There are hundreds of reasons for building your own website – but they are all build using roughly the same steps. With all the tasks to be done, it can be confusing as to what you should do first.

 

Having built more than one hundred websites, I recommend using the following seven steps. You can think of these steps like the seven steps for building a house:

 

Ø  First is the Permit (the Start Up),

Ø  Second is the Foundation (the Set Up),

Ø  Third is the outer walls and roof (the appearance),

Ø  Fourth is the inner walls and floors (the contents)

Ø  Fifth is the stairs and doors linking the floors and rooms (the structure)

Ø  Sixth is the furniture (the components)

Ø  Seventh is the people (social networking).

 

This may seem like a lot of work. But remember that you are going to be living in and with your new website home for a long time.  

 

SEVEN STEPS TO BUILDING A DYNAMIC JOOMLA WEBSITE

 

 

Step One, Site Start Up includes getting your domain name and web hosting – hopefully from an Internet Service Provider (ISP) who has taken the time to set up a simple auto-install of Joomla version 1.5.24.  

 

 

Step Two, Site Set Up, involves adjusting the Global Configuration settings, and deleting un-needed content, categories, sections, modules and menu items.  

 

 

Step Three, Site Appearance, is controlled by installing the revolutionary Cloudbase 2 template and creating a custom header image, title and slogan for your website.  

 

 

Step Four, Site Content, involves creating, organizing and posting articles, text, images and links. Joomla helps you organize your content by placing your web pages (which Joomla calls articles) inside of categories which are then placed inside of sections. You can think of the process like organizing the content of a book. The articles are like the pages topics of the book which are organized into Chapters which are organized into Sections. All of this is then placed in a “Table of Contents” which Joomla calls the Article Manager. You may not think your website needs a Table of Contents is it is only a few pages long! But be aware that websites, like books, have a habit of growing over time.

 

 

Step Five, Site Structure, is determined by the organization of your main menu. It includes adding the Fusion Expandable Menu, creating Section and/or Category Menu Item Links and then placing Article Menu Items under their Section and/or Category Menu Links so that readers can understand the structure of your web pages as if they were reading the Table of Contents of a book.

 

 

Step Six, Site Components, include adding extensions such as a front page slide show, feature boxes (called modules) and multi-media such as videos to increase the functionality of your website.  

 

 

Step Seven, Social Networking, is made possible by adding a Forum, an Email Newsletter, Contact Us and Petition Forms and a blog.

 

This is roughly the order we present the articles on our website: Springforwardwebdesign.com.

 

1.1 Why Choose Joomla for your website?

1.2 Seven Steps for Building a Joomla Website (this article)

1.3 Getting your Domain Name and Web Hosting

1.4 Installing Joomla on your website

 

 

 

2.1 Joomla Administrator Control Panel

2.2 Joomla Global Configurations

2.3 Adding Joomla Extensions

2.4 Installing and Using the Joomla CK Editor

 

 

 

3.1 Benefits of the Cloudbase 2 Grid 960 Template

3.2 Installing the Cloudbase 2 Template

3.3 Creating a Custom Header for your Template

3.4 Fine Tuning the Appearance of your Template

3.5 Configuring the Layout of Your Template

 

 

4.1 Using Sections and Categories to Organize Site Content

4.2 Writing Joomla Articles

4.3 Organizing Images into Folders on your Home Computer

4.4 Transmitting your Article Images to the Server

4.5 Posting your Article to your Website

4.6 Transferring Images back to your Web Article

 

5.1 Making a New Menu Item

5.2 Using the Joomla Menu Manager

5.3 Buildning Your Joomla Menu System

5.4 Adding an Expandable Menu

5.5 Configuring your Expandable Menu

5.6 Loading Modules to your Menu

5.7 Changing the Appearance of your Expandable Menu

 

6.1 Uploading Multiple Images to your Website

6.2 Adding a Slide Show to your Joomla Website

6.3 Adding Video to your Website

6.4 Watch this Video

 

7.1 Adding a Feedback Form

7.2 Adding a Petition

7.3 Adding a Joomla Forum

7.4 Adding an Enewsletter

7.5 Adding a Blog

 

Now that you know the seven steps of building a Joomla website, turn to the next Article and let the fun begin! The next article will outline the steps for securing your domain name and web hosting. 

 

Got questions? Feel free to email me or post your question in our forum!

 

David Spring

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