Moving forward with Multi-Domain Setups

Written by Landis Arnold on .

In Joomla there is a sequential approach that needs to happen when setting up a Multi-Domain environment.

Of course, the first part is running down the extensions you need, testing them, learning them, implementing them.

The second part is a continuation of the first.  More specifically though, you want to build out your Array of Resources.  I would prefer this to be a checkbox rather than a Bullit List but here we go.

First Requirements

  • Stable and Controlable, generally Linux based Server - lots to this but I can help.
  • Joomla Up to Date - should be easy
  • As many of your Extensions up to date - should be easy unless some subscriptions have expired - move on
  • Disable or Remove unused Extensions -  Many things you can do under the "Manage" tab on the backend of Joomla

Add Specifically

  • Virtual Domains
  • Smart Search (buildin)
  • OS Map (joomlashack)
  • Other Mappers for testing
    • Aimy SiteMap is helpful.  JSitemap is helpful, XML Sitemap Pro - external, is helpful
      • turn them off when you are not using the extras and don't submit to Search engines unless you need a second one for some reason.  Lots to discuss there.
  • OS Content (a great way to start your content buildout)
  • OS Meta (a great way to be sure you have covered your bases)

Remove:  

  • Search Modules

Add:

  • Smart Search Categories for each Menu
  • Smart Search Modules to each Menu
  • Custom Module that links to each of your Virtual Domains
  • Second Custom Module with Restricted Access for your in development Virtual Domains.
  • You can also do this with Articles but I find it too slow
  • SSL Certificate(s) for your domains (assumably applied in Apache)
  • Google Analytics Code to each Template being used by a Domain, and segregated to that Domain
  • Site Map registrations to google for each Domain  (you need to organize yourself here with Menus)

Test:

  • You will test alot, so keep your initial structures as simple as possible
  • Be Patient and Persistent.
  • You should do the same tests on each of your domains sequentially.
  • When all is working, move on to the next
  • Keep a good Checklist for Issues.  You can even write notes to your system with restricted access

Know:

  • You will get errors if you are repeating content in your menus the wrong way.
  • That means,  do not include the same content in two different Menu Items exactly the same way.  One needs to take precedence.
  • Move from one subject to the next throughly
  • Joomla ACL is very powerful.  It is complicated.  It is useful.  It is not always obvious what changes, so test the differences in settings.  
  • You generally won't kill your site, but sometimes you may need to remove something you just added that made your site stop working.
  • Big Changes should be preceeded with a System Backup that you can restore from and which you know how to restore from
  • I repeat:  Big Changes should be preceeded with a System Backup, manually triggered.
  • Have a Daily Backup system in place as well.

Check:

  • Your Virtual Domains Menu Filtering regularly.
    • If you add Menus Elements in Joomla you must add them to the "don't filter" (Menu Filter) set if you want to see them.
    • You can spend extended periods of time thinking your system is broken just because of this or some "bad key stroke sequence there.

Comment

    • An update to Virtual Domains was done recently, and it is clear that there can be more done.
    • All that said, it works very well and can save $ Time and Mind.  
    • Check out that Formatting Trick.  Never had 2 Bullets stacked before.
    • Have some fun and have some things to talk about other than your web site  (I am taking notes).

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Recent Work with a VPN router

Recent Work with a VPN router

Sometimes a small project is not so small.  For some reason my Odoo Server does not pass through my Comcast Home system at all well.  Solution was to put a dedicated PC into my office... but, I didn't want to just have RDC available for all comers (who sure came fast).

I remembered that I had a VPN equipped router.  I won't say the model.  Anywy, the company who made it was aquired and the aquiring company, as they are want to do, killed most support links about the router.  Turns out there were several other routers that used the same software for access, and yes, I got it too work.  Honestly, I think it is just a small step in security, not a big one.

In the end I was able to get the correct VPN client by simply downloading the off of a link to a later, still supported router from the company.  The client is no where as nice as OPENVPN for granularity, but it does work.  

I also found that "NOIP"  (https://noip.com) provides a functional way to address a dynamically assigned IP address.  There are a few other ways but this was the most direct and within the budget.

Things are working for now despite the EOL from the router builders new owner.  

I had mentioned in the earlier version of this post that it might be interesting to rewirte the firmware to the Router, and get it working as a OPENVPN router.  That remains interesting but likely easier to do that with some other hardware and software.

EOL is one of the LEAST SUSTAINABLE parts of IT and I do not like the planned obsolesence which rules the industry.

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Systems under the skin of TKL

Systems under the skin of TKL

Dissecting and understanding a build process is complicated.  It is very nice to be able to look under the skin from time to tim.

At present I am needing to adjust approaches as past ways of adapting have been left by the road (not by me).  Studying a bit about what takes place in alternative builds that I may adapt to is an approach that I need to take.

Turnkeylinux is built from 2 sets os structures.  What goes out, their "apps" are prebuilt systems.
Inside of each app though are many and various components.

https://github.com/turnkeylinux-apps/

https://github.com/turnkeylinux/fab  (the component sets)

consists of 68 Repositories at present, including...

https://github.com/turnkeylinux/fab

https://github.com/turnkeylinux/buildtasks

https://github.com/turnkeylinux/inithooks

https://github.com/turnkeylinux/buildroot

https://github.com/turnkeylinux/turnkey-paths

and many more.

TKLDEV is a good way to start to understand the process as TKLDEV will build new APPS and the process can be tracked.  Still following it is complicated.

This is left here as a study note to come back to.

A good entry point to Turnkeylinux is of on their "Help Sought" page"

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Magento Sunset

Magento Sunset

I have been running Magento since about 2012 with 1.3x in my memory bank. Up to 1.9x now and really just using Magento as a repository now.

Magento 2.x (2.3x to be precise) is here.  It does not work, at present, with this CMS system so I have a linkage taking place through Filemaker from J2Store to Magento and by extension to Odoo.

I will quite likely just take the Magento system down.  It will not be supported with updates after this coming June and the time investment of getting 2.x running and keeping it running does not seem available just now).  We will see.

Anyway, for now, I am going to start redirecting the URL's to land into this system.  Lets see what a pain that becomes.  Likely worth the effort but also perhaps now.

Sad, but Magento was aquired by Adobe and like Odoo, they are making it more and more difficult to use it as a Open Source software.  Not that either are impossible, but the reigns are steering the team towards privation.

Somewhat the nature of things these days I will say.

All good software, just a bit too time intensive.

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Magento - Odoo - OCA Connector

Magento - Odoo - OCA Connector

This is a very functional system which brings the ability to work the "backend" of Magento by actually building and purchasing items you sell,

  • Functionally you get all of the aspects of Odoo, including CRM, Product Management and more
  • You also get the great E-Commerce capabilities of Magento, and its increditble extensability.

(to do:  more detail)

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Organizing your culled information stream

Organizing your culled information stream

It is tremendously complicated these days keeping track of what you are learning.

As an example,  I am diving into the realm of dropping pre-built Drive Images into Cloud Instances.  I need to keep track of the difference between a bzip2 and tar file, and how to decompress them.  Very nice people have commented their answers in various places.  Answers like:

bzip2 -d filename.bz2

tar cvjf myfile.tar.bz *.txt

Certainly there are many more of these as well.  I likely have 20 Tabs open talking about all the various approaches, but that is not the point now.

The point now is simply, how to "keep track" and if possible, how to perhaps help other people in similar quests.

3 Basic Elements I am finding useful:

  1. Bookmark Organizing
     
    1. "Bookmark Manager and Viewer" a Chrome Extension is particularly valuable.  It takes a bit to get used to with one or two foibles, but nothing better that I have found.  Use this in conjunction with Chromes Bookmarking (they have the same icon) and spread them out so you know which one you are using.
    2. "Tabs Outliner" also a Chrome Extension lets you explore and tab to your hearts content.  You can close whole windows and keep track of the tabs.  Ideally you will move from here to your actual bookmarks, but with this you can see what you have been searching for, reading up upon and in many ways also reflect on what is important
  2. Durable Checklists
    1. Honestly, I am still looking for the ideal version here, but what I do know is that Outlines go a long way.  Lets go there
  3. Outlines and Outliners
    1. Now discontinued Bonsai is very good.  Very Very Good
    2. Android Outliner is VERY VERY VERY GOOD  (number 1 really except that I work in Bonsai more)
    3. Workflowy is the best web outliner I have found so far

There are others.  They all deserve attention, but the point is not the program but the work.

Nothing is perfect and no integrations, yet, are perfect.  I do also use

  • Simple Mind for Outlining and Mind Mapping . 
  • Odoo to keep track of issues and many other details. 
  • Evernote..  must have
  • Dropbox,  for me anyway, must Have

All are also excellent programs:

Like threads in a spider web though, you need to have your own system of reference to keep them together.  Things are getting better, but, there is still you in the middle.

Getting things done..  a book and a mantra.  The program did not work very well unfortunately (may have had another name - written for PC Tablet computers in about 2005 ?).  It should have worked better.  The concept was incredible.  It just had big, in fact large and untenable, memory leaks.

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