This is the second post in a series looking at some of the new features that you will find in Joomla 3.7 which is scheduled for release in March.
When I am building a web site I want to do it as quickly as possible. With Joomla 3.7 there are now several new features that will really help to speed up your web site development. In this post we will explore the NEW ability to create content on the fly directly at the point that you create the menu.
It's all about CASH
Several years ago I coined the term CASH when talking about building Joomla web sites and this has been my guiding principle when training people on using Joomla for their web presence.
Categorise - Add - SHow
First you create the Categories. Then you Add the content and finally you SHow the content by adding a menu link to the content. In other words you can't create a menu item until you have created the content.
Slow and Frustrating
The problem with the CASH method of building web sites is that it's slow and frustrating. You spend all your time switching between different parts of the Joomla administrator just to create the basic menu and site structure.
How may times have you created some content and gone to create a menu link to that content and then returned to the article manager to create some more content so that you can return to the menu manager once more to create the next menu link etc etc etc (and breathe).
How many times have you gone to create a new menu link and then realised that you haven't created the content yet?
How many times have you wanted to quickly prototype a site and found it took you far longer than you ever imagined?
Tortoise and the Hare
Aesop wrote about the Tortoise and the Hare - which if you aren't familiar with teaches us that being the fastest is not always the best way.
Sometimes a slower, more planned and methodical approach is more effective in the long run. While I don't disagree with this - who am I to question Aesop - there are times when I just want to do things quickly.
Building a menu to match your site structure
.. or should that be "build a site structure to match your menu"?
We all know that the best way to plan and build your web site is on paper following the 6P principle. But let's be honest, who really does that. You just want to open your new Joomla web site and get started. Until the release of Joomal 3.7 we've all suffered the slow and frustrating CASH methodology of building a site. But we don't need to suffer any more.
Faster Site Building
With this new Joomla 3.7 feature I can go directly to my menu and build my complete site structure from there.
Create an Article Link
If I want to create a simple Single Article menu item I no longer need to create the article before I create the menu link. Now I can do it directly in the menu itself.
You simply create the menu item for a single article as you have always done but look carefully - next to the button where you would normally select the article is a new one - Create. You won't be surprised to discover that clicking on this will let you create a new article without leaving the page.
Create a Contact Link
You can do exactly the same for a simple contact.
Create a Blog Link
And you can even create a category to link to for a blog or list menu item.
