[melpa]

I have heard so many great things about it and thinking about using it, as i only currently use dreamweaver, photoshop and flash and i can only make static sites with it just using html and css i have talked to so many people about going freelance and they have all said the same thing... i need to know at least one programming language, i.e. php , mysql etc.. and have heard joomla does that all for you without knowing any programming skills? is that true? i bloody hope so! lol. Also could i create ecommerce sites etc.. without knowing php or mysql?

thanks!

ash.

[notbanksy]

In short, yes, Joomla will do a large amount of the work for you, as will any CMS, but you should be aware that there are loads of CMSs to choose from, and Joomla is not necessarily the right man for every job. Some would say it's bloated and slow and that there are much better systems out there. Have a look at wordpress and Modx too. Lastly, I would say that learning a CMS is no substitute for learning php or any other server side language. Where will you turn if something is not working as it should or if you need a functionality that's not included?

By all means learn a few CMS, but my suggestion is to back it all up by learning PHP too.

[nellyshark]

+1 on what notbanksy said above ^^^^

It will all make far more sense if you have an understanding of PHP.

I would also recommend Pixie CMS as it is a css based cms or as the developer puts it a small simple website maker

[sunwukung]

Joomla is gash, and while most CMS will provide a lot of functionality outta the box, in my general experience you won't get far without PHP (or whatever language it's written in)

[melpa]

thanks guys! you helped alot! on my way to discover the true power of joomla! thanks again

[Gareth Daine]

I'm not a fan of Joomla, I prefer WordPress. Great for SEO as well.

[nellyshark]

Might be best to start on a simplier CMS than Joomla and then progress to Joomla

[melpa]

hmm, its not as good i thought it would be, it seems almost impossible to create a custom template even from following a couple of tutorials and also half the extensions on there are not free! oh gosh. is wordpress better then, easier? can you download extensions etc.. like joomla?

thanks in advance,

ash

[notbanksy]

Wordpress is definitely easier, and there are loads of plugins and extensions, usually free. Making a template for wordpress is a little easier than for joomla, but a joomla template isn't as hard as it looks once you get your head around it. In fact the templating system is probably the best bit about joomla IMO.

Have a crack at wordpress, I think you'll get on better with it.

[melpa]

yeah thanks mate! been playing around with it all day, its soo much easier and nicer to work with, just need to learn how the plugins work lol struggling with them atm.

[andyl]

melpa, on 02 April 2010 - 05:00 PM, said:

it seems almost impossible to create a custom template even from following a couple of tutorials

I hate to say it, but this comment suggests to me that you've got a long way to go before thinking about freelancing.
You need to have experience of a selection of CMS's, and a decent knowledge of PHP with MySQL before you start selling your own learning curve.

Like the others, I suggest getting started with Wordpress and creating a few of your own PHP driven applications.

[melpa]

just one more question, is it better to run wordpress on a locahost or can i just use a normal host using cpanel?? i dont see the difference's apart from cpanel is a lot easier than xampp lol. Also i heard filezilla is good, is that a localhost download to or?? thanks! i just want to know the pro's and cons! thanks in advance, ash.

[andyl]

You need to look up the definition of localhost, and the definition of an FTP Client.

Filezilla is a good FTP Client. XAMPP is an application (utility) which allows you to run the Apache web server service (and MySQL service) on your local machine - thus the name localhost (local hosting). This allows you to preview sites and systems which use PHP. If you try opening a PHP script like you do an HTML file (just open in your browser) it won't work. You'd need to go to http://localhost/yourScript.php to allow it to work - and for this, you need to be running Apache. XAMPP is the easiest way of getting Apache running on a PC (Windows or Mac).

cPanel is an advanced, remote management tool which can be used by customers of large hosting companies to change server settings for their particular area of the server - i.e. their website root folder. Most customers won't have a server of their own - the company will put hundreds or maybe even thousand of accounts on the same server (VPS excluded), which is why the root folder you're given when you sign up for hosting is generally /home/account_name/. It's always best to do your building and development on your local machine (doesn't require you to upload all the time), then upload to a hosting account once you're happy with the entire system/site.

Personally, I suggest putting off thinking about going freelance for a long while yet. You seem to have a lot of things to learn - you'd be getting ahead of yourself and could end up getting into something you can't actually complete; this could lead to legal cases etc.. HTML & CSS is all great, but you need to learn about Web 2.0, the upcoming Web 3.0 (i.e. semantic web), and the 'new' (2004 onward) dynamic way of the web (which tends to be dealt with using PHP or similar programming languages).

[melpa]

cool cheers mate, yeah i know i have a long way to go before, ive done a few static sites for a few business's in the past and they were happy with it, but as most people want dynamic websites these days i really need to crack on lol. thanks again.

[Seth]

Yea I'm not a big fan of Joomla the backend admin area is a bit wonky for my liking to name one issue I have with it. It's also hard to learn and work with. Another good one is Drupal, still harder to work with. NotBlanksky has the right idea with Wordpress. I love it as a CMS and it really is easy to use and very expandable. I'd start with that one. Easy to learn. And we're here to help. if you need us.

[glushkin]

i think Joomla slow (wordpress e.t.c. too). And am was writing my own CMS. (don't named yet). its take a short time and work go on ... http://podroza.ax3.net

[chandru]

if you want update the web page content frequently, jommla is the best cms ....and for simple information website with in 10 or 15 page u can do in html , css and php .......

I am using Gimp, inkscape, cssed and Quanta Plus software in linux os

[webcrest]

Wordpress is good if you have personal website.
Joomla is good for company site.
Drupal is good for community site.

[Gareth Daine]

webcrest, on 30 June 2010 - 11:15 AM, said:

Wordpress is good if you have personal website.
Joomla is good for company site.
Drupal is good for community site.

Dear God in Heaven

[Gareth Daine]

WordPress is the boy. Joomla is hard to develop and get to grips with for beginners.

WordPress has everything you'll need in a CMS and it's very easy to create custom themes/templates. You can use WordPress for small to large corporate websites. It's easily extendable and customisable, and it has a great community behind it.

[notbanksy]

virginmind, on 06 August 2010 - 11:16 AM, said:

Joomla is a purely design-based web design showcase and web designers community featuring Joomla-powered beautiful websites and top-quality designs for Joomla platform.

Oh dear.





Arse biscuits

[candy.joomlashine]

@melpa:

You can start here:

- http://www.joomla.org/ - Joomla! - the dynamic portal engine and content management system
- http://www.joomla.or...out-joomla.html - What is Joomla?
- http://docs.joomla.org/ - Joomla! Official Documentation

Good luck and welcome to Joomla world!

[Richard King BWP]

what a load of old coblers

Joomla is a CMS

A CMS separates content, users, and design from eachother

Joomla is particularly extensible and in the right hands, can produce superb functional websites. Joomla is just a framework

If you want to build a building, you choose the framework best suited to the job - a multistory carpark has a different framework to a oak framed house - yet they both are still buildings. A good designer/developer chooses the right framework for the job - for the clinets needs today and in the future

Joomla out of the box is an empty shell. Templating Joomla is pretyt basic stuff for a designer, as is templating Drupal, wordpress or many of the major packages

Joomla + template does not = successful site. A successful site marrys the design, content and users, and Joomla merley gels them all together in a framework

[Extensive Web]

well just dont stick with joomla get yourself familiar with other cms and ecommerce platforms as well like drupal, wordpress, joomla, magento etc

[ecmcircle]

Hi,

joomla is open source CMS it contains many features for web development like follws,
By using that

*you don't need SEO out of the box
* you don't care about server resources
* you're running (or planning to to run) only one or max a couple of sites
* you don't need one log-in to several sites
* you don't need user groups & permissions
* you don't run membership site(s)

thanks

[RhysLucas]

You are going the right way. Zoomla is a CMS i.e. a popular and useful content management system. It will do everything you are talking about. Actually learning PHP is not compulsory if you want to work with zoomla but the thing is that it is made with PHP so if you have a bit understanding of PHP then you will surely be helped.
Hoping you are feeling easier now.. 

[Siteezy]

Dreamweaver does a lot more then static websites.

Just install a localhost sever such as Wamp (PHPMyAdmin) and start using PHP.

[cibgraphics]

I hate all 3 main ones mentioned here, Joomla Drupal and Wordpress.

My baby is Expression Engine. It is easy to work with once you get the concept down, and you can build stuff super fast.

[Seth]

First off... to each their own. But cibgraphics are you nuts?! Wordpress has become a fantastic and easy way to launch websites. And best of all it's FREE to start with.

[porkchops]

Seth, on 26 April 2011 - 10:16 PM, said:

First off... to each their own. But cibgraphics are you nuts?! Wordpress has become a fantastic and easy way to launch websites. And best of all it's FREE to start with.

WordPress is pretty decent for smaller projects but Expression Engine is far more efficient for enterprise grade stuff. We use it at my day job for our marketing sites (~50-100 pages) and even compared to the smaller (~25 pages) sites we have on WordPress EE is more responsive. Going to EE for anything small isn't very practical though.

This post has been edited by porkchops: 26 April 2011 - 10:50 PM

[Web Designer112]

have you tried Prestashop for e-commerce

[Gibson]

If you're going to use Wordpress etc. to build your own site fair enough. To really understand what's going on under the hood though, you'll need to know PHP. If you don't know PHP then I'm estimating you'll hit a choke or a block where you want to customise it but don't understand how due to lack of knowing the base language that it's written in.

Also bear in mind - if you are doing sites for clients that they intend to update or modify using the inbuilt CMS then you have to evaluate their technical ability. It's quite a learning curve for a client to get to grips with Drupal, Joomla, etc. if they've not used it before. Perhaps you are going to offer them tuition time? Fair enough. Wordpress is probably a bit easier for a client to get their head round.

Edit - just to add. Personally so far I prefer Joomla to Drupal (not an expert by any means), but both of them seem a bit bloated for a lot of smaller sites.

This post has been edited by Gibson: 02 August 2011 - 11:41 PM

[gwebhostuk]

melpa, on 28 March 2010 - 05:01 PM, said:

I have heard so many great things about it and thinking about using it, as i only currently use dreamweaver, photoshop and flash and i can only make static sites with it just using html and css i have talked to so many people about going freelance and they have all said the same thing... i need to know at least one programming language, i.e. php , mysql etc.. and have heard joomla does that all for you without knowing any programming skills? is that true? i bloody hope so! lol. Also could i create ecommerce sites etc.. without knowing php or mysql?

thanks!

ash.

In one word joomla is simply a CMS, you can integrate your site with and enjoy Content Management features.

[zed]

gwebhostuk, on 22 August 2011 - 12:55 PM, said:

In one word joomla is simply a CMS, you can integrate your site with and enjoy Content Management features.

do you think the OP may have an answer by now considering they asked 11 months ago. If this is an example of content writing skills then I shudder.

[MikeChipshop]

Yep i'm pretty sure the answer has been made clear over the last page.

[thread closed]