My video is now available at Lynda.com. Check out this free clip at YouTube!

The Marlboro College Graduate Center in Brattleboro, Vermont, just released its Open Source Web Development certificate in a wholly online format.

If you've been working with Joomla, but you want to know a lot more about it, this is the certificate program for you.  The certificate introduces students to Joomla, as well as planning a website, understanding the code that runs it, and developing and executing an online marketing plan.

The certificate consists of 12 credits:

You've got your first Joomla site running! It's fabulous! It's amazing! And now how do we start taking it to the next level?

Just like you should never wear white shoes after Labor Day, and visible panty lines are never cool, there are a few fashion NOs that you should stay away from doing on your Joomla site.

1. Why does it need to say "Main Menu"?

Lynda Weinman and I are scheduled to chat next week about some new movies for Lynda.com.  She has a great description on her new blog of what we're discussing.  It's the same thing I've been discussing with many of you.  When I created the Joomla templates movies, my assumption was that people knew how to make a static HTML web page with an external stylesheet.  Since then, I've heard from some of you at the user groups, and others at conferences and online, that this wasn't a good assumption.

Many don't understand the workflow of defining the graphic design based on client input (typically using Photoshop or Fireworks), converting the design to individual GIF/JPG/PNG images, and creating the static page design (I use Dreamweaver to do this).

A second aspect: Those of us who have been using Adobe tools for years don't necessarily understand how they fit into the workflow when working with a product like Joomla.

Got an email from someone looking for this information. I covered this in the Lynda.com Joomla! Advanced CSS videos but I'll write out the instructions here as well.

The basic instructions are:

• Make sure the Load Module plugin is enabled and configured correctly
• Make sure the module you want to display in the content is turned on for that page and that position
• Insert the Magic Code in the article.
• Voila. Magic happens.  (Some styling may need to happen at this point, too.)

1. Make sure the plugin is enabled and configured correctly

To migrate from Joomla 1.0 to Joomla 1.5: That is the question

One of the big questions we get asked these days is whether it's worthwhile to upgrade from Joomla 1.0 to Joomla 1.5. As with all web design and development questions, the correct answer is: It Depends.

There are generally two schools of thought on this.

The "If It Ain't Broke Don't Fix It" school says that if you're site is working in Joomla 1.0, then why bother to migrate? It's doing what you want, so you don't need to change it. This certainly has some validity, in that you save money in the short term by not migrating.

Now that we've discussed section and category blogs, let's look at front page blog layouts.

Functionally, they're very similar to the section and category blog layouts. The major difference here is that instead of choosing a section or section/category to display on the front page (home page), you assign individual articles to appear on the front page.

In the Article Manager (column labeled "front page"), or within an individual article, you can choose to display an item on the front page. By default, the choice is no.

Category and section blog layouts are essentially the same thing. For a given section, or for a given section/category, all content items will show up on the page in "blog" format.

Obviously, the blog format can be used for... well, blogging. But think bigger than that when applying this to your website. Blog, in this case, is a functionality, not a technology. We routinely use the blog format for press releases, for example. The format works for anything where a client needs to post items regularly, in some pre-defined order. It's also handy if the client is making new pages, because the client doesn't need to make a menu link to the item. It will simply publish on the page.

To make category/section blog layouts, go to the Menu manger and find the menu on which you want this link to live. Click New, then Articles, then select either section or category blog layout.

I am not a graphic designer. I can't draw stick figures well, and I always wear jeans, khakis, or black pants because I've been told they match everything.

But I've worked with enough graphic designers through the years to know that there are rules to working in a given medium, and there are limitations to that medium as well. For example, if you're making a rack card, those are a certain fixed dimension. You may want to make a bigger design, but you have to work within the limitations of the medium - in this case, the paper, which must fit in the spot on a rack. Perhaps your client only has enough money to afford 2 colors, or 4 colors on one side and black and white on the other. Again, a medium limitation. Yet you never hear print designers complaining about these limitations. They're part of the job; they go with the territory.

I also assume, as a code geek, that I don't know a darn thing about working in print. I hear terms like "4 color" or "bleed" tossed around, and I eventually figure out what they mean. I own a copy of InDesign, and I know where the text tool is. These things absolutely do not make me a print design expert. If I need something printed, I always hire someone who knows what they're doing, like Meg McCarthy.