Want to create a W3C valid JOOMLA template……………. Have a look at this.

This tutorial has a small information as how we can build a valid joomla template. Joomla is an open source Content Management System (CMS) that is freely (literally) available and supported by a large on-line community. The site will actually be live on-line at from the very beginning, you’ll be able to see the different stages as the design develops. As this is a CSS designed site, you’ll be able to slowly see the raw joomla design get styled step by step.

Web standards for JOOMLA Design

You may have seen words such as “web standards” or “CSS” or even “accessibility“. They are often all used together in some sort of commentary about a “design for the future rather than the past”.

What do we mean by that?

Many web pages are designed for older browsers. How so or why so?

Browsers have continually evolved since the www started. New ones have appeared and old ones have disappeared (You all might be having a idea about remember Netscape?). Another complicating factor is that different browser makers (like Microsoft) tend to have their browsers interpret html/xhtml in slightly different ways. This has lead to web designers having to design their websites to support older browsers rather than new ones. It’s often decided that the web page needs to appear properly to these “legacy” browsers.

Web standards put into place a common set of “rules” for all web browsers to use, to show a web page. The main organization pushing these standards is the World Wide Web Consortium (WC3), whose Director, Tim Berners-Lee has the distinction of actually inventing the world wide web in 1989 (how’s that on a resume!).

CSS

Cascading style sheets or CSS was developed a few years ago that made styling easier for web designers. You have all styles in a separate file and they are applied to the whole site. Recently is has been part of a movement to separate content from presentation. Everyone should make a note that CSS is key to building a valid Joomla website that meets WC3 standards.

Accessibility

Accessibility, sometimes mistakenly called usability, is an attempt for a page to be accessible to all possible viewers. Usually this is chosen to mean such examples as someone that is blind (uses a screen reader) or old (struggles with small fonts/delicate mouse based navigation). I use these two as examples as they are the ones quoted most often (don’t shoot the messenger!). I take a much broader view and include viewers with or without disabilities, young or old, or even non-human, such as search engine spiders!

Trying to get your joomla website to meet these standards can be hectic job. Any sort of CMS generates its content dynamically, which can mean code gets put in that invalidates your site, the joomla design is never constant.

Have a look what exactly Joomla content is All about

There is no “right way” to create a website, it depends on the designer’s own background. Those more graphical make an “image” of a page in a graphics program like Photoshop and then break up the images to use (known as slice and dice). More technologically inclined designers will often just jump straight into the CSS and start coding. As a goal of this project is to have the process be as transparent as possible for people to see, we’ll use a process with lots of small steps. We’ll have two other twists in the joomla design process:

* We will put up a site a raw content very early in the process, normally this would come as one of the last stages.
* We will design a basic 3 column CSS joomla template first and then adapt to our desired design. We are doing this so that it’s possible to see a “universal layout” and see how it can be adapted to different needs.

So, with those two points in mind, here is our modified design process.

1. Outline and discuss website criteria.
2. Install Joomla with no CSS, a raw joomla design with no styling, publish onto web.
3. Create basic position 3 column CSS layout.
4. Adapt 3 column CSS joomla template and complete any further styling.
5. Adapt this Joomla design to achieve desired site functionality.
6. Take comments generated by community and create detailed guide to building a valid Joomla website.

We’ll start with a fresh Joomla website install. We’ll use this section of this website to place the articles discussing the process. We’ll also use a comment tool so that anyone can make comments. Hopefully this will be a learning experience for us all.

Summary:

* Joomla is a free, powerful content management system, we’ll be using it to build a valid Joomla template that meets WC3 standards.
* Web Standards describe a set of rules for all web browsers to use to interpret web pages. CSS is a design protocol that is closely tied to web standards.
* Getting a joomla design to meet W3C standards and validate can be difficult.
* Microsoft needs to be taken out back and shot.

WANT TO START WITH HTML + CSS THEN SHOULD HAVE A LOOK AT THIS…………

There are 7 steps as of how you can start working with HTML + CSS. It can be useful for people who have never used css style sheets before & would definitely want to learn about it……………
Step1. It can be suggested to use only the very simplest of tools. E.g., Notepad (under Windows), Text Edit (on the Mac) or KEdit (under KDE) will do fine. Once you understand the principles, you may want to switch to more advanced tools, or even to commercial programs, such as Style Master, Dreamweaver or Go Live. But for your very first CSS style sheet, it is good not to be distracted by too many advanced features.
Don't use a word processor, such as Microsoft Word or Open Office. They typically make files that a Web browser cannot read. For HTML and CSS, we want simple, plain text files.
In fact, you don't have to type it: you can copy and paste it from this Web page into the editor.
Note** (If you are using Text Edit on the Mac, don't forget to tell Text Edit that the text is really plain text, by going to the Format menu and selecting “Make plain text”.)


Step 2. Let’s add some colors to the template
You probably see some black text on a white background, but it depends on how the browser is configured. So one easy thing we can do to make the page more stylish is to add some colors. (Leave the browser open, we will use it again later.)
We will start with a style sheet embedded inside the HTML file. Later, we will put the HTML and the CSS in separate files. Separate files are good, since it makes it easier to use the same style sheet for multiple HTML files: you only have to write the style sheet once. But for this step, we just keep everything in one file.
We need to add a themselves. They belong to HTML, not to CSS. In the new editor window, you should now have the complete style sheet:

Which forum software do you prefer? Do you prefer PHPBB forums or VBulletin forums?

Forums are always been loved because an active forum allows you to interact with a large number of people and get help quicker than commenting on a post or even doing a Google search (sometimes). I actually have experience being an administrator and a user of both forum types. Here are some of the Advantages & disadvantages of both
PHPBB Forums
PHPBB Advantage
• Open source &FREE.
• Easy to setup.
• Easy for just about anyone to use.
• User friendly.
• Takes little time to get modding done
PHPBB Disadvantages
• Options are limited.
• Not very SEO friendly (as of version 3.0).
• MODS are very limited, mods released are very less.
VBulletin Forums
VBulletin Advantages
• . Installation is easy. Just one click away to install it.
• Generally better looking.
• More features.
• Plugins/Add-ons available.
• More SEO friendly than PHPBB.
• Social networking is good.
VBulletin Disadvantages
• Takes lots of time to install custom MODS.
• Costs $100-$180.00 per license.
• Constant Maintenance/Updates required.
• Targeted by Spammers.
• Not very Fluid.
Both forum types have skins available for free and for sale, so I didn’t mention that above. It is also important to mention that you can easily convert your PHPBB forum into a VBulletin forum (I’ve read this, haven’t personally tried it).
In summary, as a user, I’ve always felt that to be considered a serious forum; you need to be using VBulletin. It just looks more professional, has more options, etc. From an administrator’s standpoint, however, I’ve enjoyed running PHPBB forums more. VBulletin forums seem to attract a ton of spammy posts and sometimes moderating posts and banning users can be overwhelming (in my experience) and I feel like I have to update the software every few weeks. It also seems to almost have to many options!
So that is my experience with both PHPBB and VBulletin. I would love to hear about your experiences and preferences between the two. Have any pros or cons to add to the list? You can write from the perspective of running either type of forum or from the user perspective (reading/posting) on either type of forum. If you haven’t used either, you are welcome to share your experiences with BBPress.

JOOMLA or WORDPRESS which is the best in BUSINESS?

When you start to look for brilliant blogging software, take in account that the best blogging platform is one that best suits your needs. I do not believe in a general classification and in a general valid solution. That is in the case of e-commerce platforms. There are many variations, some as rich in features or other options. The best is that which meets the requirements of the future store. So when you start to look for brilliant blogging software, take in account that the best blogging platform is one that best suits your needs. I do not believe in a general classification and in a general valid solution. That is in the case of e-commerce platforms. There are many variations, some as rich in features or other options. The best is that which meets the requirements of the future store.

Why joomla? Because it was been discovered by experts that the power of this CMS in building fast and cheap a site and realized that developers statements under which Joomla! Is one of the most powerful Open Source system for content management on the planet, being used worldwide from simple websites to complex corporate applications and is simple to install and use, are true.

One of the reasons why JOOMLA can be chosen is:
* Costs very little for maintenance and development
* SEO and SEM optimized
* Very flexible, intuitive and easy to use
* Manage text, images, documents and media files
* Unlimited possibilities of development of web pages
* has wide spread and support a strong and very active web community

What Wordpress is good in?
If you try to compare this blogging software, Wordpress Development, with Joomla CMS don’t forget about that wordpress is just a blogging platform, while joomla is a free open source content management system for publishing content. So, it depends what you need for blog or portal. I agree that is pretty difficult to compare them, but I’ll try to do this by compare them as personal publishing platforms. Even completely different software can be compared in terms of expandability, usability, speed and potential for future growth.

Finally it can be stated that
Joomla was created from the ground up as a CMS, while Wordpress was designed as a publishing platform that has developed gradually into a CMS, offering each unique capability.
Both platforms work well for managing a website, Wordpress is the best option for small to medium business and Joomla is fantastic for a website that requires multiple user privileges or custom database work.

What CMS should we exactly use

Comparison between JOOMLA & DRUPAL
There exists a very common question within the beginners that weather they should use JOOMLA DRUPAL or any other CMS.
Well for this very question there is a simple answer DRUPAL is one of the superior than any other CMS. The main reason for saying it is because it is very SEO friendly. It can cater your needs, can be used for simple FAQ sites or a large million visitors site.
Lets us compare first the 2 best CMS DRUPAL & JOOMLA

DRUPAL.
• Rock solid & high quality platform
• Real multi-site-feature (only one installation for several sites
• Any Kind of user groups & user permissions, OpenId compliant in Version 6
• Can run membership and community sites, not only CMS etc
• Powerful templating system. Any XHTML or CSS template can be easily converted to Drupal.
• Drupal needs a little time investment to realize all the huge possibilities of Drupal
• Clear, high quality code and API (easy to integrate with other solutions etc)
• Flexibility and no known limitations
• Many high profile sites use Drupal (e.g.: MTV UK, BBC, the Onion, Nasa, Greenpeace UK, New york observer. )

JOOMLA
• If you are not techy its good to start
• Easy install & setup with your mouse
• Easy learning curve
• Cannot integrate other scripts etc. to your site
• Generally you cannot create high-end sites, without investing huge amount
• No SEO out of the box, URLs are not search engine friendly.
• Server resources utilization is more compared to DRUPAL.
• Only one site per installation
• No Single Log-in to several sites
• No User groups & permissions
• More intuitive administration user interface
• Some polished modules for things like calendars, polls, etc.
• Modules cost you money

Systems those are required for each of these CMS
• Drupal can work with MySQL and Postgres while Joomla is known to support only MySQL
• Drupal can work with Apache or IIS while Joomla is known to support only Apache
• Joomla support SSL logins and SSL pages. Drupal not known to support it.

Site Management
• DRUPAL has free added on for Workflow management. Joomla not known to have one.
• Drupal has inbuilt Translation manager. Joomla has a Free ad on for the same
• Drupal has more granular privilege management
There are all together 8 fields where we can figure out as which is the best CMS

Site Building
Flexibility & Power: Drupal looks significantly more powerful — much more flexible. Drupal gives a huge advantage over Joomla with looks like views, CCK, Panels. You simply can’t get that flexibility with Joomla. Joomla developers design around their own design with very little flexibility.

Performance
In initial tests any one can notice that, Drupal blows away Joomla. With the new version of Joomla, the good template makers junk them up with gee-whiz gadgets that are not suitable for the enterprise

Learning Curve
Joomla is far easier to get up and running. Even with all the free videos, blogs, etc, Drupal is still a lot more challenging. Big oppty for comprehensive business business/enterprise book/education

Templates
Joomla wins by a huge margin. For example, companies like Joomlart, Joomlashack the best of JOOMLA development companies do a good job. Drupal theme companies are simply horrific. What’s needed is a Template strategy that emulates the requirements for the top web sites in the country and, bundles modules, blocks etc. that work out-of-the-box to give businesses a head-start

Code developers
It looks Drupal coders are much more professional, skilled, disciplined. Good Joomla coders are rare. Must have something to due with the Drupal culture. I’m sure the Joomla developers are just as capable, they just don’t institute the same rigor

Admin
Drupal’s backend admin functionality is bad. The front end, backend separation is tenuous and confusing. Joomla is far better.

Content Management
- Drupal’s taxonomy system is excellent. Joomla’s “strait-jacket” approach is poor. Joomla’s admin console is much easier to organize, find content. Joomla’s Pro is better than the options available for Drupal.

Content Presentation
- Drupal’s tools are very, very good — they don’t come close to the built-in power of IBM tools but they’re light years better than Joomla, but wonder why they aren’t part of the code base. Seems odd. With Joomla, you have to acquire components that will meet 60-80% of your needs. For example, Joomla has a tremendous news component, but it will never meet the capabilities of Drupal’s CCK, Views, etc.

DRUPAL

Something Special about Drupal

Drupal core
Drupal core is the stock installation of Drupal, which can be optionally extended by third party contributions. In Drupal's default configuration, website content can be contributed by either registered or anonymous users (at the discretion of the administrator) and made accessible to web visitors by a variety of selectable criteria including by date, category, searches, etc. Drupal core also includes a hierarchical taxonomy system, which allows content to be categorized or tagged with key words for easier access.

Drupal maintains a detailed change log of core feature updates by version.

Auto-update notification
Drupal can automatically notify the administrator when a new version of any module, theme, or the Drupal core itself, becomes available. This feature can help keep a Drupal installation up-to-date with the latest features and security fixes.

An auto-update module for the older version 5.x provides identical functionality, but it is not included in the core release.

Extending Drupal core
Drupal core is designed to be modular with a system of hooks and callbacks, which are accessed internally via an API. This design allows third-party contributed (often abbreviated to "contrib") modules and themes to extend or override Drupal's default behaviors without changing Drupal core's code.
Drupal's modular design, which isolates Drupal core's files from contributed module and themes, increases flexibility and security and allows Drupal administrators to cleanly upgrade to new releases of Drupal core without potentially overwriting their site's customizations. To maintain this separation, Drupal administrators are instructed to avoid altering Drupal core's software.

What is Content Management System

CMS (Content management system) is a group of procedures usually done to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can either be done manually or computer based. This group of procedures is designed to
1. To share and store data by large number of people.
2. Based on the role of users, the access to the data should be given
3. The storage & retrieval of data should be easy
4. The inputs should be unique, i.e., there should be no duplication
5. Report writing should be easy
6. There should be an effective communication between users
In terms of CMS data can be anything for e.g. Document, Movies, pictures, phone numbers, scientific data, etc.

USES OF CMS
1. Storing
2. Controlling
3. Revising
4. Semantically enriching
5. Publishing documentation

Types of CMS
1. Enterprise Content management: It is based on the technology, strategic, methods and tools used to capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver content and document related to an organization and its processes.
2. Web CMS: It is software that is implemented as a Web application, for creating and managing HTML content. It is used to manage and control a large, dynamic collection of Web material.
3. Document management system: This type of CMS is used to track and store documents and/or images of paper documents. The term has some overlap with the concepts of content management systems. It is often considered by many experts that DMS is a component of EMS.
4. Mobile content management system: It is a type of content management system (CMS) capable of storing and delivering content and services to mobile devices, such as mobile phones, smart phones, and PDAs.
5. Component content management system: It is a content management system that manages content at a granular level (component) rather than at the document level. Each component represents a single topic, concept or asset (e.g., image, table, product description). Components can be as large as a chapter or as small as a definition or even a word.
6. Learning content management system: It is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, and reporting of training programs, classroom and online events, e-learning programs, and training content.