CiviCRM is somewhat unique in the open source software world as it is built to integrate as an extension with Joomla, Drupal, and WordPress. This cross-platform compatibility greatly increases the user and developer base, often pushing the feature rollout and release cycle to a more rapid pace than it would if it was CMS-specific. It also means that the code structure and development methodology does not strictly adhere to any one CMS model. That said, CiviCRM is built to be customized, and as Joomla developers, there are multiple ways you can take the core functionality of CiviCRM and extend it to the specific needs of your organization or client. In this session we will walk through best practices when tailoring CiviCRM to your needs, including: plugin events/hooks, PHP override files, template overrides, javascript/jquery injection, css overrides, and an API overview. If you are in the process of implementing a CiviCRM installation, or interested in becoming a CiviCRM implementer or developer, this session will provide an essential overview of the toolsets available to you.

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Presenter: Brian Shaughnessy

Brian Shaughnessy is the principal of Lighthouse Consulting & Design, a small development firm specializing in CiviCRM implementation with Joomla and Drupal. Having worked in the not-for-profit sector for over 10 years, Brian channeled that hands-on knowledge of the civic, association, charitable, and government audiences into effective, tailored implementations of CiviCRM. He is an active participant in the CiviCRM community, having served on the community advisory group and later the development planning group, contributing code back to the core project on a regular basis, providing end user and administrator training in conjunction the core development team, and helping to co-author several CiviCRM books, including Using CiviCRM by Packt Publishing. He has also been an active member of the Joomla community, serving as a mentor to Joomla's Google Summer of Code projects, and providing online Joomla training through TechnicalLead.com. He is based in Albany, NY.