What CMS’s does Fantastico handle?

Probably the easiest way to install a CMS is by using Fantastico (a tool included in the “CPanel” software that is included with most common LAMP-stack hosting systems). LAMP by the way is Linux, Apache, MySql, and PHP (or Python/Perl). Unless looking for a Windows or Java solution, most people who purchase a typical hosting account or reseller account will get CPanel with Fantastico installed.

Let’s take a look in this article at what Content Management Systems were included with Fantastico. In theory, Fantastico would include all the “most popular” CMS’s. This doesn’t mean a particular CMS won’t fit your needs better, but apparently, these are the ones that “the masses” are demanding or using. For example, I preferred PHP-Fusion for years, even though now I am converting most of them to WordPress.

Blogs
b2evolution
Nucleus
WordPress

Classifieds
Noahs Classifieds

Content Management
Drupal
Geeklog
Joomla 1.5
Mambo
PHP-Nuke
phpWCMS
phpWebSite
Siteframe
TYPO3
Xoops
Zikula

Customer Relationship
Crafty Syntax Live Help
Help Center Live
osTicket
PerlDesk
PHP Support Tickets
Support Logic Helpdesk
Support Services Manager

Discussion Boards
phpBB
SMF

E-Commerce
CubeCart
OS Commerce
Zen Cart

F.A.Q.
FAQMasterFlex

Hosting Billing
AccountLab Plus
phpCOIN

Image Galleries
4Images Gallery
Coppermine Photo Gallery
Gallery

Mailing Lists
PHPlist

Polls and Surveys
Advanced Poll
LimeSurvey
phpESP

Project Management
dotProject
PHProjekt

Site Builders
Soholaunch Pro Edition
Templates Express

Wiki
TikiWiki CMS/Groupware
PhpWiki

Other Scripts
Dew-NewPHPLinks
Moodle
Open-Realty
OpenX
PHPauction
phpFormGenerator
WebCalendar

WordPress – Linking Navigation Menu (Header) to Blogs

For a few years now, WordPress has been more than a blogging tool. By creating “Pages” instead of “Posts”, you can create web pages for your site. On many of my WordPress sites, I have pages as the main content, with links on the navigation menu, but I also have a link to the blogs. How is this done?

On the left menu of the WordPress dashboard, click on “Settings” than “Reading”.  These settings determine how your site will appear to “readers”, i.e. those browsing or viewing your site.

WordPress - Settings - Reading

The original default for most bloggers, is that the blog will appear as the home page, in other words for the setting above “Front page displays” will be set to “Your Latest Posts”.

To set your home page to a “Page” instead of a blog, create the page first, then click the round radio button beside “a static page”, and then select the page you want to display as your home page.  Most likely, you will just create a page called “Home”, and make that your home page.

But now, here is the slight trick.  You can set a “page” to show your “blogs” (or “posts”).  Just create an empty page called something like “Blog” or “Posts” or “My-Blogs”. Then pick it from the list above where it says “Post Page”.  Then in your header/navigation/menu, add that page as a link.  Then when someone clicks on that link, they will be directed to your most recent blogs.

See an example of this at my site http://NealWalters.com or http://BizTalk-Training.com (learn BizTalk).

You will note above the “Socrates” menu on the left.  This is a great new WordPress theme I just discovered, click here (Socrates) for a 10 minute video on how to use this great them them.

 

Blackboard on Common Mobile Phone

Android:

IPhone:

Blackberry:

Blackboard 9.1

If you are using an old release of Blackboard, you might want to see what the 9.1 screens look like (first 1/3 of the video below). This video is actually specific to “College of DuPage”; don’t you wish your support staff was this creative

?

Embedding YouTube to Moodle

How to get the “embed” code from YouTube, and place the video in your Moodle lesson:

Creating a Quiz in Moodle in Four Easy Steps

(mm:ss) refers to the time markers in the video below:
1. Question Bank (0:00 – 3:55)
2. Add Quiz Activity (3:55-6:15)
3. Add Questions to Quiz (6:15-6:56)
4. Preview the Quiz (6:56-8:07)

New Mexico and the LMS system “Blackboard”

According to “IDEAL-NM”, New Mexico is the first state in the nation to create a statewide eLearning system that from its inception encompasses all aspects of learning from traditional public and higher education environments to teacher professional development, continuing education and workforce education. IDEAL-NM is a joint program of the New Mexico Public Education and Higher Education Departments.

The IDEAL-NM initiative was announced by Governor Bill Richardson on October 27, 2006, and followed by legislation sponsored by Representative Rick Miera and Senator Cynthia Nava in the 2007 session.

According to a 2005 Blackboard press release, an estimated 16,500 NMSU students and 4,200 faculty/staff will convert immediately to the Blackboard Transaction System for a wide variety of campus services including vending, facilities access and laundry.

Use the Aiken Quiz Format to Save Time on Moodle Quizes

The Aiken format allows you to key in the questions/answers in a simple text editor (such as Notepad, or your favorite substitute editor), then import them into Moodle.

This can save you lot’s of slow web-clicks!

1) Build Aiken file in Notepad (0:00-2:35)
2) Import Aiken file (2:42-end) [Questions/Import]
a) Upload this file (3:10)
b) Add a Quiz Activity (3:30)
c) Add imported questions to quiz (3:44)
d) Preview quiz (4:00)

Video: What is Moodle?

What is Moodle – a nice presentation in under three minutes!

My Favorite New Features in Joomla 1.6

Here’s what excites me about Joomla 1.6:

1) Nested categories and bye-bye to sections – When I first learned Joomla, I remember having trouble remembering the hierarchy if sections were made up of categories, or categories were made up of sections. Now we just have categories, which can be nested to multiple depths (like a tree structure).

2) ACLs – Access Control Lists -More granular access controls for who can view and edit various types of content; more configurable; now has user groups; unlimited access levels; permissions can be inherited.

3) New Update Manager – allows developers to build in automatic update functions allowing their users to update to new versions with just a few clicks; this will thus allow site-owners to stay more up-to-date when their extensions are updated. Plugins now have the same common structure as components and modules.

4) Joomla Admins – now remembers where you were and saves your place for you.

5) “Save and New” and “Save and copy” – new buttons, save a few clicks

The video below is 1 hr 21 minutes, but will acquaint you in much more detail with the new features: