Optimization!

Since I've seen that a few people here have been designing pages based on Joomla, I thought it would be useful to share some information I have found regarding improving load times of pages. I found that the base install and subsequent modifications could lead to a very slow loading site. Anyway the link is here: http://www.joomlaperformance.com/articles/performance/so_you_want_to_speed_up_joomla_3_14.html.

The major points to look at are the optimization of the SQL tables, caching in Joomla, and Gzip compression. Check it out, it made a HUGE difference!

We have emerged from the Dark Ages!! FINALLY!

I have been working at the Lake Echo Community Centre for the past six summers. The previous five I worked as a counselor for the Day Camp put on by the Lake Echo Lions Club, but this year I am working at the CAP site located in the same building.
During my time at the Community Centre I have grown accustomed to the lack of an online presence for both the Centre and the CAP site. Typing the Centre into Google would result in several static and ancient pages that did not represent us properly.
This year when I interviewed for the Intern position I made a commitment to create a dynamic site that was easily updated by any of the staff and contained features that would make it easy for the community to meet online.
After a couple weeks of tinkering and a lot of technical difficulties the sites are finally up and running with most of the features that the client (Sharon Dykman, the boss) wanted implemented including a forum, online registration for the day camp, and an easy way to post news and informative articles for members of the community to view.



Check them out for yourself and see what's going on in Lake Echo!

Lake Echo Rec Centre

Lake Echo CAP

If you have any question about starting a similar site for you location let me know!