New Website Design

If you have not visited my site before, you may not see a big difference, because you don't know the old pages. Nevertheless, read on, because within the next paragraphs, I will explain the new structure and features.

Switch to Joomla

The main change besides the new and changed layout of the page is the fact that I changed the software working behind the scenes. From May 2009 until yesterday (01/26/2010) I was working with Wordpress. During the last two weeks I migrated all posts and comments to the new software which is currently Joomla in version 1.5.15

Why did I change? 

Well there are some reasons for me:

• The first and one of the most important ones for me was the fact, that I have already been working with Joomla for several websites so I knew its kind of thinking from previous tasks and am very used to it. Although Wordpress is not so hard to understand, I had my problems here and there with this still great software.
• The next thing for me was my lazyness. Yes, that's right! I have a subscription to a so called template club (that in fact is a company that delivers a new website template each month) and they really had great designs. The company is called YOOtheme and the template I used is the one from December 2009 called "Explorer". If you want to check it out, go to demo.yootheme.com and select the corresponding template from the dropdown box at the top of the page. You can also explorer the "rest" of YOOtheme by clicking this link.
• YOOtheme does not only offer great templates but also great "plug ins" or "extensions" for Joomla. These are additional programs that will be plugged into the Joomla CMS (=Content Management System) and enhance its capabilities. For example the Login-panel at the top of my page where is says "Log in here!" is an extension ("YOOtoppanel") or the fading images on the homepage covering my welcome message and the VLOOKUP mini series ("YOOcarousel"). If you want to know, which plug ins I am using and for what purpose, read on, I explain them in detail below.
• I plan several enhancements and better user integration for this website for 2010. My opinion is, that this enhancements and future functions will be much easier to apply with a more generalistic software like Jommla instead one that focusses mainly on blogging like Wordpress. Please, do not misunderstand me, I still like Wordpress and it is a great piece of code, but from my perspective, Joomla fits my needs a little bit more.

Extensions, I am using

Okay, now I will tell you what extensions I am using and for what purpose. If you are not so interested in this more technical part, simply scroll down and read about the great new features and the new structure that has been implemented.

In general, there are two kinds of extensions, commercial and non-commercial ones. The first ones cost you some money and the second ones are free and / or open source. If you want to get an overview over the more than 4,000 extensions available, please have a look at the so called JED, the Joomla Extension Directory, which will be available at http://extensions.joomla.org.

So here is the list of extensions I have installed and why I did it. Currently I am using 16 extensions (yes, that's right, the number is 16 ), some of them for major enhancements and some of them only for small but very useful functionalities. If you are interested in more detailed descriptions, please click on the extensions name, which I have linked to the corresponding websites. Here we go:

•  Superblogger: This plug in enables a more blog-like appearance of my posts. For example it enables you to bookmark the post, rate the article, tweet or re-tweet it as well as RSS-subscribe to the category (i. e. charts) and get an update in your newsreader everytime a new article is posted into this category. You can also see the latest tweets of the author, which in this case are my tweets from @excelkingDOTcom. Superblogger is a commercial extension and it costs US$ 7.00
• JComments: The JComments extension manages all the comments to posts on my website. It has basic commenting functionality and the advantage that all comments are stored in my own databases whereas for example disqus stores them on their own servers. With comments in my own MySQL database I was capable of migrating the valuable notes of previous visitors from the old site with the original dates and in the correct order. As Joomla itself allows it to sign up to my website,  you can not only post as a guest but also as some kind of "member" with additional features.JComments is a non-commercial extension.
• Kunena Forum: The Kunena forum is a very lovely piece of code that adds very interesting forum capabilities to the Joomla software itself. As I decided to have a forum on the website (see new features section below), I was looking for a software that integrates in Joomla and besides having a good design, is easy to administer. All these facts apply to the Kunena forum. This one is a non-commercial software.
• Kunena Popular Threads: This small enhancement will allow me to show the most popular threads from the above mentioned forum to whatever page I like, in this case to the homepage.
• RSForm!Pro: This is a very sophisticated form processing solution. It allows me to create my own custom forms and place them whereever I want to. Currently I am using two kinds of forms, the first one is my contact form through which you can send me messages directly to my inbox. Follow this link to get to the contact form. The second form I am using is for subscription to my newsletter which I really recommend (by the way, you get a FREE printable PDF ebook - 11pages - of my VLOOKUP mini series as a thank you!).  RSForm!Pro is a commercial extension at the price of EUR 19 / approx. US$ 27.00. Since I am using RSForm!Pro for newsletter sign-ups this leads us to
• RSMail: RSMail is a major extension which allows the newsletter management on your own server without the need to use any third-party companies. As I am starting to send out newsletters, I decided that this approach would be better in terms of ROI. By the way, did I mention, that you could sign up for FREE and receive all the posts to This extension is commercial and costs EUR 39 / approx. US$ 55.00.
• AutoTweet: AutoTweet is a nice little extension that enables my twitter account to send a tweet each time a new article is posted. If you have come to this article through my twitter account @excelkingDOTcom you have already seen it in action. AutoTweet is non-commercial.
• Ninja RSS Syndicator: This tool makes it possible to establish a feed for any category or section of my website where I want it. This replaces the old WordPress feed and it's non-commercial. If you want to subscribe to my posts via RSS click the little icon in the top right of my page or go to the Subscribe Now! page.
• Easy AdSense: This small and non-commercial plug-in allows me to place ad sense ads from my account at Google to show up anywhere I like on my website.
• MetaModPro: As Joomla organizes its display in so called modules this extensions allows the webmaster to place any content depending on several rules to display anywhere I like. For example I could say, that I want to display a module or a content only when a user is logged in, visits a specific blog category and has a specific language in use. From this small description you might see, that this extension is very mighty. The plug-in is commercial and costs US$ 19.
• YOOcarousel: Nice effect which I use on the homepage, where the top section fades through a welcome message and three VLOOKUP-posts.
• YOOgallery: A gallery plug-in with several adjustments, which I use on the overview page of my VLOOKUP mini series.
• YOOlogin: An advanced login extension used in the top section of my website where it says "Log in here!".
• YOOtoppanel: The black drop down labeled "Log in here!" in the top section of this website.
• YOOtweet: A nice little extension showing my latest tweets i. e. on my contact page. All YOOtools come with the subscription to YOOtheme. Check out their site for more details.
• Joomla Knowledgebase: This is not yet active. It's an extension allowing me to set up a knowledgebase. For the purpose of this website I will try to fill it with Excel functions used so far and short explanations what they are good for. Be prepared and oh - by the way - sign up for my newsletter in case you don't want to miss anything 

New structure

I have decided to get rid of the old structure in Wordpress where I had pages for i. e. the about section, the contact section, something about RSS and so on. All these are now nicely aligned in the main menu above. You will find all posts in the Blog topics section. You will get to the subsections (like charts, functions, tips and tricks etc.) by simply moving you mouse over the menu item and then waiting for the menu to expand.

From time to time I will publish new article series like the VLOOKUP series. Those are then available via the corresponding button as well.

By the way, the next article series which will start in February is a 2 week tutorial on dashboarding called "14 days to dashboard mastery"

As you can see from the main menu, there is also a new button called Forum. By clicking this you can get to the Excel-King-Forums where you not only can discuss the articles (each article has its own post, see below) but also ask questions, propose topics, ask for help etc.

You may also notice our little blue friend in the bottom left corner in a box (is this a cage? ) labeled "Tweet, Tweet..." If you click on the image you can see my latest tweets through Twitter and follow me if you want to.

I also have implemented a little module which shows the most popular threads from the above mentioned forums.

In addition to those features, I have added a Bio Box on top of all articles showing details about the author. At the moment, this always shows information about me but as I plan to have some guest posters throughout 2010 this will of course show details about the creator of the post as well as links to webpages, twitter accounts etc.

New features

This brings me to the final part of this article and maybe the question that interests you most: What are the new features of Excel-King.com? Well, to be honest there are some and I will now explain why I implemented them and what benefit you will have from it:

• Bio Box: This little grey box above any article in the blog topics section of the website will tell you things about the author he or she thinks is important. As mentioned above, there will be guest posts from different authors throughout 2010 and you will read a little bit about their experience and life in there. If you are interested in guest posting on Excel-King.com please send me a short message through my contact form and I will get back to you asap.
• Forum and "discuss it" buttons: Right below this article (and all other posts in the blog topics section) you will find a blue button labeled "discuss it". If you click this button you will be forwarded to the corresponding article in the Excel-King-Forums. Each article has its own thread so you can discuss and talk about purpose and utilization of the information I have submitted. You can also post examples or enhancements there. What is the difference to commenting, you may ask? Well, from my perspective, the forum is much better for asking questions, presenting examples etc. have an ongoing vital communication on the topic whereas the comments are just that: an option to quickly leave a note. As a guest to Excel-King.com you can leave comments and read all forum posts. However, if you would like to join the discussion and start your own threads or reply to existing threads, you have to sign up to Excel-King. You now also have the option to subscribe to posts in the forum not only via email notification but through RSS.
• Advertisement: I have implemented a little bit of advertisement to my webpage, because,hey, although this is a hobby, it costs something (hosting, one-time-costs for extensions etc.) I think the amount of advertising on my webpage is not too much and it somehow keeps me motivated if I earn a buck here and there
• Newsletter: I am not sure if I have mentioned it before, but from now on we also will have a newsletter, which means that all new posts can - if you sign up - also be delivered as email directly to your inbox. If you decide to sign up now (don't worry, it is and will stay FREE), you will get the printable PDF version of my VLOOKUP mini series as a little thank you. I will ensure you, that I will not sell or transfer your personal message to any third party. From time to time I will send some exclusive material or recommendation to my newsletter subscribers so make sure that you do not miss anything 

So, this concludes the overview of the new Excel-King.com (the King is dead, long live the King ). If you like what you see, please use the new feature and discuss it in the forums or leave a comment.

Discuss this blog post in the forums (click the blue button)