New to Joomla

'New to Joomla' - this website is for anyone who is new to Joomla and wants to setup a new site with Joomla.

I have a lot of experience designing conventional websites, including database-driven sites using php, so I thought setting up a site using Joomla would be so simple. My first experiences were with version 1, in late 2006.

Evaluating CMS

After an extensive evaluation of many different content management systems (CMS) my conclusion was that they had great potential, but the documentation and ease of use was lacking.

I evaluated a lot in depth, including Drupal, Joomla, Typo3, Xoops and Textpattern by installing them and working with them to develop at least one site.

It was very frustrating, I knew exactly how I wanted my site to look and feel, but I couldn't achieve it with any of the products. Was I expecting too much of them? Should I be content with the way they looked rather than wanting a site that was my design?

The choice - Drupal or Joomla?

Eventually it was a choice between Drupal and Joomla - after more work than I care to admit, the lot fell to Joomla.

Why Joomla?

  • ease of use
  • more understandable
  • better documentation
  • faster delivery of site when built

What next?

This site documents my experiences setting up a new site using Joomla, with all the frustrations, questions and answers that I found. Enjoy!

default Joomla installation before any changes

A 'clean' Joomla installation

How your website will look after a Joomla installation and before you start to make any changes.

First questions . . .

  • What are Joomla user and module positions
  • How do you put modules etc into those positions
  • How do you change the BEEZ Joomla Template
  • How do you add a calendar
  • How do you add your own content in an iframe or similar to get free-form content
  • What's the best way to get started with Joomla
  • Where is the best Joomla documentation
  • How should I build this site ! - Joomla or Wordpress?
  • How can I make this information useful to others

What's on this site now?

Use the tabs at the top of the page to explore this site's content, you'll find . . .