Nate Covington

I've put this video together to showcase some of the newest and greatest features of K2, a popular extension for Joomla CMS.  If you already have a Joomla site, watch this video to see how easy the K2 framework can make it for you to work with images, galleries, videos, custom fields, and attachments.

If you don't already have a Joomla site, you're really missing out! :-)

I recently built a "Make a Payment" form for my clients using the RSForm Joomla extension and a little custom scripting.

[R.I.P. Chase Covington 8/31/2009 - 4/21/2018]

We're on the move!  Please welcome Chase as the newest member of the C2 team.  Chase's primary responsibilities include security & patrolling, landscaping, and customer service.

Chase is a rescue we adopted from PetFinder:

• German Shepherd
• Norwegian Elkhound

I've used both JoomlaPack (AkeebaBackup it's now called) and Xcloner.  JoomlaPack (Akeeba) is free, so you can't knock the price.  It also has the ability to include an installer for loading the site onto the destination server, nice.  I've used it many times.

However, my preference is Xcloner.  It's a little more "programmer oriented," so its interface is s a little simpler and quicker, in my opinion.  (Maybe that's just because I started with Xcloner.)  Also, instead of a clunky installer package, Xcloner gives you a "restore" feature consisting of 2 files:

xcloner.php
tar.php

To restore, just include your Xcloner backup file alongside these "restore" files in your public directory, and point the browser to the "xcloner.php" file.  It will ask you for database / ftp information, unzip the file, import the database, and adjust configuration.php accordingly.  It also gives you the ability to extract the files directly (via PHP), or via FTP, depending on your server's particulars.

This is a base install of the infamous Joomla K2 component (http://www.getk2.org) with a few customizations already set up.  I found myself repeating the same hacks, so I figured others might be facing similar issues:

• Enabled K2 comment auto-notification (patched for v2.2) - I'm not sure why this wasn't included with K2 from the start...
• Patched for sh404sef: multi-word tags work; download links fixed an intermittent SQL error

Installation: Install this component via the standard Joomla Extension Installer.
Upgrading: This will override your existing K2 templates and settings.  Be careful.

Enjoy!  Comments / questions / requests welcome.

[Edit: Updated for K2 v2.3 - new download added!]

If you've familiar with WikiPedia, you know that the basic premise is that anyone can make changes to the site's content.  There are obviously limitations - you cannot advertise yourself, you cannot defame anyone or anything, and they even "lock down" certain articles... for example, during the holiday season, they've been known to lock people out of making changes to the PlayStation articles.  Makes sense.

Just got done applying a new "skin" to this site... after building dozens of custom Joomla templates for client projects, I decided it was time to treat my own site to that same custom treatment! Below is a before & after mock-up - what do you think? Thanks for visiting!!

When it comes to building your company's web site, there are two basic ways to build it.  The first method is to use a program like Dreamweaver to build the template, menu, and pages using HTML.  Each page becomes a separate HTML file, and all of the HTML files are interconnected.  For basic sites, this method is fine.

Update August 18, 2022: Editing a site by hand in HTML is no longer acceptable!

It appears that Google Maps / Google Local Business Center has updated their listings service to include reporting and other data - neat! (see below) If your business is not listed in Google's local business center, you can add your listing here.

Dear Nate,

We are writing to let you know about an important update to your Google Local Business Center account (log in at www.google.com/lbc).

Your account now has a new interface designed to show you more about how customers interact with your verified business listing. A new reporting dashboard shows statistics about your business listing, like how many users saw your business as a local search result, zip codes where driving directions requests come from, and the top search queries for which your business appeared. Here is a sample of your data:

Business: Covington Creations, LLC
Impressions in the last 30 days: 282

This information and more can also be found here: www.google.com/lbc.

Sincerely,

The Google Maps Team
Google Inc

Tip: You can now hire us to manage your Google Local Business listing data, along with other social media and website optimization requirements.  

“Nate has been our website consultant since 2009 and his value as a trusted advisor continues to grow. Nate helped us redesign our website last year and we were very happy with the fresh new look and keen marketing suggestions he provided. We have always found Nate to be responsive and reliable and we value his perspective and support.”