Today, I am going to show you how to add a free feedback form in Joomla with the help of a smooth little extension. This means that you don’t have to write your own code from the ground up or make huge changes to your website.

Let’s take a look at the extension and see all that is has to offer.

Stomt Feedback

Stomt Feedback is a smooth, lightweight, easy to configure Joomla extension that will allow you to add a feedback form to your website using a few different methods.  Perhaps the best thing about this particular extension is that it gives you the ability to allow site users to provide “instant” feedback.

Adding a feedback form is also a perfect way to get Joomla testimonials.

Installation of the extension is simple and easy, and it will only take you a couple of minutes to do. Once it is installed and activated, you will have the ability to add an instant feedback form or button to your Joomla website.

The extension is customizable, giving you the ability to match the button or form to the look of your site.

As stated above, you can add this free feedback form in Joomla using three different methods:

• Feedback Button
• Creation Form
• Inline Feed

Feedback Button: Easily add a one-click instant feedback button using your STOMT Appid in the options to get started.

Creation Form: Instantly engage with your website community and customers, getting information, feedback, and even testimonials. All you have to do is embed an element with the id stomt_create in the position or area of the site where you want the form.

Inline Feed: Allow users to vote for ideas, give feedback, and connect using the inline feed option as well. Simply integrate it by adding an element with the id stomt_feed to your post or page.

Basically, Stomt gives you everything you need to create an instant feedback form or button on your Joomla site and make it fully customizable.

Add Instant Feedback Form in Joomla

Let’s take a look at how to get the extension installed, running, and configured on your Joomla website. Follow the steps as they are laid out and you should have a fully customized feedback button and/or form successfully running on your Joomla site.

The first thing you want to do is get the extension installed and enabled.

Step 1: Install the Extension

Before you can start adding feedback forms Joomla for your site users to interact, you first need to install and enable the extension. You can easily do this by downloading it off the extension homepage onto your machine.

Find the main download button on the top right of the extension homepage and click on it to download.

Note: Oftentimes, Joomla extension downloads will have you go through a process of bouncing to another page to get the extension. In this particular case, it will download directly to your machine.

Now that you have downloaded the extension to your computer, go ahead and drag and drop it into the file upload box located in your Joomla control panel area. Simply click on the “Install Extensions” tab located in the left sidebar area of the control panel.

Note: You can also browse for the file and upload it that way if you prefer. Joomla also gives options to install from a folder or from a URL, but the process below is easiest.

Once the extension has been installed you will get a green box message. This lets you know that installation was successful.

Step 2: Enable the Extension

Now that the extension has been installed, you have to activate or enable it. On the top menu bar click on Extensions > Plugins.

Search for the Stomt extension you just installed.

If it has a red circle with a white “x” in it, click the icon to enable the plugin. If the icon has a green checkmark, it means it’s already enabled and the extension is live on the site.

At this point, the extension is fully installed and ready to configure. Click on the extension link and let’s set it up together and get it configured for use on your website.

Step 3: Configure Stomt Feedback Form Extension

To configure this feedback form extension, you will need to fill out some quick settings. Then, you’ll need to get your AppId from Stomt so that you can use it to display the instant button or form where you want to on your website.

You will notice that the main configuration page has two tabs:

• Plugin
• Options

Plugin

The plugin tab provides some info on the plugin, as well as a status message. There is also the option to select access and ordering on the right side of the page. You may set that to your desired specs if applicable.

Options

Two things need to happen under the options tab. First off, you see a blue box at the top of the page that states you need to go get your Stomt AppId so that you can plug it in the extension and use it properly.

Go ahead and click on the link in the blue box to get your AppId.

Clicking on the link will take you to a registration page. Here, you can register as yourself or as a business. For this example, we are registering as ourselves. Go ahead and click on the “Register Yourself” button.

Stomt offers several ways to sign up. Pick the one you want and complete the sign-up process.

At the end of the process, you will get a username. If you are happy with that username, then click on “Sign Up” and finish.

You will go through a short onboarding process. Also, you want to confirm your email if you used it to sign up for your account.

Once the process is complete, you will have a homepage within Stomt that you can use however you want.

Go back to the “Options” tab and enter your new AppID. Under that, you can enter the rest of the settings you want and create your first feedback form.

Simply click on the “Save” button when you are finished and you are all set!

Step 4: View Feedback Form on Front End

Last but not least, it is time to go view your form on the front end of your website. The form will display in the areas you chose, in the manner you chose to display.

In this example, we did a quick pop out feedback button. It displays on the right side of the website.

And you are all set. Update any settings you want and enjoy the extension.

Final Thoughts

Getting a feedback form integrated into your Joomla website isn’t difficult. As long as you have the right extension and know the steps involved, then you will be able to add a form in several different ways.

I hope this tutorial was helpful in showing you how easy it can be to add a feedback form or button to your website.

Have you been using another extension to add forms and feedback buttons? Did you try Stomt to see if it was easier to manage?

The post How to Build a Feedback Form in Joomla appeared first on GreenGeeks.

When you share content over social media you want to make sure that you are using some sort of link disguiser. Why? Well, for one thing, this type of tool acts as a way to make links shorter. Oftentimes, links are too long and when displayed it can look very unattractive.

To do this in Joomla, we need to find an extension. Today we are going to go over the extension to use to make a short link on your Joomla site.

Let’s dig in a little before I introduce the function and talk about why it is a good idea to add create a custom short link.

Why Make a Custom Short Link?

There could be several reasons behind why you want to or should make a custom short link. We touched on it a little above. When sharing your content to social media, having a short link in place makes the process more attractive to people viewing the link.

That being said, a custom short link also converts up to 34% better than a long URL. This is important if you are selling products and services online, or trying to convert clickthroughs to sales. Depending on your sales numbers, 34% can equal quite a bit of money.

Several other reasons you may want to consider making a short link in Joomla include, but are not limited to:

• Making Sharing Easy
• Boosting Brand Reach
• Using Link Disguiser When Needed
• Ability to Improve Marketing Strategy
• It is Free to Implement
• Increase Your Website Click-Through Rates

Let’s take a look at the Joomla extension we are going to use today in order to start creating a custom short link on your website.

Short URL for Content

Simply put, the Short URL for Content extension allows you to create shortened URLs without using any third-party service. Basically, you are able to create a custom short link whenever you want directly from your website dashboard.

The plugin extension uses the component redirect to create shortened URLs. This makes them much easier to share and view. The main functionality comes from the fact that you don’t have to use a third-party service like tinyurl.com or bit.ly.

Short URL for Content allows you to create custom short links right from your dashboard, making your overall branding you even better. This is important for sites trying to get their name and product out there, as it helps with brand recognition.

One of the better things about this extension is that it is compatible with multi-language websites.

Let’s take a look at how to get the extension installed and running on your Joomla site. After that, we will go over the settings and configuration process together and get this custom short link extension running properly on your site.

Install and Enable the Extension

In order to make short links in Joomla, you first have to install and enable the extension on your Joomla website. You can do this by downloading it off the extension homepage onto your machine.

Click on the “Get Short URL for Content” button located on the top right of the extension homepage

Once you click on this button, you will be taken to the main download page for the extension. You will see there are some different options to choose from.

Simply select the latest version download that is available and compatible with whatever version of Joomla you are currently running.

Note: It is always best practices and safest to run the latest CMS version available, as well as the latest plugin versions.

Click on the link and go finish downloading the extension to your machine.

Once the extension is on your machine, go ahead and drag and drop it into the file upload box located in your Joomla control panel area.

Simply click on the “Install Extensions” tab located in the left sidebar area of the control panel.

Note: You can also browse for the file and upload it that way if you prefer. Joomla also gives options to install from a folder or from a URL, but the process below is easiest.

Once the extension has been installed, you will get a green box message. This will let you know that the extension was successfully installed.

If you are familiar with FTP, you can also use this technique and upload the plugin through your web host.

Now that the extension has been installed you have to activate it. On the top menu bar, click on Extensions > Plugins. Search for the “Short URL for Content” extension you just installed.

If it has a red circle with a white “x” in it, click the icon to enable the plugin. If the icon has a green checkmark, it means it’s already enabled and the extension is live on the site.

Now, let’s configure the extension together and get it running properly for you.

Custom Short Link Configuration

Go ahead and click on the “Short URL for Content” link to open up the settings and configuration area for the extension.

This will take you to the setup page. Honestly, the setup is fast and easy. It is going to take you about 30 seconds and you will be creating custom short links automatically when you are finished.

You will see two main tabs. They include:

• Plugin
• Debug

Plugin

First, set the plugin settings as you see fit. They are quick and easy. You are basically going to set the number for a URL length that you want and then select whether or not you want to show the shortlink tag when viewing articles. Go ahead and make your choices.

Debug

Under the “debug” tab, you are going to find two more selections to make. Simply select yes or no under both the debug and PHP console options. You can make this choice based on what you want for your site.

That’s it! Setup is very fast and very easy. At this point, the site will now automatically generate a custom short link when you share a piece of content.

Don’t forget to click on the “Save” button to make sure all your settings have been applied.

Final Thoughts

There are a lot of benefits to take advantage of when you choose to use custom short links. From advertising and clickthrough possibilities, to overall smoothness and functionality of how a URL interacts and displays when sharing, you definitely want the ability to create a custom short link when you choose to.

Using the extension above is a fast and easy way to accomplish this. You don’t need to touch any code on your website. Simply install and configure the extension and you will be able to produce short links automatically from then on.

I hope this tutorial has shown you how easy it is to create a custom short link in your Joomla website.

Have you used the extension before? Is there another extension you have found that you prefer over this one for creating short links?

The post How to Make a Custom Short Link in Joomla appeared first on GreenGeeks.

What is a Joomla Timeline Extension?

A Joomla timeline extension is a tool that gives website owners the ability to post a timeline of important events. This can be done using a number of different settings that are provided with the extension chosen.

Using a combination of dates, layouts, images, text, and graphics, website owners can put together a slider like timeline that site users can scroll through and gather information from.

These can be useful for data, making simple memories to display to website users, or simply putting together a history project that you want others to see. There are numerous ways that a timeline on a website can be helpful.

Not to mention, it is a unique and interesting way to not only provide data, but also to view it.

There are certain choices you may have when it comes to choosing the right Joomla timeline module. However, today I have found a solid extension that will provide you everything you need to build a beautiful timeline in Joomla. You do not need any coding experience to make this work.

Let’s go over it together.

Timeline Slider

The Joomla Timeline Slider extension is a smooth and simple tool that will give you the ability to build and publish timeline sliders on your website. The extension is lightweight and it is very easy to install and setup.

All of the slider extension tools are located in one place. This makes adding and editing Joomla timeline sliders quick and easy.

The extension comes complete with a number of great tools. The ability to add images, create text, and display fonts and colors are a few of what makes it great.

Other fantastic features that the Timeline Slider extension provides you include:

• Auto Slider Loading
• View Use Time Period
• Responsive on Any Device
• Excellent Support

The extension is straightforward, easy to manage, and easy to install and use. Basically, this extension will give you everything you need to create a timeline in Joomla.

Let’s take a look at how to install and enable the extension.

Install and Enable the Extension

Before you can start building unique Joomla timeline sliders and adding them to your website, you first need to install and enable the extension. You can easily do this by downloading it off the extension homepage onto your machine.

When you click on the “Get Timeline Slider” button, you will be bounced to another page. This is the homepage for the plugin developers. Scroll down a little and download the extension to your machine by clicking on the blue “Download” button.

Note: You will see that there is actually a paid version of this timeline slider extension. If you want to explore that, feel free. However, we are using the free version in this tutorial.

Now that you have download the extension to your machine, go ahead and drag-and-drop it into the file upload box located in your Joomla control panel area. Simply click on the “Install Extensions” tab located in the left sidebar area of the control panel.

Once the extension has been installed, you will get a green box message. This lets you know that the extension was successfully installed. From here, you will be able to search, access, and enable it for use.

With the extension installed, you have to activate it. On the top menu bar within your website admin, click on Extensions > Modules. Search for the Timeline Slider extension you just installed.

If it has a red circle with a white “x” in it, click the icon to enable the plugin. If the icon has a green checkmark, it means it’s already enabled and the extension is live on the site. 

At this point, the extension is fully installed and ready to configure. Click on the extension link and let’s set it up together and get it configured for use on your website. 

Configure Timeline Slider

You should now have clicked through to the main settings page for this extension. You will see six main tabs under the setup page.

These include:

• Module
• Menu Assignment
• Config Data
• Timeline Slider Settings
• Advanced
• Permissions

Let’s take a look at all the tabs together as we go through the setup process.

Module

This is where you go through and actually set up all the module settings for the extension as you see fit. Height, width, fonts, and dates will all be things to manage.

Menu Assignment

Under this tab, you can set the module to display on the pages you want throughout your website. Just choose the option desired from the drop-down menu.

Config Data

This tab is where you access and add images and text sources for your timeline in Joomla. Under the tab, you will see a blue “Add New” button. Go ahead and click on that so a drop-down menu of settings is shown. Go ahead and add images, text, years, and dates. 

Timeline Slider Settings

The timeline slider settings area allows you to choose autoplay, zoom, and speed options for the timeline slider. Choose what you want and move on.

Advanced

Set all the advanced options you want under this tab. You get to choose items like caching and cache time, along with header classes and module tags.

Permissions

Set up your user permissions and groups under this area. This allows certain access to certain levels.

That’s it! You have successfully configured the extension and built your first timeline in Joomla.

Now you can go back to the “Config Data” tab and add as much as you want. Don’t forget to click on the “Save” button to apply all the changes and options you have just made.

Final Thoughts

Setting up a timeline in Joomla for your website user to view does not have to be difficult. You don’t need to have any sort of coding knowledge to get this done. All you need is a solid timeline extension.

Having timeline sliders on your Joomla website is a great way to present all sorts of useful information in a chronological way. You can let your site users look at data and other information as it pertains to projects over time.

The Joomla Timeline Slider extension gives you all the functionality and tools you need to build a timeline for your website. The process is painless, and in no time at all you can have as many fully functioning timelines on your website as you need.

Have you ever tried this Joomla extension before? Have you been building timelines in Joomla another way?

The post How to Add a Slider for a Timeline in Joomla appeared first on GreenGeeks.

For a while, there has been no easy way to make sure your Joomla site was GDPR compliant. So many things had to be put in place to make sure you were following the EU’s new laws and regulations.

Now there is a much easier way to accomplish this. With there use of a smooth Joomla extension called EB Sticky Cookie Notice, you can now abide by GDPR best practices much faster and easier within your Joomla website.

Let’s talk some about what GDPR is and then we will go over the extension implementation together.

What is GDPR?

Put into effect on May 25th, 2018, the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is the toughest privacy and security law in the world. Even though it was drafted and put into place by the EU (European Union), it imposes its obligations onto organizations no matter what part of the world they are located.

If your website uses targeting or collects data, then anyone accessing it from the EU can sue you if you don’t have GDPR compliance implemented on your website. If your site does not have GDPR solutions on it, then you can be fined very heavily. Larger organizations can even face fines into the tens of millions of Euros.

It is for this reason alone, that no matter what, you want to make sure your site is GDPR complaint in Joomla. In reality, the GDPR defines a wide array of legal terms at length. To know and understand them all, you would need to dig in and read about them. However, some of the most important ones include:

• Data Processor
• Personal Data
• Data Subject
• Data Controller

It goes on to list a huge number of data protection principles and other accountability issues that you have to deal with as a website owner.

Yes, there are a dozen different companies that will come in and make your website GDPR compliant, but that is going to cost you quite a bit of money. Instead, there are several different solutions you can use to get this accomplished without emptying the wallet.

Let’s take a look at a smooth Joomla extension that can help you let people know you track Joomla GDPR cookies. After that, we will install the extension and set it up together.

EB Sticky Cookie Notice

The EB Sticky Cookie Notice extension gives Joomla website owners the ability to easily and elegantly inform site users that your website does indeed use cookies. It makes sure that your site is compliant with GDPR regulations and EU cookie law.

That’s it! The extension is straightforward and to the point. There won’t be a lot of hassle to set up. Even though the extension is quick to install, get going, and lightweight, it still does the job. It includes some of the following amazing features built right in:

• Compatible with all desktop and mobile browsers
• It works in Joomla 2.5.x, 3.x.x and 4 Alpha
• Fully responsive
• Takes about 1 minute to install and run
• It includes configurable “Accept Cookie” and “Cookie Policy” buttons with custom links
• You can configure the cookie notice background, as well as the heading text and color

Let’s take a look at how to get this extension installed and running so that you can start following GDPR compliance rules in Joomla.

Install and Enable the Extension

In order to get your Joomla website GDPR compliant, and start using best practices, you first have to install and enable the extension. You can do this by downloading it off the extension homepage onto your machine.

When you click on the download button you will be taken to the main website for the company that created the extension. Don’t worry, the extension is totally free.

From here, you simply click on the green “Download Now” button. That button will turn into a “View Cart” when you click on it.

Go ahead and click the “View Cart” button now. 

You will be bumped to a checkout page. Go ahead and click on the “Checkout” button to head to the final portion of the checkout.

You will need to finalize the process by creating a free account. If by chance you already have an account, then go ahead and just log in.

Once you create an account, you will be bumped to the “Successful Transaction” page. From here, you will see a link to go download the extension from your account.

Click on the link and finish downloading the extension to your machine.

Yes, that took a minute, but the functionality and coverage that this extension gives you is totally worth the extra steps. Plus, it is free.

Once you download the extension to your machine, go ahead and drag and drop it into the file upload box located in your Joomla control panel area. Simply click on the “Install Extensions” tab located in the left sidebar area of the control panel.

Note: You can also browse for the file and upload it that way if you prefer. Joomla also gives options to install from a folder or from a URL, but the process below is easiest.

Once the extension has been installed, you will get a green box message. This will let you know that installing the extension was successful.

Now that the extension has been installed, you have to activate it. On the top menu bar, click on Extensions > Modules. Search for the EB Sticky Cookie Notice extension you just installed.

If it has a red circle with a white “x” in it, click the icon to enable the plugin. If the icon has a green checkmark, it means it’s already enabled and the extension is live on the site.

Now, let’s configure the extension and get it going.

Configure the Extension

Go ahead and click on the extension link. This will take you to the main setup area for the extension. On this page, you will see five tab links. These include:

• Module
• Menu Assignment
• Module Setting
• Advanced
• Permissions

Let’s run through these together real quick and get the extension set and running.

Module

Set your GDPR compliance module up how you want it from this tab. It’s pretty straightforward, like any other module.

Menu Assignment

Set the menu assignment to show on all the pages you want from this tab.

Module Setting

This is where you will style, position, and select all the other available options for your Cookie notice. Go ahead and fill all of this out how you see fit.

Advanced

Set up any of the available advanced settings you may want.

Permissions

Finally, set up all the specific permissions you need to from this tab.

Don’t forget to click on the “Save” button to apply all the changes you have made. That’s it! You have successfully set up the extension and now your site should be GDPR compliant.

Final Thoughts

With the EU creating such extreme laws and rules of privacy, it is definitely important to get your website compliant. No need to spend a ton of money having someone do this for you. Simply download and install the extension we used above.

At this point, GDPR compliance in Joomla should be up and running and your site should be in a much better place.

Have you ever tried this extension before? Have you been writing and coding everything yourself to make sure your site follows GDPR best practices?

The post How to Implement GDPR Compliance in Joomla appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Why Add Online Chat in Joomla?

Adding Joomla live chat to your website only enhances the features you already have. It gives website visitors an easy way to talk to you for various reasons.

This can be very important when it comes to sales questions regarding your product or service. Offering real-time sales support is a great way to keep potential customers interested. If they are able to see that they can talk to someone right away, they are probably going to take advantage of it.

This gives you a reliable way to connect with customers as well, as you are able to answer all their questions in real-time directly from your website. You can use the online chat function to connect it with other public channels as well. This gives you the ability to answer questions via Facebook, Twitter, email, and more.

Let’s take a look at how to create a Joomla chat function on your website.

Paldesk

Paldesk is a very powerful and easy to use Joomla live chat extension. Its main goal is to allow you to offer real-time sales support directly from your website. That being said, you can use Paldesk as any type of Joomla chat function you want.

You see, you can connect and talk to any website visitor about whatever they need. This cuts down on back and forth emails that are not necessary and saves both you and the customer a lot of time.

Not only does Paldesk allow you to connect with site visitors in real-time, but it also allows you to offer customer service from other available channels. Some of these include:

• Email
• Facebook
• Twitter
• iOS Apps
• Android Apps

Furthermore, this particular Joomla online chat extension has other great features that make using the extension easy. These include:

• The ability to create pre-defined answers.
• Set up your working hours as you see fit.
• Enable Smart Chat routing that assigns chats to the best available agent.
• A very customizable chat widget.
• Compatible with the four major browsers.

This Joomla chat extension is very easy to install and activate and get up and running. Let’s go through it together.

Install and Activate Paldesk

In order to use the Paldesk extension to create a live online chat feature, the extension needs to be installed and activated. You can easily install and activate the extension by downloading it from the extension homepage onto your machine.

Note: Oftentimes when you download a Joomla extension, you will be taken to another page. However, Paldesk allows for a direct download using the button above.

Once you have downloaded the extension to your machine, drag and drop it into the file upload box located in your Joomla control panel area. You can access this area by clicking on the “Install Extensions” tab located on the left side menu.

Note: You can also browse for the file and upload it that way if you prefer. Joomla also gives options to install from a folder or from a URL, but the process below is easiest.

Once the extension has been installed, you will get a green box detailing the installation and letting you know it was successful. In this case it is just a simple message letting you know the extension is installed.

Now that the extension has been installed, you have to activate it. On the top menu bar click on Extensions > Plugins. This is located on the top menu of your Joomla website admin area.

You will see a list of your plugins. Search for the “Paldesk” extension you just installed. If it has a red circle with a white “x” in it, click the icon to activate the plugin.

If the icon has a green checkmark, it means it’s already activated and the extension is live on the site.

Go ahead and click on the extension link and let’s get the Paldesk online chat plugin set up in Joomla.

Set Up Paldesk Joomla Chat

The first thing you will see is a page telling you that you will need to register on the Paldesk website to activate and use the extension. Go ahead and click on the link and get the API keys that you need.

You will be taken to the Paldesk website where you need to sign up for free and get the correct API keys.

Once inside the Paldesk website, you will be directed to the main dashboard. The screenshot above tells you exactly what to do to get the right API Keys, but let’s go through it together.

First click on the “Administration” tab.

This will take you to the “Embeddable elements” page. You can scroll and find the element you want/need. In this case, we are going to click on the “Website Widget” tab to get that API Key. However, you can go find API keys for “Easy Popup” and “Feedback” as well.

From here, you can set up the entire widget however you want. You will see a number of available tabs. These will include:

• General
• Install
• Channels
• Trigger
• Features
• Visibility

Go through all of these and fill out all the options and setup however you would like.

Note: You will be able to see a live widget preview, so you know what your widget will look like on your Joomla website.

Add API Key to Joomla Website

When your setup of the Joomla live chat website widget is complete, click on the “Install” tab. At the bottom of this tab, you will see the website widget API key.

Copy this and head back to the Joomla extensions area of your website and paste the API key into the “Website Widget API Key” field.

Now click on the “Save” button. That’s it! The Paldesk online chat widget is now live on the front end of your website. Visitors will now be able to communicate with you in real-time based on all the settings and configurations you put in.

Note: You can perform all these same functions to set up a popup box or a feedback area on your website. Remember, your entire setup and management for Paldesk is actually run from your admin dashboard on the Paldesk website. Anything you do there will now auto reflect on your Joomla website since the API key has been put in.

Final Thoughts

While it seems like the setup of this particular Joomla live chat extension involved a lot of steps, they are actually very easy to perform in real-time. Once you have your setup in place, you can begin to interact with customers and answer any questions they may have regarding your products and services.

This will keep you a step ahead of your competitors because you are providing a more personable customer service experience. People love that. It is also a great way to optimize your Joomla site for visitors.

Have you ever tried this Joomla online chat extension? Do you find that controlling the interface from another area is easier once you get the hang of it?

The post How to Create Live Online Chat in Joomla appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Sometimes this is difficult, but today we are going to dive into a great Joomla extension that allows you to easily add a customized Joomla website poll whenever you need to. Let’s dive into this a little more together. After that, we will dig into the extension and go over how to get it on your site and running.

Why Add a Poll to Your Website?

Running online polls on your website is a fantastic way to get information from people. Plus, it allows you to more easily record the information rather than sending out an email and waiting for a response.

For instance, you may want to add a voting poll in Joomla. While there are a few more complicated ways to do this, making use of a great extension is the easiest.

Polls are such interactive ways to engage your audience. For this reason alone, it is a good idea to have the ability to easily add a poll on your Joomla website.

There are actually a few different extensions that will give you the ability to create a poll in Joomla. However, most of these also make you create an account and report data back to them.

We are actually going to use an extension that you can freely download and use to add a poll on your website whenever you want. This will allow you to easily take votes on any number of issues.

Let’s take a look at the extension we will be setting up today.

Sexy Polling for Joomla

The Sexy Polling for Joomla extension gives you the ability to add and embed simple, yet highly customizable polls on your website. This is a lifesaver if you need to use polls for certain things.

Instead of going outside the website, building some sort of poll, then trying to figure out how to get it into your site, you simply use the extension.

Not only does this save time, but the extension is highly customizable and gives your polls the look and feel of your website. Sexy Polling for Joomla comes packed with functionality. Some of the main features include:

• A Vote Progress Feature
• 10 Available Skins
• Template Creator
• Place Polls Using Shortcodes
• Flexible HTML Answers
• User Friendly
• Single and Multiple Voting
• Countdown Timer
• Permissions Check
• Manage All Votes
• JavaScript Animation Effects

Not only that, but you can also pull off even more customizable options like hiding results during the polling period and list votes with the ability to delete them.

There is a premium version of Sexy Polling available. If you feel you need more options than what the free download gives, then you are more than welcome to explore all it has to offer. However, the tutorial below covers the free version and it should give you plenty to work with.

Let’s take a look at how to get the extension installed and enabled on your website.

Download and Install Sexy Polling

In order to use the Sexy Polling extension to build and add a poll to your website, it first needs to be installed and activated. You can do this by downloading it off the extension homepage onto your machine.

This takes you to the extension website where you can choose the version you want to download. In this case, we are downloading the free version to setup. So go ahead and download that now.

Note: Remember, you can always upgrade to the premium version later if you feel you need to do so.

Once you have downloaded the extension to your machine, drag and drop it into the file upload box located in your Joomla control panel area.

Click on the “Install Extensions” tab to access to installation screen in the admin area for your Joomla website.

Note: You can also browse for the file and upload it that way if you prefer. Joomla also gives options to install from a folder or from a URL, but the process below is easiest.

Once it has been installed, you will get green a message box telling you the extension was successfully installed. In this case, there will also be a few buttons to click on. However, don’t worry about those for now as we are going to go over how to set up the extension together next.

Now that the extension has been installed, you need to go look for it and make sure it is enabled. Click on “Extensions,” and in the dropdown menu, click on “Plugins.” This is located in the header menu of your admin area.

This takes you to a list of your plugins. Search the Sexy Polling plugin by name, and when it comes up, make sure it is “Enabled.” You will see a green checkmark if it is.

If you see a red “x,” then go ahead and click on that to enable the plugin.

Now that you have enabled the plugin, let’s go over the configuration together.

Add a Poll to Website

At this point, you should be ready to configure the plugin and give yourself the ability to add a poll to your website. See, the extension is now running, but you need to create your first poll.

Back up top in your main admin menu, click on “Components,” and in the dropdown, click on “Sexy Polling > Polls.” This will take you to the entire polls section.

This is where you will create a poll and manage all of them you have created over time.

Note: There will be a demo poll or two already available. Please realize that you can only have two polls at once running with the free version.

When you get to the polls page, go ahead and click on an existing poll and edit it how you want. Or, delete it and start a new one.

Once you click on the “Poll Example,” the entire setup of a poll will come up. It is a one-page layout with the following options:

• Basic Options
• Advanced Options
• Style Options
• Animation Options
• Security Options
• Status Options

Let’s run through these together real quick.

Basic Options

Fill out the basic poll options here

Advanced Options

Now, go ahead and fill out all the advanced options on how you would like them.

Style and Animations Options

Create styles and animations for your poll based on what you want.

Security and Status Options

You can set certain status and security options as well.

When you are done, click on the “Save” button and you are good to go.

That’s it! You have successfully created your first poll to add to your website. Simply use the shortcode generated and put it wherever you see fit.

Final Thoughts

Having the ability to easily add a poll on a website quickly and easily will allow you to get votes and results for things you need. No longer do you have to try and build something offline and get it uploaded. Simply build your poll using Sexy Polling for Joomla and add it to your website using shortcodes.

Have you ever tried Sexy Polling before? Is there another polling extension for Joomla that you prefer?

The post How to Easily Add a Poll to a Website with Joomla appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Why Social Comments Engage

If you have been running a website for a while, then you must know how important engagement is. Commenting on blog posts is just one way people interact with your content online. That being said, it is a very important one.

When you give users the ability to post social comments in Joomla, you are allowing them to interact and engage with your content and with others. Yes, you don’t have to allow social commenting, you could always just take your chances with regular comments.

However, a user is probably less likely to comment on a blog post if they have to sign up with an email and sign in to a website. Believe it or not, even that short and simple process is just too much for some.

When you allow social comments, you are allowing people to easily comment on your content through their social media accounts. It is quick, it is easy, it is interactive, and it is fun for most.

There are a few different ways to show social comments on your Joomla website. You can go get an API from Facebook, then do some coding and maybe attach it to the site. Or, you could go an easier way and use a Joomla extension.

I found a great extension that lets you easily allow social comments in Joomla. The extension is full of functionality and comes with a complete set of social sharing tools as well.

Let’s take a look at this Joomla extension and see what all if offers.

Social Comments and Sharing for Joomla

The Social Comments and Sharing for Joomla extension allows you to easily add the ability to let visitors use social comments on Joomla. The plugin has a paid version, but this tutorial will cover the free tools it offers. Honestly, the free version does just fine and comes with a ton of functionality.

This popular, lightweight, and powerful extension offers you the ability to provide social commenting using the following networks:

• Facebook
• Disqus
• Vk

Obviously Facebook social commenting is far and away the most used and most popular. Showing a Facebook comment box in Joomla should allow your site to gain more comment and interaction traction almost immediately.

Users can share the comment on their Facebook wall and comments can be sorted by top, newest, or oldest. Furthermore, you have the ability to set the comment box to your site standards. Change the width, visible posts, and color scheme of the Facebook comment box so that it matches your website.

Social Comment and Sharing for Joomla also comes with a fantastic set of social share buttons that you can also utilize. The built-in share buttons include:

• Facebook Share, Like Button, & Send Button
• Twitter Share Button
• VKontakte Share Button
• Odnoklassniki Share Button
• AddThis Button

Digging a little deeper, you will find that the extension also offers some great integrations as well. With a responsive design, a share counter, multilingual settings, and integration with Google Analytics, this social comments for Joomla extension has it all.

Let’s take a look at how to install and activate the extension and get it ready for configuration. 

Install and Enable the Extension

In order to use the Social Comments and Sharing extension to allow website users the ability to use social commenting, you first have to install and enable it on your Joomla website. You can do this by downloading it off the extension homepage onto your machine.

When you click on the download button you will be taken to the main website for the company that created the extension. You will see that they also offer a pro version of the extension. However, the free version offers everything you need to get up and running and that is the one we are downloading today.

Simply click on the black “Download” button and download the free version of the extension to your machine.

Note: If you want to upgrade for more functionality later, then feel free to go get the upgrade.

Once you download the extension to your machine, go ahead and drag and drop it into the file upload box located in your Joomla control panel area. Simply click on the “Install Extensions” tab located in the left sidebar area of the control panel.

Note: You can also browse for the file and upload it that way if you prefer. Joomla also gives options to install from a folder or from a URL, but the process below is easiest.

Once the extension has been installed you will get a green box message, telling you the extension was successfully installed.

Now that the extension has been installed you have to activate it. On the top menu bar, click on Extensions > Modules. Search for the Social Comments and Sharing extension you just installed.

If it has a red circle with a white “x” in it, click the icon to enable the plugin. If the icon has a green checkmark, it means it’s already enabled and the extension is live on the site.

Configure the Social Comments for Joomla Extension

Now that you have the extension installed and activated, it is time to go ahead and configure it for use. Click on the module link to access the settings for the extension.

Once you have landed on the configuration page for the extension, you will see 13 different tabs. These include:

• Module
• Menu Assignment
• Facebook Options
• Twitter Options
• LinkedIn Options
• VK Options
• AddThis Options
• OK Options
• Tumblr
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Advanced
• Permissions

Most of the tabs are simple little button selection configurations. However, let’s go over them together. Once you are done configuring the settings how you want, you are all set to run social comments in Joomla.

Module

Select your module style mode and language here, along with a couple of other placing options.

Menu Assignment

Select where you want the social comments and sharing to show on your site.

Facebook Options

Select all of the Facebook comment and sharing options you want here.

Twitter Options

Setup all the Twitter options you see fit from this tab.

LinkedIn Options

Select all the LinkedIn options you want displayed from this tab.

VK Options

Choose your VK options from this tab. Style and select whatever you want.

AddThis Options

Choose whether or not you want an AddThis button to be displayed.

OK Options

Choose whether you want to display to OK button or not.

For the last few tabs that include Tumblr, Instagram, and Pinterest, simply make the button selections and choices that you want. It is very simple.

The last two tabs will be “Advanced” and “Permissions.” Only use these if you understand what you are doing.

That’s it! You have successfully installed, activated, and configured this extension. You are now ready to allow users the ability to display social comments in Joomla.

Final Thoughts

Giving users the ability to comment using their social profile will go a long way with them. This should cause more interaction with your content, as many users are much more comfortable commenting in this way.

Have you ever used this Joomla extension before? Did you find that it was easy to use and that your social commenting interaction level went up?

The post How to Add Social Comments to Joomla Articles appeared first on GreenGeeks.

If you have a Joomla website and you want to create an online store on the site, then there is a great extension that can help you do so. From the configuration of products to taking payments, the J2Store extension will provide everything you need to build a solid Joomla shopping cart.

Let’s take a look at the plugin and how to set it up for use.

J2Store

J2Store is a very powerful Joomla shopping cart extension that will allow you to set up an eCommerce portion of your website. The extension uses articles and turns them into products.

There is not much overhead to worry about, as J2Store comes ready right out of the box. We will cover the setup below, but it is not difficult. Once you have it in place, customers will be able to add items to their Joomla cart and buy them with relative ease.

This Joomla shopping cart extension is packed with features. There are so many we can’t name them all, but some of the highlights include:

• Use articles as products
• Define zone based tax rules
• Create product variants
• Add advanced pricing by quantity
• Create customer groups
• Sell both physical and digital goods
• Multilingual
• Payment gateways

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The J2Store shopping cart extension is feature-rich and you will have a solid eCommerce store launched on your website in no time at all.

Let’s take a look at how to install and enable the extension for use.

Install and Enable J2Store

In order to use the J2Store extension to create an eCommerce site, you first have to install and enable it on your Joomla website. You can do this by downloading it off the extension homepage onto your machine.

When you click on the download button, you will be taken to the J2Store extension main page. You will see that they also offer a pro version of the extension. However, the free version offers everything you need to get up and running, and that is the one we are downloading today.

Note: You can upgrade later if needed.

Once you have downloaded the J2Store download extension to your machine, go ahead and drag and drop it into the file upload box located in your Joomla control panel area. Simply click on the “Install Extensions” tab located in the left sidebar area of the control panel.

Note: You can also browse for the file and upload it that way if you prefer. Joomla also gives options to install from a folder or from a URL, but the process below is easiest.

Once the extension has been installed, you will get a green box message telling you the extension was successfully installed.

Now that the extension has been installed, you have to activate it. On the top menu bar, click on Extensions > Plugins. Search for the J2Store extension you just installed.

If it has a red circle with a white “x” in it, click the icon to enable the plugin. If the icon has a green checkmark, it means it’s already enabled and the extension is live on the site.

Note: You will see several parts of this extension. Go ahead and enable all the ones you want. For this tutorial, we are going to set up the actual shopping cart part of the store. So click on the “Content – J2Store” link to open that up.

Configure Main Shopping Cart Settings

From here we can go through the extension together and look at the setup options. You will see that a J2Store tab has been added to the main menu on the top of your website. Click on the tab and in the dropdown menu, click on “Dashboard.”

You will see a congratulations message prompting you to go forward with the extension configuration. Let’s take a look together at the main settings in the dashboard.

These are all the basic and advanced settings for how the Joomla shopping cart will perform and display overall on your website. Go ahead and go through them and set them up how you see fit.

When you are finished click on the green “Save and Proceed” button and move on. Let’s take a look at all the options for setup now that you are in the main dashboard where you can add all your content for the Joomla shopping cart.

Different Tab Sections in Dashboard

You have now been taken to the main dashboard and you are ready to add products, track payments and sales, and play with all of the design and configuration options for the J2Store extension.

Catalog

The catalog tab is where you will add products, manage inventory, manage vendors, and also deal with manufacturers. This is the heart of the shopping cart.

Sales

If you click on the Sales tab, then you will see a dropdown come out. Here is where you will manage all your orders, customers, coupons, and vouchers. You can also deal with promotions from this area.

Localization

Click on the localization tab to manage your countries, zones, tax rates, and tax profiles. This is where you make sure you are setting up sales and taxes correctly.

Design

You can open up and design your email and invoice templates how you would like them to look and display to customers.

Setup

The setup tab actually contains a lot of the shopping cart set up within it. Here is where you will set up and configure the layout of everything. There are dozens of options to go over. The extension allows for some really great customization.

You can also set up and deal with currencies, payment and shipping methods, add custom fields, and perform updates.

Apps and App Store

The apps and app store tabs give you access to other apps you may want to integrate with your Joomla shopping cart setup. You can go check all of them out and decide which ones you may have a need for or want to use down the road.

Reports

Finally, you have the reports tab. This is where you can view all of the reports over time.

Note: You will notice there is also a link to the developer’s main user guide. If you are have some trouble with anything, then they make it easy for you to access the guide and troubleshoot.

That’s it! At this point, you have successfully installed and enabled the Joomla shopping cart extension. You have been shown all the tabs and what they do. Feel free to go back and play with all the setup options.

Final Thoughts

Adding a shopping cart to your Joomla website is a fantastic way to easily sell both physical and digital goods online. This use to be much more difficult, but with an extension like J2Store, doing this is much easier.

Everything will be in one place in the back end of your Joomla control panel for you to access, configure, and control.

Have you ever used the J2Store extension? Have you found another one that you think works better for eCommerce in Joomla?

The post How to Add a Shopping Cart to Joomla appeared first on GreenGeeks.

Facebook Open Graph History

Before we dive into what exactly Facebook Open Graph does, let’s take a look at a brief history of it. All the way back in 2008, Facebook launched “Facebook Connect.”

Those were the little blue buttons that you see on websites that allow you to post comments on a website blog post without having to first sign-up for an account with that particular website.

Simply put, it allowed people to sign-in to a website using their Facebook accounts. The method became wildly successful, and within the first year, there were 100 million users.

Then, in 2019, Facebook launched it’s “Open Graph” API. What this did was allow you to do even more than simply connect your site to the Facebook platform. If you remember, it included the ability for some of the following to be integrated:

• Like Button
• Activity Feed
• Recommendations
• Like Box
• Login Button
• Facepile
• Comments
• Live Stream

Again, this idea was very popular and so it moved on from there. The idea behind Facebook Open Graph was to allow your web pages to become social in every aspect and allow you to connect with people in several different ways.

What is Open Graph?

Now that you have an idea of the history of Open Graph, let’s take a look at what it actually is. Simply put, Open Graph is a social media language that connects website content with social networks, and then controls the way the content is represented on these social networks.

Taking it even further, it allows you to manage the data and optimize it how you want when a website user likes or shares a post from your website. This will help control things like display, pictures, content, and title.

Connecting Joomla to Facebook allows Facebook “og” tags to specify the data you want to share from your posts. These og tags include:

• Title: this is the object’s title
• Type: the object’s type;
• Image: the URL of the image
• URL: the URL of the object
• Description: The object’s description

So, you can see that having a Joomla Open Graph with Facebook can really help you specifically control how content is shared on social media.

Adding Facebook Open Graph to Joomla

Before we talk about adding Facebook Open Graph to Joomla you want to remember a few things. Using Open Graph properly is key so remember the following when setting up:

• An og title should be 95 characters or less.
• Open Graph descriptions can be up to 297 characters…and should be.
• The og image should be within a 50px X 50px & 200px X 200px size an no larger than 5 MB.

Now, to successfully add Joomla to Facebook Open Graph we are going to use a smooth little Joomla extension that makes the entire process very easy. This plugin is called Phoca Open Graph for Joomla.

Let’s take a look at the plugin, get it installed and activated, and set it up together.

Phoca Open Graph

The Phoca Open Graph extension for Joomla allows you to easily add Open Graph information to your Joomla website and control how your posts are shared and shown.

Information is stored and then properly added when a visitor likes or shares a post. This plugin gives you the comfort of knowing exactly what is displaying when content is shared, how it is displaying, and how it will look when shared on social networks.

Let’s get the Joomla Facebook Open Graph plugin installed and activated together. This is just one of several great Facebook-related extensions Joomla has available that will make integration easier.

Install and Activate Phoca Open Graph

In order to use the Phoca Open Graph extension to control Facebook og tags, it first needs to be installed and activated on your Joomla website. You can do this by downloading it off the extension homepage onto your machine.

When you click on the download button, you will be taken to the Phoca Open Graph main page on their website. Here you will see a selection of og downloads. In our case, we want to download the latest English version of the plugin to our machine. So we are grabbing that one.

Note: Other Czech and Russian language versions of the extension are also available.

Once you have downloaded the extension to your machine, go ahead and drag and drop it into the file upload box located in your Joomla control panel area.

Note: You can also browse for the file and upload it that way if you prefer. Joomla also gives options to install from a folder or URL, but the process below is easiest.

Once the extension has been installed, you will get a green box message, telling you the extension was successfully installed.

Now that the extension has been installed, you have to activate it. On the top menu bar, click on Extensions > Plugins. Search for the Phoca Open Graph plugin you just installed.

If it has a red circle with a white “x” in it, click the icon to enable the plugin. If the icon has a green checkmark, it means it’s already enabled and the extension is live on the site.

Now click on the live “Phoca Open Graph Content” link to access the configuration for the plugin.

Open Graph Plugin Configuration

At this point, you have arrived at the main configuration page for this particular Joomla Facebook Open Graph plugin. You will see 7 main tabs. These include:

• Plugin
• Article Options
• Featured Options
• Category (Blog) Options
• Common Options
• Tweets with Card Options
• Extra Options

Let’s run through each tab together for the plugin setup.

Plugin

This tab will simply show you links to helpful documentation and other plugin information.

Article Options

Configure the Joomla Open Graph options that you want to have for your articles here.

Featured Options

You can set up all the featured options from this tab according to how you want them to display.

Category (Blog) Options

Setup all the category (blog) options you want to have for when content is shared over social media.

Common Options

You can access and configure other common extension options from this tab.

Tweets with Cards Options

This Facebook Open Graph extension comes complete with a Twitter Cards section that you can configure and use to your liking as well.

Extra Options

Just some extra options you can look into and configure how you would like. For instance, you can choose to display a category image in the article if you have one.

That’s it! You have successfully installed, activated, and configured the Phoca Open Graph plugin. You now control your social media likes and shares and the content you want to share.

Final Thoughts

If you have a content-heavy Joomla website, then you definitely want to take advantage of Facebook Open Graph. It is not difficult to set up and use, as demonstrated in the tutorial above.

This will give you much more control over how content is displayed and shared over social media. You will know what people see and what information they access because you set the display and control the layout and other settings.

Have you been using Joomla and Facebook Open Graph for a while? DO you find that content shared is much cleaner and displays in a better way?

The post How to Add the Facebook Open Graph to Joomla appeared first on GreenGeeks.

A sitemap is a key element to any website. It adds a lot of functionality, not so much for the website user, but for Google and other search engines. Having a sitemap will make the entire process of getting ranked higher in Google much easier. This is just one of several things you need to do to properly optimize a Joomla website.

Let’s go through some information on sitemaps and explore a little bit about them. After that, I will show you how to leverage a fantastic extension to easily add a sitemap in Joomla.

Why Add a Joomla Sitemap?

Simply put, a sitemap is a collection of links on your website. It creates an index of content that helps Google and other major search engines find you. It also helps with proper site structure and indexing.

There are a couple of different sitemaps you might hear about. A visual sitemap, or HTML sitemap, and an XML sitemap. A visual Joomla sitemap will show your website pages and posts visually to your site visitors.

A sitemap XML index is actually for Google and the other search engines. When you are learning how to make a sitemap, these two things are actually different. One is for your audience and is laid out in an appealing manner. The other one is for the search engines to properly crawl, index, and categorize your content.

Are Joomla Sitemaps Necessary?

No, they are not necessary. That being said, they are very helpful and you should definitely be on the side of having a Joomla XML sitemap available.

Building on what I said above, a sitemap in Joomla will tell Google exactly where everything is and help with overall SEO. Google will have a much easier time trying to understand and searching your site.

There is an easy way to add a sitemap in Joomla using an extension. Let’s take a look at the OSMap extension for Joomla. Adding this can also help other aspects of your website as well.

OSMap Extension

The OSMap extension is a Joomla sitemap generator that is easy to install and use. The extension will build you an SEO friendly XML sitemap on your Joomla site that Google and other search engines can use. It will also build an HTML sitemap for your visitors.

This is a very popular Joomla sitemap extension and is lightweight and easy to install and configure. There is a pro version of the OSMap extension if you feel you need it. However, the free version that we are using today does have a lot of great functionality built-in. Some of the main features include:

• Automatically builds a sitemap that is SEO friendly.
• Builds an HTML sitemap for your visitors to view.
• It will build an image sitemap for Google and other search engines.
• Builds a news sitemap.
• It supports all Joomla core extensions.

Basically, the OSMap Joomla sitemap generator is all you need to build a sitemap in Joomla that will benefit you in so many ways.

Let’s take a look at how to install and activate the extension.

Install and Activate OSMap

In order to use the OSMap extension to add a sitemap in Joomla and become more SEO friendly, it needs to be installed and activated. You can easily install and activate the extension by downloading it from the extension homepage onto your machine.

Note: You will be taken to another page when you click the download button above. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the free download.

When you click on the download button, you will get a popup box that asks for your email. Put your email in.

Once you have put your email into the field and submitted it, they will send a download link to you. Simply click on the link in the email they send and you will be able to download the extension to your machine.

Upload to Website

Now that you have downloaded the extension to your machine, drag and drop it into the file upload box located in your Joomla control panel area. You can access this area by clicking on the “Install Extensions” tab located on the left side menu.

Note: You can also browse for the file and upload it that way if you prefer. Joomla also gives options to install from a folder or from URL, but the process below is easiest.

Once the extension has been installed, you will get a green box detailing the installation and letting you know it was successful. The box just tells you that the extension was installed correctly and is ready to activate and configure.

Now that the extension has been installed, you have to activate it. On the top menu bar, click on Extensions > Plugins. This is located on the top menu of your Joomla website admin area.

If you prefer, you can also click on the “plugins page” link that is provided when the OSMap extension is installed. Either way gets you to the same point.

You will see a list of your plugins. Search for the “OSMap” extension you just installed. If it has a red circle with a white “x” in it, click the icon to activate (enable) the plugin.

If the icon has a green checkmark, it means it’s already activated and the extension is live and ready to be configured. Go ahead and click on it to start the configuration of your sitemap in Joomla.

Configure the Sitemap for Joomla Plugin

Once you get on the plugin configuration page, you will see three tabs. These include:

• Plugin
• XML
• News

Let’s go over these together to set the plugin up. It is very simple and easy.

Plugin

This is where you will set all the settings for the actual plugin that you want. Things like categories, links, page breaks, and archives can all be set how you would like. Go ahead and set this up how you prefer.

XML

Configure the XML sitemap portion of the extension here. Images, category priority, and article priority can be adjusted here.

News

The final tab is News. Click the dropdown menu and choose the setting you want for your news XML sitemap.

That’s it! Simply click on the “Save” button and you have successfully completed the process to add a sitemap in Joomla.

Final Thoughts

Adding a Joomla sitemap is important for a number of reasons. It helps visually with your site audience, but more importantly, it gives Google an easier way to index and crawl your content.

Using OSMap will give you a very easy way to include a sitemap in Joomla without having to code or do any heavy lifting. Simply install and activate the extension, configure it to your liking, and you are done.

Do you prefer another sitemap extension instead of OSMap? Have you found that your overall SEO and indexing for your site on Google has been better since you added a sitemap?

The post How to Add a Sitemap to Joomla appeared first on GreenGeeks.