Getting Started with Joomla for Web Development

You don't have to hire a designer to have a good looking website. Now there are programs that you can use to get a great looking site without having to spend large amounts of money.

Joomla is one of those programs that you can use to create a website fast online. Joomla is a content management system that makes it easy to organize your information online. People are familiar with blogging software systems. Content management systems might not be a concept that they really understand.

Content management systems keep your information organized online. Web development could be like hurding cats. When you have lots of different people that need to include information on a site, it can get very crowded and the opportunity for problems can jump up quickly. Content management systems like joomla make it easy for multiple people to update a site.

Installing Joomla is pretty fast. You have to check with your web hosting company to make sure that they support the programs that are required to run joomla. The top web hosting companies should have everything that you need to get started with joomla.

The great thing about content management systems and blogs is that you don't have to worry about a lot of the details. The software is built to do certain tasks right out of the box. A joomla site is structured in a way that makes it simple for you to understand where and how the information you add to the system will be shown to end users.

With joomla, areas of the site layout are named so that they are easy to recognize. There is a header section, there is a sidebar and footer. In addition, joomla has other areas that are easy to recognize and add content.

The first step with joomla is going to the joomla website at http://www.joomla.org. Take a look at the information that they have available. You can see how joomla sites look by viewing the demo joomla apps.

After you have viewed a joomla site, the question that you have to ask yourself is if this type of site is what you really want? Joomla sites pretty much look the same online. There are different joomla templates that you can add, but they tend to have the same kind of structure. Wordpress sites might have a little more flexibility when it comes to themes and designs.

Joomla can seem like an online file cabinet. You have to do a lot of organizing of your information. Learning the terms and the process for setting everything up can take some time. There is a big difference between joomla and wordpress in this regard. With wordpress, you can install the software and start posting information immediately. With joomla, you have to do some initial setup and organizing before you start adding your content.

Joomla templates

Joomla like Wordpress makes it really easy to change designs. You can upload joomla templates to your site and activate them similar to the process involved with wordpress sites. This is a big advantage for those people that are not ready to design a website. Just find the theme that you like and install it and activate it. You can preview the site before making it active.

You can find joomla template sites on the web just by doing a simple google search. Just like wordpress, they have free and premium themes available.

Joomla is a content management system and just like wordpress, it makes it easy to change the site design. Joomla has templates that you can install in just a few minutes. You can customize the template, but you would need to be careful. Simple changes like adding a new header or changing the header text is simple to do. Just read the setup information about the template and follow the directions.

Joomla templates can be found by doing online searches. There are free joomla templates and premium joomla templates that you can choose from. One issue with Joomla and Wordpress is making sure that the template that you download and install is compatible with the version of the software that you have.

Joomla provides a way to get more out of the software with extensions that give your joomla installation even more flexibility. Joomla extensions are just like wordpress plugins. Joomla software developers create programs that can allow you to do even more with joomla. Do you want to include ads on your joomla site? There are extensions that can help with that. Some joomla extensions are free and other you will have to pay for. Take a look at the extensions that are available. http://extensions.joomla.org/

Before you commit to the changes of design on your joomla site, you can do a preview. This will give you an idea of how your web visitors will see your site. If you like the template, you can make it active and your site will have a totally new look. The great thing about using systems like joomla is the ease with which you can change designs. You could find a new template next week and change the site if you wanted to.