Here's an image gallery called Simple Image Gallery that works.

Note: Since first publishing this article I removed the Newsflash module from the top position of the page layout and the gallery works the same in the Firefox and IE browser. There is still some minor conflict with the template design. You shouldn't see the color Switcher at the top of the page.

I tested this plugin on the solarflare template and it worked okay. It just doesn't like this template.

It is easy to set up and the documentation is self contained. There is some troubleshooting instruction included. Installs as a Mambot.

I did have to change the permissions of the showthumbs.php script as instructed in the troubleshooting guide.

Don't forget to click the Publish icon in the Site Mambots manager when you are ready to show your gallery.

You can click on the thumbnail images below to view the pictures in full size.

I used the images/stories/food folder for the gallery. You can build your own galleries in the images/stories folder. Just create new folders in the stories folder and add your pics. Very simple code is then added to the content of your page.

Recently I tried to add a highly touted extension to this Joomla site called Smooth Gallery.

Uploaded and installed the module, published it and it trashed the entire website. All the content just disappeared from every web page.

So I unpublished it and added Smooth Gallery to the Not Recommended category of Joomla extensions.

I don't think Opensource people will ever get the message. Put out a great product? Provide step by step instructions for the installation process.

Alas, they have always been and will always be, too lazy to complete the jobs they start.

One of the most aggravating problems of the internet is 'Form Spam'.

You put up a simple contact form and some idiot accesses it with a bot program and constantly sends you a bunch of gobledegush. I don't know if it's the Russian mafia or just somebody that can't spell, but because the contact module doesn't include a Captcha feature, the best solution in my book is just to turn off the contact form.

The Captcha or Site Images module for Joomla is one of those that falls into our CRAP category. A good program, but poorly documented and impossible for non-techie minds (like mine) to make work.

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If you've installed Joomla and logged on to the Administrator Panel and see an error message that ends with something like 'register_globals is On. For security reasons it should be set to off. ', have no fear.

I searched some of the forums to see how to solve the problem and found that there was a lot of confusion on the subject. A lot of erroneous solutions were offered to solve the security problem.

My own research:
You will get this error if you are using PHP 4. If your web host gives you the option of using PHP 4 or PHP 5, choose PHP 5 and you won't get the error.

If you are using PHP 4 and that is all that your web host offers, you need to access the php.ini file from your File Manager.

Our web host provides access to this file in a SYS folder.

The PHP.ini file included in each PHP 4 release recommends setting register_globals to off and then in the settings, sets it to on. (Go figure)

Scroll down to the line that reads register_globals=On and change it to register_globals=off and save the php.ini file.

Now open your Joomla administrator panel and the error message is gone.

If you've got a retarded web host that doesn't give you access to the file you may have to submit a trouble ticket and ask them to make the change for you.

NOTE:If you are using PHP to create your own home made scripts, changing this setting could render them useless. Be sure to check all of your forms and make sure they are still working after changing this setting!!

Most OpenSource software is JUNK!

It may be great software, but there is one quality of this kind of product that is consistent.

The developers of Opensource are too lazy to create user friendly documentation for their products.

Joomla is the only exception I have found.

But, alas, many of the components and modules created for Joomla fall into the category of JUNK.

Nothing is more frustrating than finding what you think is a great addition to your Joomla site, installing it only to find that it doesn't work because you need patches or you have to change directory settings. And the only way to find out why it doesn't work is by chasing down forum entries.

Most Opensource is just a waste of time, for those who try to install it and the people who put it out there!!