Click here to view the embedded video.

Missed the other lessons?

• Lesson One – What is Joomla!?
• Lesson Two – The Community
• Lesson Three – Installation
• Lesson Four – Admin Overview (current page)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Installing JOOMLA is a simple task.  Just make sure you have your MySQL username and password ready and preferably your FTP username and password ready.  If you have those two things you’re ready to go.

Missed the other lessons?

• Lesson One – What is Joomla!?
• Lesson Two – The Community
• Lesson Three – Installation (current page)
• Lesson Four – Admin Overview

Click here to view the embedded video.

Quick links from the video:

Joomla!’s homepage

J! Connect

The Forums

Extension Directory

The Documentation

The API

Missed the other lessons?

• Lesson One – What is Joomla!?
• Lesson Two – The Community (current)
• Lesson Three – Installation
• Lesson Four – Admin Overview

I posted this on the JOOMLA forums but thought it pertinent for the site at well:

After doing so many sites for clients over the years, I’ve noticed a trend when going to train them in cms and blogging systems like Wordpress and Joomla.

Both systems, I feel, have fairly good naming conventions, as related to the core features.  i.e. “plugins, modules, templates, menus” etc.  I was glad to see Joomla change terminology from “mambots” to “plugins”.  Every time I would use that word “mambot” to a client their eyes would glaze over and wander into infinity.  The point: Semantics and word association is very important in this business.  It’s the difference between relating a complicated system and a simple system.
Magento, for example, has horrible word association.  A theme, template, and layout are different things in their system.  This is horribly confusing to anyone in the industry as we say “Wordpress themes”, “Joomla templates”, etc.  They are taking associative words and making them different.  The result is having to relearn the words and break apart the semantics!

JOOMLA! has done a great job at separating the core terminology.  The only one left where I’ve seen clients drift into neverneverland is upon hearing the word “Component”.  I feel this is mainly because “component” can be associated with many other things.  A “component” of Joomla could be associated with a “feature” or an “aspect” of Joomla.

I have found myself describing “components” to clients as “apps”.  As soon as I do that, I always get an “Oh!  ok” moment.

So how much earth shaking do you think it’ll take to get that core change approved?
What say ye?

Click here to view the embedded video.

What is JOOMLA?

Joomla is an open-source cms that can be applied to almost anyone’s need

From a Business point of view:

• It allows you to manage your website and empower others within your company to contribute, administer, etc.
• It provides a platform that is open to almost any specific need

From a Development Point of View:

• JOOMLA! Shouldn’t be just viewed as a way to administer content.  It provides a framework from which to build any application you may need.

• Because of its flexible templating engine, a re-design of your site won’t constitute a complete re-do of the every web page.  Simply change the template and a few minor things and you will have a whole new look.

• Joomla’s framework includes many features such as built in security, user management, easy extendability…..thus enabling the dev of your site to stay focused on your specific needs / applications.

• Joomla has a well documented framework and a very active community

Joomla Features

The JOOMLA! CMS is no rookie in the market!  It has been deployed by companies such as Porche Brazil to provide their website backbone.  Joomla’s content publishing allows you to quickly create content for websites, control access to your documents, administer user created content, and more.

The modules in Joomla provide easy to move blocked of code.  Moving something on your site now doesn’t require you to change every page on your site.

The Joomla components allow you to install mini-applications in your site; thus allowing you to install applications such as e-commerce / shopping carts, photo galleries, form builders, forums, and more!

The user manager provides extendible control over registered and special users.  From simple, public access, to control over authors publishers, and administrators

Open Source

A lot of people think “second class” when they hear “open source”.  This is probably justifiable depending on what they have used.  However, JOOMLA! ranks within the premium products of the Open Source community; showcasing a world-class team of developers and a thriving community.

Building from scratch a system similar to Joomla would cost tens of thousands of dollars.  Thus by selecting Joomla as your CMS / Development, you eliminate large chunks of start-up costs and let your budget focus specifically on the immediate need of your site / application.

Joomla is the most popular GPL CMS in the world.  Its community can be found in almost every country, it’s system translated in many languages, and can be used to fit almost any need.

Want to see the other lessons?

• Lesson One – Introduction (current page)
  
• Lesson Two – The Community
• Lesson Three – Installation
• Lesson Four – Admin Overview