School Community Portal

[vino24]

dear Joomla Admin and members,

my name is vino and i'm a futsal instructor for junior class, most of the is only 5-7 year old students.
i've recently using joomla and quite impressed by the easy website i can have from its origin templates.

right now i want to bulid a portal wesite taht can bear :
1. photo gallery
2. news
3. member profiles
4. callendar of activities

how i can do this with joomla? while i have minor understanding in programing.

thx alot

[steveoc]

This shouldn't be a problem!

Go over to the extensions area and poke around. There are several extensions that can meet your needs.

You may want to install separate photo gallery software. Two popular options are Gallery2 and Coppermine. You can use the Wrapper to make them appear as part of the your joomla site. I like to adjust the CSS to make it appear even more like it is part of the Joomla Front End by matching the color scheme. You can keep a separate log in for the gallery or get a bridge to integrate it.

There are several calendars. I have worked with Events Calendar and extCalendar. Both are quite good. I like extcalendar a little more for my needs.

Consider Community Builder for profiles and other functionality. I believe it may also have some "bridging" capability ( I haven't explored that yet).

Joomla itself can handle news.

here's what my integration looks like:

http://wellscsd.com

Steve

[steveoc]

This shouldn't be a problem!

Go over to the extensions area and poke around. There are several extensions that can meet your needs.

You may want to install separate photo gallery software. Three popular options are Zoom, Gallery2 and Coppermine. You can use the Wrapper to make them appear as part of the your joomla site. I like to adjust the CSS to make it appear even more like it is part of the Joomla Front End by matching the color scheme. You can keep a separate log in for the gallery or get a bridge to integrate it. There are other solutions--again, look at the extensions area.

There are several calendars. I have worked with Events Calendar and extCalendar. Both are quite good. I like extcalendar a little more for my needs.

Consider Community Builder for profiles and other functionality. I believe it may also have some "bridging" capability ( I haven't explored that yet).

Joomla itself can handle news.

Whatever you do, I'd keep it fairly simple and not go overboard with extesnions in light of the latest security problems--most of which occur through extensions. Make sure they are up to date and safe--visit the security area!

Here's what my integration looks like:

http://wellscsd.com

Steve

[Makama]

Steve,
Your site looks very good. We are working on the reports system for a school to let teacher making reports on students performance using Joomla. Max

[vino24]

dear steve ...

thx a lot for replying and sorry for late reply ...
your web site is quit inpiring though, it's simple but fullfil the needs.

btw,
is there any problem you've experienced before by using the extentions

thx

[steveoc]

dear steve ...

thx a lot for replying and sorry for late reply ...
your web site is quit inpiring though, it's simple but fullfil the needs.

btw,
is there any problem you've experienced before by using the extentions

thx

Thanks for the kind words. The work is just beginning though! The real task is to mobilize everyone in the school to contribute. Now we need to put in more links and develop the FAQs. We also need to develop a download section so that people can download forms and documents as pdf files such as permits, policies, applications, schedules, etc.

The problem is the security. If the posts in the Security Forum are accurate, most of the cracks and hacks have come through the extensions. Furthermore, once you install the extensions, it's another thing that you need to keep watching out for. You need to make sure that all of your extensions are up to date on a continuous basis. Otherwise, even if Joomal is up to date and secure, your site may be vulnerable.

I like to keep my extensions to a reasonable number so that keeping up on the latest news regarding the extension. I don't know how people with 20 odd extensions can keep up with it. You can't just install them and walk away.

[vino24]

right then,

it's always been vulnerable issues that i do not undestand how it might happen.
consider it's for kindegarten and elementary school activities, i'm planning to encourage their parents to be more active using this media for brainstorming including evaluating the progress of their sons. for short i think it's an effective promotion.

i think i would rather to startup with :

1. home
2. news ( any updated story about school )
3. events / schedule ( school and futsal )
4. tips n tricks ( how to be david beckham for example ) ... hehehe ;P
5. forum
6. pictures gallery ( can wallpapper & photo )

i dont think chatting n newspapper will be needed. it's better if i put some cartoon or tv icons such as barney isn't it?

[cherchri]

Hi vino24!

i'm planning to encourage their parents to be more active using this media for brainstorming including evaluating the progress of their sons.

Did that work? How is it going on?
I try to find examles where encouraging people to contribute in a school website enviroment really worked. I want to do something similar, but I'm not shure where and how to start.
Setting up a Joomla site is not a problem, but getting good content and contribution from teachers, parents, etc. is an other story. Tell me your secrets of success!  Use PM if you want. 

Greetings
cherchri