Use IDs In Links - It Is Better For SEO

22 February 2021

In Joomla! CMS we can in some cases choose whether to use IDs (numbers) in URLs or not.

Why is it better to use IDs? Because it's better for SEO.

Speed

When a server processes a request, it is always faster to use the integer type than the string type. ID is integer type, so the request will be processed faster. And this means better SEO.

Preserving the correctness of the link

Example: Just imagine, you have created an article but with mistake in alias, so your article link looks like this:

https://www.your_website.com/5-artisle ("artisle" should be "article")

Such a link was indexed in the search engine and you have corrected it. But because of using numbers in your link, it is not a problem, this article is accessible thanks to number 5.

You can even change it to:

https://www.your_website.com/5-my-article

And still no problem here, the article is accessible thanks to number 5. So even if your site is indexed with the wrong URL for some time, it is accessible at all times.

This is not possible for variants without ID (without number). Such a link without ID will just return 404.

Inkscape - Save As (Save As JPG, Save As WEBP, Save As PNG) Extension

19 February 2021

Phoca - Inkscape Save As extension is an Inkscape extension which allows you to export your image(s) to JPG, WEBP or PNG format. As default, Inkscape can export images to PNG but there is no option to export them to JPG or WEBP format.

There exist two GitHub projects that deal with the export of Inkscape images to JPG format but both are not more up-to-date for the newest Inkscape version.

Phoca - Inkscape Save As extension is inspired by both projects. It uses some code from both projects which was transformed to new Inkscape API and adds new options.

With Phoca - Inkscape Save As extension you can export images to JPG, WEBP or PNG format. There are three options:

• Full page export
• Selection area export - area of selected object(s) will be exported
• Custom area export - area of manually added coordinates will be exported.

When using this extension, be aware:

• This extensions requires ImageMagick library installed on your system
• If the selected file has a different extension than the selected format then the file will be automatically renamed and may overwrite any existing file
• Current files are overwritten automatically, there is no warning
• When using the selection method, for more accurate and faster results, it is recommended to create one object that covers the area of all other objects, and only select this object when exporting.

How to install this extension:

Just follow Inkscape guides for installing Inkscape extensions (download the ZIP package and unzip it to Inkscape extension folder and restart Inkscape)

Possible issues and solution:

• If you get error message that your system does not have Imagemagick library installed, there is no other option, this library needs to be installed
• If you get error message regarding missing Python libraries, such needs to be installed on your system (e.g. if distutils library is missing on your linux system, just install it with "sudo apt-get install python3-distutils"
• If you get error message regarding fragments (objects) when using selection method, for example: "Element fragment does not have a document root!" or similar, then just create one object that covers the area of all other objects, and only select this object when exporting.

Joomla! 4 - Disable the strict password strength rule on localhost pages

24 December 2020

I assume that anyone who can read and install a system like Joomla! CMS is aware that the following tutorial can only be applied to test pages, to localhost. Please do not apply this guide to a publicly accessible server under any circumstances.

Imagine that you regularly test development versions of Joomla! CMS on localhost, and when the installation script asks you for a login name and password, you simply enter 'admin' as the name and 'admin' as the password. This is how it worked in Joomla! 3. But since version 4, you need to enter a 12-digit password. This can be quite annoying for testing.

The following instructions describe how to remove this rule, and I repeat, do not do this on a production or public test page, as this would compromise your security.

After copying the installation files and folders to your localhost, open the following file:

installation/forms/setup.xml

and change the following line in this block

<field
    name="admin_password"
    type="password"
    label="INSTL_ADMIN_PASSWORD_DESC"
    description="INSTL_ADMIN_PASSWORD_LENGTH"
    id="admin_password"
    required="true"
    autocomplete="new-password"
    validate="password"
    strengthmeter="true"
    force="on"
    filter="raw"
/>

FROM:

validate="password"

TO:

validate=""

Then you will be able to enter your test name and password in the usual way.

Ang again - never do this on a publicly accessible server, only on your localhost.

Creating a website for restaurants

06 December 2020

Phoca provides all the tools you need to create a restaurant website. It all starts with Joomla! - content management system for creating websites. Joomla! has one of the most sophisticated systems allowing easy extension of the entire system. With help of extensions, you can build any type of website. There is a large number of Phoca extensions which extend Joomla! system. Following extensions are the most important extensions for creating a website for restaurants:

Phoca Restaurant Menu

Phoca Restaurant Menu makes it easy to create menus for restaurants, cafes, fast food, school canteens, buffets, bars, clubs, wine shops. Main features are:

• Creating different menus (eight types of menus)
• Displaying menus on website in different formats (HTML, PDF, Text, XML)
• Sending menus in emails
• Printing menus
• Publishing menus on social media website through RSS or screenshots
• Export or import of menus

Phoca PDF

Phoca PDF produces online PDF documents, so each Phoca Restaurant Menu menu can be rendered as PDF with help of Phoca PDF and its restaurant plugin.

Phoca Cart

If you are interested in providing ordering options for your menus rather than displaying them, then the Phoca Cart component is ready for this purpose. Phoca Cart is powerful e-commerce platform which provides users with countless tools for online and offline sales of physical and digital products.

Phoca POS

Phoca POS is a part of Phoca Cart component. It is a point of sale system ready for waiters and restaurant managers.

Phoca Gallery

Phoca Gallery is popular image gallery system which allows users to display images or YouTube videos on websites in many different forms. Images are one of the most important part of your website. All of them can be easily managed by Phoca Gallery and displayed by many different ways on your website.

These are the important extensions when creating websites for restaurants. But there are many other necessary extensions:

Phoca Open Graph plugins

Phoca Open Graph content plugin and Phoca Open Graph system plugin display open graph data of your articles or another content on your site.

Phoca Prticles module

Phoca Particles module displays different HTML parts on your site. The main advantage is simplicity of their creation.

Phoca Photo

Phoca Photo provides an alternative way to display images on your site.

Phoca Maps

Display location of your restaurant to your customers on a map with help of Phoca Maps.

Phoca Email

Phoca Email allows you to display newsletter feature on your site.