How-To - Using Joomla to build mobile Web Apps.

This rough How-To will go through using Joomla to build a simple mobile Web App.

You will need a few things first:

• Joomla 2.5 or 3.0+ - http://www.joomla.org/
• Add2home plugin for Joomla - http://download.waltercedric.com/downloads/joomla/917-apple.html
• A good responsive template. I used the YooTheme Warp Framework with the Yoo_master template for this one - http://www.yootheme.com/themes/warp-framework
• The MobileJoomla framework or one like it, this one is free at least and only used in this case to load a different template on Mobile devices. - http://www.mobilejoomla.com/

Start off by reading the setup instructs for the YooTheme Warp framework, and set up your pages accordingly. I will sometimes make it so the content of the page doesn't go down too far on the first screen, this will give the users an overall good first impression on a mobile device. Once that is complete, we will set it as the default template. With this design, it automatically detects screen size, but if your client wants a different design for Desktop users, then you can use the MobileJoomla plugin and component to assign a different template to mobile devices. 

Next we will have to download the Add2Home plugin, but don't install it right away. Once you download it, navigate to your download directory and extract the file into a folder. then navigate into the plugin folder, and change the photos there (Unless you absolutely love the ones the developer uses)

Once we are done editing and replacing the graphics, we will then re-archive the files back into a .zip and then we will add the Add2Home plugin to your Joomla extensions. Once it is installed, Just make sure you enable it.

Then it's time to start testing it out and making sure all the content is in the right places. Have fun with it and make it yours :)

Till next time!!

Read More

Changing the world can be done one idea at a time.

     When it comes to having an impact on the world around us, we have very limited resources for changing things in a traditional sense. Yeah, we can think of the next big thing for whatever you are into, but hunches are, most of us will never go anywhere with the idea. What if I told you that regardless if your idea goes anywhere, it can still make a difference, would you still come up with more ideas? I think we should come up with ideas more often as a society. So what if you can't profit from it, the important pat is that you went through the process of thinking of it.

     Let me explain the basics of it for you a bit more. I have come up with tons of ideas and inventions, but I'm not blind to the fact that I'm not the only one who has had that idea either. For every idea come up with, there are at least 100 other people in the world with that same idea. Why? Because these ideas we have are brought about by commonalities in situations, environment, production, design, etc. for every problem solved, there will be more problems or ideas on how to use it. In the past, ideas have been safeguarded and kept secret because of the thought of gain. I believe we now live in a society where this is not needed as much and if we are to continue to evolve as humans, we should learn to share our ideas. After all, if you sit on an egg too long, it spoils anyway. Our ideas are the same way, they spoil if we keep them for too long without further developing them.

     When it came to inventions in the past, we had little choices as to what to do with our ideas, and the majority of those options would make it so your invention never saw the light of day. That has also changed now with the dawn of Croudsourcing and Croudfunding services like StartGarden, KickStarter, etc. the question is no longer about what a few company exec's think of your idea, it is what the public thinks of it.

     Remember that your idea is not unique, and shared by many others across the globe, no mater how smart you are. This means that it is a race to see who can catch the public's eye about the idea first. This also means that the rate of new ideas needs to ramp up a bit too. The more you use your creative muscles, the more you can do with them. So even the act of coming up with a new idea once a month and publishing it somewhere can facilitate a greater change in the world around you that you can imagine. Try it for a while, trust me, you will see the difference if we all keep at it.

Read More

IDEA - Artprize Poster

The people over at Artprize.org released their pick for the 2012 Artprize poster, and many will agree with me when I say that it did not go over very well. The poll was over 75% against it. Coming from their perspective though, they only had a select few submissions for this years contest, so I'm sure the picking was slim.

As an artist in this town, I felt that I had to do my part to show what else Grand Rapids has to offer when it comes to art and poster design. So I have decided to design another poster, instead of being one of those artists that just complains about something and does nothing to better it. This poster really does have a 3D effect to it, and won't produce migraines.

Leave a comment if you like where this is going ☺

Read More

Long weekend

I'm planning on starting my schedule change this upcoming week, which means that I will have worked a bit more than I am used to before I get a day off. So I am taking my time relaxing before I log into work tonight.

I hope to start work on one if my website ideas next week, still have to price out a hosting service that will work well for it. I've already decided to use a version of community builder for the user side of the site. Not sure if that is the best decision so far, we will see.

Read More