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Media 65 focus for the next six months.
I have decided to bring back the 123 Webkit project. The project will be changing to be more generic
and will cover the Xampp distribution on Windows XP. Now this project will cover the basics of the installing and working the system to design and develop web sites locally on your computer.
I will have more on this later on.
I’m also in the process of making a Joomla 123 Video for Joomla 1.5 CMS that will cover Joomla 1.5 end to end . It will not cover development of Joomla Components or development modules etc. Joomla Templates will be covered lightly.
The approach will be to teach flow and roles of Joomla piece by piece so you can see the whole system as it works together. Which in turn will give you command over the CMS from many standpoints.
The product will be available for download in stages and will cost 49.99 USD this will give download access to the Video’s for 6 months to cover any changes to Joomla 1.5 in that time frame.
Members of the Joomla Template kit will be able to purchase membership to the Joomla 123 Video for 24.99 which is 50 percent off the regular price.
News about the Joomla Template Kit 3.0 for the CMS Joomla 1.5

The Joomla Core Developers have being working overtime to make Joomla 1.5 extra special.
I have to say that template system is showing large growth over the last version with that a lot of changes have been taking place. So much that I have to rethink the flow & scope of our product the Joomla Template kit and many added parts.

When designing a product one must look and essence what a product was designed for, scope and life cycle among other criteria. The designed and scope of The Joomla Template 1.0 to 2.X was to make an easy to use tool for Dreamweaver designers to make quick work of making a Joomla template.

But it was not meant to teach them every part of Joomla CMS or its roles or of Dreamweaver and Web Design issues like layout, CSS design basics and browsers etc.

Joomla 1.5 has changed the role of a template designer along with Web 2.0 into a hybrid designer / script programmer.

I have been working with Mambo and then Joomla! For over three years and adapting the Joomla Template Kit passed its original product design. At this point in time it needs to change to fit needs of our users and speed of the web today.

So for the last few months a have been factoring in all the variables that one has to
think of when making such a product. I won’t go into details but I believe that an education is more important than the tool itself.

At one time there were going to be two versions of the Joomla Template Standard Edition and Pro Edition there’s only going to be one just the “Joomla Template kit”.

I will be breaking the product down into smaller simpler parts to keep it as light and dynamic as possible and offering more focus on the education side of the product.

I’m going to offer more instructional additional video products that tie into Joomla.
The product will cover a more open template system you will still received a Dreamweaver extension or extensions and possibly other editors.

The New Joomla 1.5 Template System as of this writing covers four types of templates.
1.Legacy mode = To Joomla 1.X.12 Templates
2.Basic 1.5 Template
3.Conditional logic and Parameter Template
4.Template Override

Now this is a tall order for a Dreamweaver Extension or training so I have to take into account a lot of factors into this extension. Wizards for type 3 conditional logic template have to build forms style xml files and ini text based off designers input. Dreamweaver does not easily do this. Type 4 Templates Override is out of the scope of most template designers do the fact that you need to override Joomla components formats etc. Dreamweaver will not render most of the code visually and you need to be almost a Joomla developer to make this work with Dreamweaver or not.

So the question is what approach do we take?
The only answer I have is to teach you by hand and give you the tools to make it faster.
It would not be prudent to try to put all these types of templates into one extension.
The flow would not work I don’t want to make a Vista

I’m going to make a hybrid system in order of importance.
1.Video’s Training
2.Extension / Code snippets
3.PHP Scripts

I also feel that I should make a few things clear.
The Joomla Template kit video training is to teach you how to make a Joomla template not to teach Joomla itself.
It’s hard to make a clear cut distinction when designing a training video for Joomla templates and what you should know about Joomla itself before designing a template because it looks like it’s all tied in.
The Menu system is tied to the module system the module system is tied to the menu system the menu system is also tied to the article system and other components.

Then there are the settings for each piece which do affect your templates display access permissions sections displays etc. This is not a plug or up sell but I would suggest that you purchase the Joomla 123 Video first to learn how Joomla works then move into the Joomla Template Kit. I cannot offer all this information in one product do to all the details that need to be covered.






The Scope of The Joomla Template Kit
What its design to do
1.What it does
Give you a foundation guide and blank frame to build Joomla templates. With a tool or code to get the basic job done and give the most flexible way of doing it without tiding you into one method.

2.What does not do
Teach web designer basics or how to manage or operate Joomla.

3.Customer support
I do not debug CSS issues and or Browser issues etc.
What is supported
If the extension has an issue or you have general question about the extension that is supported. It is not that I do not want to help but I cannot help every person with their projects. I don’t have the man hours to do this and keep up this product
and other duties.

I will post more in a few more days I just have to get a few more details squared way.
I look forward to bring you a new addition.

Truly yours,
Brian Diaz
Media 65