Lots and lots of beginners users of the #Joomla CMS often find it difficult to use as it seems a bit trickier than WordPress. But the reality is that Joomla isn’t very tricky.
What this article is all about is the usage of the CMS and how to get familiar with it at the first instance.
In case you are absolutely new and don’t even know how to install the system, you can read my post on Joomla installation guide here. That will give a little edge over your little fear or doubt on the CMS. So to start, here we’ll go.
What can I use Joomla for?
This is a huge lots of questions many ask as they think of it as not very unique as they might have thought. But the reality is that Joomla is a very unique CMS. Joomla can actually be used for any type of webiste with the powerful extensive components. Using Joomla would actually make the mind settled and relaxed and therefore developing your next project wouldn’t be a mayhem. Now, I would like to outline types of websites you can use Joomla for before we continue.
Joomla for social Networking
Joomla has an ability. The power of user management us what makes it very unique. Giving roles and privileges to your users is hassle free and therefore having the next successful social community website or membership website is as easy as possible.
How to use Joomla as a social Networking website.
There are few approaches to this. All this approaches is using extensions. Now the major functionality of extensions are to change the way the core software behaves and twist it towards your own personal need making it stand out of the box for reliability and security purposes.
You might want to develop an intranet, a school portal, a music social community, a large forum community, a full fledged social networking website and lots and lots more type of community. Using g extensions will make this dream come true. Here, I will outline those that are suitable for this job.
Extensions for Joomla social networking
1) Joomsocial:
Joomsocial is a powerful and full fledged social networking tool in a box for Joomla. With user’s ability to do all activities ranging from Message posting, friends invitations, Music an video adding, Activity layout, Beautiful user profile, File management system, and strong and powerful communication system. With the beautiful interfaces, your users are subjected to a mature and professionally looking social networking website.
Joomsocial isn’t free as it cost about $299 dollar at its highest range but its worthy of this since it’s capable of totally fulfilling the role and exclusively secure. You can go to the Joomsocial official website here and learn more.
2) Joomla Easysocial:
The easysocial plugin is a super powerful tool used by lots and lots of people all around to build a full fledged social networking website. Using the Easy social component, your users experience becomes so unique and true that you start feeling the greatness of what you have created.
Since you aren’t having the time in the world to create another social networking website from scratch, the Easy social therefore comes to the rescue.
The software is sold for $200 at its highest range making it seems at its very best and cheap enough. You can build any type of social networking website using this component and its easy to use and yet secure, powerful and flexible.
3) Community builder:
The community builder component is another almighty plugin for building a community website just as its name denotes. Using this plugin gives you the power and strength to create your very dream social networking community website. The software which come packaged with messaging, friends system, Group component and many incredible functionalities. The most significant of this is the design. With the well themed software, your dream website is just a few miles away to getting confirmed.
And it’s so interesting that Community builder is totally free and open source. Although there are components from third party that are paid products but the major software is free. Few extensions are needed just for few tweaking purposes.
4)Kunena Forum:
Are you looking to create the next giant community with community moderation, rooms, threads, ability of users to communicate in another dimension, then the Kunena software is all you want. Using this software, your next community website becomes actually the super giant on the web. With its beautiful design and awesome power of user management, the Kunena component makes it so easy for you to build your dream community website hassle free. You can try Kunena today and enjoy the best of community networking.
All being said about turning your Joomla website to a social networking website. Now, do you know there are other important tools you might need to make things more interesting to your users and therefore make the usage of your website as easy as ABC? You some extensions many which are free.
Since the boom of Facebook and Twitter, new startups need to leverage their advantages by including them within their very own social network so as to help their user invite users from their social networking accounts (e.g Facebook and Twitter) and therefore extend the community.
Social sign in becomes the very important component for achieving this therefore. With this ability, external users can easily create an account using their already made Facebook/Twitter account to create am account on your new platform and with this ease, it would be easier for them to make recommendations of your website to their other friends and family. Below, I will list some plugins to make this job some and straightforward.
1) The Joomla SLogin extension.
with this powerful tool, your website users no longer need to worry about recreating accounts which they already had on their social network. This one click sign up/ sign in too integrates very well with Joomla and very compatible with
a) Easysocial Extension
b) Joomsocial Extension
c) Community Builder Extension
d) Kunenea Extension.
The Joomla Slogin plugin is a free download and can be found in the Joomla extension repository.
2) The Joomla Social Connect:
Let your users register to your website with their social profile from Facebook, Twitter, Google, Google+, LinkedIn, Github, WordPress.com, Microsoft (Outlook.com, Hotmail, SkyDrive, Windows Live, Windows Phone & Xbox Live),
Amazon, Disqus, Foursquare, Instagram, StackExchange, Mozilla Persona or any Ning network.
Taking their accounts from their already social account to your website is never a difficult process anymore. With a simple click of a button, the whole scenario is done.
As easy as possible, you the Administrator can now check how many concurrent users browse
your site and see who’s logged into your site and
from which social network. Just as simple as that, you take the mantle of leadership and control all those activities in your new powerful social networking website.
Type: Joomla Social Connect is a paid download. The Plugin homepage can be found here.
That said. It usually makes sense if your users can actually post automatically from your website and straight back to their respective social networking websites (Facebook, Twitter etc) Now with this plugin, the job is as easy as possible.
1) The JV social publish.
With this application, you no longer need to struggle posting your contents on Facebook and Twitter instead, this auto publishing tool takes your posts and articles directly and post them up for you. This therefore help you generate more traffic and powerful userbase that’s important for your business.
Type: JV social Publish is a free download plugin and can be found here at the Joomla extension repository.
2) OB social Submit:
This is another social autoposter. This plugin simply takes your posts and place them automatically for you on your respective social networking accounts. Its as simple as that. There isn’t need for stresses and unnecessary work around. Try this today and get the beat from Joomla.
Type: The Joomla OB Social Submit plugin is a paid plugin. You can visit their website here for more details.
Its time yo take your dream social networking website to the next level. At a glance, you will achieve this rather waiting band developing for the rest of eternity.
Joomla as a E-Commerce
Have you ever thought about the versatility of the Joomla power, Well this is where I’m going to tell you that.
The Joomla system is very powerful and flexible making it way twistable and fits straight into whatever the type of project its meant for.
Using such a powerful CMS makes development easy and thereby all web developers are usually relieved to use incredible software as such since it covers and bridges a very very wide gap of both security and functionality.
Now, I’m standing to tell you again about the Joomla as a e-commerce system.
Now, let me discuss with you the plugin or plugins responsible for such.
Below, I will outline those beautifully crafted extensions that makes the dream of building the next big thing a reality.
1) The Joomla Virtue Mart.
The Joomla virtue mart as the name denotes is a simple, powerful and securely flexible extension for the Joomla component. Using such a bright innovation, your new project becomes simply hassle free and super secured with all incredible functions you might actually have in mind.
The surprising extension has put beautiful smiles upon people’s faces and makes them laugh all the way to the top as they develop with ease their e-commerce websites which thereby takes their production and marketing to the next level.
2) Hika Shop:
This is yet another E commerce tool out of the box for Joomla. Using this tool makes things far convenient and easy.
You use this cart as a real life cart where goods and services are placed on a shelf and sold out.
The same way, the Hika shop does the same.
The Hika shop is a free Joomla extension and can be download with ease at the Joomla extension repository.
3) E Shop:
The Joomla E shop extension as the name denotes (Electronical shop) simply means that your very online commercial platform is hassle free and as easy as possible, you set up your own shop online and sell your goods and services.
With multi payment integration and powerful payment gateway, nothing seems to be much easier.
Try the Joomla Eshop today and experience the reality of online sales.
4) Joocommerce:
This is another top ranking plugin for the powerful CMS. The Joocommerce which is beautiful, elegant and attractive simply makes arranging your goods and services in a good and apple pie order.
Using such a powerful yet flexible shopping cart increases your sales far more than before and or more than anyone. Using this powerful tool makes the job far easy and reliable.
Try the Joocommecre today for your present or next up and coming project.
5) Instant pro shop:
When it come to reliability, flexibility, security and speed, the Joomla Instant pro shop stands and beats its chest.
Made with the customer’s experience in mind, using such a powerful tool simply make the shopping cart like a life supermarket.
With powerful payment integration and secured payment gateway, your customers all have the brightest experience and fe the comfort of shopping thereby turning it to an hubby.
This plugin makes the Joomla as a shopping cart a real dream come true.
Try this today and make your next shopping cart with ease with the best customer’s experience.
6.) The Joomla J2 Store:
This is a quick shopping cart implementation. Assuming you aim to produce the next word class shopping cart for your next e-commerce, then I will advise the j2 Store.
This powerful tool is so powerful and self reliable that using it gives you all you’ll ever want or need for an advanced ultramodern shopping cart.
With powerful and secured payment integration, you simply make your customers have the better experience with the nicer loon which makes their shopping online on your website as simple and reliable.
Setting this up takes few minutes and hassle free.
Within the short moment, your shop is online and your sale is up.
Try this and see how reliable the Joomla can be as a shopping cart.
7.) Joomla Jmarket
Yeah and this is another powerful tool for you if you want to create the next big thing on the internet
Using the JMarket simply turn Joomla not to only a shopping cart but a multi-vendor website therefore, helping you create the next marketplace online.
Using such a lucrative and powerfully secured tool makes the job far easy and so your new E-Market is set up easily without having to wait your entire life to achieve this tedious job.
Use the all powerful Joomla JMarket today and simply turn Joomla to the next powerful marketplace.
8.) My Muse
MyMuse for Joomla! is a Joomla! extension, modules and plugins. The extension is a shopping cart geared to musicians, choirs, DJ’s, record labels and videographers who have individual tracks or videos that can be sold and downloaded including mp3’s, video files or any digital file, as well as physical items for sale, like CD’s or DVD’s. Your next musical album is just gonna sell huge with this plugin. This powerful plugin helps you create artists, genres, albums and so much more. Built majorly as a music shopping cart, its usage is far more historical and therefore makes music sales super powerful and easy.
Type: Paid Download
Price From: $
9.) Easy Shop
On the radar is another extension called The Joomla Easy Shop.
Because of it’s name, the development team simply made this plugin as easy as they could for you and your customers.
Setting up the payment gateway and setting up your products in the shelf is far more easier and enjoyable.
With the beautiful user interface bundled with magnificent template, your user experience is actually one of a kind.
Try Easy Shop today for a Joomla e-commerce platform.
10.) Joomla Simplecaddy
SimpleCaddy has been around since Joomla 1.0.5 in 2006. A simple and extensible set of scripts to get you selling online. Simple, but powerful. Use Joomla’s standard content to present your products and let SimpleCaddy redirect the money to your PayPal account. Simple to set up, simple to use. All is (joomla) plugin driven, so completely SEF friendly. For developers: SimpleCaddy plugins are easy to create and integrate so you can have the payment gateway or shipping solution you dreamed of. Try the Joomla SimpleCaddy today and get the best out of Joomla as a E-commerce too.
Now with all these powerful e commerce tools, you are actually never limited to selling real goods alone but sell digital goods like downloads, songs, apps and even services.
Using Joomla as a E-commerce too simply denotes the power of the CMS.
As discussed earlier, Joomla is far way extensive and also flexible. This therefore makes it stand out of every other CMS and software that offers the same kind if functionality.
Joomla as a Digital download website
Now, using Joomla as a digital download website is another question many ask. If you seek to create the next Softpedia or Softonic platform, then Joomla as usual is there for your sake.
With a huge bunch of plugins to make this job easy and stressless, your own part as the admin is very little thus, Joomla as a robot takes the rest of the job for you.
Below, I will make another lists of plugins you can use to create that your next dream Download platform.
Be it digital downloads like apps, music, e-books, softwares and anything downloaded which is popular or unpopular, invented or about to be invented, just sit back and relax as I make the lists for you.
1.) The Joomla JDownload
This powerful plugin is a true and nice and incredibly reliable free plugin.
I have used this plugin for a client and its highly rated within the Joomla community.
Known for the special way of ordering and arranging your documents and downloads in a more nicer and better look, the features of the Jdownload plugin makes it outstanding.
Using such a plugin makes the job far very easy.
Download, install and set it up.
Place downloads into categories and let the Jdownload plugin handle the rest of the job for you.
Despite being a free plugin, this component is highly documented and greatly loved by the Joomla community and developers.
Using this makes the job hassle free and makes the project as quick as learning French.
“You don’t wanna do without the Joomla Jdownload plugin.”
Try this extension out today and give me feedbacks.
The plugin is free and so can be downloaded at the Joomla extension repository.
2.) Joomla EDocman
EDocman is an Electronic document management system / files downloads system /download manager extension for Joomla 2.5 and Joomla 3.x. Building on top of access control system (ACL) of Joomla, It gives you a
very powerful, flexible permission system which you can use to control who can view, download, manage (edit, delete, publish, unpublish) your documents from both front-end and back-end of your site. This simply mean that your digital download website is just a few clicks away. With this plugin, reliability is the watchword and therefore developing that beautiful Download store is a way better than others.
With the multilingual system integration and security gateway, you simply stand among the best.
You can therefore use this from wherever you are from on the corner of the earth.
Try the Jooml Edocman today and you simply see how powerful Joomla can be in the digital download platform.
Joomla as a Blogging or news magazine website.
If you’ve decided to turn your joomla website to a blogging tool or a complete news magazine website, its another great decision. because Joomla is far far easier and flexible. Maybe I didn’t explain what I meant by that flexibility but the reality here is simply that you can turn your website made with Joomla into anything of your choice.
Since the extensive power it possesses, this process is very easy and way quicker.
Joomla is a fast and securely powerful tool. Blogging or magazine publishing is hassle free. A couple of extensions and the job is done.
Let me discuss the best plugins that does this functions.
1.) The Joomla easyblog
Easy Blog is the best Joomla blog extension which empowers more than 80,000 Joomla! web sites and blog.
Easy Blog can be used to manage your personal blog, company blog, category blogs or even team blogs. Easy Blog has tons of Social Network integrations that allows you to automatically post to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. Easy Blog extension also has built-in integrations with EasySocial, JomSocial & Community Builder. Which thus makes social media integration speedy and easy. Using the Joomla EasyBlog plugin had always being giving real and powerful reviews from lots of people who have being using the tool for their projects. The Joomla EasyBlog thus come handy and Worth’s the price.
2.) The JaggyBlog
This tool is powering about 5000 blogs online. Its not expensive or hard to use rather its simple and cute.
Flexible and small.
Using the Joomla Jaggyblog tool simply makes the job far far easy and seamless.
You gather your posts and place them up in categories and this extension takes care of publishing.
Within a few moment, your readers are on your blog.
Using this SEO optmised plugin is a very nice and better approach to Joomla as a blogging tool.
3.) CJ Blog:
CjBlog is a powerful blogging extension with social touch. CjBlog is not just a blog but a complete social blogging
platform. Why to reinvent the whole wheel? CjBlog uses Joomla articles to properly present your user’s blogs with social touch. What’s more, it is completely FREE. Try this now and experience the best blogging tool for Joomla.
4.) Joomblog
JoomBlog is a fully-featured and easy-to-use Joomla! Blog component used to set up a blog directory on your website. With this blog extension you will manage personal blog and/or Team blog efficiently. The Joomla! blog site
has Social Network integration with Facebook, Twitter, Google+,StumbleUpon,LinkedIn, Pinterest and
JomSocial. It needs no design adjustments as it takes all styles from your site’s template. Start blogging quickly with any of the two sample blogs containing three posts each which are delivered with the JoomBlog package. This Plugin makes your dream as a blogger or freelancer come true.
Quick usage
The Joomla Admin panel
This is where all the story starts. You create whatever you was right in this secured screen that is safer and quicker to use. By the right side of the default admin template, there you can have a quick link to do whatever you wish to do. Then making the job very easy and straightforward.
Creating menus
To create a menu, simply hover your mouse on the Menu area and and click on create new. You will be taken to a screen where you should specify a name for your menu and then you add other menus to this main menu. (Other menus could be a plugin menu e.g In Kunena, you add the forum, thread etc to the main menu. depending on what you want to appear on the user side.)
Creating pages
Usually, your new joomla website might need some important static HTML pages for your users to preview details about your company or yourself….That is the “About Us” page, You might also need a “Contact Us” “Terms & Privacy” and many more static pages, Joomla is always making the job a simple one. To create such, you just need to follow the best and fastest procedure. Instead of using the long and unlikely for to understand process, i’d advise using an extension to make this work. Go to the Joomshaper and download the extension. (There is a premium version for $39). But if you wish to follow the Joomla default way, this is how you do it.
Go to Content >> Article >> Add new. Then add what you want to add here (e.g About Us and write a bunch of HTMLs in the text area. <div> <il> <ul> <strong> etc.) then click publish. After this, go straight to Menu and on the “Main Menu, hover to add new and then add that published article by clicking on the “Select Box” which will look up for the whole thing. On the Pop out, clcik on Articles and then another drop down. Look for your Article “Sorting” like Published, Single, Featured etc. After getting it, click on it and add to the menu and then save the setting. It will appear straight on the home page.
Creating and Editing Articles (Posts)
To create a post / Article on your new joomla website, simply click on the “Content” menu drop down on the navigation bar that sits above the admin panel. The drop down show
1.) Article Manager (Hovering this will show another menu which is “Add New Article”)
2.) The second is Category Manager (Here you add your post category. This approach is good if you wish to use Joomla as a news / Blog website. So sorting your articles to their respective categories will be simply Hassle free.)
3.) Featured Articles (After you’ve written a post or posts, you can come here to pick any of it as a featured post by simply clicking on the star in front of the post.
4.) Media Manager Here is where you add media folders or media files to your Joomla website. Using this page will present you with other media folders which you can actually pick one from or better still create your very own and then begin uploading media files (Audio / Videos / Images / PDF / or any file type.)
Installing components/extensions
(Image sits here)
To install a plugin or extension, the Joomla CMS has three major ways to achieve this by default thereby making the job of uploading a component a easy one. I will discuss each right below so that you will understand definitely.
- Via file Upload: Using this method means you will have to upload that particular (unzipped) plugin folder straight into your very own joomla root folder. This means that you upload your plugin in the “Joomla (This could be anything depending on the particular name which you give your installation root folder.) So ones again, the file goes into the Joomla root folder (Remember above file renaming) >>Administrator>>Components. Drop the file here and then go back to the admin panel. Look around at the Navigation menu bar, click on Extensions then you see a drop down. the first among the dropdown is “Extension Manager” clicking this takes you to the screen where you do the upload. Note: There are 3 tabs. Click on the middle one which says “Install from a directory” After the click, you then enter the location of the uploaded plugin folder. As in…[ ] then click on the install button which does the installation.
- Via Direct Upload: This is far easier than the above method. All you need to do is simply click on your admin navigation button the “Extensions” then on the drop down, click the “Extension Manager” and then on the file upload screen, you click on the “File browser” which searches through your computer and then click on the zipped file. and by now, it pops back into your website and so you are eligible to strike the Install button.
- Via URL: This method is also straightforward. Enter the url of the file directly after you’ve clicked on the Extension >> Extension manager >> Install from URL. When you write the correct URL in the box, click on the install button and then Joomla does the rest with ease.
How to activate a component
After the successful upload, Unlike wordpress which allows you to activate your newly installed plugin immediately, Joomla takes another approach toward doing its own thing. All that needs to be done therefore is clicking on the “Extensions” Drop down and then click on the “Plugin Manager” this takes you the screen where you see all the already installed plugins on you Joomla website.
To make things quicker, Joomla will help you search for it when you are through typing in the keywords into the search box there. and when you come across the plugin in the result field, check on the box infront of it and then above, look for the “Enable” button and then hit it. Your installed plugin will get activated immediately.
Adding a theme and activating it
Adding a theme is quiet the same as adding a plugin extension. Just follow the above “How to install plugins/extensions” to get it. Now after you are through uploading, click on the Extension button ones again and then “Template Manager” here takes you to the screen where you see you uploaded template(s) To activate quickly, simply click on the star in front of your newly uploaded theme and the thats the activator.
Conclusion
Now with this very big major roles of Joomla, the limitation is actually unlimited.
The CMS is way powerful and easy to use.
You can develop and develop and develop any single type of website on the Joomla cms this making it one of it’s kind.
Using Joomla is way easier than anything.
Incase you want a tutorial or there are some additions or errors or better knowledge about what i’ve written above, please dont hesitate to comment and figure out any of those points below. Its very much appreciated and i will correct, add or find more resources for the tutorials. Thanks.