Preparing The PDF

Before you can add a PDF there are a number of steps you must first follow:

1. Rename the PDF you want to add with no upper-case characters or spaces, for example file-name.pdf instead of File Name.pdf, and for ease save the file on your desktop.
2. In Joomla go to the Media Manager, a shortcut is on the administration area home page or you can select this from the drop-down menu under Site.
3. In the Media Manager select stories from the list of files.
4. You can now upload the PDF to this folder by selecting browse under Upload File at the bottom of the page. Select the PDF from your desktop, click open and then click start upload back on the Joomla page.
5. It is worth noting down the file name of the PDF for later, for example file-name.pdf.

Adding The PDF

To add the PDF to your web page, follow these instructions:

1. From the main navigation select Content and then Article Manager from the drop down menu.
2. Select the page you want to add the PDF to, whether this be an existing or new article.
3. In the text body of the article type the link text of the PDF, for example Click Here. Now highlight this text with your cursor.
4. In the text editing toolbar above the text body click on Insert/Edit Link (the small link symbol on the middle line). A new window will appear on your screen.
5. In the Link URL field type /images/stories/ then the name of the PDF you noted down earlier. This is the location of the PDF, for example /images/stories/file-name.pdf.
6. In the Target field select Open link in a new window from the drop down list.
7. In the Title field you can type anything to name the file, for example File Name.
8. You do not need to select anything in the Class field.
9. Finally click Insert, this will close the Insert/Edit Link window.
10. Click Save on the Joomla screen then check that the PDF link is working on the web page.

If you experience difficulty during any stage of the process please contact us for assistance and we’ll be happy to help.

You can also save or print a PDF version of these instructions for your records:

Joomla! User Guide: How To Add A PDF (Adobe PDF)

As a general rule the internet doesn’t appreciate spaces or a mix of upper and lower case characters in filenames. While these may work perfectly well on your computer, it is wise to rename your files before you upload them to your website.

• Change all the characters in the file name to lowercase, for example computer file.pdf instead of Computer File.pdf
• If there are any spaces in the file name you can replace these with underscores or hyphens, for example computer_file.pdf or computer-file.pdf

Making these changes should ensure that you have no problems uploading files to your website. However, if you still experience difficulty there could be an underlying issue so please get in touch for assistance.

If your site operates on the content management system Joomla you have several options to configure your meta data:

Global Configuration

Global meta keywords and descriptions can be set in the global configuration page which will be applied to all pages. You must be a super administrator to access this page.

1. Go to the Site menu, located at the top left of the page.
2. Click on Global Configuration.
3. The following box will be at the bottom of the page. Enter the required meta description and meta keywords (separated by commas). Select No on the further options.
4. Then click Save at the top right of the page.

This is simple to do but search engines will frown upon global meta tags as it implies there is duplicate content on all of the pages. Search engines want to see original content on each page.

Individual Configuration

A better option is to add the keywords and descriptions to each individual page. When editing an article, to the right hand side there are some additional parameters where you can specify keywords and description for that specific page. Search engines will see that effort has been made to give each page a unique identity and therefore place your website accordingly in it’s results.

1. When editing an article you will see the below box at the right of the page.
   
2. Within Metadata Information you need to enter your page description and keywords (separated by commas) relevant to the content of the page.
3. You do not need to enter anything in the Robots and Author fields.
4. Click Save in the top right of the page to confirm these changes.

If you require any help or wish to learn more, please contact us.

You can also save or print a copy of these instructions for your records:

Joomla! User Guide: Managing Meta Data (Adobe PDF)