Joomla

The Clean-Cut Web Design CMS Websites are constructed using the award-winning Joomla! platform.

Joomla!

Millions of Websites use Joomla! and there are literally thousands of templates and extensions currently available.  Joomla! is one of the most powerful Open Source Content Management Systems on the planet and is used all over the world for everything from simple Websites to complex corporate applications. Joomla! is simple to manage, and reliable.

How it works

Joomla operates using the PHP programming language and MySQL database architecture. Joomla is an innovative Content Management System that helps anybody build professional looking Websites even if they have no prior experience with Website building. Joomla comes with an abundance of powerful online applications and templates that meet all Web design and business needs.

Templates

There are literally thousands of Joomla templates available and are constructed using HTML, PHP, XML. Many of these templates are free to use.  When a template design is implemented into a Website, the site content inherits the styles set by the template.  Most templates come with a selection of different colour schemes and styling options, which can be changed at any time quickly and easily.

Joomla separates the content of a Website from its design, so at anytime, you can apply a different template to give your Website a fresh new look. Using Cascading Style Sheet [CSS] and XHTML computer languages, Joomla templates are built to conform to Web standards and display consistently in all the main browsers.

Components, modules and plugins

Additional functionality can be added to a Joomla Website using three different types of extensions; components, modules, and plug-ins.

Components

Of the three extensions, components are the most essential. They are the largest and most complex of the Extension types.   Components are like mini-applications that make up the main part of your Web page.  They control how site data [content] is stored, handled and displayed.  If Joomla was a book, components would be the chapters.  Components frequently have sophisticated back-end controls that allow you to choose how they operate. For example, a component could be a form object that enables the user to upload text and images then automatically displays them on your Website.

The Joomla package comes with the following default components:

• Contacts
• Front Page
• News Feeds
• Banners
• Mass Mail
• Polls

There are many free components that you can freely implement into your Website.  A large number of these function better than their commercial counterparts.  Only one component can be used on each page of your Website.

Modules

Unlike components, modules can appear as many times as you like on each page. They are the elements that appear down the left and right column of a Joomla Website. The function of the modules isn’t to be a main feature on a page, but to complement the content contained in a component. Joomla also supports content modules that sit alongside the components. The back-end controls for modules are usually quite limited and only allow you to set basic formatting.

The Joomla package comes with the following default modules:

• Banner allows the displaying of graphic ads throughout the site.
• Menu presents links that group content by section or category.
• Login Form displays a form where users can create an account and gain access to restricted Web pages and content.
• Syndicate shows RSS feed links that viewers can use to syndicate to the home page.
• Statistics collects and displays information relating to the users of the site.
• Archive allows the user to access archived information by date.
• Sections show a list of all sections configured in your database.
• Related Items show links of content items that have similar keywords.
• Wrapper allows a page to be displayed within a page.
• Polls display poll information collected by the poll component.
• Who's Online shows the number of Guests [unregistered visitors] and Members. [Registered Users that are logged in] that are connected to the Website at a particular point in time.
• Random Image shows a different image [in an array] each time a page loads in a browser.
• Newsflash shows a random content item from a chosen category.
• Latest News shows link list of most recently published content items.
• Popular shows link list of most popular content items [by page view].
• Search provides a search site feature consisting of a search box.
• Custom is a special module that can contain any sort of HTML.

Plugins

Plugins, also known as Mambots are commonly used to format the data results of a component or module when a page is constructed. Some examples of plugins include keyword highlighting, article comment boxes, and JavaScript-based HTML editors. Plugins can also be used to extend the results found in the core search component. Similar to modules, their back-end controls are limited. The default PlugIns relate to authentication, editors, content and user.

If you would like to read more information on Content Management Systems, please visit my Content Management Systems page.

Joomla Example

If you would like to look a a typical Joomla Website, please visit my Website Portfolio page.

Where to go from here

If this is the type of Website you are looking for and would like to find out about my Joomla Web design service, either visit my CMS Websites page or contact me.

Please read the Service Terms carefully before contacting me about undertaking design work.