Joomla - Content Management System
Short Description
Joomla Content Management System is the seminar report presented for the final year Master of Computer Application Cours...
Description
Joomla – Content Management System A Seminar Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of
MASTER OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS under the
UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT
by Jaseer. K Register No: MKAJMCA021
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
MES COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, KUTTIPPURAM, MALAPPURAM- 679 573
May-2012
MES COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING KUTTIPPURAM, KERALA -679573 (AN ISO 9001: 2008 CERTIFIED INSTITUTION & WITH NBA ACCREDITED DEPARTMENTS, APPROVED BY AICTE AND AFFILIATED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT)
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER APPLICATIONS
CERTIFICATE This is to certify that seminar entitled Joomla – Content Management System has been prepared and presented by Mr. Jaseer. K (Register No: MKAJMACA021), fifth semester student of the department, during the academic year 2011-12, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Degree of Master of Computer Applications under the University of Calicut.
Staff in Charge
Date:
Head of the Department
I
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
At the very outset I would like to thank the Almighty for showering upon mercies and me with His supernatural grace in abundance, without which this seminar would not have been taken up and completed successfully. I express my sincere gratitude to our Head of the Department, Prof. Hyderali for his guidance and support throughout this project. I deeply obliged to thank Mrs. Fousia Shamsudeen, our Group Tutor and all other faculty members of Department of Computer Applications, for valuable guidance and constant monitoring throughout the course of my seminar work. Last but not least, I express my sincere thanks to all my friends, who have helped and encouraged me to make this seminar successful. And I thank to my dear parents for always being a source of inspiration, for their undying support, encouragement and sincere prayers without which this seminar would not have been successful. Sincerely, JASEER. K MKAJMCA021
II
ABSTRACT Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS), which enables us to build Web sites and powerful online applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use and extensibility, have made Joomla the most popular Web site software available. Best of all, Joomla is an open source solution that is freely available to everyone. A content management system is software that keeps track of every piece of content on the Website; much like local public library keeps track of books and stores them. Content can be simple text, photos, music, video, documents, or just about anything you can think of. A major advantage of using a CMS is that it requires almost no technical skill or knowledge to manage.
III
TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES 1 Figure 1.1 Joomla and other CMS………………………………………………………………………………………….….. 03 2 Figure 2.1 Content Management in Joomla…………………………………………………………………….……….. 05 3 Figure 2.2 Joomla Architecture………………………………………………………..…………………….…….………. 07 4 Figure 3.1 Framework………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….….
08
5 Figure 3.2 Administration Panel…………………………………………………………………………………….…….. 11 6 Figure 3.3 Default template – Front View……………………………………………………………….…….…….
12
7 Figure 5.1 Available CMS……………………………………………………………………………………….…….……… 15
1 INTRODUCTION……………………………..……………………………………...
01
1.1 History……………………………..……………………………..…………........
01
1.2 Joomla Versions……………………………..……………………………..…….
01
1.2.1 Major……………………………..……………………………….. 01 1.2.2 Minor……………………………..…………………………..…...
02
1.2.3 Maintenance……………………………..………………….…….. 02 1.3 How Has The Market Received It? ……………………………..…………..…….
02
1.4 Content Management System……………………………..………………..……… 03 2 JOOMLA - CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM……………………………… 04 2.1 Features……………………………..……………………………..……………..
04
2.1.1
User Management………………………………………………..……..
04
2.1.2
Media Manager……………………..……………………………..……
04
2.1.3
Language Manager……………………………..……………………….
04
2.1.4
Banner Management………………….………………………..…..……
04
2.1.5
Contact Management…………………………………………..…..……
04
2.1.6
Polls……………………………..……………………………..…..……
05
2.1.7
Search……………………………..……………………………..…..….
05
2.1.8
Web Link Management…………………………………………………
05
2.1.9
Content Management………………….………………………………..
05
IV
2.1.10 Syndication And Newsfeed Management ……………………………… 06 2.1.11 Menu Manager……………………..……………………………………
06
2.1.12 Template Management…………………..……………………………..
06
2.1.13 Integrated Help System…………………………………………………
06
2.1.14 System Features…………………………………………………………
06
2.1.15 Web Services………………………..…………………………………..
07
2.1.16 Powerful Extensibility………………..…………………………………
07
3. JOOMLA FRAMEWORK……………………..……………………………………
08
3.1
Packages And Classes……………………………..…………………………..
09
3.2
The Joomla Architecture……………………………..………………………...
09
3.3
Admin Tools……………………………..……………………………..……… 10
3.4
Calendars……………………………..……………………………..……..…...
10
3.5
Communication…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..….....
10
3.6
Content & News…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..……
10
3.7
Core Enhancements…………..…………..…………..…………..……………. 10
3.8
Documentation/Document Management…………………..…………..………. 10
3.9
E-Commerce…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..……….. 10
3.10
Extension Specific Plugin…………..…………..…………..…………..……
10
3.11
Forms…………..………….…………..…………..…………..…………..…..
10
3.12
Intranet & Groupware……..…………..…………..…………..…………..…..
10
3.13
Languages…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..………….
10
3.14
Miscellaneous…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..……… 11
3.15
Vertical Markets……….…………..…………..…………..…………………...
3.16
WYSIWYG Editors………..…………..…………..…………..………………. 11
4 BENEFITS…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..…….
11
13
5 COMPARISON WITH OTHER CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS…….. 14 6 JOOMLA FOR DEVELOPERS……………..…………..…………..……………… 16 6.1 How We Can Contribute………………..…………..…………..……………......
16
6.2 Forum…………..…………..……………..…………………..…………..……… 17
V
7 ADVANTAGES…………..…………..……………..…………..…………..………...
18
7.1 5.1 PHP…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..……………….
18
7.2 Simple Installation…………..…………..…………..…………..………………..
18
7.3 Sophisticated Hierarchies…………..…………..…………..…………………….
18
7.4 Plugins And Components…………..…………..…..…………..………………...
18
7.5 Support…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..……………….. 18 8 DISADVANTAGES…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..………
19
9 CONCLUSION…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..…………… 20 10 REFERENCE…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..……………..
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Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
1. INTRODUCTION A decade ago, having a webpage was cool. Today, not having a webpage is almost primitive. Through a blog or a wiki or a webpage, everyone these days is present on the web, one way or the other. There are websites on gossip, websites on politics and websites on sports and so on. Why, there are websites on websites as well! Does that mean everyone who wants to be on the web has to be a geek? No. All you need is a Content Management System. What you need is Joomla. It’s a revolutionary open-source system that is just as cool to work with as it sounds. If you have a webpage that needs some working on all the time, Joomla is your best friend. Download it and forget about coding, programming, designing. Sit back and let Joomla do all the hard work. Be it updating your design template or setting up a forum on your website, you can do it all through a browser-based interface. Joomla is easy to set up and operate. It also provides demo for various extensions helping you understand software better.
1.1 History Joomla is a one-of-its-kind freely available, open source Content Management System that launched its first version of Content Management System on September 16, 2005. The idea was conceived during the Mambo Project, commissioned by Miro Corporation, Australia. The team of core developers quit the project owing to ‘ethical’ differences in August, 2005. They went on to create Joomla, a word that means ‘all together’. At the risk of sounding clichéd, the rest was history. Today, Joomla is a pet project for thousands of developers and community members. Not to mention the thousands of end-users across the world.
1.2 Joomla Versions Joomla follows a three-tier pattern in releasing its versions. It releases its versions in three categories - Major, Minor and Maintenance, each of which consist of three numbers. 1.2.1 Major – it is symbolized as x.1.1 where an upward movement in the major number (here x) refers to drastic change in the version compared to the previous major version. The change may be in terms of rework or rewriting of the code base.
Department of Computer Applications
1
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
1.2.2 Minor – it is symbolized by 1.x.1 where ‘x’ is the minor number. An increment upon that number shows considerable change in architecture and functionality, giving rise to a new version. It may have some similarity with the previous modifications in Minor. 1.2.3 Maintenance – 1.1.x symbolizes Maintenance. Any increment in the maintenance number ‘x’ means addition of new features and/or improvements from the previous ones. Some of the areas where Joomla can be useful include – Personal Home Pages, Corporate Websites, E-Commerce, Intranets and Extranets, Portals, Newspapers & Magazines, Organizational Websites, Government Applications, and many more. 1.3 How has the market received it? Joomla was formed with the support of 1000 members who joined the core development team to form Joomla. Today it is as large as more than 90,000 members in its community. Its global core team is located across 11 countries. The product itself has evolved and now supports 40 languages. End users, content writers, translators, developers, designers, systems administrators etc form the part of the Joomla community. Various working groups are also operational to take care of the growth and development of Joomla, which was previously handled by the core team. These groups have a group leader who serves as a communication link between the group and/or community members and the core team. They are assigned tasks and responsibilities pertaining to a specific area of Joomla Content Management System. These working groups deal with different aspects like Design and Accessibility, Development, Documentation, Quality and Testing, Site and Infrastructure and Translation to enhance Joomla.
Department of Computer Applications
2
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
Figure 1.1 Joomla and other CMS
1.4 Content Management System A content management system is software that keeps track of every piece of content on the Website; much like local public library keeps track of books and stores them. Content can be simple text, photos, music, video, documents, or just about anything you can think of. A major advantage of using a CMS is that it requires almost no technical skill or knowledge to manage.
Department of Computer Applications
3
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
2. JOOMLA - CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM 2.1 Features Joomla is packed with features that address multiple content management issues. It has basic functions like updating content on a webpage as well as more advanced features like enabling RSS feeds or archiving a high volume of data. Some of the very basic features includes. 2.1.1 User Management Joomla has a registration system that allows users to configure personal options. There are nine user groups with various types of permissions on what users are allowed to access, edit, publish and administrate. Authentication is an important part of user management and Joomla support multiple protocols, including LDAP, Open ID, and even Gmail. This allows users to use their existing account information to streamline the registration process. 2.1.2 Media Manager The Media Manager is the tool for easily managing media files or folders and you can configure the MIME type settings to handle any type of file. The Media Manager is integrated into the Article Editor tool so you can grab images and other files at any time. 2.1.3 Language Manager There is international support for many world languages and UTF-8 encoding. If you need your Web site in one language and the administrator panel in another, multiple languages are possible. 2.1.4 Banner Management It's easy to set up banners on your Web site using the Banner Manager, starting with creating a client profile. Once you add campaigns and as many banners as you need, you can set impression numbers, special URLs, and more. 2.1.5 Contact Management The Contact Manager helps your users to find the right person and their contact information. It also supports multiple contact forms going to specific individuals as well as groups.
Department of Computer Applications
4
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
2.1.6 Polls If you want to find out more about your users, it's easy to create polls with multiple options. 2.1.7 Search Help navigate users to most popular search items and provide the admin with search statistics. 2.1.8 Web Link Management Providing link resources for site users is simple and you can sort them into categories, even count every click. 2.1.9 Content Management Joomla's simplified three-tiered system of articles makes organizing your content a snap. You can organize your content any way you want and not necessarily how it will be on your Web site. Your users can rate articles, e-mail them to a friend, or automatically save a PDF (with UTF-8 support for all languages). Administrators can archive content for safekeeping, hiding it from site visitors. On public Web sites, built-in e-mail cloaking protects email addresses from spambots. Creating content is simple with the WYSIWYG editor, giving even novice users the ability to combine text, images in an attractive way. Once you've created your articles, there are a number of pre-installed modules to show the most popular articles, latest new items, newsflashes, related articles, and more.
Figure 2.1 Content Management in Joomla
Department of Computer Applications
5
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
2.1.10 Syndication and Newsfeed Management With Joomla, it's easy to syndicate your site content, allowing your users to subscribe to new content in their favorite RSS reader. It's equally easy to integrate RSS feeds from other sources and aggregate them all on your site. 2.1.11 Menu Manager The Menu Manager allows you to create as many menus and menu items as you need. You can structure your menu hierarchy (and nested menu items) completely independent of your content structure. Put one menu in multiple places and in any style you want; use rollovers, dropdown, flyouts and just about any other navigation system you can think of. Also automatic breadcrumbs are generated to help navigate your site users. 2.1.12 Template Management Templates in Joomla are a powerful way to make your site look exactly the way you want and either uses a single template for the entire site or a separate template for each site section. The level of visual control goes a step further with powerful template overrides, allowing you to customize each part of your pages. 2.1.13 Integrated Help System Joomla has a built-in help section to assist users with finding what they need. A glossary explains the terms in plain English, a version checker makes sure you're using the latest version, a system information tool helps you troubleshoot, and, if all else fails, links to a wealth of online resources for additional help and support. 2.1.14 System Features Speedy page loads are possible with page caching, granular-level module caching, and GZIP page compression.
Department of Computer Applications
6
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
If system administrator needs to troubleshoot an issue, debugging mode and error reporting are invaluable. The FTP Layer allows file operations (like installing Extensions) without having to make all the folders and files writable, making your site administrator's life easier and increasing the security of your site. Administrators quickly and efficiently communicate with users one-on-one through private messaging or all site users via the mass mailing system.
Figure 2.2 Joomla Architecture 2.1.15 Web Services With Web services, you can use Remote Procedure Calls (via HTTP and XML). You can also integrate XML-RPC services with the Blogger and Joomla APIs. 2.1.15 Powerful Extensibility These are just some of the basic Joomla features and the real power is in the way you customize Joomla. Joomla Extensions Directory helps in thousands of ways to enhance Joomla to suit our needs.
Department of Computer Applications
7
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
3. JOOMLA FRAMEWORK A software framework is a reusable design for a software system (or subsystem). This is expressed as a set of abstract classes and the way their instances collaborate for a specific type of software. Software frameworks can be object-oriented designs. Although designs don't have to be implemented in an object-oriented language, they usually are. A software framework may include support programs, code libraries, a scripting language, or other software to help develop and glue together the different components of a software project. Various parts of the framework may be exposed through an application programming interface (API).
Figure 3.1 Framework Joomla is a three tiered system:o
The top, Extensions layer, consists of Extensions to the Joomla Framework and its applications:
o
o
Modules
o
Components
o
Templates
The
middle,
Application
layer,
consists
of
applications
that
extend
the
Framework JApplication class. There are three applications included in the Joomla distribution (four in Joomla 1.5):-
Department of Computer Applications
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MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
o
Joomla – Content Management System
JInstallation is responsible for installing Joomla on a web server and is deleted after the installation procedure has been completed.
o
JAdministrator is responsible for the back-end Administrator.
o
JSite is responsible for the front-end of the website.
o
XML-RPC supports remote administration of the Joomla website.
o The bottom, Framework layer, consists of:o
The Joomla Framework itself, whose classes are listed below.
o
Libraries that are required by the Framework or are installed for use by third-party developers.
o
Plugins extend the functionality available in the Framework.
3.1 Packages and Classes The classes in the Joomla Framework are loosely grouped into several different packages, listed below. The links will take you to further information about each class including, where possible, examples of use. You can also browse the Joomla Framework and included libraries on api.joomla.org which is automatically generated by the phpDocumentor package from an analysis of the Joomla source code, making use of specially formatted comments embedded in the source code itself. These two resources, one manually maintained, the other automatic, are intended to complement one another.
3.2 The Joomla Architecture The Joomla Framework is an important part of the Joomla architecture. It's based on modern object-oriented design patterns that make the Joomla core highly maintainable and easily extendable.Third party developers benefit from the rich, and easily accessible functionality that the Joomla Framework provides. The dynamic developer team of the Joomla constantly strives to give you a satisfying customer-experience. This includes giving you a wide range of extensions and sub extensions. Let’s take a look at the kind of extensions on offer. Joomla has released 18 extension categories, each containing sub-categories. These categories correspond to the different requirements of a web content management project. These categories are broadly listed as follows
Department of Computer Applications
9
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
3.3 Admin Tools – include add-ons for backup, reporting, file management, statistics, etc. Banner Ads & Affiliates – include advertising banners and classified ads. 3.4 Calendars – provide for your needs related to events (birthdays, event calendar etc.) and reservations (primarily useful for hotels or guest houses etc) 3.5 Communication – provides for chat, comments, forums, polls, guestbook, newsletter, mailing list etc on your website. 3.6 Content & News – this category of extension helps you include blog, clock, weather, quiz, news, RSS, e-cards, ratings and reviews, tips and notes etc in the website. 3.7 Core Enhancements – group access, categories/sections, cache, credits, security etc. are the categories you may find here. 3.8 Documentation/Document Management – this extension provides for FAQs, glossary and dictionary, bibliography, Wiki and downloads. 3.10 E-Commerce – The extensions under these categories are those pertaining to shopping cart, auction, payment systems, donation, electronic data interchange and Amazon 3.11 Extension Specific Plugin – These plugins can be used only when certain extensions are already installed as the plugins are for specific extensions. E.g. if you want to install Banner Manager Plugins, then you need to install Banners Manager extension first. Other such plugins include Ads Manager Plugins, Community Builder plugins, dcsFlashGames plugins, VirtueMart Plugins, DOCMan Plugins etc. 3.12 Forms – this extension helps you create various kinds of forms (e.g. forms for surveys, guestbook, polls etc.) Gallery & Multimedia – the extension category includes sub-categories like gallery, podcasting and streaming Media. These primarily help in adding pictures/images, audio and videos, providing radio and video streams etc. 3.13 Intranet & Groupware – CRM, Contacts, LDAP, Project and task Management are the areas addressed by this extension category. It contains address book, blogs, calendar, organizers, etc.
Department of Computer Applications
10
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
3.14 Languages – Languages extension is designed to help you with translation and also provides the option of multi-lingual content. 3.15 Miscellaneous – help desk, religion, quotes, recipes, portfolio, sports/games, etc are the sub-categories included in this extension category. Search & Indexing – it comprises of Search, Site Map, Google and Directory. 3.16 Vertical Markets – Vertical markets extension contains categories such as education, real estate, auto and vehicles, boat and yachting etc. 3.17 WYSIWYG Editors – it helps manage editor profiles for the users, manage content, images, links, etc.
Figure 3.2 Administration Panel
Department of Computer Applications
11
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
Figure 3.3 Default template – Front View
Department of Computer Applications
12
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
4. BENEFITS Community Support Joomla’s resounding success is well-reflected in its thriving online community. For any doubts using Joomla, the Joomla Community is your best bet to find answers. These communities consist of domain experts like designers, developers etc. Peoples can share their CMS problems/questions on board (forum). With thousands of members in the Community, that can be assured of a reply in the least possible time. All this without spending a dollar! The online world is changing rapidly and so the CMS needs. Joomla has now marked the tradition of releasing upgraded versions to meet your varying needs and expectations. In not more than two years of time, Joomla has brought in numerous helpful versions. The core development team works in tandem with the community members to upgrade Joomla and release newer versions. This helps in advanced knowledge and systems to stay ahead in the online marketplace. There are numerous Joomla components or add-ons and modules that you can get as per the requirements. Often these modules and components are developed by the community members or third party entities. It can be downloaded for free or by paying a small amount. Some of them may be bound by License regulations. These components, when added to your website and CMS, can enhance the functionality of your website. Templates make it easier for designing website without having to rely on a web designer. Joomla templates are designed to give a fresh, attractive look and feel to your website. There are a number of web designers (either community members or third party teams) that provide you with Joomla templates. They are easy to install and integrate with your CMS. 4.1 Other benefits It’s an open source CMS, free of cost and does not come with a licensing fee. It is User friendly, easy to use, flexible, scalable and customizable and provides an editable section which allows authors to add topics/sections which will be Search Engine Friendly.
Department of Computer Applications
13
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
6. COMPARISON WITH OTHER CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS There are numerous Content Management Systems available in the open source domain as well as the commercial domain. Open Source software and commercial software are different in various aspects. Cost being the primary differentiator may play a vital role in your choice of a CMS. Open source CMS comes at no or marginal cost while Commercial Software are relatively higher priced. It is generally believed that the commercial CMS provide better post-installation assistance in documentation, training, stability, security issues etc. as their support staff may be available when needed. This may not be possible in open source CMS which primarily runs on the support of volunteers and not regular staff. However, Joomla is a pleasant exception!, With thousands of developers on the project, it has built a reputation for its prompt and effective customer service. Moreover, with a strong volunteer-base, Joomla can boast of continual development resulting in timely upgrades and new releases. You may look at your specific CMS requirements, business conditions, available resources and client requirements while choosing a CMS. Factors like price; implementation; documentation, training and support services and customization opportunities should not be overlooked. Some of the Free and Open Source CMS include – Joomla, Mambo, Drupal, PHPNuke, Post Nuke, Plone, TYPO3, e107, Open CMS, MODx CMS, WordPress, XOOPS and Zope. Some of the Commercial Software include – Vignette, Alfresco, RedDot CMS, Interwoven Teamsite, Tridion, Microsoft CMS, Oracle portal, Immediacy CMS, GOSS iCM, Hot Banana and Fatwire Content Server.
Department of Computer Applications
14
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
Figure 5.1 Available CMS Comparing Joomla with other open source CMS, Joomla is comparable to most leading CMS systems in terms of its features. Joomla and Mambo provide an in-built contact management application and captcha (for challenge response test) while Drupal, Plone and TYPO3 offer the same as a free add-on. There are features which they all provide as a free add-on – like job posting, guest book, chat etc. All open source CMS are distributed under GNU GPL. As compared to open source CMS like Joomla, commercial CMS are distributed under commercial or proprietary licenses. They may use diverse databases but Oracle and Microsoft SQL server are common. Also the programming language they use varies a lot. This includes PHP, Java, Java Script, .NET, XML, XSL, JSP, Perl, etc. Unlike open source CMS like Joomla, commercial CMS may require specific operating systems for implementation. Like Joomla, the web servers Apache and IIS are common in commercial CMS also. Other than these technical specifications, there are many other factors for comparison. Features, built-in applications, support, commerce, flexibility, interoperability, management, performance, ease of use, security, etc are just some of them. Joomla scores high on all of those parameters. Its growing popularity just underlines this fact. Department of Computer Applications
15
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
7. JOOMLA FOR DEVELOPERS There is a strong reason that draws developers to the Joomla project. Be it working on an add-on or an extension, developers have held this project in high regard. To contribute towards the future development of Joomla content management system, then Joomla provides the platform to demonstrate our knowledge and expertise in this field. It gives you the opportunity to develop extensions and add-ons for users. Joomla gives considerable importance to its developer network and serves as a resource bank for them. You, as a developer, can get the required content and resources like code samples, technical overviews, core team updates, documentation etc. from this Joomla Developer Network at free of cost. The vision and willingness to play by the rules make Joomla a dream project. Being associated with it means having worked on one of the very best CMS product. Joomla Developer Network provides in-depth resources to its members through developer blogs, working groups, framework overview, framework API, documentation wiki etc. Joomla Developer Network members can build ecommerce systems, inventory control systems, business directories, custom product catalogs, application bridges etc.
6.1 How we can contribute Becoming a member of the Joomla development community we can contribute towards its development. We can start with simply sharing the news, articles, reviews and stories by posting them on their news portal. Alternate ways of contributing include reporting bugs, submitting patches, joining developer forums and/or working groups etc. Development, Quality and Testing, Sites and Infrastructure, Design and Accessibility are some of the working groups you may join. Joomla, now heading towards internationalization, allows you to submit translations (in any language you want) in predetermined methods. You may also rectify wrong translation, if you find any. But then how to go about it all? Well, Joomla provides you with all the guidance you may need while contributing to it.
Department of Computer Applications
16
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
Where to find the License Agreement Joomla offers the CMS software under GNU General Public License (GPL). It protects the right of the licensees to use, copy, modify and distribute the programs or any part thereof. Also it passes on this benefit to those who purchase the programs or carry out any work based on that program. Simply put, a user at any level can get a license from the distributor along with the program purchased. You may distribute the program for free or a fee, the choice is all yours. It is advisable to inform the recipients about the free and open source nature of your program and that they can copy it, change it and redistribute it as they want under GPL. Another advantage with GPL is that it deems all further modified programs or versions thereof to be of same free, open source nature. 6.2 Forum It is the place where you may get in touch with thousands of members of Joomla including working group members. It is like a gateway for your queries, suggestions, feedback, replies etc. It helps you get solution for your CMS related problems from number of experts/members. Members may benefit from your useful suggestions and opinions about any version and its future development. Besides the above mentioned aspects of the forum, it also provides a platform to the members to discuss developmental issues of Joomla. It facilitates knowledge sharing. And all it takes to get into this inner circle is a simple registration. Now, didn’t I tell you that Joomla is revolutionary? Like many other successful products, Joomla is work in progress. In due course, it may pack in more features and functionalities.
Department of Computer Applications
17
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
8. ADVANTAGES 8.1 PHP The Joomla framework was written completely in PHP scripting. As this is the most common scripting language on the planet, pages should display well and should have limited compatibility issues. There is a preview mode to check the display. 7.2 Simple Installation Joomla’s installation takes only a few minutes and is ready to use right out of the box. Anyone who can download from the Internet can install and begin using Joomla although its installation is more difficult than WP. 7.3 Sophisticated Hierarchies In the more recent versions of Joomla they have created a more complex navigation pattern that can easily support more than two-level hierarchies. This provides for more in-depth websites with hundreds of pages, as opposed to WordPress, which was not designed with hierarchies in mind. 7.4 Plugins and Components Joomla has significantly more plugins and components than Drupal (although less modules and templates). WordPress by far has the most but there are a lot of functionalities built right into Joomla that means it requires less plugins than WordPress. 7.5 Support Joomla.org has a huge selection of development tools and tutorials available for its users. It also has large user-led communities where you can get advice, tips and tricks. There are over 200,000 in its online community for you to connect with, which means you can find an answer to any problem quickly.
Department of Computer Applications
18
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
9. DISADVANTAGES 8.1 Beginner to Intermediate Usability Joomla was designed mainly for simple websites and blogs, and for people with only some knowledge of building. This means that it does not have much advanced functionalities for those looking to truly customize complex sites. 8.2 Limited Customization Joomla has 80 modules and a reasonable amount of templates but will still feel too cookie-cutter for more advanced users, although less so than WordPress. 8.3 Resources The system and sites can use a large amount of server resources comparable to other CMS solutions, which means you could only run a couple of sites successfully. Even with only a couple of sites running you may experience slow loading times. 8.4 Costs There are some plugins that come with a price tag for Joomla that are free with other systems like WordPress. Check out the functionality you need before choosing your CMS if you have a very limited or constrained budget. 8.5 SEO Un-Friendly Out-of-the-box Joomla is not very SEO friendly, although the SEO will be greatly enhanced with the SEF plugin installed. 8.8 Odd Level of Complexity Many users fall into the beginner or advanced levels of web design and therefore prefer the simplicity of WordPress or the advanced toolset of Drupal. Many users therefore find Joomla too difficult or too basic.
Department of Computer Applications
19
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
10. CONCLUSION Setting up my first two serious websites involved a big learning curve which took quite a while to ride, and I had a lot of little teething problems to resolve. Joomla core functionality lacks some important features needed to build a serious website which makes it feel a little toy-ish and I had to play around an awful lot to get everything working optimally. But I got there by adding extensions and it was much quicker on my second site once I already knew what to do. Perhaps this is the inevitable result of the complexity and rapid rate of progress on the web. I really can't say whether any other CMS is better since I've never actually built a real website with anything else. Now that my sites are running though, I can say that Joomla works, and I'm very happy with it.
Department of Computer Applications
20
MESCE, Kuttippuram
Seminar Report 2012
Joomla – Content Management System
11. REFERENCE
1. http://joomla.org 2. http://docs.joomla.org 3. http://joomlaexplorer.blogspot.in/
Department of Computer Applications
21
MESCE, Kuttippuram
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