Get more traffic and make more money with Joomla!

Quote of the Day Module

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Need to display a Quote of the Day on your website? JoomlaDigger.com has updated its Quote of the Day module, which is now available for Joomla 1.0, Joomla 1.5, Joomla 1.6 and Joomla 1.7. Quotes are displayed from TooManyQuotes.com, which offers a completely customizable Quote of the Day from any author, topic, movie, book, TV show, video game or special list and place them directly on your website. All this with a simple interface and asynchronous JavaScript so it will never slow down your website.

Which version of Joomla should you use?

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:11:08 +0000

With more than one Joomla release available, it isn’t always clear which one is the best one to use. Currently there are a number of stable versions, including version 1.5, 1.6 and 1.7, and it is worthwhile comparing these versions to understand why you might use one version over another.

Member Statistics Module for Joomla! 1.5

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 04:21:39 +0000

Have you ever wanted a quick way to know how many users have signed up for your website? The Member Statistics module displays that, as well as other interesting and useful info about the users who have signed up on your website. It displays total registered users, numbers of guests and members online, the newest member, and numbers of new users today, this week and this month.

Image Ads - Advertising Component for Joomla Websites

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:15:14 +0000

The Image Ads component is a FREE advertising solution to sell ad space on your Joomla website, but it has all the features of a fully-paid Commercial component. It works like a Mini Ad Spots module, but it's more flexible and completely automated. Your users create ads, upload their own photo, then pay for a PayPal subscription. You just have to approve the ad on the backend and collect your money! It is compatible with Joomla 1.5 and 1.6.

Insert After First Paragraph - Free Joomla! Plugin

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 05:49:47 +0000

Ever needed to insert AdSense ads or some other HTML directly after the first paragraph of every article? Well now it's easy. This simple Joomla! plugin will insert any HTML or JavaScript code directly into your articles when the full article is displayed. You can place different chunks of HTML/JavaScript after the first paragraph, before the last paragraph, at the beginning of the article, at the beginning just inside the first paragraph at the end of your article, at the end just inside the last paragraph, and/or after the Nth paragraph.

Sharable - Free social sharing plugin for Joomla!

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 05:56:08 +0000

Download the new free Joomla plugin - Sharable. It will place interactive badges on your site with a very clean and classy layout, very similar to Mashable.com or TechCrunch.com's social sharing buttons. We're using it right here on JoomlaDigger.com, check out the classy buttons to the right.

Afterburner - New template for JoomlaDigger.com

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 07:10:51 +0000

New theme for the site! Well not exactly new, RocketTheme's Afterburner Joomla! template is about 2 years old. So why would I choose an outdated template that doesn't even look like anything special? I needed a template that had a small footprint and loaded quickly, had adjustable sidebar widths, and didn't have any distracting JavaScript animations or special effects.

JomSocial upgraded to 2.0.4

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 18:59:46 +0000

I've upgraded JoomlaDigger.com to JomSocial 2.0.4. There are some pretty awesome improvements over the previous version we had installed.

RocketTheme's free Quasar template applied to JoomlaDigger.com

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 03:46:06 +0000

I've installed a new template here on JoomlaDigger.com. It is Quasar by RocketTheme, and it is completely free! It is a great template with great typography and other features. It looks great by default, but would also make a great base to modify for a custom template.

FellowFishermen.com Latest Catches Badge

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:05:01 +0000

If you run a Joomla fishing web site then you are going to love this module. This module will display your latest catches from FellowFishermen.com directly on your website! It will also display your username with a link to your profile, your total catches with a link to all of your catches, and your current status from your profile page.

Amazing New Fishing Community Lauched with JomSocial

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:41:45 +0000

There is a brand new web site that raises the bar for Joomla. FellowFishermen.com is a great example of what can be accomplished using Joomla and components like JomSocial.

FellowFishermen.com is THE new online fishing community web site. It features several social networking features centered around JomSocial and the fishing community, including member catches, catch locations, interactive Google Maps for fishing spots and fishing businesses, photo and video galleries, blogs, fishing weather, and more.

Joomla Affiliate and Referral Programs

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Sun, 10 May 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Are you looking for a better way to monetize your Joomla website? Pay-per-click advertising (like Google AdSense) can work well for websites focused on certain high-paying keywords, but most advertising keywords related to Joomla don't pay very much. Affiliate advertising is another solution and can be very profitable for any website with a specific niche, where visitors are already interested in similar products. Here is an exhaustive list of Joomla affiliate programs you can sign up for to start earning more money if you run a website about Joomla.

JomSocial Review: Finally, a great social networking and community solution for Joomla!

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:47:02 +0000

I have had more than a few people email me about JomSocial, the new social networking / community component by Azrul. I spent some time installing, using and customizing JomSocial and I've written a full review based on my first-hand experience with it. In case you don't feel like reading this entire review, my final recommendation is to get it. JomSocial is simply the best community and social networking solution available for Joomla, allowing you to quickly create a site like Facebook for your own niche community.

Articles With Duplicate Titles Administrator Module

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 23:33:10 +0000

This free Joomla administrator module will show you any articles that have duplicated titles. Not only are duplicated article titles confusing for you on the backend, then are confusing for your visitors on the front end of your website.

Articles With Duplicate Title Aliases Administrator Module

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 23:33:10 +0000

This free Joomla administrator module will show you any articles that have duplicated title aliases. Duplicated article title aliases can cause problems with search engine optimization and SEF URL components, but this module will make it easy to locate any duplicate aliases so you can quickly fix any problems.

Articles With Duplicate Meta Descriptions Administrator Module

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 21:41:03 +0000

This free Joomla administrator module will show you any articles that have duplicate meta descriptions. This is extremely helpful for anybody who is serious about Search Engine Optimization and wants to improve their placement in Google search results.

MediaTemple - One Of The Best Web Hosting Companies

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:14:32 +0000

Pardon my shamelss plug, but MediaTemple is, in my opinion, one of the best web hosting companies out there. We recently moved JoomlaDigger.com to MediaTemple's grid service hosting plan, and I've been so happy with it that I have been transferring all of my domains over as well. MediaTemple's grid service (gs) is cheap, reliable, and powerful. The grid service instantly offers you the processing power of their entire grid of web servers, so even if you have extremely high bursts of traffic (think front page of Digg.com) your web site will never go down.

YOOtheme, to Template or not to Template

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:43:09 +0000

Q. I have been looking for an affordable joomla solution to replace my existing flash based website. Joomla appears to be my answer. Woo Hoo! Only 1,000 questions to go. I really like some yootheme.com templates and particularly CHROME. But for the life of me I cannot find an Ask Us or Email Us on yootheme anywhere. All i wanted to know is how much can you modify them. I want a large banner, logo etc. This theme doesnt have one. I also want to use a lead enquiry form (yet to be built) and place it right in center of the the front page. Lastly, all the demo displays show a dog eared yootheme in the top corner, can I safely assume that this is not in the purchased template. Sorry to bother you with what is obviously a support question from someone elses website, but i found you on google for your article on CHROME.

Web 3.0 and the Future

webmaster@joomladigger.com (3709) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:17:52 +0000

The first step in designing a website is understanding your audience. This is easier than it may sound. Think big. Really big. Not in terms of traffic, necessarily, but the longevity of your site. How many sites developed in 1995 still exist, dinosaurs of the Internet? They are obvious, and even painful to look at. But how do you come across them? In the majority of cases, they persist out there because they offer something that still hasn't been replicated. Data. Content. Originality.

Which Social Bookmarking Buttons Should I Put On My Web Site?

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Fri, 30 May 2008 23:06:42 +0000

Most of the web sites you visit on a day-to-day basis have social bookmarking buttons under their blog posts, videos, or whatever type of content they feature. If you are reading this article then you probably already have these social bookmarking buttons on your own web site, or you're planning to do it soon. In either case you will need to put some thought into which buttons you want to place on your website. You'll need to choose as few as possible to keep things from getting too cluttered, but you also need to make sure you choose the ones that will benefit you the most.

Why Does My Joomla Web Site Have a Blank Page?

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Fri, 30 May 2008 03:00:00 +0000

So you've just installed a new component, module or plugin, or made some other change to your site's PHP code. You've enabled it on the Joomla backend and configured its settings just right. Then you browsed to your web site's home page and found that there is only a blank page displayed, a white screen with nothing else. Don't panic, you just have a PHP error.

JoomlaDigger.com Gets a New Color Scheme

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Mon, 26 May 2008 15:49:18 +0000

JoomlaDigger.com recently got a slight facelift. The site still uses the Switch template from YOOtheme but has gone from a red color scheme to a blue color scheme. The only real changes to the site were the logo, some background images and the color of links.

What is AdWords and Pay-Per-Click?

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:36:00 +0000

Google AdWords is the pay-per-click advertising system that powers AdSense. Pay-per-click means that advertisers will pay every time a visitor clicks an ad that takes them to the advertiser's website. Advertisers pay to create their ads with AdWords, and publishers get paid to display those ads on their web sites with AdSense. You can use AdWords to bring targeted traffic to your web site by creating ads and choosing keywords related to your business. AdWords will then place your ad on Google when people search for your specified keywords, and into AdSense placements on related websites all across the internet. AdWords is a pay-per-click system so you only pay when AdWords brings targeted users to your web site.

Solution for Error: Upload module - Failed

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:36:19 +0000

Upload module - Failed. There is already a file called /home/folder/www/modules/blah_blah_blah.php - Are you trying to install the same CMT twice?

This is an error I have run into several times with Joomla 1.0.x. You go to install a module, apparently one you've already installed previously. I've been frustrated with this before, and I know many others have as well. It's a very simple problem (which highlights a bug in Joomla's module handling, but will probably never be fixed in the 1.0.x version of the CMS) and luckily it has a simple solution.

The Difference Between Dashes and Underlines in SEF URLs

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Thu, 22 May 2008 19:05:26 +0000

You may have heard that Google and other search engines prefer that you use dashes or hyphens (-) instead of underlines or underscores (_) as word separators in your URLs. Google actually recommends that you use dashes or hyphens when creating search engine friendly or search engine optimized URLs instead of underscores. Here's why.

AdSense Tips: Avoid Using the Competitive Ad Filter At All Costs

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Thu, 22 May 2008 01:42:58 +0000

Here is another way you can raise the cost per click (CPC) of your Google AdSense ads: Don't ever, ever, ever use the Competitive Ad Filter. AdWords advertisers are competing in the auction to dsplay ads on your web pages. By allowing more advertisers to enter the auction, you raise the potential CPC of each ad spot. Using the Competitive Ad Filter reduces the number of auction bidders and lowers your potential CPC for each ad.

Set Each AdSense Ad To Display Both Text and Images for a Higher CPC

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:16:03 +0000

This is another somewhat advanced AdSense tip. It might be a little hard to understand but it is very simple to implement. The tip is that you can raise the cost per click (CPC) on each AdSense ad unit by enabling both Text Ads and Image Ads on each ad.

Your AdSense Ad With The Highest Click Through Rate Should Appear First In Your HTML

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:47:37 +0000

Some Google AdSense tips are not very obvious at first. This is definitely more of an advanced tip, one that I didn't figure out until after a year and a half of using AdSense, but it will help to maximize your AdSense earnings if you can wrap your head around it and properly implement it. The tip is that you will make more money with AdSense if you make your AdSense ad with the highest click through rate (CTR) appear before all other AdSense ads in your site's HTML.

Do Not Use Quotes or Special HTML Characters in Your Article Titles

webmaster@joomladigger.com (P.J. Swesey) — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:02:47 +0000

It can be very easy to add quotes or an apostrophe to the title of a new article, but don't do it! For example, I could have made the title of this article Don't Use Quotes or Special HTML Characters in Your Article Titles but I resisted using that apostrophe. Several plugins and components process the data stored in the title, title alias, meta description and meta keywords and do not always account for quotes or special characters so it is a good idea to avoid them.

Optimize Your PHP For Efficient Web Applications

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Wed, 21 May 2008 17:18:52 +0000

PHP code for web sites and web applications should always be optimized. A poorly-written PHP web site may work just fine without too many concurrent users, but as soon as traffic starts building up it could buckle. There are an unlimited number of ways to implement anything in PHP, but certain functions and techniques are much more efficient than others. Every PHP developer should spend some time learning the most efficient ways to code, and luckily there is a great tutorial article with 52 PHP programming tips and benchmarked examples for efficiency and faster code.

Automatically Insert AdSense Ads After Intro Text

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:02:41 +0000

(This Joomla/adsense tutorial is for Joomla 1.0.x)

According to Google, the most effective placement for AdSense ads is directly in your content. Click through rates (CTR) are much higher for ads embedded in your content than banner ads or sidebar ads. The standard Joomla content component combines each article's intro text and main text, which means you don't have an opportunity to run a plugin or component to automatically insert your ads after the intro text. Fortunately I have come up with a method using the JosReplace component and a small hack to Joomla's content component which will allow you to do this.

Enable GZip Compression For Smaller Web Page Sizes

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:35:51 +0000

Joomla uses PHP to create the HTML pages that make up your website. These pages can be compressed using Gzip Compression. Most web servers support Gzip Compression, which can shrink your site's pages by 70% to 90%. This will result in reduced bandwidth and faster page loads for your visitors.

Install a Search Engine Friendly URLs Component

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:56:47 +0000

Joomla's default URLs, like the standard URLs of any CMS, are terrible for Search Engine Optimization purposes. They have several querystring parameters, they are not human readable, they offer search engines no keywords or insight into what content the page holds, and they use the Itemid parameter to create multiple URLs for each content item. Luckily there are Search Engine Friendly URL components available for Joomla that solve all these issues for us.

Turn Off Error Reporting to Speed Up Your Web Site and Minimize Security Risks

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:39:14 +0000

Leaving Error Reporting set to anything else except NONE will slow down your website and give hackers a security hole that they can use to peer into your server settings and PHP environment. Turn it off (NONE) unless you are debugging at the moment. Then turn it off!

Minimize Database Queries by Turning Off Web Site Statistics

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:56:15 +0000

One way to minimize the number of database queries your Joomla website performs is to turn off all website statistics. This is a quick fix, and removes queries for a part of Joomla you really don't need, speeding up your website and making faster load times.

Move Your Website to a Virtual or Dedicated Server

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:14:38 +0000

If you have already applied the rest of these techniques and your server is still bogged down from too much traffic, you may have to purchase better hosting. Virtual servers and dedicated servers are common hosting plans that will give your web site the hardware it needs to handle high traffic server loads.

Install a Query Caching Component to Free Up Server Resources

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:38:30 +0000

Query caching will store the query results from your database in memory for quick retrieval. It won't always produce a noticeable difference in page load times, but it will free up your server resources by using far less processing power and minimizing bandwidth between your web server and MYSQL database server (for remote database servers). This means your Joomla website will be able to handle many, many more users without slowing down. Luckily for Joomla users, there is a query caching component to make things easy.

Install a Page Caching Component to Drastically Decrease Page Load Times

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:15:37 +0000

Installing a 3rd party page cache component will probably make the biggest difference in your web site's load times. There are several components listed at the Joomla Extensions website. I personally recommend Ircmaxell's PageCache component from JoomlaPerformance.com.

Increase Adsense Earnings by Targeting Your Content

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:07:21 +0000

Google AdSense will often display ads that aren't relevant to your web site's content. Sometimes AdSense will pick up on random words and phrases from around your website that don't really relate to what your content is about. This leaves you with unrelated ads that nobody will click on. Luckily, Google offers a way for you to tell AdSense exacty what content it should focus on, resulting in highly-targeted ads, higher click through rates (CTR) and higher payouts for every click (CPC).

Turn On Global Site Cache

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:33:39 +0000

Enabling the Joomla global cache is easy to do and can make a significant difference in your web site's load times. 3rd party caching components are also very helpful, but they generally only work for visitors and not for anybody logged into the web site. The standard Joomla cache will speed up your web site for all users, logged in or not.

Enable Caching for Every Module

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:58:10 +0000

Most modules on your Joomla website will have the option to enable caching, and you should definitely take advantage of this feature. It's easy to do and will only take a few minutes to set up.

Don't Allow Plugins to Run on Modules

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:29:00 +0000

Since releasing the Ultimate Social Bookmarking Plugin , several people have complained that the social bookmarking buttons were appearing all over their website. After looking into the issue, it became apparent that these people were using Joomla's standard "User" modules which all had "Mambots" enabled.

Uninstall Unnecessary Extensions

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Tue, 13 May 2008 14:04:57 +0000

Joomla's ability to include modules, components and plugins is a key part of its flexibility, but that doesn't mean you should abuse it. Every plugin, module and component you install will increase your page load times and slow things down. Any extensions that your website doesn't absolutely need should be removed.

AdSense Tips: Get the Highest Paying AdSense Keywords for Free

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:55:42 +0000

There is a great tool available that allows you to check out the highest cost-per-click (HCPC) keywords for Google AdSense, allowing you to write content with the highest-paying keywords in mind. It is the Google Adwords Keyword Tool and it allows anybody to view the highest CPC keywords, for free, without having to log in or sign up. It was created to help people come up with new ideas for their AdWords campaigns, but you can use it to see which AdSense keywords will pay you the most so you can target your site's content for high CPC and generate higher advertising revenue. This tutorial will show you how to find these keywords with the AdSense preview tool and how to use that information to increase your cost per click.

AdSense Tips: Remove Low-Paying Ads (Tutorial)

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Are your Google AdSense ads earning low revenue due to low cost-per-click (CPC)? Perhaps you''ve worked to set up a good ad placement strategy to raise your click-through-rate (CTR) but each click isn't paying you very much? There's a great website to help you remove the low-paying ads from your site, creating more room for the ads that will pay you more for each click (HCPC). I'll show you how to use the tools to generate a list of 200 blacklisted URLs automatically tailored to your specific website.

Joomla Fix: You are not authorized to view this resource. You need to login

webmaster@joomladigger.com (1777) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:17:32 +0000

This problem is inherent from the earliest versions of Joomla! and are related to the handling of the Itemid. This solution should work for any Joomla! website that displays the error because there aren't proper menu links to the specific content. There are many open tickets throughout the net in regards to this problem, this should work in some cases.

Get More Google Traffic With Random Content Links

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:00:06 +0000

Here's a cool SEO tip that will automatically bring you more traffic from Google and other search engines: Put a Random Content module on your homepage. It's better to have it on as many pages as possible, but the homepage is key. I discovered this trick while experimenting with a different modules on the homepage.

Create a Professional Small Business Email System With Gmail

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:20:21 +0000

A lot of small businesses have generic web hosting with email addresses that simply forward to a personal email account. This gets the job done but is very unprofessional. If a customer sends an email to billing and your reply is from your Yahoo! email account, the customer will see that you are a small-time operation without any infrastructure and will immediately lose faith in your business. I am about to show you how you can use the powerful features of Gmail to manage all of these email addresses from a single Gmail account, how to use Filters and Labels to organize all of this incoming mail, and how to respond to each of these emails while automatically replying with the correct name and email address.

PHP Coding Tip: The print_r() Function

webmaster@joomladigger.com (62) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:49:07 +0000

Here's a quick but extremely useful tip for PHP developers. When working on plugins or extensions for an existing framework, use the print_r() function on the API objects to find out what data structures they contain. Great PHP help tip.