SOS Iran

With Joomla you can create anything from a simple personal website to a complex ecommerce or social site with millions of visitors.

This section of the sample data provides you with a brief introduction to Joomla concepts and reference material to help you understand how Joomla works.

When you no longer need the sample data, you can can simply unpublish the sample data category found within each extension in the site administrator or you may completely delete each item and all of the categories.

Welcome!

This is a basic site about the beautiful and fascinating parks of Australia.

On this site you can read all about my travels to different parks, see photos, and find links to park websites.

This sample site is an example of using the core of Joomla! to create a basic website, whether a “brochure site,”  a personal blog, or as a way to present information on a topic you are interested in.

Read more about the site in the About Parks module.

It’s easy to get started creating your website. Knowing some of the basics will help.

What is a Content Management System?

A content management system is software that allows you to create and manage webpages easily by separating the creation of your content from the mechanics required to present it on the web.

In this site, the content is stored in a database. The look and feel are created by a template. The Joomla! software brings together the template and the content to create web pages.

Site and Administrator

Your site actually has two separate sites. The site (also called the front end) is what visitors to your site will see. The administrator (also called the back end) is only used by people managing your site. You can access the administrator by clicking the “Site Administrator” link on the “This Site” menu or by adding /administrator to the end of you domain name.

Log in to the administrator using the username and password created during the installation of Joomla.

Logging in

To login to the front end of your site use the login form or the login menu link on the “This Site” menu. Use the user name and password that were created as part of the installation process. Once logged-in you will be able to create and edit articles.

In managing your site, you will be able to create content that only logged-in users are able to see.

Creating an article

Once you are logged-in, a new menu will be visible. To create a new article, click on the “submit article” link on that menu.

The new article interface gives you a lot of options, but all you need to do is add a title and put something in the content area. To make it easy to find, set the state to published and put it in the Joomla category.

Learn more

There is much more to learn about how to use Joomla! to create the web site you envision. You can learn much more at the Joomla! documentation site and on the Joomla! forums.

Your installation includes sample data, designed to show you some of the options you have for building your website. In addition to information about Joomla! there are two sample “sites within a site” designed to help you get started with building your own site.

The first site is a simple site about Australian Parks. It shows how you can quickly and easily build a personal site with just the building blocks that are part of Joomla. It includes a personal blog, weblinks, and a very simple image gallery.

The second site is slightly more complex and represents what you might do if you are building a site for a small business, in this case a Fruit Shop.

In building either style site, or something completely different, you will probably want to add extensions and either create or purchase your own template. Many Joomla users start by modifying the templates that come with the core distribution so that they include special images and other design elements that relate to their site’s focus.

Weblinks (com_weblinks) is a component that provides a structured way to organize external links and present them in a visually attractive, consistent and informative way. Help

The banner module is used to display the banners that are managed by the banners component in the site administrator. Help.

At our orchard we grow the world’s best oranges as well as other citrus fruit such as lemons and grapefruit. Our family has been tending this orchard for generations.

Joomla! 2.5 offers two search options.

The Basic Search component provides basic search functionality for the information contained in your core components. Many extensions can also be searched by the search component. Help

The Smart Search component offers searching similar to that found in major search engines. Smart Search is disabled by default. If you choose to enable it you will need to take several steps. First, enable the Smart Search Plugin in the plugin manager. Then, if you are using the Basic Search Module replace it with the Smart Search Module. Finally, if you have already created content, go to the Smart Search component in your site administrator and click the Index icon. Once indexing of your content is complete, Smart Search will be ready to use. Help.

This module displays the list of weblinks in a category. Help

If this is your first Joomla! site or your first web site, you have come to the right place. Joomla will help you get your website up and running quickly and easily.

Start off using your site by logging in using the administrator account you created when you installed Joomla.

Explore the articles and other resources right here on your site data to learn more about how Joomla works. (When you’re done reading, you can delete or archive all of this.) You will also probably want to visit the Beginners’ Areas of the Joomla documentation and support forums.

You’ll also want to sign up for the Joomla Security Mailing list and the Announcements mailing list. For inspiration visit the Joomla! Site Showcase to see an amazing array of ways people use Joomla to tell their stories on the web.

The basic Joomla installation will let you get a great site up and running, but when you are ready for more features the power of Joomla is in the creative ways that developers have extended it to do all kinds of things. Visit the Joomla! Extensions Directory to see thousands of extensions that can do almost anything you could want on a website. Can’t find what you need? You may want to find a Joomla professional in the Joomla! Resource Directory.

Want to learn more? Consider attending a Joomla! Day or other event or joining a local Joomla! Users Group. Can’t find one near you? Start one yourself.