| What is Joomla? | | | | Joomla is like having a modular house design. If you |
| Joomla is an open-source Content Management | | | | need another room for your house, you just add |
| System (CMS). It is also a powerful application | | | | another room module. With Joomla, if you need an |
| framework, which means it is designed so many | | | | event registration page and database capture, you |
| different website capabilities can be added by using | | | | can simply add an event "extension" to the website. |
| "extensions" or mini-applications. Joomla's roots go | | | | Who can Install and Use Joomla? |
| back to 2000 and Joomla has emerged in the last | | | | You do not have to be a "techie" to install and use |
| few years as one the most popular open-source | | | | Joomla, but you should have a working knowledge of |
| CMS applications being used, and boasts having over | | | | how to set up a database on a web server and how |
| 200,000 community users and contributors. Joomla | | | | to install and configure a web-based application. |
| uses PHP and mySQL and is extremely versatile. It is | | | | Joomla can be installed on any server that supports |
| more than simply popular-it just works well and a | | | | PHP and mySQL. |
| volunteer community keeps making it better and | | | | Most Joomla installations will require some website |
| better. | | | | customization to add a color scheme to the website |
| How Does Joomla Work? | | | | template and to add your branding to the website. |
| Like all Content Management Systems, Joomla uses a | | | | Because of all the many things Joomla can do from |
| database to contain all the website's content or text, | | | | the start, often a great deal of time is needed to |
| then combines the text with a website template | | | | configure the website and turn off or disable |
| design in order to create website pages. | | | | features not needed. |
| An Adminstrator page allows the website | | | | Editing and Publishing Made Easy |
| administrator to log in and have control over the | | | | Where Joomla really shines is once it is installed and |
| entire website, for creating menu structures, adding | | | | configured. You and your staff can easily edit |
| extensions, new pages. Joomla allows you to assign | | | | website content, upload photographs and create new |
| different users different levels of capabilities. For | | | | pages, all without having to know HTML. |
| instance, you may need to have a few people | | | | If you have a large website with information that |
| writing content for the website, but not able to | | | | changes quickly or news that needs to be added |
| publish the content. Other staff can have the ability | | | | daily, Joomla is a great CMS. |
| to edit and publish. This approach is great for | | | | Joomla has many extensions for managing news |
| organizations where you need many contributors, but | | | | articles, and can automatically rotate new content |
| you need to keep strict control over the website's | | | | into pages or areas of pages you designate. You can |
| content. | | | | also set the date to automatically publish or expire |
| Built-in User Registration | | | | articles or content within the website. |
| One of Joomla's most powerful features is that it can | | | | Joomal features include: |
| register users and give approved users access to | | | | - Search by keyword and advanced search capability |
| website menus and pages not visible to the general | | | | - Registration system for users with different menus |
| public. The user registration and user login system can | | | | for different groups |
| be used for giving your employees access to | | | | - Users can be assigned editing and publishing |
| employee-only pages, or giving your customers | | | | privileges |
| access to customer-only pages, or sales | | | | - Entirely web-based administration system |
| representatives access to their own area - or all of | | | | - Uses PHP and mySQL |
| the above. | | | | - Open source code |
| You can also easily email all registered users, so | | | | - Over 3,800 extensions to provide many exciting |
| keeping groups of people using your website | | | | website features |
| informed is easy to do. If you do not need user | | | | Getting Familiar With Joomla |
| registration, you can easily disable this feature. | | | | The joomla.org website offers you quite a lot of |
| How is Joomla Being Used? | | | | information about Joomla, including an online demo, |
| - For corporate websites and portals | | | | forums and documentation. There are links to actual |
| - For corporate intranets and extranets | | | | websites using Joomla on the joomla.org website |
| - For community-based portals | | | | which will show you how different Joomla can be |
| - For small business websites | | | | made to look and how it is being used. |
| - For E-commerce websites | | | | Is Joomla Right for Your Website? |
| - For online magazines, newspapers | | | | Given how versatile Joomla, and the number of |
| - For online publishing | | | | Extensions available to give the content management |
| - For Government applications | | | | system so many additional features, the answer is |
| - For personal websites | | | | yes. Keep in mind that Joomla is free, but there are |
| - For school and church websites | | | | some licensing restrictions, so be sure to read the |
| Why is Joomla so Versatile? | | | | fine print. While most of the over 3,800 extensions |
| Because Joomla is open-source, there are thousands | | | | are free to download and use, some extensions are |
| of "extensions" or small mini-components available. | | | | not free, and individual extension support can vary |
| These extensions are created by individual | | | | from minimal to extremely good and everything else |
| programmers and some commercial software | | | | in between. |
| companies, which work within the Joomla! framework | | | | Lastly, because there are so many extensions, plan |
| to give your website many different capabilities-from | | | | on spending a lot of time reviewing, downloading, |
| social networking to ecommerce and more. | | | | installing and testing extensions. |