Dreamweaver+joomla

DeadlyByDesign

Hi all

I am just about to finish a freebie website for a client (still building a portfolio). I am at the stage where when I hand it over there is nothing there for her yet to update and keep the website content under control herself.

I am a bit confused how to do this. I have been advised that Joomla is the way to go but can i incoroporate pure notepadd++ work over to it (or integrate)? The reason I am hesitant to use Joomla is because I still don't understand what the program is? Part of me is thinks it is a WYSIWYG/dreamweaver-esque tool, no offense to developers that use them, but I want to cut my teeth learning to code from the ground up.

So in closing is that what Joomla is? And if so can anyone reccomend how I can hand my finished site over with a working content amangament system?

Vagabond74

Joomla is a content management system which allows you to add content meta tags, images etc, when you hand it over you can give them admin rights so they can up load content themselves. I have only used it twice adding meta tags and images and found it fairly easy to use and I am not a web developer nor do I no any HTML, I just tried it one day, best advice is to have a go, not sure if this really answered your question but its all I no about joomla.

was.deevey

Joomla is your framework CMS

Its by no means just a wysiwyg piece of software like dreamweaver .. you can code the templates in any text editor or wysiwyg editor though if you like (personally I like dreamweaver with the joomla extension though).

Mostly you'll be implementing the templates installing plugins or writing them to suit the needs of the client. It really is a pretty handy system once its set up...and there's oodles of expansion.

Yes you can incorporate direct php, javascript and HTML code into modules, content and templates some of which you can even write directly inside Joomla (with some additional plugins though).

.. its VERY flexible, theres already a ton of plugins and modules that will do most anything for you already, of course customizing is the key and you may feel you need to write your own.

Best thing to do probably is download it .. install it, and start deconstructing existing templates components and modules to get a feel for where everything goes.

Visit http://joomla.org and http://extensions.joomla.org to see whats available.

Joomla24 is also a great source of free templates to download play around with.

Trust me to do a Joomla site properly customized there's plenty of coding.

Did you read up on it at all ?

You can do a complete backup of the entire site + database using a component called "Akeeba" which will package the whole site nicely into a single zip installer which can be run on any host that supports Joomla:)

You mention that the site is ready for handover and complete .... and its a freebie for portfolio purposes .. depending on the layout there are probably simpler CMS's for you to be using.... Joomla has a learning curve to implement designs into correctly.

DeadlyByDesign

was.deevey wrote: »

Joomla is your framework CMS

Its by no means just a wysiwyg piece of software like dreamweaver .. you can code the templates in any text editor or wysiwyg editor though if you like (personally I like dreamweaver with the joomla extension though).

Mostly you'll be implementing the templates installing plugins or writing them to suit the needs of the client. It really is a pretty handy system once its set up...and there's oodles of expansion.

Yes you can incorporate direct php, javascript and HTML code into modules, content and templates some of which you can even write directly inside Joomla (with some additional plugins though).

.. its VERY flexible, theres already a ton of plugins and modules that will do most anything for you already, of course customizing is the key and you may feel you need to write your own.

Best thing to do probably is download it .. install it, and start deconstructing existing templates components and modules to get a feel for where everything goes.

Visit http://joomla.org and http://extensions.joomla.org to see whats available.

Joomla24 is also a great source of free templates to download play around with.

Trust me to do a Joomla site properly customized there's plenty of coding.

Did you read up on it at all ?

You can do a complete backup of the entire site + database using a component called "Akeeba" which will package the whole site nicely into a single zip installer which can be run on any host that supports Joomla:)

You mention that the site is ready for handover and complete .... and its a freebie for portfolio purposes .. depending on the layout there are probably simpler CMS's for you to be using.... Joomla has a learning curve to implement designs into correctly.

Thanks, think you have sold it to me. Just my main concern was using it as a crutch and not being able to rely on handwritten/typewritten hard code that may get me into bad habits. Will dl it tonight and start having a mess around with it as there is a personal project of my own that I want to start.

If not joomla for the near finished site I have, can you reccomend another that would be suited for a site near completion?

Scotty #

When you say 'near completion' are you talking about menu's, header graphics, etc? ie. full html pages?

Joomla is a CMS using PHP and MySQL to dynamically create your pages each time a link is clicked. You create 'menus' and 'modules' that control your content. There are no html pages. When a 'menu item' (link) is clicked the 'page' is called from the database. You create your 'pages' in the article manager where you can use a WYSIWYG editor or directly input your HTML.

As mentioned above, there are literally thousands of 'components' available, many free, for doing just about anything you could want to do with a website, forums, shopping, enquiry forms, property listings, social networks, etc, etc.

Joomla overview - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExhtFJnnydo&feature=related

Any questions, just ask.

PS: You don't need to know PHP or MySQL to build a site using Joomla but a good knowledge of HTML and CSS is an advantage.