Is it ok to customize Taskhopper Dingo for my client?

The Dingo logo is located at /components/com_dingo/images/dingo_bwlogo.png while powered by is found in the dashboard.php file located in components/com_dingo/helpers.

The logo can be removed/replaced, however Powered by should not be removed.  If it is necessary to change this, please contact us for a modified license agreement.

If you are planning to do anything that requires a rollback, it's quick and simple to do a mySQL backup via phpMyAdmin.   If you are not someone who cares about DB maintenance, then don't bother with this.  (however if you're reading this, you better make sure someone else is doing this)

Your hosting provider *should* be doing full backups on some regular basis.   But here's a tip:  If you are not doing your own backups, assume it's not being done.   It costs very little to develop a simple routine to make a copy of your data.   (this can be automated so that it happens without any human intervention)

Let's assume we are doing this manually...

1.  Connect via phpMyAdmin

This happens either via Cpanel or by accessing it directly via a web URL.   (going through cPanel just gives you an icon to click)   phpMyAdmin is a stand-alone app that does not require cPanel.

2.   Select the DB

This will be in the left margin of the screen.   The name of your application may not match your domain name.   This is especially true if you've installed via Fantastico.   (this is one of the cruddy things about installing that way)   If you have more than one app running (e.g.,  Joomla and Wordpress) you will have two databases listed.    The suffix in the DB should be obvious however if you're running multiple versions of Joomla, then you'll need to confirm which one is which based on browsing the content or looking in the configuration file to see which DB is being used.

3.   Click Export

This can be at the DB or table level.    e.g.,  If you are only changing data in a particular table, then click the DB name, then, when you get to the Export screen, just the table(s) you care about.     (The other way is to click the DB first, then go directly to Export where you can find the tables in a multi-select list chooser)

3a...  Highlight all the tables in the DB

If you selected the DB then Export, you will be presented with an "Export" list which will allow you to select those tables you want to save.  (here you can click/drag to select a group or Ctrl-Click to select non-contiguous tables)

4.  Click Save as file

Leave everything as-is which should give you a template name, compression=none.  (zipped or gzipped is better if your DB or table selection is large)  

5.  Click Go button

The file will appear as a typical download in your browser.  It will ask you if you want to save the file or Open with "browse"   It's better to save it -- opening to view wouldn't be all that fun.

Remember that a backup doesn't have much value unless it's tested on some recurring basis.  This is double, maybe triple, important if you're backing up via a compressed file.

VIEW SCREENSHOTS IF WORDS DIDN'T DO IT

Now what?

You have a Joomla site that suddenly stops working.    It happens.    This is when that "free" open source concept can become expensive.

This is NOT just a Joomla issue.    Any open source product can have DB 126 errors.   Any CMS can produce a 500 Internal server error that, depending on your site, can generate plenty of anxiety.  As of the date of this post, the link provided in the previous sentence had 234,000 results.  This is not an uncommon error.   What does 500 mean?   Even the server doesn't know:

A generic error message, given when no more specific message is suitable .. . [more]

Here's what happens.    You will start to search using the error message provided and quickly realize this message/these messages are not systemic to Joomla.    Then you will go from forum to forum seeing posts from others asking the same question.  Many of the threads will end with no resolution.  Lots of dead-ends.   You may even visit the myPHP site, leaving even more confused and anxiety filled knowing how many different ways an application can abend.

In this particular case, the 126 error, most indicators will point to a filled tmp drive.  Here's why it's a tricky message.    It will never say "out of disk space" instead it will tell you your query was not good and the perhaps you should repair some tables.    We found one forum that said you need to repair, then optimize, then repair again to fix this.    That, by the way, doesn't work.

The 126 error, in our case, was happening when using the article chooser from the backend.  You would go to add a menu item, try to select the article and end up with a 500 error, a 126 message and a huge query string preceded by

Incorrect key file for table '/tmp/#sql_aa5_0.MYI'; try to repair it

Don't try to repair anything.   (besides, what table(s) would you repair based on this message?)

Instead, make sure your tmp directory is plenty large IF your Joomla jos_content table is also large.  Here's our new rule of thumb.    Your tmp space needs to have at least 2x the size of your content.   So if your jos_content is 500MB, you need at least 1GB available at the time you click that article chooser.     (and if two admins are clicking at the same time, you'll need 2GB)

This part is a Joomla 1.5 flaw.   The query behind the article chooser is horrible if you have a large quantity of articles. For most Joomla sites, this will never be an issue, but if you plan to use Joomla jos_content as a repository for long term storage, just make sure your tmp directory always has plenty of space.

In a Joomla site, or any for that matter, there should be standards regarding how things look.  Standards mean someone has taken the time to write something like what you're reading.   Reason for this: People come and go, but how the website looks should never reflect that.   Also, good looking anything doesn't just happen. It takes planning and enforcement of standards.

Anatomy of a Joomla Story

First, all stories (same thing as what others call a "post") have at least four elements.

1. A descriptive title
2. Some intro copy
3. A thumbnail image and
4. The rest of the story

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