I'm working on a new extension to display the date of the articles like a calendar. The extension is based on Calendar Icon developed by Tomasz Dobrzynsk.

Check it here working on rhuk_milkyway:

I use WampServer for development and testing on my computer. Its quite amazing. You can switch between different versions of Apache, MySQL and PHP easily with just clicks but thats not the story I was waiting for a call on Skype and decided to run Wamp to check a few things. I got an error the Apache wont start. Quick search revealed that Apache use port 80 and Skype versions after 3.0.0 use the same port as alternative for incoming connections.

So, simply disable this option from "Options -> Advanced -> Connection" and uncheck "Use port 80 as alternatives for incoming connections" Don't worry, You still can recieve and make calls with Skype.

Have a nice day!

I wanna talk about a tiny plugin for Joomla 1.5 called Website Name. This tiny addon is very useful for Joomla websites that doesn't use any SEO/SEF-URLs extensions like sh404SEF and ARTIO. It simply gives you the ability to add your website name in the page title.

According to Google SEO Starter Guide the title of your webpages should contain the name of your website/business and should include other bits of several information like the focus areas. When the user perform a search query, the title tag will appear the first line of the results. Words in the title are ebolded if they appear in the user's search query and this can help users recognize if the page is likely to be relevant to their search!

I believe this should be the default behaviour in Joomla, I mean it was in 1.0.x I don't know why it's dropped in 1.5! Download that extension and make your page title more accurate. After installing the plugin enable it and through the Global Configuration edit the website title.

Checkout Google SEO Starter Guide for some good practices about SEO. Its really simple and useful.

Have a nice day!

New Joomla! update is available ver 1.5.9 Its a security release fixing one low-level and one high-level security issues.

• Download the full 1.5.9 package.
• Update from previous Joomla! version.

To upgrade simply download the apropriate release, extract it on your computer and upload it to replace the old files. Don't forget to backup your website first!

It's been more than 4 months since I posted anything on my blog. The reason if you don't know is because I am now serving in the Egyptian army. We have no internet access,  no cell phones and no fun at all.

Early days were painful. Time after time you get used to it and find its ok! I can do that! We had to wake up early and train for 2 hours. It was good for my body after I had to spend more that 6 hours daily infront of my computer! I was isolated for 45 days away from the world, this never happened before. The longest time I spent away from computers was 4 days 2 years ago when I travelled with my friends on a quick vacation to Hurghada before starting my residency at the hospital.