SiteGround Tutorials

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Mambo Tutorial

Mambo is a popular Content Management System (CMS). SiteGround has created this Mambo tutorial based on our long experience with Mambo. We have also designed many FREE Mambo templates.

Mambo has played a crucial role in today's web development by giving birth to Joomla, one of the best CMS applications nowadays. More information about Joomla can be found in our Joomla tutorial.

The current Mambo tutorial includes articles about:

• How to install Mambo CMS on your website;
• How to change Mambo templates;
• How to install Additional Languages;
• Tips about the Mambo Administration;
• How to manage Meta data, Mail, Stats;
• How to use Search Engine Friendly URLs with Mambo;
• How to use Mambo Media Manager;
• How to create Mambo Content;
• How to set Mambo Sections;
• How to set Mambo Categories;
• How to create Mambo Content Items;
• How to use Mambo CMM - Components, Modules and Mambots;
• How to add and remove Banner Ads;
• How to set Mambo Polls;
• How to install Community Builder;
• How to add Google Adsense for Mambo;
• Installation of Mambot for Google Adsense;
• How to insert Adsense in Content;
• How to put Adsense in Side Column;
• How to backup Mambo;
• How to upgrade Mambo;
• How to bridge Coppermine and Mambo; 

Additional resources:

• Knowledge base articles about Mambo

How to install Mambo on your website?

Get a FREE Mambo installation with SiteGround Mambo hosting Package!

SiteGround.com offers Fantastico De Luxe auto installer. This is a cPanel addon. It can be easily found on the cPanel's main page. Simply click on the smiling face icon at the bottom (). Look for the Mambo link at the left part of the screen and click on it.

A short description will appear to the right. Click on the New Installation link.

You will be prompted to select a domain name for which your Mambo will be installed. You should make sure that the domain name you have selected is already pointed to your hosting server. Otherwise the style will not be applied to your pages and your images will not be displayed.

If you would like Mambo to be the start page of your website you can leave the Install in directory box empty. If you are willing to have it in a specific subdirectory you should type in the name of the folder. The folder should not exist - it will be created automatically during the installation.

In the Admin access data boxes type the username and the password for your Mambo admin area.

Enter the name of your website in the Site name box. You can also enter the Admin full name and the Admin e-mail in the respective boxes. Those will be used when sending system messages to your new or existing users. Leaving the check box besides the Install Sample Data? label checked will install sample articles and menu entries on your web site. If you are a novice, we would recommend you to check the sample data before creating your own content.

Then click on the Install Mambo button.

On the next page you will see a confirmation of the details: the Mambo installation URL and the directory, the database and the database username (these are created automatically). The page may also contain notices about missing details or other system messages. Do not ignore them! Note that you cannot install more than one script in a single directory. Click on the Finish installation button to proceed.

On the third page you will see the installation details.

If you have selected to install Mambo in your root directory you will be able to access the site using the address below:

http://yourdomainname.com

and the administrative interface will be found at:

http://yourdomainname.com/administrator/

In case you have decided to set Mambo in a specific directory, e.g. 'mambo', you will be able to reach your installation at:

http://yourdomainname.com/mambo/

The administrator login will be located at:

http://yourdomainname.com/mambo/administrator/

 

 

Mambo Templates

How to change Mambo Templates?

You can change the default template for the website. If you like a template that is not included in the installation package, you can add it following the instructions below. You can download one of our Free Mambo Templates to your local computer. Then you should go to the Installers menu in the Mambo administration area and choose the first item - Universal.

You will be prompted to locate the template source file.

Once you are ready, click Upload File and Install. Wait for the confirmation message to appear and then click Continue.

Go to the Template Manager in order to make the new template the default for your website. Navigate to Site->Template Manager->Site Templates

You should select the template you have just uploaded and click on the Default icon.

This is the website before (using the default template of the installation)...

... and this is how your website would look if you install the template we have used...

 

 

Mambo Languages

In order to install a new language pack to your Mambo web site you should log in the Administrator panel. Then select the Installers tab and choose the first item - Universal.

When the page loads, click on the Browse button and select the language file which you would like to be installed in Mambo. Then click on the Upload File & Install button.

The language file will be installed. In order to use it you should go to the Site tab -> Language Manager.

To make it the default one, click on the icon locatedc on the same line as the newly-installed language.

Mambo Administration - Global Configuration

Now we can proceed with the configuration of your Mambo. Log in to your Mambo admin area and go to the Global Configuration section.

The Site tab allows you to:

• put your site offline;
• customize the general error message (which is being used while there is an error which is preventing the application from loading properly);
• choose a Site Name (Company Name) for your website - that would be the <title> tag of your website;
• turn on/off the Captcha authentication and more.

The Locale tab allows you to:

• change the TimeZone settings. If you are located in a different time zone than the hosting server the application can be set to show your local time;
• change the language - it can be picked from the list of the already installed and published language packs on your Mambo system.

The Content tab allows you to modify the general outlook of your CMS. For instance, you can choose whether to display the printer-friendly version link on your web pages.

Information about the other options in the Global configuration tab can be found below:

• Meta data, Mail, Stats
• Search Engine Friendly URLs

SiteGround does not recommend changing the default Database, Server, and Cache tabs, unless you know what you are doing. Any incorrect setting in these sections could make your Mambo powered website inaccessible.

Mambo Administration - Global Configuration

The Metadata tab allows you to add meta description for your website as well as keywords - entering these will allow your website to be easily discovered and listed by the search engines.

Mail tab shows Mambo's mail configuration. The default settings work correctly with SiteGround's Mambo Hosting Services. The only setting that you will probably need to change is the sender's e-mail address.

The Statistics tab has three options (Statistics, Log Content Hits by Date, Log Search Strings). If you do not need statistics for your web site, leave all the options to "No".

Information about the other options in the Global configuration tab can be found below:

• Site, Locale, Content
• Search Engine Friendly URLs

Mambo Administration - Global Configuration

Using Search Engine Friendly URLs in your Mambo system will let you gain higher positions in Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. In order to install Search Engine Optimization module in Mambo you have to:

Step 1: Navigate to: Site => Global Configuration => SEO. Then change Search Engine Friendly URLs: to Yes and Save the new settings

Step 2: Open the Mambo folder under your account using an FTP client (You can check our FTP tutorial for more information about FTP clients.) Rename the htaccess.txt file to .htaccess.

You have successfully activated the SEO option in your Mambo!

Information about the other options in the Global configuration section can be found below:

• Site, Locale, Content
• Meta data, Mail, Stats

SiteGround does not recommend changing the default Database, Server, and Cache tabs, unless you know what you are doing. Any incorrect setting in these sections could render your Mambo powered website to be inaccessible.

How to use Mambo Media Manager?

In order to fully utilize the multimedia capabilities of Mambo, you can start using the Media Manager. You can find it in the Site menu. When you click on it, a listing of the items will appear: both folders and separate images will be displayed. In order to select in which folder to upload you should use the Directory dropdown menu.

Under the Media Manager you will see three input boxes:

Upload allows you to select a file and upload it to the image library (use the Browse button and then click on the Upload icon at the top right corner).

The Code box displays the HTML code that allows you to link an image from the library.

Through the Create Directory box you can create a new folder where you will be able to upload files. Type in the name of the directory and then click on the Create icon at the top right corner.

In order to upload under a certain directory, click on the folder image:

The page will be refreshed and you will be able to upload directly to the respective folder.

If you wish to delete a file or an empty folder, you can click on the trash can image below the item. You will be prompted to confirm the deletion.

Please note that in case the directory you are trying to delete is not empty you will not be able to remove it. The solution is to delete the files and then the directory.

Mambo Content

It is time to add some content to your website! In order to create the desired hierarchy, you need to become familiar with the classes of content that are included in Mambo. They are Sections, Categories and Content Items.

The highest level in the hierarchy is represented by the Sections. These can be managed through the Section Manager of the Content menu. The Categories are managed through the Categories Manager and the content is edited through the All Content Items section.

For example if you are having a Mambo website about cars, you can have the following Sections: 'Ford', 'Chevy' and 'Dodge'. The 'Ford' section will have categories 'Mustang', 'Thunderbird' and 'Taurus'. The 'Mustang' category will have content items 'V6GT', 'Steeda Q' and 'Shelby Cobra GT500'. The entire structure is much like a tree:

Mambo Content Structure - Sections, Categories, Content items

More information about the different content structures in Mambo can be found below:

• Mambo Sections
• Mambo Categories
• Mambo Content Items

Mambo Content

Let us start with a creation of a section. To do this, go to the Content menu and select the Section Manager option.

You will see the list of existing sections. Click on the New icon in order to create your own section.

In the fields that appear, fill in the details of the section: title, description, etc. When done, click on the Save icon at the top right.

You will be taken back to the section list which will now include the section you have just created.

In order to link it to a menu you will need to click on its name and edit the linking properties. These preferences determine where in the menus the section will appear.

Mambo Content

The next step in organizing the content of your website is creating a category. This can be accomplished from the Content menu -> Category manager:

There you will be able to see the existing categories, edit them and create new ones. Click on the New icon to start the creation process and fill in the details required for the new category.

In order to have a proper content organization it is important to select the parent Section for the new category.

Again, you can set the menu linking details after the category has been saved.

Please note that an empty section or an empty category will not show up in the menu. Each of them must have at least a single content item created and published.

Mambo Content

In order to create and publish a Content Item, go to the Content menu and select All Content Items.

All the items will be displayed. You will be able to either edit the existing ones or create new items by clicking on the New icon:

The process of creating a new article is very similar to the one for the sections and the categories. You will need to select both the parenting section and the category.

This time, instead of the description, you will be able to enter a short introduction text that will appear on the main section or the category page. You will be able to add pictures, manage authorship and publishing date, etc. When ready, click on the Save icon to complete the creation process. You will see the new item listed in the Content manager.

The last thing to do in order to have the item online is to publish it. Click on the red X and the article will be published.

You can also change the order in which the articles appear by clicking the up- and the down-pointed triangles respectively. That can also be done by changing the number in the Order box located on the corresponding line and pressing the Enter key on your keyboard. The changes will automatically be applied and you will see them after the screen refreshes.

How to use Mambo Modules, Components and Mambots?

Enhance your Mambo system with the most popular Mambo addons!

Enhancing your Mambo's functionality can be easily done by installing three kinds of add-ons that you can integrate with your Mambo. These are modules, components and mambots.

Components add functionality to the Mambo itself - e.g. content management functions, that cannot be noticed directly, but help ordering and customizing your website.

Modules are used as a bridge between the Component and Mambo: you need a Module to enable a chosen Component.

Mambots are add-ons for Mambo that perform a specific function when triggered. They can range from text-replacing to something as complicated as a template-management system. E.g. WYSIWYG editors are Mambots.

If you wish to install an addon you can do this very easily through the Mambo administration interface. First of all you need to find and download an addon. SiteGround has made a selection of the most popular Mambo components, modules and mambots that our clients install on their Mambo sites. On the page you will find a short description of the Mambo addon plus a download link. Save the chosen one on your local hard drive. Then select the Installers menu and the Universal tab from your Administrative backend:

Browse your local computer for the archived source file, upload and install the add-on.

Favorite Mambo addons:

• Virtuemart
• SMF forum
• phpBB Forum
• Mambo Calendar
• Weather Module
• CMS Realty - Real Estate

 

Mambo Banner Component

Mambo allows you easily to remove or change the banner ads that are part of the default installation. You can also add and manage new ones. That can be done through the Components menu -> Banners tab -> Manage banners.

In the banners list check the boxes in front of the two default banners and then click the Unpublish or the Delete icon at the top right...

To add new banners click on the New icon.

You can also add and remove separate clients from the Manage clients tab, just below the Manage banners one.

Mambo Polls Component

Mambo includes a poll component by default. The Poll manager is what allows you to create, edit and remove polls from your website. Results are being automatically calculated and displayed on a separate page.

In order to manage your polls, you need to reach the Poll manager through the Polls link in the Components menu:

You will be taken to a page where at your first visit you will see a single poll: the one that comes by default with the Mambo installation.

Clicking on the poll name will allow you to edit the questions and answers. You can replace those with your own and save the survey.

In case you do not want to have a poll on your website (at least for now) you can unpublish it by selecting the respective survey and click the corresponding icon.

The poll will be immediately removed from the website but it will not be deleted. You can publish it back whenever you want. To permanently remove a poll from your Mambo, use the Delete icon.

Mambo Modules, Components and Mambots

Community Builder is a component for Mambo (Joomla) that extends the user management functionality of these applications. To install Community Builder for Mambo you have to:

Step 1. Install the latest version of Mambo on your account. Find more information about how to install Mambo here.

Step 2. Download the Community Builder component from the official web site.

Step 3. Extract the file that you have just downloaded.

Step 4. Navigate to the folder of the extracted archive. The main Community Builder component file is com_comprofiler.zip. Extract it. Since Mambo 4.6.x does not handle multiple xml files properly, you need to delete the comprofilerj.xml file and recreate the archived file.

Step 5. Open the Admin Panel of your Mambo installation and navigate to: Installers -> Universal. You should see:

We will use the Upload Package File option.

Step 6. Click on the Browse button and navigate to your com_comprofiler.zip file. Click on the Upload File & Install button. Wait up to several minutes until the installation process is finished. At the end, you should see this screen:

Step 7. You have successfully installed Community builder on your account. Please note that Community Builder comes with 3 modules:

• mod_cblogin.zip - The login module;
• mod_comprofilerModerator.zip - Displays Notifications of pending actions for the moderator and connections functionality of Community Builder;
• mod_comprofilerOnline.zip - Displays a list of users logged in with a link to their profile; 

You can install them in the same way: Mambo admin panel -> Installers -> Universal. 

After the successful installation of every module you should see a similar confirmation screen:

Step 8. The Community Builder can be configured through Components -> Community Builder:

You can manage its modules through Modules -> Site Modules:

Google AdSense and Mambo

How to use Google AdSense with Mambo: AdSense Mambot Installation and Setup

If you would like to use Google AdSense on your Mambo site you would have to add some extra functionality through your Mambo Administration tool.

First of all you need to download the necessary application. You can download the Adsense Mambot from here. Save it on your local drive. Log in to your Mambo admin area and select Universal from within the Installers Menu.

Click the Browse button and select the file which you have already downloaded - the Adsense Mambot and press Upload File and Install.

Select Site Mambots from your Mambots menu:

Find the Google Adsense Mambot link and click it.

You need to enter you Google AdSense data so that you are able to display Google Ads on your Mambo site.

Next to each item from the Parameters section there is a more Info button.

You should take the necessary data from your Google Adsense code.

• Include Google AdSense in your Content
• Include Google AdSense in the Side Columns

How to use Google AdSense with Mambo?

Include Google AdSense in your Content

Once you are ready with the Adsense Mambot setup you can include Google Ads right into your Web site Content by pasting {mosgoogle} inside your content:

Mambot Usage : {mosgoogle} in content or AutoAds "ON" displays a Google Ad as specified in parameters. You can also use {mosgoogle left}, {mosgoogle right}, {mosgoogle none} and {mosgoogle center} if you want the ad align differently from the set parameters. You can choose to display Ads or AdLinks, Collapse empty ads or replace them with an alternate ad or color.

Publish and Save it and you will see your Google Ads in your site content.

• Include Google AdSense in the Side Columns

How to use Google AdSense with Mambo?

Include Google AdSense in the Side Columns

If you would like to include Google ads in the side columns you would need to:

Step 1. Create a new Module from the Module menu:

Select Site Modules:

Create a new Module:

Step 2. From the Mambots list publish the "No WYSIWYG Editor" and unpublish the "WYSIWYG Editor" if applicable.

Select Site Mambots from the Mambots menu:

Publish the No WYSIWYG Editor:

Unpublish the WYSIWYG Editor if available in the list of Mambots.

Step 3. Copy and paste your AdSense code in the New Module content section

Select Site Modules:

Choose the New Module we have created (Ads by Google):

Copy and paste Google Adsense code in the Content section:

Now press Save and you should be able to see AdWords on your site:

Mambo Backup

How to Create a Backup of Mambo?

In order to backup your Mambo application you have to:

Step 1: Backup all your web site files.

Backup all the files and folders inside your Mambo directory. You can do that by downloading them via your favourite FTP client. You can find our comprehensive FTP tutorial here.

Step 2: Backup/Export your database

Then you have to export your Mambo database. You can do that by using PHPMyAdmin. Please check our tutorial on how to backup/restore MySQL database in order to create a backup of your Mambo database.

Please, make sure that you choose the correct database which your Mambo application uses.

If you are unsure about the Mambo database name, you will be able to find it in the mambo_folder/configuration.php file. You can view this file through cPanel -> File manager. The line where the database name is entered is:

$mosConfig_db = 'username_mamb1';

Instead of username_mamb1 you will see the actual database name for your installation.

Mambo Upgrade

If you have installed Mambo via Fantastico:

Open cPanel -> Fantastico -> Mambo. If there is a new version of Mambo, Fantastico will visualize an Upgrade button. You will be able to upgrade Mambo by clicking that button:

If you have modified the files, languages, themes or if you have added any third-party modifications to the installation of Mambo it is possible that you may need to re-install your themes and/or re-apply your custom changes after using the Fantastico upgrade.

SiteGround recommends a web site backup to be created before proceeding with the upgrade.

If you have installed Mambo manually, you should upgrade it manually.

Step 1. First you should download the Mambo upgrade package. After you've downloaded the file, you should extract it.

Step 2. Backup your site (both database and web site files).

Step 3. Take your site offline: Site -> Global Configuration -> Site -> Site Offline (YES) and click Save:

Step 4. Then, you should remove the following files and directories of your current Mambo installation:

Directories:
/includes/patTemplate
/includes/domit
/help

Files:
/includes/mamboxml.php
/globals.php
/administrator/includes/auth.php
/administrator/components/com_weblinks/weblinks_item.xml
/administrator/components/com_languages/admin.languages.html.php

For example if you have installed Mambo in the folder 'mambo' on your account, you should remove:

public_html/mambo/includes/patTemplate
public_html/mambo/includes/domit
public_html/mambo/help

and

public_html/mambo/includes/mamboxml.php
public_html/mambo/globals.php
public_html/mambo/administrator/includes/auth.php
public_html/mambo/administrator/components/com_weblinks/weblinks_item.xml
public_html/mambo/administrator/components/com_languages/admin.languages.html.php

Step 5. Now, you have to run the SQL queries from the corresponding sql file which is located in the installation/sql folder. This can be done through PHPMyAdmin. If you have changed the default table prefix, you will have to replace mos__ with the new one.

You will need to find which database your Mambo installation uses. You can find that from Cpanel -> File Manager. Navigate to the configuration.php file in your Mambo directory. Click on the file and choose the Edit File link. Find the following variable:

$mosConfig_db

The value of this variable will show you which database your Mambo installation uses - e.g.:

$mosConfig_db = 'username_mamb1';

Step 6. Navigate to your Mambo database in PhpMyAdmin, go to the SQL tab and paste the SQL queries in the blank box named Run SQL query/queries on...

Step 7. Upload all files from the Patch_xxx_to_xxx folder (on your computer) into your Mambo installation on your hosting account. Let them overwrite the existing files. You can do that by using an FTP client.

Step 8. Open your configuration.php file and change

$mosConfig_lang = 'english';

to

$mosConfig_lang = 'en';

To do that you can use the File manager.

Step 9. If you are using SEO then remove your old .htaccess file and rename the new htaccess.txt file to .htaccess.

Step 10. Bring your site back online: Site->Global Configuration->Site Offline (NO).

Step 11. Remove the installation folder.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or recommendations about this tutorial at: tutorials 'at' siteground.com