Enhancing Websites with Joomla Templates

While based on Mambo, Joomla is a far more flexible software package that’s free and is a content management system (CMS). It has the virtue of much clearer code. For some people, that is not an important issue, but Joomla allows you to modify the code on your own. So, while it was written by experts, it can be revised by amateurs to suit their individual needs; Joomla is what is known as an Open Sourced Software (OSS). While the database of available add-ons and extensions is not huge right now, it continues to grow, and Joomla lets you use third party applications within it.

Joomla comes with a wide variety of prepared templates that you can use to create a website. If none of them is ideal for your needs, Joomla has the flexibility to allow you to make your own templates. If you prefer columns of text, and want them well separated for ease of reading, Joomla is perfect. In addition, you don’t have to write a lot of your text directly into the website pages. Instead, the Joomla templates can load text from an exterior database. This may not sound like much, but it means that you can easily update and revise your site as time goes by, and you do not have to hire an expensive technician to do it. A typical database can be revised by anyone using an editor like Windows Word. Using a program like that, any semi-skilled person can revise the text in your site. Keeping your site current with trends and new developments is important.

Some people may balk at the idea of using free software. After all, don’t you have to pay for quality? Look at how much Microsoft charges for its various packages of programs. In the case of OSS packages like Joomla, since it is free, the programmers know that the only way people will use it is if it is very high quality. For some people, the praise and knowledge that their software is a hit is enough. Besides, once they make a name for themselves, it can lead to a paying job. Also, given the flexibility of Joomla, a lot of people know about the program and can help you use it and fine-tune it to your needs.

So often, when you are trying to set up a website, there is the issue of the technical complexity of the language. This usually means you have to hire someone – at great expense – to set up your site. In the case of Joomla, you do not have to get bogged down in those technical matters or merging scripts into your website. Installation is as simple as moving your mouse around, pointing and clicking. Inside of a day, you can set up a website, and then maintaining it is just as easy. Often times, that can be a problem when it comes to long term costs; you again have to pay a web designer a large fee to modify or upgrade your website.