Documentation

• Tutorial

Joomla has two login areas, the site or frontend and the administrator area, or backend which is the area that controls all aspects of a Joomla website. Site owners and administrators use the backend to configure and maintain the website and its users. Other advanced users may use the backend to create and manage content, such as creating, editing, or approving articles. This tutorial describes how users log in to the backend administrator area.

Prerequisites

• You must have an administrator account with a username and password to a Joomla site configured for default login (sites configured for advanced login options such as Single Sign-On or Passkeys are beyond the scope of this tutorial).

Steps

Login

1. Open a browser and navigate to the backend of your site by appending /administrator to your site's URL. For example, if your site URL is https://www.mysite.com use https://www.mysite.com/administrator.
2. Enter your username and password, then click Log In. Result: The administrator dashboard appears.
   

   

Explore the Layout

1. Locate the main administrative menu on the left side of the screen.
2. Click Toggle Menu. Result: The menu minimises. Click it again to expand the menu.
3. Click one of the administrative menu headings. Result: The heading expands into a submenu of hierarchical items.
4. Click one of those submenu items. Result: The main content area, to the right of the administrative menu, displays messages and commonly-used controls related to the selected item.
5. Locate the header at the top of the screen. It contains the Joomla version number, additional messages and information, a link to the site homepage, and the user menu.

Logout

1. To log out, select Log Out from the User Menu in the header. Result: You are logged out.
   

   

Concepts

The administrative area allows advanced users access to the backend to configure the site and manage users and content.

Backend users may have different permissions, allowing them to see and access different areas.

Frontend and backend logins are different. Some users can only log in to the frontend. Backend users can log in to both the backend and frontend.

• Tutorial

Joomla has two login areas: The administrative area, or backend used to control all aspects of a Joomla website; and the site, or frontend used by site users to interact with the site to create or update some site content, access controlled areas not available to the public, and other purposes. This tutorial describes how users log in to the site frontend.

Prerequisites

• You must have a user account with a username and password to a Joomla site configured for default login (sites configured for advanced login options such as Single Sign-On or Passkeys are beyond the scope of this tutorial).

By default, a new Joomla installation has a login form on the site homepage.

Steps

Login

1. Open a browser and navigate to the homepage of your site.
2. Enter your username and password, then click Log In. Result: The login form changes, displaying your username and a Log Out button.

Depending on your access you may notice other changes, such as content only available to logged-in (or registered) users, controls to edit site components, and other differences. Some of these will be explored in other tutorials.

Logout

1. To log out, click Log Out in the Log In form. Result: You are logged out.

Concepts

Joomla has two separate login areas: the frontend for site users, and the backend for administrators. This tutorial describes how registered users log in to the frontend, which is the public-facing area of the site. Registered users can log in to access controlled areas not available to the public, and to interact with site content.

• Tutorial

The first two tutorials explain that Joomla has two login areas, a frontend and a backend, and that these are independent of each other. Future tutorials will direct you to make changes in the backend then view the results in the frontend. This tutorial will demonstrate that the frontend and backend logins are separate, and describe how to switch back and forth between the frontend and backend.

Prerequisites

• 1.1 Admin Login
• 1.2 Site Login

Steps

View the Frontend

1. Open a browser and log in to the backend of the site.
2. Locate the View Site button in the header. Hover over the button and read the tool tip that pops up.
3. Click the button. Result: The frontend opens in a new tab.
4. Switch between the two tabs to verify the backend is open in one, and the frontend is open in the other.

Updates and Refreshing

Many tutorials will direct you to login to the backend, view the frontend, make changes in the backend, then refresh the frontend. We will practice this now.

1. In the frontend and observe the title Home on the homepage.
2. In the backend, click on Menus > Main Menu then the Home menu item. Result: The menu item edit form appears.
3. Change the Title to Site Home Page then click the Save (not Save & Close) button.
4. View the frontend and refresh the page. Result: The title on the homepage has changed to Site Home Page.
   

   

5. Return to the backend. Change the Title back to Home then click the Save & Close button.

Concepts

Switching between the backend in one tab and the frontend in another is a very convenient way of making changes and observing the result.

You will be logged into the backend in one tab, but typically not logged into the frontend in the other. This has the advantage of seeing the frontend as the public would.

• Tutorial
• Overview

Menus are of course the links we use to navigate to resources in a site. These tutorials explore menus and how they can be configured.

• 10.1 Submenus — submenus are groups of related menu items organised into a hierarchy; the menu for these tutorials is grouped by section.
• 10.2 Split Menus — splits a menu into multiple parts to keep it from overwhelming visitors, especially on small devices.
• 10.3 Display Options Hierarchy — display options for menus and menu items that are inherited by default but can be set independently.
• 10.4 Adding a New Menu — creates a new menu, populates it with menu items, then displays it on a website using a site module.

Maintaining links to articles and other site resources is an important aspect of content management. Joomla menus are easy to use and customisable.