JCE has been our favourite WYSIWYG for years as it provide extra functions to the WYSIWYG editor, allowing extras such as tool tips and pop ups to be created on links and even an image manager to add extra control for imaging too, but now 1.6 is out, it is JCE is not quite ready and the default Joomla editor is basic.

So what do we use instead?

Well, I took a quick look on the Joomla Extension Directory and there is currently only 1 editor listed as being 1.6 Native, that is Artof Editor from Art of Joomla.
So I downloaded a copy and set about getting it installed.

Installation 

If you have not used 1.6 before, installation of extensions is done exactly the same way, simple and if installed correctly, you will get the following screen.

This plugin, enables itself at install, so you dont have to manually edit it, but it is worth checking out the parameters.

All pretty self explanatory and great that there is a direct link to the developers guide too.

You then need to set Artof as your the default editor, which is again is done in the same was as 1.5, Global Configuration > Site.

Now go and edit or create a new article and you will see the new editor, here are screen shots of the 3 available skins.

Initial Summary

Well, its a step ahead of the default editor and gives additional functions that are bonus when creating content, its even got some form building functions too. Many of the tools, when clicked, open up a pop up window which has a kind of clunky old school feel to it.

More time is needed to play with it, but if JCE gets released any time soon or someone offers suggestions to test another, I certainly would move along.

So, with the release of the much anticipated Joomla V 1.6 and as we are currently running  a JA based Template, we were interested to learn that JoomlArt have released a Joomla1.6 version of their T3 framework.

We quickly downloaded the files from their site and installed on our Joomla1.6 demo site.

Now normally, when you install a new component, plugin or module in Joomla, it will assign an incrimental ID number to the extension, so that when you go to you Module, Plugin or Component manager, you could sort by the ID to find the latest extension that was installed.

Well, that did not work quite as we expected in 1.6.

Having a virgin Joomla 1.6 install, with no other extensions added, we installed the JA T3 framework and JA Typo extension.

Looking at the Joomla Plugin Manager, the last plugin installed is content_joomla with ID435, yet the next install JA T3 Framework is assigned with ID10000, why is that?

Regardless, the T3 framework and its template loads as can be seen here: http://k2joom.com/sites_joomla/joomla16/

We now just need to convert our template to 1.6 along, with K2, Ambra Subs, Billets and all remaining extensions we use, which at the moment we have not seen any 1.6 versions released.

At this stage, K2Joom has no immediate planes to migrate to Joomla 1.6

For those of you that create templates or need to temporarily display your templates modules positions on the front end for development purposes, then you will already know about the handy "?tp=1" which can be added to the end of a URL.

In Joomla 1.6 this function is disabled by default, which is great to prevent it from being displayed, but how do you enable it?

1. Go to Extensions - Template Manager - Options in the upper right corner, looks like a light switch.
2. Under the Templates tab, set Preview Module Positions to Enabled.
3. Dont forget to Save.
4. As an example, Go to your site homepage and add index.php?tp=1 to the end of the URL, so it looks something like:
   www.mysite.com/index.php?tp=1 
   An example: http://k2joom.com/sites_joomla/joomla16/index.php/getting-started?tp=1 

You will then be able to see the module positions as normal on the site.

So, Joomla! 1.6 was finally released on 10th January 2011 and we wanted to get our hands on it an play, go grab a copy.

You will need to consider where you will set your installation on your server.
For demo sites, we have chosen to create a "demos" folder within the root of our server, this will contain individual folders for each demo installation we create.

Once you have decided on your installation directory, you will need to upload the Joomla_1.6.0-Stable-Full_Package.zip file to that location using your favourite FTP software or maybe using cPanel if your host provides you with it.

Now that you have the .zip in your installation directory, you will need to unzip the contents.

OK, so at this stage we have downloaded the installer, uploaded and extracted the contents, we are ready to start the installation.

In your web browser, enter the URL for your installation, this could be in the form of:

www.yoursite.com/yourinstallfolder/installation

Remember to append installation to the end of the URL so that it will load the index.php located within it.
Once you have that entered, hit enter and you will be presented with the following screen.

Select the language that you wish to use and click next.

Following the on screen information and check you don't have any red No in the first section, then click next.

Take time to read the license information, may seem boring but important to know, then click next.

At this point, we need to enter some database information, maybe you have already set this up, but we have left this detail until this point as an easy reminder that it needs to be done. If you have not setup a database, then you will need to do so now before you proceed. We are not going to cover how to set up a database in this guide, there are plenty of tutorials on the Internet that can assist.
If you have got your database setup, then you need to enter the relevant information in to the required fields, then click next when you are ready.

On this page, you can enter ftp details but it is not essential, you can just choose to skip this and proceed to the next stage by clicking next.

On this screen, you can enter a name for your site, plus, in the advanced settings you can enter some meta data, this can be added later.
Enter an email address, which will be used for admin contact.
Enter an admin name and password which will be used to access the administrator (backend) of the site. We have not tested this yet, but in 1.5 admin was always the default.
Finally, you can choose to install sample data if you want to. If you dont, then there will be no content on the site when it goes live so we chose to install it. Click next.

That's it, we are done, almost.
As this screen says, you now need to go and delete the installation directory from your server to proceed. Please ensure you do delete the correct directory.
Once you have completed the deletion, then you can click on either the Site or Administrator links.
If you click on Site, you can then still access the admin side by simply adding /administrator to the end of the URL in your address bar.

So what happens when you click on Site?

Want to see what the front-end of Joomla! 1.6 looks like, then click the button below.

   Our Live J!1.6 demo

And if you click on Administrator?

Simply enter the user name and password that you enter in the Main Configuration and click Login and enter the world of the Joomla 1.6 back-end.

Why not subscribe to this category and be mailed when new tutorials and guides are added.

This is a notice to inform you that a new version of K2MultiNotify is available for immediate download for subscribers.

Exisiting subscribers can login to K2Joom and access the new files from your My Subscriptions link in your My Account.
New subscribers can register and purchase MultiNotify through this link.

Release Notes:

• Now compatible with PHP 5.3 : no more warning messages on K2 item saving
• Now NL language for backend & fontend : thanks to Bart Pluijms
• New features : Possibility to hide MN params on item frontend editing & user frontend profile
• Default approval emails have now the activation link in body.

In our line of business, we get to see and use a lot of different fonts from a variety of sources such as font foundries and independent designers. So we thought we would share with you our Top 10 fonts that we used in 2010.

This ttf font was originally designed by Jos Buivenga to celebrate the 1st anniversary of Smashing magazine, its FREE! an comes with regular, caps, italic and bold.
Font Source

This ttf font has a retro, Mackintosh feel to it with its cut curves.
Font Source

Originaly Designed by Stuart Sandler of Font Diner, this premium ttf font is available in a variety of styles from light to Condensed Bold in regular, caps, italic and bold.
Font Source

Another ttf font designed by Jos Buivenga which he has evolved over a number of years to turn this into a full font set.
Font Source

This free ttf font is from Vic Fieger who we regularly stalk on Deviant Art and is a great, hand drawn type font.
Font Source

This is a "free" font set from Deviant Art designer PaulW, there are restrictions for commercial use.
Font Source

This is a commercial font from the Adobe Foundry which has a bold and flowing feel to it, great for headers, titles etc.
Font Source

Any yet another offering from Jos Buivenga. We used this for some electronics applications as some characters looks like the body of a device and if you check the M, it looks like it has feet for soldering. (strange what you can see in things some times)
Font Source

This particular ttf font has now been discontinued, but has been replaced by the Neuropol X range. It can still be downloaded and is free for comercial use.
Font Source

K2Joom, is pleased to announce the immediate release of our new K2 Template called Deep.

This is a full K2 Template, including all K2 modules and additional views such as generic, user, registration and profiles.

Features include:

• Custom Category, Item and User views.
• Unique multi K2 element switching.
  This allows just one K2 element to be disabled that will in turn disable a group of related elements.
  Example can be seen here.
• Styling for Tabs and Slides from JoomlaWorks
• Styling for MultiNotify from K2Joom and Jiliko.net

The UK has been hit with snow, something which we just can not deal with when it happens, even when the weather forcasters have predicted it.

So heres a few pictures I took tonight.

Enjoy.

[b]UPDATE[/b]

More white stuff fell over night, luckily for us, the Highways Agency have been out and cleared the main route out of town NOT!

K2Joom and Jiliko.net are pleased to announce the immediate release of a new version of K2Multinotify, available to active subscriptions.

In addition, a new user manual is available, attached and can be downloaded without a subscription.

[b][i]New feature :[/i][/b]

- Place the subscription form where you want on the page via Mootools. Just configure the container and the position comparing to it for each subscription type. The global configuration for each subscription type can be overrided in the category, item or user details.

[b][i]Fix :[/i][/b]

- Mismatch in the default template subscription form ($this->__object->id instead of $this->_object->id, line #45 : extra '_')

This extension is still just [b]$5[/b] for a 1 month subscription.