After a very long time, the time has come: our homepage is being updated, or in modern terms: relaunched. It hasn't even been 6 years since anything changed - that's what I call stable...
The new homepage is based on new technologies that are available in the age of Web 2.0. On the one hand, the design of static HTML pages is no longer up-to-date and on the other hand, a reasonably up-to-date homepage requires interaction with visitors. Now we don't want to open a portal for any kind of contemporary discussion, but updating the site had to be made easier.

The content

In principle, nothing has changed in the content of the homepage: You can still find information about Martina, Jörg and Lea Hecker from Munich. However, there are now more short blog-style posts, which can keep the site more up-to-date. Furthermore, the recipe and photo album sections have changed fundamentally, as they are created using the latest technology.
The web has also become more commercialized over the years, so that issues such as liability for links and content, copyright infringement, etc. play a greater role. For this reason, large parts of the site remain hidden from non-registered users. Don't worry: Registration is easy, free and does not lead to a flood of spam.

The technology

The new homepage was created using a so-called content management system (CMS). These systems allow content to be managed relatively easily, without having to worry about the visual presentation. This is done by defining templates and categories and then you can write new posts online, categorize them and they will appear automatically the next time you visit the site.
The CMS used is an open source solution called Joomla! This system is freely available under the GPL license and is developed and supported free of charge by a group of programmers. It is now also used in many commercial websites and ours is version 1.5. Joomla! runs on the basis of the scripting language PHP (here version 5) in conjunction with a MySQL database (version 5).
One advantage of Joomla! is that the system can be easily extended with components. Our recipes are managed using the open source extension Gary's Cookbook, in which the recipes are managed using a database. This means that recipes have a uniform design, but the collection can also be searched using certain criteria. This only makes sense if the data is maintained accordingly (e.g., calories) and the collection is extensive, but perhaps that will come in the future.
Another extension used is our photo album. This is implemented using the open source component Coppermine, which also works as a standalone solution. The advantages of Coppermine are its integration into Joomla! and its use in the PHP scripting language without any special requirements (e.g. the so-called Safe Mode does not have to be switched off as in Gallery2).
In addition, other small extensions are integrated, such as the sitemap, which provides an overview of all areas of the homepage. Things like changing the size of the font (top left) or the global search across the pages are already available in Joomla!.

The planning

At the moment, no major changes to the design or to the areas of the site are planned. However, not all contributions are up to date yet, so the job descriptions, for example, need to be updated. Otherwise, the photo album is still quite clear and will certainly be expanded soon.
Due to the new nature of the homepage, we are very grateful for suggestions for improvement. contact form can be used or a normal email is sufficient; some even prefer the telephone
All that remains for us to do is to wish the visitors of these pages a lot of fun surfing!