Using Joomla to create websites is a piece of cake

If your looking to build websites, or expand your business online, then choosing a good Content management system is key. A content management system let you concentrate on the content of your sites. There is no programming required, so building websites is now a piece of cake. The best cake of them all is Joomla. It has more Cherry's on top than a chocolate gateau.

If you have hosting services with hostgator, then installing joomla is easy.

There is a feature called fantastico, which allows you with a couple of clicks to select your domain you wish to install the software too, and then have everything automatically setup.

If your having trouble getting your head around creating SQL databases, which is an important part of websites.

These SQL databases are used to store the content information efficiently.

Fantastico is available as a free service to most hosting services, so contact your host for help.

When you install joomla you have to setup your login details, and i would recommend installing the sample data to get the hang of using things, and seeing what everything looks like.

Make sure you remember to record your login and password.

Now you can login to joomla by going to your website.com/administrator page.
This is where you login.

In joomla, webpage content is considered an article.

A webpage can have different layouts, and you can change these anytime, but your articles always stay stored.

The articles support all normal html code here.

Modules are any of the extras that will add functionality to your website.

You can get hundreds of joomla extensions modules to install, and most of them are free. You can add tag clouds, photo gallery's, forum capabilities, and much more.

There is a default number of modules that you start with which
include polls, banners, and also custom HTML.

You page layout will all already have been defined, and this is where joomla really saves you tons of time. If you add a module, and want to move it around, you just select it position.

All the positions in joomla are predefined, and setout in a logical & clean way.
You can keep all your modules in the theme of the site, and this is great.

Normally you would have to spend time programming html to do this, and using front page or dreamwhere html editiors to make changes like this, and then re-upload your pages.

Joomla totally takes the hassle away, and leaves you with the important task of the design layout & content.

You can add sections & category's if your going to be building a large organised site, but its not needed to much if your just starting.

You can also add more users, but these aren't as important as getting the hang of the articles, and the modules. They really make up the meat and bones of joomla.

There is also plugins, which are similar to modules, but they really are for back end administration, and i have yet to use more than one on any of my sites, so don't worry about them.

If you've installed the sample data, you can have an easy time learning
how to adjust things. Just have a play around for an hour, and you'll
soon get the hang of it.

This is the best part of joomla.

If you want to change the layout and design of your site, there is thousands of different designs and templates that you can download from the net, and most of them are free.

Its so easy to change the layout, you juts download the .zip archive for the template, and then upload into joomla from inside the admin section, and then it gets automatically installed.

All you need to do is select that template in the template menu. All your articles, and web modules get converted over to that template instantly. 

This is such a big time saver, and you'll be amazed how many different templates there are to choose from.

If your sick of trying to build a good website, with Microsoft front page, or adobe dreamweaver, and want to focus on your content rather than on the programming aspect of websites, then install joomla as fast as you can.

Even if your at a basic HTML level, that is really all you need, and you'll be building websites with your friends & customers thinking you are a serious website developer!

Good Luck