While Joomla is an incredibly useful tool to manage website content, it does have its quirks.  If you are a newbie, you will surely run into some problems.  One of the most common questions asked about first installing Joomla 1.5 is, “How can I remove the text on the home page that reads, ‘Welcome to the Frontpage’”?

Here are the steps to remove, “Welcome to the Frontpage”:

1. Go to your Joomla 1.5 installation’s administration portal and login.
2. In your administration portal go to:
   1. Menus - Main Menu
   2. Click on the “Menu Items” icon in the “Main Menu” row
   3. Click on the  ”Home” link to edit the link
   4. Click on “Parameters (System)” and change or delete the Page title.
   5. If you would like to have the page title display on the home page, make sure “Show Page Title” is set to “Yes.  If you do not want the page title to display on the homepage, Show Page Title” is set to “No”.
   6. Save your changes.

Filed under: 129 Tips, Coding by admin
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In one of our current projects, we are building .Net Class Libraries that will be integrated into an ASP.Net web site.

The most laborious task occurs after every major change to a Class Library — we need to run a command line script that registers that DLL with the OS.  Unfortunately, the folder that the DLL resides in is 5 levels down and on top of that the script name is 30 characters long — and that does not include the command line parameters.  My goal was to come up with a method that would allow me to right click on a folder and have the option to open a command prompt in this folder.  Microsoft has a powertoy that you can install that will accomplish this.  But, if you are feeling a little adventurous, you can try the following method.

*** NOTE: This method requires editing your system registry. If you are not comfortable with editing your registry, I do not recommend that you use this method. ***

 1. Open regedit.exe
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Classes/Folder/Shell
3. Create a new key called Open Command Prompt
4. Create a default value of Open a Command Prompt Here
5. Create a new key called Command under the Command Prompt key
6. Your default value should be cmd.exe /k pushd %L

Filed under: 129 Tips, Misc. Tech by admin
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Often we find ourselves having to rebuild a development server.  Sometimes, converting a server from the Windows operating system to the Linux operating system can be a bit tricky, especially if the GRUB bootloader is installed. 

Here’s how to get rid of it.

Boot your server/computer with your bootable Windows CD.  Get through all the messages until you get to the repair console prompt. Choose “R”, to repair an existing installation.

The repair process will search and display the Windows installation location :

1) C:\WINDOWS
choose 1, and the process will ask for the Admin password. If you have one enter it — if not press “Enter”.

C:\WINDOWS>

After it reaches this point, type the following commands, line-by-line, typing “Enter” at the end of each command.

C:\WINDOWS> CD ..
C:\> FIXBOOT C:
C:\> FIXMBR
C:\> BOOTCFG /rebuild

After BOOTCFG, it will ask if you want to add the Installation it found — to be on the safe side, type “Y”.

Thats it!  You have now removed GRUB from the Master Boot Record.

This method should work with or without a Windows Installation.

Filed under: 129 Tips, Misc. Tech by admin
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Are you ever curious how your browser knows which website to trust and how your private information is protected on the Internet?

Check out this article by, Jeff Moser.

http://www.moserware.com/2009/06/first-few-milliseconds-of-https.html

Filed under: Coding, Misc. Tech by admin
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We are all guilty of it. We are eager to code, so we turn on the laptop and let the logic flow from our brain right through our hands and onto the keyboard.  Before you know it, you have blasted through 1000 lines of code, a rack of red bull and 8 Tylenol.

Unfortunately, this is all for not — your client calls the next morning to clarify a few of his thoughts and you need to trash 3/4 of the code you wrote.

This problem could have been circumvented by using test-driven development.  The concept is simple: Nail down the business requirements, create a test to verify each business requirement, and here’s the interesting part – now you code.  But that’s not all.  You code only enough to pass the first test.  Once this is complete, you move on and write enough code to pass the second test, and so on and so forth.

It sounds like developing in reverse, but it will force you to do three things:

·Get the business requirements in stone (maybe in a perfect world).

·Test your code.

·Code efficiently.  You have only enough code to satisfy your requirements.
    (no coding tangents)

It takes practice and a little dedication, but it is all worth it when you become a better developer and you develop only the code that you will need.

Filed under: Coding by admin
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