Joomla Tutorial

Joomla is an open-source content management system (CMS), which is used to build beautiful web sites and powerful online applications. It is written in PHP and developed by Open Source Matters, Inc. It is built on a Model-View-Controller web application framework, which can be used independently of the CMS. It is free and uses object-oriented programming and software design patterns. It uses MySQL, MS SQL, or PostgreSQL database to store the data.

Our tutorial will include all the basic and advanced topics of Joomla that will guide you on how to create websites with ease. This tutorial is separated into different parts such as Joomla Basics, Joomla Menus, Joomla Modules, Joomla Global Settings, and Joomla Advanced containing all the related topics with the screenshots and examples.

What is Joomla?

Joomla is said to be one of the best open-source content management systems (CMS) that can be used to build powerful websites and online applications. It is free, extendable, and separated into front-end and back-end templates (runs from administrator side). It is built on a model-view-controller framework which can be used independently of the CMS.

Joomla is a platform which is based on PHP and MySQL. Joomla also supports third-party extensions and templates, which allow us to make further customization to meet specific requirements. It is open to anyone who wants to develop the extensions and templates.

What is a CMS (Content Management System)?

A content management system is a web-based application that keeps track of the entire data (i.e., text, photos, music, document, etc.). It includes the management that refers to creating, editing, archiving, publishing, collaborating on, reporting, distributing website content, data, and information.

Why use Joomla?

There are basically three most popular CMSs available, i.e., Joomla, Drupal, and Wordpress. Other than that, there are endless other less popular CMSs available. The differences between them may be quite significant, although they all are basically developed to do the same thing. Their main purpose is to help you create and manage your website.

Joomla is the perfect tool that is easy to install and set up. There is no need to be an advanced user to use Joomla. One can use it with little knowledge of HTML and CSS. There are thousands of extensions available in the Joomla Extension Directory, which can be applied to enhance the functionality. Joomla also contains a powerful application framework that helps the developers to create sophisticated add-ons that increase the power of Joomla into virtually unlimited directions.

The core Joomla framework helps developers to quickly and easily build:

• Inventory Control Systems
• Data Reporting Tools
• Application Bridges
• Custom Product Catalogs
• Integrated E-commerce Systems
• Complex Business Directories
• Reservation Systems
• Communication Tools

Applications of Joomla

Joomla can be used for:

• Corporate websites or portals, intranets, and extranets
• Small business websites
• Online magazines, newspapers, and publications
• E-commerce websites and online reservations
• Government, non-profit and organizational websites
• Community-based, school, college websites or portals
• Personal blogs or family homepages

Advantages of Joomla

• It is a freely available open-source platform.
• It is quite simple to install and set up.
• It uses WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, which helps to edit the content very easily.
• Almost all the browsers support it by default.
• It has an easy menu creation tool.
• It provides several templates and themes which are very flexible to use.
• It can be migrated to any server, and most of them work with any database.
• It has broad community support where it is easy to ask questions and receive the solutions.
• It is based on PHP scripts, and so the compatibility issues will be limited while using its framework.
• It ensures the security and safety of the data content and does not allow to edit the data without administrator privileges.

Disadvantages of Joomla

• It has a compatibility issue when several modules, extensions, and plugins are installed simultaneously.
• Some of the important plugins and modules for Joomla are paid ones.
• However, it has many modules, add-ons, and templates, and it is still limited for more advanced users.
• It is quite complex and makes it difficult to get custom designs without developer experience.
• It is not much SEO (Search Engine Optimization) friendly.
• It makes websites heavy to load and run, resulting in more time.

Prerequisite

Before you start this tutorial, we are assuming that you have the basic knowledge of HTML and CSS. If you are not aware of the basic rules of HTML and CSS, then we recommend you to go through our tutorials on HTML and CSS.

Audience

This tutorial has been prepared to help both beginners and professionals.

Problem

We assure you that you will not find any problem in this tutorial. But if you find any mistake, please post the problem in the contact form so that we can update it as soon as possible.