Joomla Integration
This HOWTO has been contributed by Stefano Bodini.
Introduction
domus.Link is a graphic interface for Heyu written in PHP, so it is a perfect candidate to be embedded in Joomla.
Joomla, as well as other CMS, has a standard module called Wrapper, that allow to insert external links in Joomla.
Also, it is important to understand my server configuration in order to understand some of my choices.
I have the domus.Link server handled by Apache on a Linux machine (CentOS 5) and Apache is configured to handle virtual servers, based on a specific port.
Requirements
At the moment, at least for my example/experience, some requirements need to be satisfied in order to have the domus.Link running in Joomla :
- domus.Link and Joomla need to be on the same machine, as well as Heyu (see domus.Link requirements)
- Apache must be the server used to support Joomla
- I have my http server configured as virtual server, so to be able to handle different websites on the same machine.
I use the port to discriminate among different websites - The version of Joomla used is the 1.0.12, but this How To should be useful also for other versions (not the 1.5)
Installation
Server settings
I choose to install domus.Link in a directory outside Joomla but close to it, so to have both environment in the same space, to better define the purpose, but yet separated. Something like :
project
+----- Joomla
+----- domus.Link
Then I created a virtual server in Apache, dedicated to domus.Link. This way I have two distinct servers, one for Joomla and one for domus.Link.
Joomla will be accessed with : http://url_of_my_server:port1 and domus.Link will be accessed with : http://url_of_my_server:port2
So basically I have a virtual server that handles Joomla and a virtual server that handles domus.Link, using different ports to differentiate the services (for example the port 9010 for Joomal and the port 9011 for domus.Link.
domus.Link settings
Before to set up Joomla, be sure to have the domus.Link server set up and running correctly alone.
Joomla settings
Go in the backend, at least with an Administrator access level.
- go on the menu where you want to insert the access to domus.Link
- select New
- from the Miscellaneus box, select the Wrapper voice
- In the field Name put the name of the menu to access domus.Link
- In the field Wrapper Link, put the url to access the domus.Link website.
Since I have configured Apache in virtual server mode, the format of the url will be something like:
http://url_address:port/index.php - Select the other menu voices as preferred, then (on the right), select:
- Scroll bars on Auto
- Width = 100%
- Height = 1000
- Auto heights = Yes
- Auto Add = Yes
- Save the menu
- Have empty space on the right, so that the wrapper windows is not constrained by right menu or other modules
- at least with the current version of domus.Link (v0.2 at this time) don't select more than 2 columns of modules.
Now in the menu you choose, you will have an entry to access domus.Link from Joomla.
Notes
The domus.Link wrapper is not ideal for many reason but at the moment is the only way to handle Heyu from Joomla.
Since the wrapper is embedded in the Joomla page, it is possible to have issues with the template used.
To optiimize the wrapper space, be sure to :
Howto by: Stefano Bodini