CanCall addon for Joomla v1.5 / v1.6 / v1.7

About CanCall

In my sparetime, I maintain some websites for friends of mine, or local ham radio groups. The one type of software being used increasingly for Amateur Radio websites is Joomla. It's a popular Content Management System that makes updating a site very easy and comprehensive. There are several add-ons and customizations that give a Joomla site new features and abilities.

I found a module that can search an American database for Amateur Radio Callsigns, but could not find one that works specifically on Canadian callsigns. While some Canadian callsigns are indexed in U.S. based databases like QRZ.com, any new entries from Canada are usually a month or more late. A Canadian can pass his or her exam to become a new ham, but his or her new callsign won't show up in QRZ for at least another month. Sometimes that creates a little friction with hams who don't realize that there are two databases, and that QRZ is not the official database for Canadian hams.

With that in mind, I set out to create my own little mod for Joomla users that gives them a direct search link to the official Canadian database of callsigns. CanCall is FREE software, licensed under the GNU / GPL. I hope you find it useful.

This Joomla mod is also listed on the Joomla Extensions Listing under the category of "Searching and Indexing - Directories Search."


CanCall Documentation

You must first download the CanCall ZIP file before you can install it on your Joomla site. Don't unzip it. Just save it where you like on your local drive, and then allow Joomla to upload and install the ZIP file as is.

Download CanCall

Installing CanCall is identical to installing any other module in Joomla. Just follow these few steps:

  • Access the Administration page for your Joomla site
  • Navigate to the Extensions tab and choose Extension Manager.
  • Click the BROWSE button and select the "mod_cancall_j16.zip" file that you just downloaded.
  • Click the Upload and Install button to start the process of uploading CanCall to your site.
  • Once installed, you will have to click the Extensions tab and choose Module Manager. Find Canadian Callsign search in the listing, and click on the listing name. Set the options to your liking, and save it. Don't forget to change the status to PUBLISHED.

That's it!

Uninstalling the module can be done as follows:

  • Access the Administration page for your Joomla site
  • Navigate to the Extensions tab and choose Extension Manager.
  • Click on the Manage link under Extension Manager and find Canadian Callsign search in the listing.
  • Click the empty checkbox to the left side of the name.
  • Select the Uninstall button in the Joomla toolbar.

That's all. It's gone!