Joomla! Discussion Forums

I just recently installed Mambo and am all sorts of impressed.  I've got it working on the bundled xampp app.  I've installed the dreamweaver extension template builder and gone through the tutorial.  Created the test template then saw it work on the sample site.  Before I can think about building my own template, I feel I need to get a better grip on the mambo elements in the builder such as "left modules" "user1" etc.  Where in Mambo do I define those?  Is it a better idea to define your site in Mambo (define categories, sections) then build a template for it or vise versa?  I guess what I'm asking for is another tutorial building a sample site within Mambo.  I'm just not seeing how Mambo & the template work together - which table is interacting which each template element. Now I"ve even confused myself.

Have a look at "Anna's Mambo tips" ---- great tutorial - explains everything. If you can't find it, PM me and I'll dig up the link....

Think categories - sections - content...

User1 etc are just how the template is laid out.....

hi mambotard,
welcome to the mambo community!!

like mamboles said, think of "user1, user2, top, bottom, etc" as building blocks for the site. like layout elements, to which you can assign different modules.

a basic example of this wld be having a template with top, left, right & bottom. top, is where u wld have your header content, left wld be your menu; who's online; etc, right is where your main content would be loaded & bottom is where you would have your footer (if that makes any sense)..

if you would like i can send you a pic of an example of a site & how it is divided up into different areas. I also have a really handy mambo/css guide which is an essential resource for mambo template design.. we also have some mambo tutorials on our site which you are welcome to use - again, i can send u the link if u like..

good luck
chris

Thanks for the welcome guys.  I previously slimmed through Anna's tutorial - I need to go through it more closely.  Will do.

Mambostoked - I would appreciate any links you have.  Can't wait to have a solid grasp on this!  Thanks again.

An excellent source for information about almost all aspects of Mambo:

Mambo Documentation Resources

Have a look at the attached. When you buy templates, you should have access to one of these (attached jpg). It'll help you figure out what goes where.. We always lay out a clear set of site objectives first. Then we conceptualize on things such as "look" and "feel". Somewhere in this you'll get a layout in mind.... Then you start determining content. The great thing about *ambo is that you can accomplish the same thing in different ways... and you can apply things on the fly.

Yup --- I love it!