Joomla!, a great Content Management System
I got to Joomla when I was trying to find a way of having my personal web page updated all the time. I knew about several Content Management Systems (CMS) but I didn’t want to pay a license, you know, it’s for my personal web page, not a commercial site. A CMS is a software system used for content management, including text files, image, audio and all kinds of web content. You can use a CMS for several proposes, like in-company documentation, file sharing and as a wiki.
I was interested in publishing my personal information and keeping it updated easily, so I decided to install Joomla! on my server and give it a try. Joomla! is an open source project and it can be downloaded and installed for free. You can additionally download several extensions and templates for your site.
The installation
Installing the software on my server was extremely easy, no problem at all. Just put the file on my server and called the installation file from the web browser.
Using it
Well, it could take you some time until you get used to it. I have installed the last version, the 1.5, which has an extremely limited documentation - almost nothing -. Here is my biggest complaint about this project, I understand that Joomla! is a free software but if you don’t give the users a proper manual to give the software a try they might get confused and frustrated before they discover the great features this system has.
Customizing
I downloaded a nice template, then I installed and modified it. It was easy to install it but a little bit too messy to modified it. Basically, some things can be changed through the administrator’s interface and others directly on the code.
Finally…
At the end I got what I wanted, a good looking online CV that can be updated from every computer. You can check it here: www.alexisbrion.eu
I totally recommend this CMS. Remember that Joomla! is an open source project and needs support to survive, on money or helping with the project. Have a check, install it, play with it: www.joomla.org
Popularity: 11% [?]
If you need some joomla templates, you have to check out www.joomlajunkie.com they are my favorite guys to get templates from, they also have fantastic support.. Oh yeah and they have a few free templates, although the commercial ones are well priced.
I see you wrote the post in September 2007. It was just this month (January 2008) that the first “stable” release of 1.5 was put out. You were basically using a beta version, which may be why there wasn’t much documentation. I have have no idea if they have any more documentation now, but I just wanted to point that out.
Ernest, you are right, probably they have more documentation now. Unfortunately, after 4 months I don’t think I need much
Thanks for your comments!