Joomla! Documentation™

How to access

To access the page, go to Site > Global Configuration or click the Global Configuration icon from the main control panel.

Description

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

Site

Screenshot

Setting Groups

Site Settings

• Site Name. The name of the site.
• 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.
• Default Editor. The default editor to use when creating articles.
• Default Access Level. TBD
• Default List Limit. The length of lists in the Control Panel for all Users. By default, this is set to 20.
• Default Feed Limit. The number of content items to be shown in the feed(s). By default, this is set to 10.
• Feed Email. Need Entry - (is this right?) Defalt e-mail to deliver feeds to.

Metadata Settings

• Site Meta Description. This is the description of the site which is indexed by search engine spiders.
• 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.
• Rights for content. Need Entry. - New Field
• 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 its own Meta Data information (set under the Metadata Information pane when creating or editing an article).
• Show Author Meta Tag. It shows the Author Meta information for articles and is used by search engine spiders when indexing the site.
• Places the selected language in the metadata for the site. Need Entry. - Default is English UK.

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. For example, the URL: www.example.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=etc..., would turn into: www.example.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 any .htaccess file without an understanding of how it works. You must use the .htaccess file provided with Joomla! in order to use this setting. To use this file, rename the htaccess.txt file (found in the root directory) to .htaccess. By default, this setting is set to No.
• Add suffix to URL. When set to Yes, Joomla! will add .html to the end of the URLs. The default setting is No.
• Unicode aliases. Need Entry - Default setting is NO.
• Add Site Name To Titles. Need Entry - Default is NO

Cookie Settings

• Cookie Domain. Need Entry
• Cookie Path. Need Entry

System

Setting Groups

System Settings

• Secret. This is generated when Joomla! is first installed and is not changeable. It is used internally by Joomla! for security purposes.
• Path to Log folder. The path where the logs should be stored. The Joomla! installer should automatically fill in this folder.
• 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 place Joomla! looks for help information when you click the Help button (visible in many screens and options of the administration panel). By default, it uses Joomla!'s main help site.

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 occur, they will be displayed at the bottom of each 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.
• Debug Modules. Need Entry

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 is 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

Setting Groups

Server Settings

• Path to Temp-folder. The path where files are temporarily stored. This is filled in by default when Joomla! is installed.
• GZIP Page Compression. Compressing pages typically increases your site's speed. The default setting is No.
• Error Reporting. This sets the appropriate level of reporting. The default setting is System Default.
• Force SSL. This setting forces the site access for selected areas under SSL (https). Note: you must have set already the server to use SSL. Options are:
  • None. SSL is not activated
  • Administrator Only. SSL is only valid for the backend.
  • Entire Site. SSL is valid for the whole site (front- & backend).

Locale Settings

• Server Timezone. 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 process 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.
• FTP Password. The password that Joomla! will use when accessing the FTP server. Security recommendation: create another FTP user account to access the folder where files will be uploaded to.
• 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 to leave these settings the way they are, unless you have a good understanding of how databases work.

• Database Type. The type of databased to be used. The default setting is mysql, but this can be changed during the initial setup of Joomla!.
• Host. 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.
• Database Username. The username to access the database.
• Database Name. The name of the database.
• Database Prefix. The prefix used before the actual table's name. This allows you to have multiple Joomla! installations in the same database. The default setting is jos_, but this can be 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 to deliver emails from the site. The default setting is PHP Mail Function. This can be changed during the initial setup of Joomla!.
• 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 Sendmail 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 Security. Need Entry - Default is None
• SMTP Port. Need Entry - Default is 25
• 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.

Permissions

Permissions are new to Joomla! 1.6

Setting Groups

Need Entries - This is a brand new group

Toolbar

At the top right you will see the toolbar:

The functions are:

• Save. Save the modifications you made to the Global Configuration. You will be redirected to the Control Panel

• Apply. Save it, but stay in the same screen. If you have been working on a screen for a long time and don't want to risk losing your work, pressing Apply saves your work and lets you continue working. If, for example, you lost your Internet connection, your work will be saved up this point.

• Close. Return to the previous screen without saving your work. If you press Close while adding a new item, this new item will not be created. If you were modifying an existing item, the modifications will not be saved.

• Help. Opens this Help Screen.

Quick Tips

• Most, if not all, of these settings can be set once and then left alone.
• If major modifications need to be made, then consider taking the site offline to test it and to make sure everything is in working order.
• The settings are saved in '<Joomla! root>/configuration.php'. You have to either activate the FTP-layer or make the 'configuration.php' file writable to save your changes.

Related Information

• Control panel
• Article Manager - New/Edit
• Info about .htaccess