As you might’ve noticed there hasn’t been an update in days. The reason for this is that the other IT guy from our company is on vacation in Turkey. So, now I’ve got to handle all customer cases. For some odd reasons; we haven’t heard from most of our customers until when the other IT guy left for Turkey. Oh, the irony!
Review: Joomanuals
9 03 2010On monday, I was asked if I’d be interested in testing Joomanuals. As I’m always ready and willing to test anything Joomla-related (yes, that’s a hint for any other Joomla developer out there) I couldn’t say “no”. It was the first time ever I heard about Joomanuals – you’d be surprised how many cool add-ons for Joomla manage to fly below my radar.
So I did some research. Joomanuals isn’t an add-on an sich, but it’s a web-based application. It targets people like you and me who build websites for customers. One of the parts of delivering a “complete solution” is providing your customer with a proper manual on how to use Joomla. I’ll admit that I’ve been lacking in this department. And, from what I’ve heard / seen; many of you lack the time or skills to write a good manual*, too. You’d be amazed how many excellent developers / site builders find it to be impossible to write down how Joomla works!
That’s where Joomanuals comes in. Joomanuals is an online tool that can generate manuals for you! To start using Joomanuals you’ve got to buy a 1-year subscription which costs $ 25. This’ll allow you to use the service for a full year; for as many times as you want / need.
How it works
Once signed in, you’ll be taken to the control panel to start creating PDF manuals. This is an amazingly simple process: All you do is provide some information (name of the customers’ site, their username, password…), choose what sections you want in the manual (how to manage articles, menu’s, users…) and add additional information to the manual. When you’re done providing the information; you can start generating the manual.
This went faster than I had expected. After only a few minutes, your manual is ready to be downloaded.
The resulting manual
Of course, I had to be critical when reading the manual. But aside from a single typo, and a small error that was fixed five minutes after I reported it (In your face, Microsoft / other software company!) the content of the manual was… great. The instructions in the manual were clear and well-written. Because it’s using your own data; the manual allows users to better understand what to do. Hell, they could even use the manual to guide them step by step if they want to. Because of the level of detail; even a complete beginner shouldn’t have a problem working with the Joomla website you built (unless you screwed up, of course).
Something I like about the manual, is that it offers just enough information. It will allow users to manage their site, without overwhelming them with information they won’t need. Or – I’m speaking for myself here – you don’t want them to have; like installing add-ons; messing with the configuration settings; making changes to the templates…
Conclusion
Joomanuals is a great tool for anyone building Joomla websites for others. It’s easy to use, and the result is a clear step-by-step manual that’s customized for your customer and ready to be sent to them straight away. The price tag of 25$ a year is almost trivial, if you consider how much time you save by not having to write a complete, professional manual. I honestly believe everyone building Joomla websites should consider using this tool.
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Tags: guide, joomanuals, Joomla, manual, review, users
Categories : Add-ons, IT Tips & Tricks, Joomla
(Joomla) Review: Lazybackup
9 03 2010Who says blogging can’t be usefull? Until today, I used to make manual backups of Joomla databases. It was a time-consuming, boring process. When I complained about this process, I got a slap on the wrist by one of my readers. I should’ve done my research better!
So today, I tried implementing a solution that was suggested by Joomla big shot Brian Teeman (who, might I add, has an awesome blog built on Joomla 1.5. I’m jealous). He suggested using Lazybackup. Man, do I wish that I found out about this tool earlier!
Lazybackup 2; which can be found at lazybackup.net, is a small plug-in which makes backing up your Joomla Mysql database easy. Once you install the plug-in, it takes you two minutes tops to configure the automated back-ups. These back-ups can either be stored in a (sub)folder or e-mailed to your adress(es).
This plug-in is going to be a huge timesaver for me. I gladly recommend it to anyone who meets the following Joomla requirements:
- you run one / more Joomla 1.5 websites
- You’ve got 2 minutes to spare to set up the plug-in.
Wether you have only one website to manage or multiple, this plug-in is a must-have for anyone.
Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: add-on, back-up, database, Joomla, lazybackup; joomla 1.5, mysql, plug-in
Categories : Add-ons, Joomla
Road trip: Cebit 2010
5 03 2010Like I promised before heading to Hannover for Cebit 2010; here’s a report of the field trip. Not a very long report, really. Cebit 2010 sucked and I don’t really want to waste much more time on it.
Road trip!
I had to get up at 4 AM. Anyone smarter than me would’ve anticipated by going to bed early the day before. I didn’t. I figured I’d just sleep while carpooling to Hannover. At 4.30 we picked up the last of our “crew” and finally started to head to Hannover.
We made a stop at a gas station around 7am, for some fuel, a cup of coffee and a croissant. It was as close to a breakfast as we’d come.
At 8 am; I “woke” up, so I took some notes for this report. Obviously, there weren’t much notes to make as I had been sleeping. Or, at least trying to sleep. Danny’s car is the WORST CAR EVER to sleep in. You can’t put your head anywhere comfortably. Should’ve brought a pillow.
When we were only 15 kilometers from Hannover, fun started. As in, slow traffic. It took us one hour to get to the convention centre and park our car. 1 hour, for 15 kilometers. 4 hours for the previous 360 kilometers. Go figure.
Most… awesome… event… ever!
The sentence above wasn’t used by me. Or by anyone of the “crew”. I joined Danny and Ernest of Computertaal, and my bro (in every possible way) Kenny tagged along with me. Should I’ve known how BORING it would be, I’d never had dragged him along. And I could have known, because 4 years earlier, I swore to never visit Cebit again.
Yes, I’m an IT guy. So Cebit should be interesting, in theory. But in reality, Cebit is all about “talking business”. Vendors you’ve never heard of try to start talks with German resellers. Okay, that’s not really true. The companies who were at Cebit didn’t try to convince anyone of ANYTHING. In a twisted, reverse world, business people had to approach the representatives to get at least SOME information.
I can honestly say that I didn’t saw one single innovative or new product at Cebit. Unless CAT7 cables counts – woo freakin’ hoo – of course, which I should have heard of. But I’m not much of a Cable Guy.
Speaking about a lack of innovation. At least 70% stands on Cebit are Asian. Now, I don’t have a problem with Asian IT products. But the IT products we saw there, are lame copies of already crappy products, by companies not worth remembering their name. I guess that, at some point, the Chinese started to produce crap products no-one cares about, and they started to copy each other. Just a guess.
All the big brand seem to stay away from Cebit, as well. Of the 100’s of vendors, I only knew four or five. Dell was there, Acer was there, Intel had a whole hall for themselves, and ASUS was there, as well. All other major software or hardware companies? Not there.
Highlight of the day?
Highlight of the day? That must’ve been when I saw Fatal1ty give away some prizes at the Inter Extreme Masters by Electronic Sport League. What a name. The ESL was pretty interesting, too. I saw how the European Champions in Counterstrike 1.6 suffered a narrow defeat by an Ukranian team. That was the highlight of an otherwise EXTREMELY boring day. Would not visit again.
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Categories : Various Articles
Preparing for Cebit 2010
3 03 2010Tomorrow, I’ll be heading to Hannover, to attend Cebit 2010. Any IT vendor that matters – and many that want to matter – will be there. I’ve been invited to tag along with a party of fellow journalists / bloggers of Computertaal.
While Cebit really isn’t my thing – it’s more a “business” convention than a real IT convention, imho – it’ll be an interesting day. Because of budget restrictions (some of us are cheapo’s) we’ll be driving to Hannover. Which means that I’ll have to get up at 4 am; to make a 5 hour drive to Hannover, Germany. Luckily I’ll be carpooling with those very same bloggers / journalists that invited me and managed to arrange a free ticket; so I’ll be able to get some sleep!
I’ve already “prepared” for the field trip. Clothes are ready (at 4 am, my sense for what’s “decent clothes” is around zero); my iPod is charged, my photo camera is ready to go (although I doubt that Ill be taking many pictures) ; I’ve got a notebook and a few dozen of pens; a magazine to read and a book (“Empire”, by Scott Orson Card). That SHOULD help me get through the boring drive to Hannover and back.
Expect a “report” on Hannover on Friday, as It’ll be too late to post anything on Cebit when I get back tomorrow night!
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Tags: Cebit, field trip, Hannover, preparing
Categories : Various Articles
