Joomla community in confusion

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Since its spilt from Mombo, Joomla has been in disaray, it is a kickin script but the plugins, modules and componet structure is confusing, along with the community site listing both paid and free stuff all together it can take months to sort out, I have been working with it for years and have many systems proconfigured:)

If Wordpress is more for end-users and Drupal is more for developers, then Joomla! must be more for designers, right? If that’s the conclusion that you came to then you’re on the right track, but I would venture to say that Joomla! is actually a mix of all of those things. The name Joomla, in fact, means ‘all together’ in Swahili (Urdu), and it seems they’ve been living up to their name in the way that this powerful CMS works.

Designers will choose Joomla because of the amazing capabilities that its engine has in making websites look fantastic. Newcomers to Joomla (and website management) will love the fact that it is very easy to use and even customize as more and more developers create tools that are easier to understand. Developers, likewise, will choose the system because of its large capacity for development and customization. The new MVC framework was built just so that anyone with the knowledge could override the core of the CMS without actually modifying the original code.

Still, it’s far from perfect. It’s still not as flexible as Drupal is with its code. While there are many ways to override what the default code does, there are some parts of the system that just can’t be pushed and stressed as hard as Drupal can be. Also, while Drupal can be used to run multiple websites with one backend and database, Joomla lacks the ability to create multi-sites. It is just powerful enough to be useful, but not enough to do anything.

In a side-by-side comparison with Wordpress, Joomla still has some way to go with being user friendly. In each case where I’ve had people use both systems to manage a website, those that lacked good knowledge of the internet or how their website even worked always chose Wordpress over Joomla. It is simple enough that it can be taught to practically anyone, but not enough that anyone would want to learn it.

Joomla Pros

• Friendly for all types of users – Designers, Developers and Administrators
• Huge community is awesome for assisting with creation of websites
• Has been rapidly growing and improving itself for the past three years

Joomla Cons

• Still not user-friendly enough for everyone to understand
• Not quite as powerful as Drupal, and can be a bit confusing for some to jump into
• Recently rebuilt the entire system from ground-up, and so there are still many out there sticking to the old versions (1.6.x)

Drupal for programmers only…no

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If you’re the type of person who would rather hand-code the content of your pages than use a WYSIWYG Editor, or if you enjoy tweaking the code that makes up the framework of a website, then Drupal is probably for you. This advanced content management system more closely resembles a developer platform than a traditional CMS. Its not to say that only developers can use the system though, but to say that they will feel more at home here than in the other two. Interestingly, being more developer friendly does not automatically make it more user friendly –  in fact the developer has to work hard to make it that way if they need the end-product to do so.

There are dozens of more tags and functions that can be used to develop in Drupal than in Wordpress or even Joomla. Every single node has its own set of commands and tags that can be placed elsewhere to manipulate the function of the site, and this makes for a very intense experience (whether or not you know what you’re doing). For those that are not so developer-minded, this can be the trial of their lives, but for people who live in code – well, they can literally get lost developing some very cool websites.

Now, these websites can act and function in some pretty neat ways, but Drupal also has the problem that it just doesn’t always look that great. I have seen very few websites built in Drupal that look and feel as good as they function. You can especially see this in the theme directory on the Drupal.org website, where there are dozens of these themes built to prove the exact point I just made. It’s a shame really, because with all of the development advancements the software has, it would almost be perfect with a stronger usability and design interface.

Drupal Pros

• Extremely developer friendly. If I loved code more I would almost always pick this system.
• Strong community to help discern the dozens (hundreds) of functions and tags available.
• Can be used to create some really awesome websites that can outperform a majority of other sites out there.

Drupal Cons

• Not very designer and user-friendly. It’s hard for someone with little code knowledge to make the leaps required to do the very cool things that Drupal is becoming known for.
• Theming of Drupal has been a huge case of fail (until recently). Probably because it has been developers, not designers, that are making the themes.
• Getting a Drupal website published could cost you more time, and thus more money, than Wordpress or Joomla.

Wordpress is just for blogging…. or is it?

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Wordpress is an excellent system to use when creating a website that lets you quickly get your thoughts out on the web, but while it is often used as a blog, it can be configured to work in many other interesting ways as well. One particular client of mine recently needed a website that would allow him and his employees to have an internal website for sharing notes, documenting tasks and writing about what was going on. Since Wordpress is easy to use and some of them were already familiar with it, it was an obvious solution. Install Wordpress on a server that they could access quickly and easily from anywhere with an internet connection, and let them get to business rather than have to learn about a whole different system.

It is key to know that Wordpress is extremely easy to use and setup. I have used it several times with clients that are brand new to the internet and having a website, yet they can pick this system up and use it quicker than the other two. Since WP is already developed to work as a blog, though, it can be setup to do so without any hesitation. Comments are already built into the system, as well as pinging services, multiple blogger profiles, trackbacks and more. Most of the time nothing needs to be done to those systems either, because they already work the way that the user would want them to.

Wordpress, however, is not to be used for everything. I have had little success (its there, just not much) using Wordpress as a shopping cart for certain clients. The very reason that Wordpress was created was to keep people from wanting to customize it to do things that are much more advanced. It is supposed to be used a certain way without modification – because any modification that you give to it may very well cause it to break. You will find many users of WP complaining that it is not developer friendly – and rightfully so, because there will be countless times in your journey to that great website that an upgrade released by the WP developers causes your entire site to simply disappear, or for those modifications that you made previously to no longer even exist.

Wordpress Pros

• Simple to use –  No need for modifications
• Excellent for blogging or sharing thoughts in a sequential manner
• Even the most elderly of users can get the hang of it quickly

Wordpress Cons

• Not developer friendly
• The community seems to like to complain
• Upgrades bring more bugs than fixes sometimes

CSS Missing Manual

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Cascading Style Sheets can turn humdrum websites into
highly-functional, professional-looking destinations, but many
designers merely treat CSS as window-dressing to spruce up their
site’s appearance. You can tap into the real power of this tool with
CSS: The Missing Manual. This second edition combines crystal-clear
explanations, real-world examples, and dozens of step-by-step
tutorials to show you how to design sites with CSS that work
consistently across browsers. Witty and entertaining, this second
edition gives you up-to-the-minute pro techniques. You’ll learn how
to: Create HTML that’s simpler, uses less code, is search-engine
friendly, and works well with CSS Style text by changing fonts,
colors, font sizes, and adding borders Turn simple HTML links into
complex and attractive navigation bars — complete with rollover
effects Create effective photo galleries and special effects,
including drop shadows Make HTML forms look great without a lot of
messy HTML Build complex layouts using CSS, including multi-column
designs Style web pages for printing With CSS: The Missing Manual,
Second Edition, you’ll find all-new online tutorial pages, expanded
CSS 3 coverage, and broad support for Firebox, Safari, and other
major web browsers, including Internet Explorer 8. Learn how to use
CSS effectively to build new websites, or refurbish old sites that
are due for an upgrade

Bulletproof Web Design

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Bulletproof Web Design: Improving Flexibility and Protecting Against Worst-Case Scenarios with XHTML and CSS, Second Edition.

No matter how visually appealing or content-packed a Web site may be, if it’s not adaptable to a variety of situations and reaching the widest possible audience, it isn’t really succeeding. In Bulletproof Web Desing, author and Web designer extraordinaire, Dan Cederholm outlines standards-based strategies for building designs that provide flexibility, readability, and user control–key components of every sucessful site. Each chapter starts out with an example of an unbulletproof site one that employs a traditional HTML-based approach which Dan then deconstructs, pointing out its limitations. He then gives the site a make-over using XHTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), so you can see how to replace bloated code with lean markup and CSS for fast-loading sites that are accessible to all users. Finally, he covers several popular fluid and elastic-width layout techniques and pieces together all of the page components discussed in prior chapters into a single-page template.

250 Web Design Secrets

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Do more than you ever thought possible with HTML, the most commonly used language of the Web! Packed with insider tips, tricks, timesavers, and workarounds, this unique guide shows you how to make the most of the methods and techniques you need to make fun and exciting Web pages. From streamlining the design process to improving a site’s ranking through its dynamic content, it delivers all the secrets you need to get more done in less time, save money, and become a successful Web designer.

The Insider’s Guide to:

• Setting up a master Web designer’s ultimate toolbox, necessary to effectively manage a site (see Chapter 1)
• Defining the scope of a project and putting a process in place to manage it efficiently (see Chapter 2)
• Creating and managing spectacular content–the most influential aspect of a site (see Chapter 5)
• Crafting Web pages with HTML while discovering how to use HTML in such a way that it will make numerous other Web design aspects smoother (see Chapter 6)
• The real story behind using XHTML–and why it’s so important (see Chapter 7)
• Maximizing the abilities of Cascading Style Sheets to eliminate problems, improve workflow, and add visual effects (see Chapter
• Constructing exciting designs that work in a global environment (see Chapter 11)
• Keeping content fresh and engaging so that visitors come back and spread the word (see Chapter 13)
• Improving a site’s ranking and managing its promotions (see Chapter 14)

New Site

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