Inurl component is blissful. Extending Joomla with K2 Component

Comparing K2 to others Joomla components, then in terms of complexity it is comparable, perhaps, only with VirtueMart (a component for creating online stores). But the time spent learning K2 will more than pay off with the very new possibilities that will open after its installation.

Opportunities related to content organization

Working on the component, the K2 developers planned to create a product that would allow creating full-fledged portals on CMS Joomla that could compete with analogues created on such engines as Drupal or WordPress. Even the slogan posted on the official website of the component speaks of this. However, the resulting product, in the opinion of many, greatly surpassed all other developments previously created. Thanks to K2, site creators have the opportunity to organize full-fledged stores, catalogs, portals of various topics (including news), blogs and much more on the basis of Joomla. Against this background, it becomes not entirely clear: why this component is more used by Western web designers, and domestic site builders bypass it?

Essentially, K2 is a standalone content builder. In fact, it completely replaces the com_content already integrated into the engine, providing the user with the opportunity to work with the information part of the site and generate content through his own administrative panel.

It is worth noting that in the next version of CMS Joomla - the third, some functionality K2. But not all loyal fans of this CMS rushed to transfer sites to the third version. Moreover, Joomla version 1.5 is still very popular among developers. In the case of using similar versions of CMS, the K2 component is indispensable.

But it's time to move from general phrases to specifics. What opportunities does the K2 component provide for site builders? There are quite a few of them:

• Category structure... We should start with the main difference: the ability to organize a complex structure of categories with an unlimited amount of attachment. This is by far the main advantage of the K2. In the usual versions of Joomla, there is only a two-tier system: a section and a category.
• Commenting on materials... K2 allows you to organize a nice commenting system with captcha developed by Google. You can do without captcha, although very few people in our time would dare to do it. There is no such built-in feature in Joomla, but in principle this issue can be solved by installing the JComments component. By the way, on this moment he is considered the best option to organize commenting.
• Cloud tags... Thanks to K2, developers have the ability to add tags to articles, similar to WordPress. In particular, the implementation of the tag cloud is presented on the demo pages of the component developers. A similar opportunity is carried out due to a special module. In addition to the tag cloud, it can also display on Internet pages such useful additions for visitors as an archive of materials, a search box, an archive of materials, a list of categories (usually in the form of a menu), bread crumbs, various calendars in a blog format, etc.
• Adding images... After installing the component, developers have the opportunity to create articles, both in Joomla itself, and directly in the K2 administration panel, inserting various pictures into them. In principle, there is nothing special about this function, with the exception of one caveat: K2 can unify images under standard size... This is an unconditional advantage for resource owners whose users lead, for example, author blogs.
• Setting up galleries inside articles... In the administrative panel of K2, or rather in the template for writing articles, there is already a place where you can insert the gallery. The gallery totals are set in just a few clicks. To do this, just specify the path to the archive with pictures or photos and select desired option showing them. Of course, Joomla also has the ability to insert galleries, but this process is quite laborious and requires the installation of additional extensions, for example: the special Phoca Gallery Plugin plugin.
• Insert video files... The K2 article template also allows you to insert videos into the text. Moreover, this is done even easier than inserting a photo gallery. For example, in order to install a video from YouTube, you just need to specify the code of the video file.
• Download links... Also, when working in the K2 panel, it is not difficult to attach files intended for download. This can be done both when creating a material and while editing it, and in just one click.
• Creating directories... In the administrative panel of the component, you can configure the ability to fill in additional fields when creating an article. Moreover, certain fields can be tied to a specific category. This function will come in handy in the case when a directory is created on the basis of K2. As a result, the output is something like a product card, somewhat similar to the card obtained as a result of working with VirtueMart - a component for creating an online store.
• Integration with social networks... Another advantage of K2 is that there is a separate place in the article template for installing popular buttons. social networks(most often this function is called "Social Sharing"). In Joomla, these buttons have to be installed using various kinds of scripts and extensions. And this is not always convenient. When working with K2, however, there is also one "but": the options for social networks provided in the component are designed for Western users. However, the code is easy to modify, replacing popular networks "with them", with those that attract Russian users. You can take a list of such networks, for example, from the rather popular One Button service.
• Adding articles by registered users... With the help of K2, you can organize on the site the possibility of posting materials by registered users, i.e., in fact, create a portal with personal blogs of users. At the same time, they will be able not only to add their own materials, but also take advantage of all the capabilities of the component, in particular: insert photo and video files, images, fill in additional fields, etc. In addition, users will be able to fill out and edit their profiles, as well as moderate comments on their articles, removing "inappropriate" ones.

These are all the functions that can be implemented thanks to the K2. Not bad for one component. Basically, by installing and configuring K2, you can make your site much more interesting than using standard methods Joomla. Or, to achieve such results, you will have to install a lot of additional extensions, some of which are unlikely to be downloaded for free.

Installing K2

Installing the K2 component is not much different from installing any other extension in Joomla. But first, of course, you need to download it. The best way to do this is from the official website of its creators, where the link "Download K2" is located on the title page. IN currently(early 2015) version 2.6.9 is available for download at http://getk2.org/.

Then everything is similar to installing all other extensions, i.e. go to the admin panel of the engine, in the upper horizontal menu click on the "Extensions" tab and select "Install / Remove" in the expanded submenu, after which the "Install" page will appear.

Then in the field "Upload package file" using the "Browse" button enter the path to the archive with the downloaded component and click "Upload file & Install". Installation takes very little time. Upon completion, Joomla will report that the installation was successful.

Installation problems, as a rule, do not arise. But if this did happen, then a lot of materials on the forums will come to the rescue, on how to solve them.

Russification

Since the component was created outside of our country, its main language is English. As a result, even a person who knows this language at an everyday level is not always able to understand its settings (of which, I must say, there are quite a lot). Therefore, to fully work with K2, it must be Russified.

It is also better to download the Russification from the developers' site: http://getk2.org/extend/translations by selecting the link "Russian". The process of Russification itself is similar to the installation of the component itself. You also need to click "Extensions" and "Install / Remove", and then download the archive with the localization through the "Upload package file" field. As soon as Joomla reports on the completion of the installation, you can be sure that K2 is fully understood by Russian-speaking users.

The installed K2 component (both English and Russian versions) immediately appears in the engine's administrative panel in the form of many different tools. Access to the admin panel of the K2 itself is also available from top menu CMS.

It is quite possible to understand the work of K2 with a certain diligence on your own. Although there is a lot to learn, for example: import articles created by standard means Joomla; organize a hierarchy of categories; work with galleries, photo and video materials, attachments and additional fields; work with administrative panel component and customize appearance articles and categories, etc.

If there is no time for this, then it is enough to open the relevant materials on this site or specialized topics on various forums.

K2 is a great component for managing content on a website. It is quite flexible in configuration and suits from simple to very complex solutions. However, I noticed that the K2 component creates a heavy load both on the server and on the site itself, slowing down its work. Now we will talk about how to reduce the load, and in general, optimize the component to work on a regular hosting with a large number of visitors ...

So, to begin with, if we want to maximize the performance of a site using the K2 component and at the same time reduce the load, we will have to abandon some of the component's functions. Unfortunately, this will have to be sacrificed for the sake of a higher goal :)

Firstly, we refuse to use the K2 Tools module, which clearly requires improvement in all its directions. Especially try to avoid using it as a calendar and menu. Using these functions will increase database queries up to ~ 40 , which is not at all acceptable ...

Secondly, you need to abandon the use of the K2 category display menu item with the add-on for "pulling" subcategories of the displayed category (materials from child categories) .. Of course, it would be very convenient to use, especially on sites with a complex structure, and it will lower the usability of the site, but significantly will reduce the load in the form 50-70 database queries. Therefore, in the paragraph materials from the child categories, we select no. And in the menu we add menu sub-items in the form of subcategories (for nice links).

Thirdly, in the category settings we will have to deselect the " Inherit options parameters from category". Again, this seems to be very convenient function, whose task is to make life easier for users, creates great amount queries to the database, instead of the desired single query. Thus, if we have 20 categories on the page that have the inheritance option enabled, we additionally have 20 Now, enabling this option causes the parent category parameters to be requested every time the content is displayed from the child or when the list of categories is displayed.

Fourthly, we use only the necessary functions. In general, I advise you to abandon the use of standard K2 comments, although I also do not recommend using JComments. Personally, I prefer to use social comments, which are quite common now. If you still use the standard K2 comments, then disable the output of the comment button. Also, in the list of categories or in the category itself, I advise you to disable features such as social bookmarks, tag output, author output, print and email buttons. In general, the fewer functions will be launched, the fewer requests will be, the less the load will be.
Here I want to write about loading images of materials of the K2 component. The component itself loads the original image and saves it in 5 variations - very large, large, medium, small, very small. We often need a maximum of three options for images. I only use large, medium and small images. In order to prohibit the creation of unnecessary images, you need to comment out the line
$ handle -> Process ($ savepath); the option of saving the image in a file that we do not need /administrator/components/com_k2/models/item.php To prohibit image enlargement in the material, you need to comment out the line in the components \ com_k2 \ templates \ default \ item.php file

K2 is a powerful content builder for Joomla, designed to completely replace the standard com_content component and has powerful functionality that is not difficult to learn thanks to its excellent interface.

Description of component K2

Content constructor K2 was created by the development team JoomlaWorks as complete replacement standard content component Joomla and, at the moment, the component has everything to painlessly abandon this standard functionality.

The installation of the extension is carried out in a standard way, like any other extension for Joomla!- across Extension manager... The component supports full import of materials from Joomla and you'll instantly have tons of new possibilities for your existing content.

• forms for elements,
• Images,
• video,
• podcasts,
• image galleries,
• attachment galleries,
• much more.

Component K2 is the ideal solution for managing content, regardless of the size of the site: you can use it for a small blog, as well as for a complex corporate site or even news portal(content authors, rubrics, magazines, author columns, etc.). With this extension, you can easily create product catalogs, portfolios, knowledge bases, file manager for downloading attachments, a list of catalogs, a list of events and much more - all this is in the standard set of the component.

K2 is an extensible component: you can easily create content types specific to your site.

How the K2 works

In the work of the component, 4 main principles are clearly distinguished:

• multifunctionality,
• ease of use,
• flexible templating system,
• optimized performance.

Based on the above, it is not surprising that K2- one of the largest and most popular in the world CCK for sites on CMS Joomla.

Propagation of the K2 component

The extension is distributed free of charge under a standard license GNU / GPL... Download K2 can be from the developer's site.

Russification K2

Our team drew attention to the difficulties arising with the installation of the Russian language for this component. Let's talk a little about the specifics of these difficulties and how to solve them.

So the official language packs can be found on this page. And already on this stage there is a difficulty in choosing, since as many as 4 Russifiers for K2 are offered for downloading:

• Russian
• Russian Petrine orthography
• Russian (Russia)
• Russian (Ukraine)

Your choice must fall on Russian (Russia).

Today, a huge number of website developers use the K2 component. A huge number of developers also want to learn how to use this component. This manual will describe all the details of configuring the K2 component.

What is K2? K2 is a content manager with which you can display your content beautifully, and most importantly, fully on your joomla site. Standard Joomla features do not allow to place galleries in articles, upload files, post videos. In K2, this is all implemented, you just have to fill in the fields you need. So, let's begin.

Installation

In this tutorial we will install the K2 component on Joomla and then russify.

Customization

In this tutorial, we will see what settings the K2 component has, as well as configure its SEF URL.

Creating an article

In this lesson, we will learn how to create categories, subcategories, see their settings, create an article and publish it on the site.

Creation of add. fields

In this lesson we will see what an add-on is. fields. We'll create a couple of fields and attach them to the category.

Setting up multimedia

In this tutorial we will install additional plugins for K2 - a video player and a photo gallery. Then let's see their settings and try to upload videos and photos.

The free K2 component will help make your recordings more interesting and informative. I'll tell you in detail for novice bloggers how to install and russify K2 on Joomla.

Installation K2

The K2 component is installed from the official site http://getk2.org/. This is how it looks home page site. Download the application to your computer by clicking on the "Download K2" button. You can get acquainted with the capabilities of K2 on the demo site of the JoomlaWorks developers. Each material can include a photo gallery, customize the display of additional fields. Additional fields are the output of meaningful information next to the image. This is especially useful for online stores, real estate agencies or directory sites. To upload K2 to your website, go to "Extensions" - "Extension manager" "Installation" - "Upload package file". Select the file on your computer and install it on the site.

Russification K2

In order for all K2 settings to be in Russian, let's return to the official website and download the Russification of the component. In the “K2 translations” section, select “Russian - Russia”, download the file and upload it to the site. You can make sure that the K2 menu is in Russian by opening "Components" - "K2".

In the "Info" tab there is a list of all available plugins and K2 modules. You can also find out the version you want web servers, PHP, MySQL, folder permissions, and more useful information... Pay attention to the download limit. Sometimes users upload archives or photos of a larger size and cannot understand why the error is displayed. Large files must be uploaded directly to the hosting.

Additional plugins K2

K2 does not include gallery and video plugins. They need to be downloaded separately on the same site. Or open the "Extension Manager" - "Install from JED", type AllVideos into the search and download the plugin. The Simple Image Gallery PRO plugin is paid. On one of the sites I bought a template with a preinstalled K2 component and a paid gallery plugin. I will install on another site free gallery from the same developer Simple Image Gallery. We install the gallery in the same way from the Internet. Let's not forget to enable plugins in the Plugin Manager. I'll check how K2 works and if the paid plugin can be dispensed with. I will definitely write about the results.

Removing pre-installed pictures

First of all, I got rid of the pre-installed pictures in K2. They are not unique and will not be needed. Open “Media Manager”, and go through the folders. Select and delete unnecessary pictures. I deleted everything. We freed up some hosting space. How not to overpay and get all the features of modern hosting for minimal money I will write in the next article.