The How to Install Joomla with Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URLS

Joomla is an open source Content Management System (CMS) that is very popular at the moment. It is easy to use and has tonnes of 3rd party templates and add-on modules. Before installing Joomla be sure you like how it operates! Log into a demo site and test out the operation. Then follow the directions below which are especial relevant if you are moving an existing site to Joomla. If it looks too complicated we can do it for you, just submit the contact form below.

Wait! This page is for Joomla 1.0.x, go here to install the newest version; Joomla 1.5.x with SEF enabled.

The Joomla install is relatively straight-forward for those familiar with open source. If at all possible get shell access to your server; you can upload the compressed file (i.e. Joomla_1.0.12-Stable-Full_Package.tar.gz) and unzip it there. If not, you need to unzip on your local directory then FTP everything over, you are in for a long upload even with a fast connection because of the number of files.

Once uploaded, just enter the url for your site or whatever directory you put Joomla in. The install screen will come up. You may get some warnings about directory permissions. If you have shell access you can run these commands:

chmod a+w administrator/backups/
chmod a+w administrator/components/
chmod a+w administrator/modules/
chmod a+w administrator/templates/
chmod a+w cache/
chmod a+w components/
chmod a+w images/
chmod a+w images/banners/
chmod a+w images/stories/
chmod a+w language/
chmod a+w mambots/
chmod a+w mambots/content/
chmod a+w mambots/editors/
chmod a+w mambots/editors-xtd/
chmod a+w mambots/search/
chmod a+w mambots/system/
chmod a+w media/
chmod a+w modules/
chmod a+w templates/

If you don't have shell access you will need  some kind of file manager that controls permissions. Set all listed directories to be writable. You may also get this warning: PHP register_globals setting is `ON` instead of `OFF` This is a slight security risk, so FTP to your server, find your globals.php file and change it to OFF. If you like you can delay this step until after the install when you'll have to FTP other items.

Next is the all-important database connections. Have your MySQL database hostname, database name, login and password ready. If you aren't sure what they are just ask your web host.
In step 3 of the install, you are asked if you want to CHMOD files, just leave the defaults.

Finally, before you can login, you need to remove the whole installation directory. You can use FTP or for shell access just run:

rm -f /installation

So you've installed Joomla, congratulations! The install was relatively painless and you can start setting up your site but if you are concerned about your ranking in the search engines - and who isn't - you need to set up a few more items.

Joomla SEF – Search Engine Friendly URLS
The first step of SEF is to get ride of those nasty default URLS:

index.php?option=com_contact&Itemid=3

Here is how, from the admin menu, select:

            Site-> Global Configuration -> Tab: SEO
            then set Search Engine Friendly URLs to Yes

Now you will get a URL like: component/option,com_contact/Itemid,3/

Hmmmmn, better but to call that SEF is stretching things. For good SEO you want to get a few key words in there. And what if you are migrating to Joomla from an old website or blogging system such as MySpace or Facebook? You don't want to loose your hard earned Google PageRank. If you change the page names, without taking additional steps, all your PageRank goes to zero! To prevent this we'll need to install two add-on components.

SEF add-on Components for Search Engine Friendly URLS

To make the urls even more friendly. You'll need two of the third party components. We used “ARTIO JoomSEF”  and "Redirect component" both found here:
http://extensions.joomla.org under Admin Tools -> Search Engine Friendly URLs

ARTIO will add some key words into URL and Redirect will enable you to transfer the PageRank from your old pages. Other components can do the same job but for this tutorial, we chose the above components. Download and install them using the component Installation tool in the admin section. The installs should go fine. You now have to download and edit the .htaccess file to enable 3rd party SEF. Find that section and remove the # at the start of each line. Now this is tricky; comment out the native Joomla SEF option (place a # at the start of the line) in the .htaccess file BUT be sure to leave the native Joomla SEF option ON under Site-> Global Configuration -> Tab: SEO
Upload the .htacccess file back to your server.

Transfer your Pages Preserving the Old PageRank
Lets say the old file was http://www.oldsite.com/about.html and you want to now transfer it into Joomla.

1. First create the new page to replace the old one: Content -> Static Content Manger , then click New. Enter the information for the page and save. If you want to add a page in the blog system see the sidetrack section below.
2. Add to the main menu: Menu -> mainmenu -> click New . In the Content section, select: Link: content item , Click Next and select the new about page.
3. This has added the page: http://www.newsite.com/static/about.html?Itemid=26 Now delete the old page about.html You can also rename it incase you think you'll need it but it has to be gone to trigger the Redirect component.
4. Have this new page replace the old page: Component -> Redirect -> click New and enter the old page name about.html (do not add the http://, just the path!) as well as the new page name and save. Now when you visit the old page you get the new page and have the same pagerank as well!
5. You will need to follow this same procedure for every page in the site until everything is converted.

I want Joomla with SEF!

We will install Joomla with the SEF modules described above plus one other add-on module of your choice for $80. Need a site template? Commission a custom Joomla template and we'll install Joomla for free.

Sidetrack: Add a New Page to the Blog System

How do you add a new page so it goes in the blog system? Say add About Us to the top menu (Home Contact, News, Links)?
           
If you want to add it into the blogging system you will want to create a new section for your site content.
from the admin menu, select
            Content -> Section Manger -> Click: New
Fill in the information about the section perhaps name it “Our Company”. This is going to show in the URL so pick a good SEO name.

Wait you're not done yet, now you must add a category for the new section:
             Content -> Category Manger -> Click: New
Choose a name (e.g. The Management) and be sure to select “Our Company” as the Section.

 
Now you can add your about page,
            Content -> Content by Section -> Our Company -> Our Company items -> Click: New

Now finally add your about page to the top menu:
From the admin menu, select
            Menu-> Top Menu -> Click: New
In the Content section, select: Link: content item
Click Next and select the about page.

A faster way to add this kind of link is:
Edit your about page and on the right side click tab “Link to Menu” then select “topmenu”

Change a Template
Ok time to ditch the default template, lets change the template of our new about page.
Site -> Template manager -> Site templates
Select “madeyourweb” , and click : Assign then select topmenu:about us and Save.

Viola, totally different look. Still, not quite how you want your site to look. You can try to edit the templates to slightly change the look but this is for experts only. One stray character and you screw up the template. A safer option is to edit the styles sheets and change the color scheme. The best option is to get a template from one of the numerous 3rd party template makers or custom design one.  Once you have the template, click the New button from the Template Manager page to install it.