After Installation.... (this section presumes you installed the sample data)

THIS INFORMATION IS FOR VERSION 1.0.XX USERS : THERE ARE MAINLY MENU NAME DIFFERENCES FOR 1.5

N.B. : Many new users simply do not know what to do here, and leave sample content published in various places around their site, which is a bad/confusing image for visitors and may get included in SE indexing. Follow the following guide to get the basic facts displayed, and then come back and start filling everything out.

Log into your administrator panel

Go to : >site>global configuration

• Enter a site name reflecting your site purpose and containing your main keywords
• Go to the content tab and turn off "hits" and "created date and time" - they may be misleading to initial site visitors
• IN the "server" tab, you may wish to extend the admin session, so you don't have to keep re-logging in during extended setup sessions.
• Go to the "metadata" tab, and after doing some research, fill in the two fields. (a quick way to come up with the data is to search for a competitor who is very close to your subject, choose "view page source" or similar in your browser and use and EDIT their keywords and description to closely fit your site's purpose. This is just an initial step, and will require you to do your more detailed research later.
• Go to the "mail" tab and edit the "from" name to identify your site. The email address is the one asked for by the Joomla! installer : if you want to use another, change it now
• The rest of the tabs can be left until you've got some specific content entered. Do not turn on "Search Engine Friendly URLs" in the SEO tab yet.
• Click Save, top right.
  

Go to : >menu>main menu

• Turn everything off except "home" and "contact us"
• They can be re-published as you change/create specific content.
• Do the same with the "top menu" menu

Go to : >components>contacts>manage contacts

• Click on the sample data item "name"
• Edit all the fields including the name, so that any visitors can contact you and ensure the ensuing form doesn't look anonymous.
• Make sure you change the sample email address to a valid one
  
• Go to the "parameters" tab and make unpublish any fields that are not required. It is usually best not to display the email address, that's a major point of using a form.
• Save the form and go to the front-end of your site (>site>preview>in new window) and test the form by sending a form submission to the email you entered.

Go to : >content>all content items

• Unpublish everything except the "Welcome to Joomla!" item
• Open that item, replace the title and the "intro text" box with some valid details about your site and its purpose. This isn't final, just get something started here. The purpose of your site and some services or facts which will interest initial visitors. Delete all the content in the "main text" box. Then save the content item.

Go to : >components>web links>web links items

• Unpublish all the items there UNLESS they reflect the actual purpose of your site.

Next you want to get the issue of your template sorted out :

• Go to >site>template manager>site templates and choose the radio button for the other sample template, click on "default" at the top of the page and then go to the front-end browser copy you have open and refresh it and have a look at this template.
• In the report you have free template links to browse to.
• Also in the report you have some of the best paid template sites which you can go to if you cannot find anything suitable in the free template links
• Make sure you read the template reference articles on this site, especially the one detailing how to alter a free template to fit your site. (header name and company name)
  - Introduction to Templates
  - Choosing a Template
  - Installing a Template
  - Altering a Template
  - Making your own Template
  - Template Tools
  - Template Tips & Tricks
  - THE WHOLE TEMPLATE CATEGORY
  
  

Next step : Module Positions

• Now that you've got the template sorted out, go to the section on module positions on this site and start assigning your modules to the positions provided in the template you chose.
• Turn off any published ones you don't intend to use in the short-term (polls/banners etc)
  

Next step : Content

• Remember the basic flow... >section>categor(ies)>items
  - Introduction to Content
  
• You might like to keep the FAQ section as is, ready for your own FAQ
• Create a section, category and item(s) to start building out your content. Read the relevant section here on how to make a menu item for it. Make sure all are published (section, category(s) and item(s) and go and check them out from the front-end).
• Read all the relevant sections on this site to fill all this out.
  
• Remember you don't have to do a mountain of work in one go, just do incremental items regularly, it's much easier to do one article every day, and they will soon mount up.
  

Next step : Other components/extensions

• After having read the report's extension recommendations, you could go ahead and start installing the ones you want (if you want to be careful, do a backup of your site, make sure it includes your mysql database)
• Republish menu items as they are needed, and create new menu items for your new components
• Follow the Open-SEF instructions in the videos and get your FURL's working (friendly URL's)
  - also see the link at... Extensions Must-Have's
  

Next step : Google/Site promotion

• Create a site map, check it and then create a Google Webmaster account, add your new site and complete the Google webmaster steps.
• Read this and start applying the steps on a regular basis
  
  

Then ensure you have joined the following lists:

• Our Newsletter (for reviews of Extensions, Joomla! news and tips in general)
• Our Template Maker priority list (As we develop the software you will find it a major timesaver)