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What is Joomla?
Joomla! is a so-called content management system (CMS), with the help of which you can easily create, edit and manage the content of your website. It is very suitable for small and medium size web presences, but even big portals and communities have been created in the past, using this system. Joomla! is very easy to handle and therefore, assures the user fast success. Another crucial aspect of Joomla! is its flexibility. With the aid of a numerous amount of extensions, a vast amount of additional functionality can be integrated.
The Joomla! project is a further development of the award-winning Mambo CMS. From the beginning on (version 1.0) therefore, Joomla! CMS has been very stable and thoroughly tested system, which already has proven itself thousands of times in productive environments. 
What does Joomla! mean?
Joomla! is the phonetic spelling for the Suaheli ascending word "Jumla". It is best translated with "all together" or "within the whole".
With the aid of a renominated marketing agency, Joomla! has been voted, after going through thousands of reviews, the best choice content management system.
The whole team, previously responsible for Mambo, has decided to safeguard the interests of the community and developers. This choice constitutes the actual success, as well as the recognition of the Joomla! project. "All together" is being expressed very well from the meaning of the name.
What separates Joomla! from other content management systems is the devotion of the development teams, to combine the most amount of functionality with an interface as user-friendly as possible. This way, persons with no technical knowledge can also create their own web-presence. Thanks to Joomla! there is no need for a closed, proprietary and often very expensive CMS software.
But Joomla! is more than just a software, it is "all together". The community behind Joomla! consists of developers, designers, system administrators, translators, authors and most importantly, you, the user! We gladly welcome all users to our community, and are happily looking forward into a splendid future of Joomla!.
Minimal requirements
- an installed and functioning webserver, i.e. Apache version 1.13.19 or higher, or Microsoft IIS
- PHP version 4.2.x or higher (Joomla! is maily written in PHP)
- the database system MySQL version 3.23.x or higher
It is generally advised to have the latest available software versions installed. Many providers don't support older versions due to strict security measurements.
A basic understanding of the operation of a webserver should exist. Basic knowledge about HTML and CSS should be available as well, in order to be able to create a site from a premade design template.
For advanced modifications within Joomla!, like with any other content management system, you will have to first study the operation method of the system. Advanced knowledge and experience of HTML, CSS and, in some cases PHP are also of great benefit. In case that You need complex modifications and have no prior experience, you should contract a company for these tasks.
Guidelines
Joomla is a freely available Software, released under the GNU general public license (GPL).
The word 'freely' has two legitimate meanings; it can be interpreted as freedom, as well as free in the sense of value. When speaking of 'free software', we mean it's freedom and not its value. (think of 'freedom of speech', not 'free beer')
Free software is a matter of the user. The freedom of usage, copying, redistribution, studying, changing and development progression is given. More precisely, it refers to four types of freedom for the user of the software: - the freedom to use the software for any purpose
- the freedom to study the software and adapt it to your individual needs
- full access to the source code
- the freedom to spread copies and help others
- the freedom to improve the software and publish improvements for the general public, so that the whole community profits from it
Since this lies outside of the field of responsibilities of Joomla!, we can only act as middle-men for you. In most cases, these situations react from misunderstandings and can be solved with mutual consent. You should send all information concerning license violations to license-violation@joomla.org.
Extensions
The enormous benefit of Joomla!'s architecture lies within the modular structure. Therefore, it is possible to extend the basic system within a matter of a few minutes. Joomla! differentiates between several different types of plugins which can be included into the system.
Components
Components are applications that run within Joomla!.
A number of these components can be found pre-installed in the Joomla! system, like the article system to manage articles, or a simple web-links management area.
Components can therefore be seen as applications responsible for viewing and processing information. These components also have their own individual administrative areas.
Aside of the pre-installed components, there are a vast amount of components which can be either free of charge, or subject to fees. Some very popular components are for example components like forums, guest-books and comment-plugins. But also more specific and more complex applications for ad-management, booking systems and translation tools are available on the internet.
Modules
Joomla! modules are generally tools to view information on different parts of the website.
This information is normally read by Joomla! from the database. This means, that all applications saving their data in the database, can be queried. Typical examples for this is the "who is online"-module, which posts the number of currently online visitors, or the "latest news"-module, which posts the latest news entries in a compact list.
Modules can also be used to print self-defined content though: for example a simpe image or text.
These modules are usually displayed aside from the main content, in a bar to the left or right of the website. This way, the looks of the whole site are improved and visitors are lured with additional information.
Mambots
So-called bots make it possible to extend the core (basic system) of the Joomla! system, without directly having to modify the source. In addition, bots facilitate the use of different content editors and other useful extensions.
Templates
Templates, not only in the Joomla! CMS system, are generally used to handle the design-aspect of a web-presence.
The idea of a content management system is the distinct separation of content and design. The plain content is provided by the database and the template is responsible for how it will look on the screen.
The general idea behind this separation is obvious: Even users who aren't familiar with web-development, can manage the content of a website, and don't have to worry about the screen format. The designer specifies several different formats, from which the user can choose (small, large, signature, bold, etc.). Therefore, content is displayed consistently throughout the website.
Of course, such a template is more than that: it defines the general layout and, therefore, is responsible for the overall impression of the website.
WYSIWYG-Texteditor
The WYSIWYG text-editor boosts the CMS to a whole new level. With the help of it, professionals, as well as web-design beginners have the possibility to adapt parts of texts to fit the needs. 45 buttons implement a vast amount of functionality. It is almost as if one would be editing a document using, for example, an editor like Microsoft Word.
Among others, the new editor offers the possibility to directly import copied text from Microsoft Word, and at the same time eliminate the annoying code that is being created automatically by MS Word. This way, the website stays as intended.
General Functionality
Joomla! is a complex system to create and manage internet-, intranet-, as well as extranet-applications. For this, Joomla! offers a lot of functionality which is already included in the basic installation.
Trash-bin Method
Joomla! uses the trash-bin as you're already acquainted with from your operating system. When elements or articles are deleted, they are not immediately, permanently deleted.
Ever once in a while it happens, that the delete-button is unintentionally being clicked, because, in a hurry, the confirmation box is not read thoroughly, and the article that has consumed so much precious time, is gone! With Joomla! - no problem! Previously deleted content elements can easily be restored again.
Browserbased Administration
In order to provide a high amount of flexibility, Joomla! works with all common internet browsers.
Joomla! works completely browser-based. This means that no software has to be installed on the computer, other than a web-browser, in order to administer the website. Therefore, the page can be administered at any time from anywhere in the world!
Time-Controlled Articles
In order to simplify the management of articles and to make it possible to publish contents at times where no editor is available, Joomla! offers to set a publishing time for articles.
On one side, the editor can define the date that is displayed as information on when the article was written, and on the other hand, the editor can choose a date and time for when the article is to be published. The editor can even define an end date for a specific article, to remove it from the website again. This can be very useful for, i.e. events or other time-sensitive information.
Joomla! offers the ability to edit content from any computer, equipped with an internet connection and a web-browser. Only basic knowledge about computers and web-browsers are needed to edit content. No matter what kind of changes you have to make, it usually takes only minutes until the new content is available to your visitors.
Frequently asked Questions
1. Under what license is Joomla! published?
Joomla! is published under the GNU GPL (General Public License). A copy of this license can be found at www.fsf.org/licenses/gpl.html.
2. Who holds the copyright of the Joomla! system?
The copyright is held by Open Source Matters.
3. Are there any limitations in the use of the Joomla! CMS?
The GNU GPL guarantees you to freely use the software for any purpose.
4. Am I allowed to sell Joomla! for money?
The GPL allows everyone to sell Joomla! for money. The right to take money for distributing the Joomla! system is part of the definition for "free" software.
When we think of "selling software", usually we it is assumed that the software is sold as a product, like it would be in most stores. In order to avoid any uncertainties: you are allowed to charge money for the distribution of the software, not for the software itself though.
5. Am I allowed to remove the "powered by Joomla, Copyright Open Source Matters." from the footer?
Yes, you are allowed to, even though we appreciate it if you would leave it.
6. Am I allowed to remove the "copyright" comments from the source code?
No, all copyright comments must remain intact within the source code.
7. Does GPL mean that the content of my website is also licensed GPL??
No. The copyright and license of Joomla! do not include the content that is created and displayed with the system and does not restrict any copyright for your content.
8. I have modified Joomla! to fit my needs. Do I have to publish this modification?
The GPL allows anyone to create a modified Joomla! version for production use, without having to publish theese modifications.
9. I have modified the Joomla! core code. Do I have to publish or these changes under the GPL license?
If you would like to distribute or publish the changes you have made, the code has to be published with the same guidelines as the original starting code. You are also allowed to modify the header of the source file to include your copyright as well. In this case you will have to clearly define which changes and modifications have been made to the code.
10. I have written a component, module, template, or mambot for Joomla!. Do I also have to publish this under the GPL?
No! The GPL allows you to write and publish any extensions, using any license.
11. I have written a component, module, template, or mambot for Joomla!, published it under the GPL and sold it for money. Is the customer allowed to publish the extension i.e. on his website, freely?
Even if someone pays you money for it, the GPL allows every person the freedom to distribute the software free of charge. Restrictions on the usage of GPL software would violate the GPL.
12. Can I buy a copy of Joomla! with no copyright notices?
Even though other GPL products are available this way, Joomla! isn't.
13. I think person A has violated the GPL terms. What should I do?
You can report about it, but first, check all available facts. You can then send an email to license-violation@joomla.org.
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