So what is Joomla!? Joomla! is a an open source content management systems (CMS) that allows end users to easily publish content on the internet. It is a derivation of the CMS Mambo and came about after a disagreement by the developers on the direction to take the product going forward. Joomla! is written in PHP and by default uses the MySQL database system, but to use it, no programming is required.

Joomla!: A User's Guide is geared for those who wish to use Joomla 1.5 to create a website for either themselves or for clients. It does not assume that you know PHP, CSS or any other acronym's that float around the web development world. Joomla!: A User's Guide is 480 pages divided into 12 chapters and three appendixes.

Chapter 1, "Content Management Systems and an Introduction to Joomla," provides an introduction to what Joomla! is and what a CMS is. Here you will see what the differences are between a CMS and a traditional website, what it takes to run a site, the history of Joomla!, and the basic elements of a Joomla! site. Chapter 2, "Downloading and Installing Joomla," examines what it takes to get Joomla! up and running. Because it is open source, it is free for you to download, install, and begin working with. Here you will learn how to get it running on both a home computer as well as on a real web server with a hosting account.

Chapter 3, "Joomla Administration Basics," describes what day to day tasks are needed to add content, manage users, and, in general, make sure everything is up and running smoothly. With a properly managed site, the administration burden is really low. Explained here is what is the frontend and what is the backend of a Joomla! Website. Chapter 4, "Content is King - Organizing your Content," captures what is, in essence, the whole purpose of a CMS, to manage content. Here you will learn in an in-depth tutorial, how Joomla! displays and organizes content articles, how it generates web pages, and how you can organize the hierarchical structure of your content. You will learn about the two level hierarchies in Joomla! called sections and categories.

Chapter 5, "Creating Menus and Navigation," are essential to your Joomla! site as they not only serve as navigation, but they also determine the layout of what a dynamic page will look like and what content will appear on the page. Here you will learn how to produce a logical navigation system. Chapter 6, "Extending Joomla," describes what you can add to your Joomla! site to provide additional functionality. With both free and commercial add-ons available there is plenty to extend the usefulness of your site. These include components, modules, plugin, templates, and language packs.

Chapter 7, "Expanding Your Content: Articles and Editors," looks at the WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) editor and how the backend works with the managers, administrators, and super administrators. Then you will learn how writers, editors and publishers can be allowed add content through the front end. Chapter 8, "Getting Traffic to Your Joomla Site," is all about search engine optimization (SEO) and how best to bring traffic to your site.