western Europe Time, London, Lisbon, Casablanca.

FTP Settings

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. Most of these settings are set during the initial Joomla! installation.

Enable FTP

This setting tells Joomla! to use it's built-in FTP function instead of the normal upload progress used by PHP.

FTP Host

The host server's URL connecting the FTP.

FTP Port

The port where the FTP is accessed. The default setting is 21.

FTP Username

The username that Joomla! will use when accessing the FTP server. Security recommendation: create another FTP user account to access a folder where files will be uploaded to. (REVIEW: ACCURATE STATEMENT?)

FTP Password

The password that Joomla! will use when accessing the FTP server. Security recommendation: creqte another FTP user account to access the folder where files will be uploaded to. (REVIEW: ACCURATE STATEMENT?)

FTP Root

The root directory where files should be uploaded to.

Database Settings

These settings are set during the initial setup of Joomla! It is advised that no settings should be changed in this section without working knowledge of how databases work.

Database Type

The type of databased used. The default setting is mysql, unless changed during the initial setup of Joomla!.

Hostname

The hostname where the database is located. It is typically set to localhost for most servers. It is possible for the hostname to be located on a different server all together.

Username

The username to access the database.

Database

The name of the database.

Database Prefix

The prefix used before the actual table's name is working with the database. The default setting is jos_ unless changed during initial setup of Joomla!.

Mail Settings

The mail settings are set during the initial setup of Joomla!. These settings can be changed whenever needed.

Mailer

This setting sets which mailer to use when delivery emails from the site. The default setting is PHP Mail Function but may be changed during the initial Joomla! installation.

PHP Mail Function

This tools instructs Joomla! to use the mail function that is built into PHP.

Sendmail

This instructs Joomla! to use the sendmail function typically used when creating HTML email forms.

SMTP Server

This tool uses the site's SMTP server.

Mail from

The email address used by Joomla! to send site email.

From Name

The name Joomla! will use when sending site emails. By default, Joomla! uses the site name during the initial setup.

Sendmail Path

The path where the Sandmail program is located. This is typically filled in by Joomla! during the initial setup. This path is only used if Mailer is set to Sendmail.

SMTP Authentication

If the SMTP server requires authentication to send mail, set this to Yes, otherwise leave it at No. This is only used if Mailer is set to Sendmail.

SMTP Username

The username to use for access to the SMTP host. This is only used if Mailer is set to Sendmail.

SMTP Password

The password to use for access to the SMTP host. This is only used if Mailer is set to Sendmail.

SMTP Host

The SMTP address to use when sending mail. This is only used if Mailer is set to Sendmail.

Typical Usage

Global Configuration sets all the required settings needed for the site to function properly. To access the page, either click on Global Configuration in the main Control Panel or go to Site > Global Configuration.

Quick Tips

Most, if not all, of these settings can be set once and then left alone.

If no major modifications are to be made then consider taking the site offline to test it's functions and to make sure everything is in working order.

Points to Watch

None Known at this Time

Dependencies

None