New Beginner's Guide to Joomla! Ebook

[artonezero]

Hi

I have just published a brand new beginners guide ebook for Joomla!, called Learn Joomla! A Beginner's Guide to building websites with the Joomla! Content Management System.  It is very much a tutorial style approach with step by step instructions as I thought there was a need for this type of material after speaking to quite a few Joomla! newbies.

Could someone advise me on how to apply to get the book included in the Joomla! bookshelf?

Also, I would be very interested to hear from 2-3 technical experts who would be prepared to read the book for me to double check on technical accuracy - I have done my best but you never know!

I am charging for the ebook but I will be donating 10% of the sale price for each copy sold to Joomla! to support the development team.

Details of the book in the sig

TIA

Mike

[Michelle Bisson]

artonezero,

At present the Bookshelf is reserved for hard cover books.  Give me a few days, to get back to you.

Michelle

[artonezero]

Hi Michelle
Although only published electronically at present, the book is a professionally written volume, which took around 6 months to write and it covers a number of topics in more depth and precision than I have seen in other documentation. It is typeset and edited.  It has an ISBN number and will be available from Amazon shortly. 
I would like to send you a review copy to take a proper look if you could let me have an email address?  I feel that it would be a valuable addition to the bookshelf.
Kind regards
Miike Lloyd

[artonezero]

Hi Michelle
Just wondered if you had had an opportunity to take a look at my Ebook yet and consider if it could be included in the bookshelf?
Many thanks
Mike

[AmyStephen]

Also, I would be very interested to hear from 2-3 technical experts who would be prepared to read the book for me to double check on technical accuracy - I have done my best but you never know!

I am charging for the ebook but I will be donating 10% of the sale price for each copy sold to Joomla! to support the development team.

Mike -

If you are still looking for reviewers, I would be more than happy to read and provide feedback. The sample chapters looked very good to me - which is why I blogged your resource after the announcement. (Then, I republished it with your name spelled correctly!  :P)

Have you considered offering the book in printed form via LuLu? . It will not require any upfront investment for you to do so -- they handle all of the heavy lifting, as well, so it's a pretty easy way to get your printed book taken care of. They can even help market your PDF version, as well. Then, you can focus on book 2. (No, I don't work for LuLu!)

I want to say thanks for your willingness to share 10% of your receipts with the project. That generosity is MUCH appreciated!

Amy

Michelle - do you mean "hard copy" or "book form?" I do not believe Hagen's books are hard copy but are paperback. I assume you just mean it has to be a real book rather than only offered as a PDF.

[artonezero]

If you are still looking for reviewers, I would be more than happy to read and provide feedback. The sample chapters looked very good to me - which is why I blogged your resource after the announcement. (Then, I republished it with your name spelled correctly!  :P)

Have you considered offering the book in printed form via LuLu? . It will not require any upfront investment for you to do so -- they handle all of the heavy lifting, as well, so it's a pretty easy way to get your printed book taken care of. They can even help market your PDF version, as well. Then, you can focus on book 2. (No, I don't work for LuLu!)
.

Hi Amy,
It would be great if you could review the Ebook for me!  Please PM me an email address to which I can send the PDF (approx 3.5MB)

Thanks for the tip about Lulu, I have been considering Print on Demand (the book is typeset in LaTeX so it would not be difficult to do) but I had been put off by the upfront costs until I had sold more of the Ebooks.  I'll take a detailed look at their offering and post a follow up here when I have done so.

Best
Mike

[AmyStephen]

PM sent; Thanks Mike! Look forward to the read!

[Michelle Bisson]

Hello Mike,

Right now we are restucturing the Recommended Reading section.  Presently, we are hosting only Creative Commons licence documentation.  I am hoping that we will change that policy soon, but nothing is confirmed yet.

Would you be interested in help Write new content for the Help Screens 1.5?  The first step is to write/edit 2 Help Screens.  After that you can decide if you wish to write/edit more.

Thanks!

[artonezero]

Right now we are restucturing the Recommended Reading section.  Presently, we are hosting only Creative Commons licence documentation.  I am hoping that we will change that policy soon, but nothing is confirmed yet.

Would you be interested in help Write new content for the Help Screens 1.5?  The first step is to write/edit 2 Help Screens.  After that you can decide if you wish to write/edit more.

Hi Michelle
OK.  I am now working on publishing a hard copy printed edition of the book.  I presume that you would have no problem putting this on the bookshelf once the details are confirmed?

Re editing the pages - yes please let me have a couple to work on and I will give them my best shot.

Best
Mike

[Michelle Bisson]

OK.  I am now working on publishing a hard copy printed edition of the book.  I presume that you would have no problem putting this on the bookshelf once the details are confirmed?

I do not see that as a problem at this point.

[Michelle Bisson]

Mike,

I have sent you a pm.  Look forward to hearing from you.

[infograf768]

Sorry here but the original post was against forum rules (self-promotion).

The Global Moderation team has therefore decided to edit out the url posted.

[artonezero]

Sorry here but the original post was against forum rules (self-promotion).

The Global Moderation team has therefore decided to edit out the url posted.

OK, I see.  Perhaps you might like to know the background?
This post was originally posted in a different board when I requested to be placed in the Joomla! Bookshelf, I put the link in so that the powers that be could check out the book for that purpose.  If you read the Bookshelf page http://help.joomla.org/content/section/44/254/ it states: "We’re always looking for new Joomla! resources so please keep us informed by submitting a new topic in the User Documentation forum under Suggestions, Modifications and Corrections."  That's what I did. 
Joomla! decided not to add my book to the bookshelf, even though many people who have read it have told me it is the best Joomla book they have read, for reasons which were never properly explained to me.
At this point, Humvee moved the posting to this board.
I did not post the book URL here for promotional reasons as stated above.  I placed a news release according to the rules in the news section when it was released as the legitimate promotional method, approved by Joomla.
I believe in being being fair and transparent in communications and my reputation and integrity is important to me.  I have worked with Open Source software for over 10 years.  I am offended by the implication that I placed this posting deliberately against forum rules to self promote - I did not.

Given how sensitive Joomla is about commercial issues, I would be grateful for an open and transparent statement on the forum as to why some commercially published books are included on the joomla bookshelf (even including ones which are not yet published) and not others?  Surely it should be a level playing field?

Thank you.

[infograf768]

@ Artonezero,
I do understand your concern.
Please do not take this as an offense, just basic application of rules.

The rules of the forum are quite different from whatever shows on joomla.org and we had a report on your post we could not ignore, to be consistent with other similar posts.

Just changing the url to redirect to your sig is not a big deal... After all, yours IS a commercial site.
You could have posted a direct link to the pdf and therefore avoid this —late, I do agree— mod intervention.

Your integrity is not questioned here.
regards

[lukeparker]

Do you guys at Joomla even care how this looks to us newbies who are looking for a resource to learn Joomla? 

I'm just a newbie to Joomla! trying to learn the system, much like many of you once were. I've used other CMSs, but Joomla is new and still scary to me and all forms of information on how to learn it are highly valuable to me right now. Yes, I'd be willing to pay for something if it explained what I'm looking for thouroughly.

From this perspective, the Joomla Instruction manual is just BARELY enough to get Joomla Installed, and completely worthless in answering my 300 other questions I have about configuring the system. After arriving at the Joomla site, I realize that the Search function is completely worthless as well, even searching for a simple, streight-forward trem like "configure templates" returns results that i'm not even about to be looking for.

Posting my questions in the many newbie forums elicits absolutely no answers, and scrolling thorugh the other questions proves that no one else is getting answered either. It's like you have a club that doesn't want to allow any new members!

So I start Jumping from topic to topic looking for answers. It appearent that Admins DO NOT want to allow answers to get out, because the Beauracracy has become so thick here at Joomla.

Case in point, this thread. I'd be very interested in seeing artonezero's eBook on the Bookshelf. At least I know where that is, so newbies can prosper from this information. 

But your beauracracy strikes and he's not allowed to; someone somewhere said that paper books hold a higher value than eBooks, so Screw the newbies, make them go to Borders and buy a huge volume tomorrow without getting any answers tonight.

THEN IT GETS WORSE. You come along and remove his link to the eBook so I can't even find it here! Why? Because too many people can spam the forum if you allow him to advertise... But you've already read it ans even a Joomla! Hero has asked if she could review it... Can't an Exception be made here???

This is the kind of Beauracracy that Governments grow fat and die from. 

[leahcim_dach]

THEN IT GETS WORSE. You come along and remove his link to the eBook so I can't even find it here! Why? Because too many people can spam the forum if you allow him to advertise... But you've already read it ans even a Joomla! Hero has asked if she could review it... Can't an Exception be made here???

Relax......don't go and give yourself an aneurysm, no reason to get all excited. Look in his signature...he has provided a link to the E-book you're looking for.


Thanks,
Chad

[AmyStephen]

Lukeparker -
Rants like that are not appreciated.  :P

Do you have any idea how many eBooks and videos have been developed and are for sale? Google search for joomla ebook yields 1,040,000 results. You think it's hard to search the forums now? If the forum was loaded with these offerings, we couldn't get around!

If people want to reach the Joomla! forum member "market" with their offerings, the best thing to do is to participate as an active, helpful member of the forums, answer lots of questions, and carry the link in their signature. The rules are consistently applied.

Had you asked me about guides to templating, I would have pointed you to the Absolute Beginners Guide to Joomla!. In it, you will find listed a large set of PDFs, including resources on Templating that are excellent and offered free of charge. Also, recently, community member Chette started a wonderful series on templating she offers freely.

I have read Mike's eBook and it is very good. I have also read Hagen Graf's books having purchased them when I first started. At that time, there was no "Joomla! Bookcase." I found the book using the means I normally use to find any book. Searching outside of the forums.  Both of these resources cover much the same material that you will find in the Free official Joomla! Users Guide.  There is a enormous difference in that the writers are professional and it shows. IMO, it's worth it. But, not everyone can afford this.

Having looked at the posts you have and having read these resources, I must warn you, many of the questions you have asked thus far about installation, etc., are not answered in the eBook, Hagen's book or the free User's Guide. Many of those types of questions are answered in the Installing Joomla! guide you will find at JoomlaTutorials. The guide is provided freely to the community by RussW's company. You were fortunate to have had his assistance in the forums. But, he is not allowed to link to his own freely offered material, either. Rules are the same, lukeparker, and RussW who clearly contributes around the forums is not allowed to do this - even for resources he offers at no charge.

You want Joomla! Hero status? Post a lot. Once you reach 500 posts, you are automatically awarded it. It means *nothing.* But, one thing you do get from reaching Hero status is an appreciation for the forums. I do not agree with all of the rules, but I will say I believe these are consistently applied, with occasional and unintentional exception, and the rules are designed with the forum members foremost in mind.

Now, no more rants, Lukeparker, just be nice! We don't need to be clubbed over the head. We are all volunteers who actually *want* to help people - that's why we are here!

Kind regards,
Amy

[artonezero]

Do you have any idea how many eBooks and videos have been developed and are for sale? Google search for joomla ebook yields 1,040,000 results. You think it's hard to search the forums now? If the forum was loaded with these offerings, we couldn't get around!

Wow, 1 million eBooks about Joomla!  And I thought the only reason my Joomla eBook wasn't selling so many was that it wasn't on the Bookshelf!



Mike

[AmyStephen]

We went from *nothing* to TONS of resources of varying degrees of helpfulness. 

I am certain it is a challenge to market - you are to be congratulated on your Joomla! SEO knowledge. You are on the FIRST page of the eBook search. That has to help some!

Take care, Mike!
Amy

[humvee]

Hi Folks.

Firstly, I would like to point out that the reason this link was originally removed was because it was a  commercial product being directly advertised within the forums which is against the forum rules. I do not however wish this to "dissolve" into another debate on the rights and wrongs of this rule! It is there and that's all there is to it.

Secondly, I believe Amy's offer to read the manuscript was dealt with after the initial offer on this forum privately by PM/e-mail.

If you have 300 questions I would imagine the vast majority of these have been asked by other people over the life of Joomla! within these forums and had you used the search facility effectively within these forums or even a Google search which can often provide an even faster route to the solution and these would be resolved.

Amy is correct there is a vast community of documentation providers out there, unfortunately these have never found there way into a unified directory within the Joomla! Help Site. Although I have been doing the co-ordination role for just over a week this is already a significant part of the plans for the near future of the Joomla! Help Site.

The documentation on the web site has been written by just a few people who volunteer their efforts within their own time constraints. Whether it is adequate or not depends particularly upon what an individual is looking for. Is there enough, honest answer no, but had there been more volunteers who had been prepared to submit contributions to the project, and indeed the facilities available for them to do so, this may be a different scenario. This is however where the forums have proven their worth.

Finally, Joomla! welcomes new members to its community both here on the forums and within the wider world of Joomla! we do not however welcome people who are rude or completely unreasonable. Having looked back over a number of your questions I would recommend reading the forum rules and the forum help.

Andy