A Ballarat surgeon needed a website to present the practice in a professional and pleasing format.
WordPress Update
For some reason I could not update the aging Joomla site to version 3.x. I could do it with my old Rinet IT Joomla site but I think I missed the window of opportunity to do an automatic update with this one. Upgrading away from the now unsupported Joomla 2.5 to 3.x would be a very manual operation. It was decided to move the website over to the much easier to manage and use WordPress CMS.
WordPress and Gantry 5 Theme
Gantry 5 by Rocket Theme is a second favourite theme according to a poll and as I have used the most popular one, Ultimatum theme, I thought I would give Gantry 5 a try. I used the "Helium" theme although there are a number of others.
The framework is great for defining rows and widths of columns. There are a number of included modules and these can be placed where desired.
Changing them is by a form so it's best to experiment to see where text and images are rendered.
Caching delaying Changes
There is a lot of caching going on with the CSS and this can delay seeing changes that you've made to the CSS. It can be turned off but it didn't seem to make much of a difference.
Javascript
Javascript and custom CSS is added easily under Page Settings and then Atoms. Atoms are what Rocket Theme calls custom Javascript, CSS and Frameworks, including Bootstrap and JQuery.
Particles are components that you will see on the page like menus, page content and so on.
Available for Joomla! and WordPress
Gantry is available for both Joomla and WordPress.
I could have updated the site using Joomla but it would still mean manually converting it to version 3 and then using Joomla's awkward means of dealing with images. WordPress is much easier here.
Joomla 2.5 version (18th December 2012)
My first site using Joomla 2.5!
I would have moved to it sooner but a lot of extensions have been slow to catch up.
But the upgrade is worth it. This new version is much nicer to work with. Gone are sections and categories, you now just have categories. And they can be nested! Users can be put into groups and you have full control over who can edit and view what using groups that you can set up yourself and not the fixed ones that come with Joomla! 1.5.
The administration menu has been redone, and it's now easier to navigate. Lots of other improvements too!
Upgrading is not for the novice however. Joomla 1.5 and 1.6 to 2.5 are very different. To upgrade your site read this. Unlike WordPress' updates Joomla 2.5 is not easily upgradeable.
Graphics
Some graphic and photographic work was required here. I got to use my photography hobby for work and took the front of the premises shot. With street shots it can be hard to omit street signs and parked cars etc. I took a few photos and selected and then cropped the best one. I was hoping to get it to go right across the page but too much unwanted stuff would have been included. Instead the image shares the banner with the logo; and it has worked out well.
The logo had to be redrawn in Fireworks from a letterhead scan which was fuzzy once it was enlarged. The solid colour picked up the texture from the paper too, so I could not use the scan raw. A few quick revisions of how Fireworks is used and I got it out! Must remember to use "Hard Edge" when creating shapes, otherwise you get an edge with a bit of lighter colour in it.
BMI Calculator using Javascript
To add some interaction to the site a BMI calculator was created. The chart lights up according to what your BMI is. Unfortunately mine comes up with "Overweight", a common problem for IT workers; I must get on the bike more!
The site can be viewed by going to http://www.obesitysurgeryballarat.com.au/