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How to Use Joomla!'s Register to Read More Function

This tutorial will guide you in the process of creating an article using Joomla! 1.5 and setting it
up in a way so that only part of the article shows, and then further reading of the article would
require the user registering on your site and then logging in.

So, let’s begin.

Note: This document will begin with instructing readers with

detailed instructions on creating sections, categories, articles
(content), and menu items.
Advanced Joomla! users should skip to Step 4. (Page 4)

Log into Joomla!’s Administrative Back End:

Log into the back end using your user details. (Figure 1)

Create a Section:
Navigate to the Content menu. In the drop down list a menu item named Section Manager will
appear. Click it. (Figure 2)
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Once you reach the Section Manager, on the right you will see several icons. Click the one
marked new to create a new section. (Figure 3)

On the next screen you need to type in a title, and then optionally an alias. (If you do not put
an alias whatever you put in as the title will become the alias. See notes for more
information). Once you have a title and alias click save. You will exit the Section Editor and be
taken back to the Section Manager. (Figure 4)
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Now you must create a new category. Categories always go “inside” of sections. You can
have as many categories in any section you want. For this demonstration we will only have
one category in the section we just created.

Note: Both the Section Manager and the Category Manager

are accessed through either the ‘home’ page in the back end,
or through the content menu.

Additional Note on Alias’: The alias that is put into the article will be
useful in Search Engine Optimization.

Create a New Category

Using the Content menu click on the menu item marked Category Manager. (Figure 5)

The next screen is going to display all your categories. You can filter these by their containing
sections, by searching for keywords. You can also choose whether to display only published,
or only unpublished categories.

From this area click the new button to create a new category. (Figure 6)

Just like in the Section Editor you will be writing a title, and then optionally an alias. But what
is different here is that you have to select the section you want the category “in”. In this case
will be selecting the section we just created. Once you have a title, and optionally the alias,
click save. (Figure 7)
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After you’ve saved the new category you will be taken to the Category Manager. From this
point you will need to create a new article.

Note: In Joomla! 1.0.x articles were referred to as

content. In Joomla! 1.5 (and this tutorial) a piece
of content will be referred to as an article.

Create an Article:
Go to the content menu, the very first sub menu is named Article Manager. Click it to enter the
Article Manager. (Figure 8)

Once you are in the Article Manager, on the right among all the icons available, one of them is
entitled new. Click it to create a new article. (Figure 9)
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In the Article Editor you must put a title for your article, and optionally an alias. Then you need
to select the section and category you want the article to be associated with. (Figure 10)

Note: The Article Manager

is accessed through the
content menu.

Now, because we want users to be able to read a part of the article, but to be forced to
register to read the entire article, we will be setting up this article with intro text and main text.
This is done by first putting in our intro text, and then clicking a button at the bottom of the text
editor which then inserts a red dashed line. Anything written beneath the red dashed line will
be seen only when a user clicks on the read more link. (Seen only on the front end).

So, put in some intro text. I am demonstrating using some sample content from a Joomla! 1.5
Installation. (Figure 11)

Now that we have some intro text, we need to put in the read more divider.

To do this: click the read more button at the bottom of the text editor. A red dashed line will
appear under the line where your cursor is. (Figure 12)

Note: Neither the ‘intro text’ area or the ‘main

text’ area is limited to text. You can insert
images, video, etc…

Additional: You might need to scroll down to the

bottom of the page to see the read more button.
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Once you have the read more separation line, add some text beneath it. (Figure 13)

Configuring the Article’s Parameters

Now that we have an article with intro text and main text, it needs to be configured so that it
has permission to show the intro text to the public, but only displays the main text to users
who have registered and logged in.

On the right hand side of the Article Editor there are several parameter tabs. Under the first
tab [Parameters – Article] there is an option labeled Access Level. By default it is set to
public. Click the drop box and set it to Registered. (Figure 14)

We do not have to set any other parameters in the article. Click Save to save the article and
exit to the Article Manager. (Figure 15)
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Create a Category Blog Layout Menu Item:

The last place we were was the Article Manager. From here we need to go over to create a
menu item that will go to the Article we created. So, go to the menus menu item and a then
click the main menu sub menu. (Figure 16)

Once we reach the Menu Manager to the right there are again several icons. We want to
create a new menu. So, click the icon marked new. (Figure 17)

The next screen displays a list that shows all the different types of menus that we have the
option of using. For what we are doing we are going to select the Articles menu type. (Figure
18)

After we select the menu type Articles we have to chose what type of article menu item we
want to create. I chose the category blog layout. (Figure 19)
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Once we’ve selected the Category Blog Layout menu type, we are taken to another page
where we will give the menu item a title, and set some final parameters. (Figure 20)

To the right there are several parameter tabs. The first one is labeled parameters – basic.
Among its many settings, there is one where you will select the section and category that
contain the article you are going to be driving (linking) to. So, click the drop down box and
from the list select the proper section and category. (Figure 21)
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Almost done!
We have one parameter left to set before we save the menu item and see the fruits of our
labor. Also on the right there is another parameters tab marked parameters – component.
The first setting in this area is labeled show unauthorized links. By default this setting is set to
global. Click the drop box and set it to yes. (Figure 22)

Now all we need to do is save the menu. (Figure 23)

Let’s take a look at the front end of the site and see the menu link in action. (Figure 24)

If you click the register to read more link you be sent to the default Joomla! registration form.

Well, that was all that this tutorial was about. But, there is one more advanced trick you can
do to spice up your site a bit. That is, show you how to edit the text register to read more….
So, read on if you are interested.
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Advanced: Editing the Read More link:

Note: This trick involves downloading and editing a

core Joomla! file. The file is located in:

Joomlaroot/languages/en-GB/en GB.com_content.ini

Download and edit a language file:

Download and open up the file en-GB.com_content.ini in a text editor. What you are going to
do is locate, and then edit to suit a line of code. I recommend searching for register to read
more in the file en-GB.com_content.ini.

The entire line will read:

REGISTER TO READ MORE...=Register to read more...

To change what is displayed on the front end of your site edit the text following the equals
( = ) sign. So, if we wanted the front end to display login to read more, the line of code would
be:

REGISTER TO READ MORE...=login to read more

If you wanted the front end to display blah blah blah then the code would like this:

REGISTER TO READ MORE...=blah blah blah

You basically have the choice of making that text say anything you want.

Once the text says what you want, save the file, upload and overwrite the existing file, and
check the front end to make sure that it is working properly.

Figure 25 shows an example of the language file edited. Rather than the registration link
saying register to read more, it says login to read more.