#48 - Joomla - Getting Started!

A lot of Joomla beginners found Joomla hard to get used to. The reason for this is that Joomla is so feature rich, that it takes time getting used to. This is no reason to get discouraged, because once you get used to it you'll never go back to anything else. Funnily enough you keep on seeing the same questions on the Joomla! forums over and over again. Here are a few resources to help you get started.

Installing Joomla

The Joomla! documentation team have done a great job of creating a great installation manual. Do take the time to read it so that you understand each phase. Do read all the manual before diving into the installation, you might save yourself a lot of grief. This manual takes you through all the essential steps, especially that of testing and developing your site on a personal computer (localhost) before taking it online. It also takes you through the downloading, creating secure passwords, uploading Joomla to your web server, going through all the steps of the installation, troubleshooting common problems, and how to get help if you get stuck. Definetely a must read ... 

http://help.joomla.org/content/category/48/268/302/

Creating your own template

Although we always recommend going for a commercial Joomla template (believe us, its money well spent), some of you may want to create their own template. There are lots of guides to help you do this in the Joomla Template Tutorials Project:

So here goes, you first need an Introduction to Joomla! Templates. Again this explains the basics and is definetely worth going through. Why and how templates are used, templates supplied with Joomla, how to install and change Joomla templates and other useful information. 

You then need to understand Joomla templates before attempting to create a basic Joomla Template. You can choose to customize one of the default templates which come with Joomla 1.5, i.e. JA_Purity or the MilkyWay template. Eventually, once you've been through these you can find More Advanced Template Tutorial ls to really go into the nitty gritty of it all ... 

Getting Stuck?

Here at DART Creations we've been using Joomla for quite a while. We also do get stuck ourselves sometimes. Thankfully, the Joomla community is very active and will be your saviour anytime you get stuck. So what should your sources of information be:

1. Google - search for your problem in Google. Most times you will find that somebody has already been through the problem and solved it.

2. Joomla! Forums (Search! don't post) - again, many times the simple question you are asking has been asked and replied to lots of times. Posting it again will "waste" time for yourself, and for people contributing to the forum

3. Joomla Forums ! (Post) - after you've exhausted all your searching options, find the correct forum and post your question. Be sure to include lots of information and details, not be ambigous, i.e. make it easier for people to help you. Before you submit, read the post again, and make sure that anyone who isn't in your situation can understand it. 

This should help put you on the right track in the first few hours of feeling lost within the Joomla! experience :)