Joomla CMS

Joomla is one of the most popular CMS systems. CMS stands for content management system and in practice means web design platform. With Joomla CMS, it is very easy to design web pages even for a novice. The concept of Joomla and other CMS is that content is separated from design.

Design

Joomla templates

To implement design one needs to use pre made templates. There is a huge variety of free and commercial Joomla templates on market. It is possible to create your own templates with special software as is Joomla template creator for example. The other way of implementing a customized design is by modifying ready made templates. A minor change that almost always has to be done is modification of header. When it comes to more subtle optimizations, like CSS editing, it is a time saving decision to use a dedicated tools like visual CSS editor. There are a lot of free tools on internet that makes modifying templates a lot easier. Use free tools like color picker, screen ruler and color scheme designer in order to make changes to original template.

Content

Joomla extensions

One it comes to content, the main building blocks of Joomla CMS are articles. Joomla integrated editor is used to format text. Majority of HTML text formatting tools are available by means of icons just like in normal text editors as Word. Integrated editor beside text also formats pictures and links. In order to give a page more life, dynamicity and modernity one has to use plugins, components and modules. With one word this are extensions to basic Joomla installation. Extensions enrich Joomla in many ways. From adding a simple image slider to expanding a basic page to a complex community site. The most comprehension list of Joomla extensions can be found at Joomla extensions directory.