Joomla is a popular open source content management system, or CMS, that is highly customizable, user friendly and easy to administer.
You can deploy a Joomla site for just about any purpose under the sun. You must have a web hosting plan to run Joomla in your web space, but deploying a Joomla application requires just a few clicks from Plesk or the CPanel management dashboard. Joomla requires no licensing fees to use the software, so it is the choice platform for many corporate, government and small business Internet sites.
Once Joomla is installed, the site is fully searchable. Joomla can run on both Linux-based and Windows web servers, and the software can utilize the open source MySQL database or premium databases like Microsoft SQL Server as the backend.
The core framework supports development of many types of web apps, including:
- Data Reporting Applications
- Ecommerce Systems
- Blogs
- Product Catalogs
- Inventory Control Systems
- Help Desk and Ticketing Applications
- Reservation Systems
What is a CMS?
A CMS enables individuals to publish, edit and manage pages and other content on a website without the need for programming knowledge or coding experience. Joomla and other CMS applications provide an administrative interface where all site management functions are accomplished. The site administrator can add and remove users, establish user permissions, manage memberships and groups, add and remove pages and other content, establish workflows and control document versioning. Administrators can also add modules, plugins and add-ons, and change the theme of the installation on the fly.
Web developers will often deploy a CMS like Joomla or WordPress for clients who are not technically savvy and do not have a full time IT staff on the payroll. Most CMS systems are straightforward and easy to learn to administer for the non-technical user. Additionally, most CMS platforms are simple to deploy and fairly easy to customize, as long as the developer has some skill with writing PHP code. Most open source CMS platforms are written in the PHP programming language.
Joomla Basics
Installation of Joomla is automated through CPanel tools like Softaculous and Fantastico Deluxe. When you deploy a Joomla application, a database is automatically created to contain site and application data. You can extend the functionality of a Joomla deployment by installing additional modules, plugins and add-ons. Change the look and feel of the installation by changing or modifying the application’s theme. Many themes, plugins and add-ons are open source and freely available so you can explore additional functionality and page layouts without investing any revenue. You can enable various themes without making any permanent changes to the site, and then select the theme that best meets your needs, according to Site Ground.
Joomla is very well written in PHP code so skilled coders can customize any aspect of the web application as they see fit. Programmers can create themes and functionality well beyond that which is provided through standard modules, plugins and add-ons.
Related Resource: Name-Based Web Hosting
The Joomla platform is optimized for basic SEO. Search engine friendly URLs are standard with the default installation. The administrator can add meta descriptions and keywords to each page to further optimize. Joomla is a versatile, user-friendly CMS that can be customized to suit just about any business or personal need.
