Joomla! Discussion Forums

I am looking for information to pass along on how to administer a joomla 1.5 site for complete beginners.

I cannot find this anywhere on the joomla.org site (e.g. http://help.joomla.org) or in the help menu under admin once logged in.

There is plenty of information to explain things for people who are more than beginners, but not an absolute beginner.

Suggestion and Question: Unless I'm completely overlooking something, It seems that on the home page of joomla.org under either/both Joomla 1.0 or 1.5 on the left hand side, that there should be a link to "Getting Started" that takes you to a page with info on:
1. overview of Joomla (what it is, why to use it)
2. how to install (yes, there is a link for this)
3. how to begin administering your joomla site (this is the info that I cannot find)

(If you respond, please don't pass along links to sites/pages other than on joomla.org nor forum posts -- these are not helpful to someone that doesn't know where to look)

From the Documentation Wiki (a work in progress): Absolute Beginner's Guide to Joomla!.

For what it's worth, I do agree with you that more clarity should be brought to the home page to point beginner's in the right direction.

I just did a search for "getting started with Joomla" and found this thread and registered.

About 6 months ago, I started trying to create a Joomla site, downloaded what I thought I needed, had multiple roadblocks each time I tried, and gave up for the time being after several fresh attempts.

FWIW, I run over 50 sites for assorted companies, as a very low budget / friend, using common, easy, $50-$100 a year templates from assorted companies. I have zero html useful knowledge, but manage with the 50+ sites I run.

I am going to back up and try the wiki beginner Joomla again, but thought I'd post here and embarass myself because I do NOT find the getting started with Joomla process easy, and I am not a complete imbecile, I swear, and mom backs me up.

Maybe it is something worth review.

This thread led me to the wiki getting started link, so many thanks to both posters above!

Best
RUseen

I am gonna break through this time and start making my new sites with Joomla.

I am a hard code html web designer and trying to figure out how to make this work is an absolute NIGHTMARE!!!

For every question, there is no easy answer but each question takes you to a whole other ENCYLOPEDIA that only gets you MORE confused!

After getting host server help, I have(I think) a JOOMLA website - but it's all Joomla stuff, not my stuff, and I don't have a CLUE on how to fix it. Something is messed up and no one will help me.

They just say go read the encyclopedia that makes you cross eyed.

For all this brain power is there no installation navigation??????

You do a search for EDIT and get more definitions but NO EXPLANATION on HOW!

It's incredible work but you can't find the tools you need to GET STARTED!

You need things distributed so you can BUILD not have a wide shotgun BLAST that you don't even know what it means.

I am very frustrated because once I get the navigation tools, I know I can run with this but right now, I am hitting the help refresh page over and over hoping that someone nice will come along and help me.

Surely these incredible brains can set up an installation people can follow without having to run here there and yonder to only God (but not us) knows where!

I know you think that is helpful but it's not.

There is TOO MUCH information and NO navigation.

It's an encyclopedia with 1000 answers to things I don't know I am asking.

A B C and 1 2 3 is what I need, not a page crammed and overfilled with so much text that it jumbles all together.

I HAVE looked at that and I am STILL lost, which is why I wrote!

If you tell me WHERE or WHAT PART on that page I need, then I will really try to go from there.

I DO NOT SEE a back end place to log in!

Hi. I have 2 ideas. Have you worked through the Quickstart Guide? (http://docs.joomla.org/Beginners#Complete_the_Joomla.21_v_1.5_Quick_Start_Guide). Second, you might find this article helpful: http://community.joomla.org/magazine/article/522-introductory-learning-joomla-using-sample-data.html.

Good luck. Mark

Joomla and Open Source is designed for the ones who have learned to sell books, lessons, etc

Really? .. and yet we/I still offer all our material for free... perhaps you need to read more on open source philosophy as well as on Joomla.