Thanks for helping us to test Joomla!

We're getting ready for the release of Joomla 3.0 and we appreciate you helping us find and fix problems as we work.

If you haven't done testing before here are some tips.

• Don't delete the installation folder when you finish installing! While we're working we turn that security feature off to make it easier to test.
• Go to global configuration and set Error Reporting to Development (that's on the server tab) and enable both debugging and language debugging (those are on the system tab). Don't worry when you see ** around words --that means Joomla translation is doing its job.

How to test

• First, do the things you normally do and see if you spot any problems.
• Look at all of the front end views and record any problems
• Look at all the back end views and report any problems
• See more ideas below

What to look for

• Any error messages that say things like Fatal Error or Strict or similar things that indicate that something is not working correctly.
• Untranslated strings. You will know these because they look like this: ?STRING_HERE?
• Problems of rendering--items not aligned correctly, missing or wrong images, pages that just don't look right.
• Unexpected behavior--anything that is working differently than it did in 2.5.

Report problems

If you find a problem please report it to the CMS Issue Tracker. You will need to register for a joomlacode.org account if you don't have one.

More Testing Ideas

• Pick one module or view and test all of the parameters.
• Install an extension and see if anything breaks (report to the developer unless you are positive it is a core bug).
• Turn on caching with different options
• Try different session options
• Install a language and test all the layouts.
• Try different environments (like different servers which may have different version of PHP) or try you have IIS with MySQLi or SqlSrv. With millions of users Joomla needs to be ready for unusual environments.
• Try with SEF URLS on or off and also with Apache rewrite on or off (if you are on Apache).
• Try different combinations of browsers (Chrome, IE, FireFox, Opera to start) and operating systems (Mac, Windows, Linux).
• Yes grammar and spelling errors are bugs too -- just keep in mind that we use British spelling.
• Visit the Feature Tracker and test a new feature.

Your installation includes sample data, designed to show you some of the options you have for building your website. In addition to information about Joomla! there are two sample "sites within a site" designed to help you get started with building your own site.

The first site is a simple site about Australian Parks. It shows how you can quickly and easily build a personal site with just the building blocks that are part of Joomla. It includes a personal blog, weblinks, and a very simple image gallery.

The second site is slightly more complex and represents what you might do if you are building a site for a small business, in this case a Fruit Shop.

In building either style site, or something completely different, you will probably want to add extensions and either create or purchase your own template. Many Joomla users start by modifying the templates that come with the core distribution so that they include special images and other design elements that relate to their site's focus.

As you make your Joomla! site you will control the details of the display using options also referred to as parameters. Options control everything from whether the author's name is displayed to who can view what to the number of items shown on a list.

Default options for each component are changed using the Options button on the component toolbar.

Options can also be set on an individual item, such as an article or contact and in menu links.

If you are happy with how your site looks, it is fine to leave all of the options set to the defaults that were created when your site was installed. As you become more experienced with Joomla you will use options more.

Joomla means All Together, and it is a community of people all working and having fun together that makes Joomla possible. Thousands of people each year participate in the Joomla community, and we hope you will be one of them.

People with all kinds of skills, of all skill levels and from around the world are welcome to join in. Participate in the Joomla.org family of websites (the forum is a great place to start). Come to a Joomla! event. Join or start a Joomla! Users Group. Whether you are a developer, site administrator, designer, end user or fan, there are ways for you to participate and contribute.