Joomla!

Joomla! is a free, open source content management system for publishing content on the Internet. A content management system (CMS) is used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-based. The procedures are designed to do the following:

• Allow for a large number of people to contribute to and share stored data
• Control access to data, based on user roles (the user roles define which information each user can view or edit)
• Aid in easy storage and retrieval of data
• Reduce repetitive duplicate input
• Improve the ease of report writing
• Improve communication between users

Within its first year of release Joomla! was downloaded 2.5 million times. Joomla! was a result of a fork (further development of previous software but in a different direction) of the software Mambo, which was a CMS.

 

Versions of Joomla!:

• Joomla! (Joomla! 1.0.0) was released on September 16, 2005. It was a re-branded release of Mambo 4.5.2.3 which, itself, was combined with other bug and moderate-level security fixes.
• Joomla! version 1.5 was released on January 22, 2008.
• The most recent release is 1.5.21, on 8^th October 2010.
• Since May 2010, beta versions of 1.6 have been made available for testing purposes.

I haven’t personally tried Joomla! but with the rate at which internet technology is expanding and with the number of websites crossing the 150 million mark, I think that Joomla! is and is going to be a successful product.

 

Home Page Design

ozonebilliards.com

I found the site having a cluttered look. For me, there is an overwhelming amount of text on the home page of the site, which makes it feel a little daunting. There is also an enormous amount of information that has to be taken in by the visitor. One way to fix the site would be to have a simpler home page with the links leading to the information. The site does offer quality products, a little design and structure could give this site a very refined look.

dance.net

This site could benefit from a facial uplift. When I stumbled upon this site, it wasn’t very appealing to look at and that automatically takes away credibility for a site for me. It looks like the elements of the site were thrown together very haphazardly. The redesign of the site would fix its problem of looking cluttered.

 

tastespotting.com

Very successful in what the site is trying to do. It is very visually appealing and well organized which makes it easy to navigate and enjoyable to visit.

motionloops.com

I liked the look of the site and structure of the home page. It represented what the site was offering well and added something extra to the product. The ambience of the site was an attractive quality.

 

My Passion: Advertising

My passion (right now) is advertising. That is one of the main reasons why I am taking this course. I believe that this course will go a long way in helping me achieve my goals of becoming an advertiser because everything is moving towards the internet. I spent time researching advertising agencies and exploring their websites, how they were made, what set them apart from other site, what kind of work they do, etc. One of my favorite pages was DB&R’s “people’s” page. Their concept was really good. It was simple. It was clean. And most importantly it was effective.

Link: http://www.dbrnet.com/people/

Another site that wowed me today was Bhangra In The Burgh’s site (not an ad agency). Their graphics and page layout were amazing, especially the navigation buttons (can someone help me learn or explore how to do that? That would be greatly appreciated).

Link: www.bhangraintheburgh.com

I need to start exploring more designing tools.

 

Trustworthiness

Being trustworthy is an amazing (and possibly the hardest trait to posses). Trustworthiness can have many meanings. One can be trustworthy in a business or financial sense, where someone is reliable and honest enough on to cheat or swindle you. For example a business partner or financial planner. I feel that being trustworthy would be a prerequisite for those roles. Another meaning of trustworthy would be if someone can tell you something in confidence. This meaning takes on more of a personal role. This trait is one that is cherished by close friends who know they always have someone to rely on and talk to when need be.

I believe that the latter is a harder trustworthy definition to live up to because for most cheating, lying and stealing are by default wrong and being a dependable, trustworthy business partner or financial planner would come more naturally than being a trustworthy friend.

Taking Stock

What are my Web design Goals?

My goal is to become proficient at developing and designing websites. Learn the ins and outs, and figure out what makes the website tick. I will obviously start with a couple personal projects I have in mind but would hope to design some sites for others as well.

Which aspects of Web design interest me?

The ability to be able to create a website that (hopefully) millions of people may visit. Plus, whenever I go to a site and think to myself “wow, that was cool,” I can also say “I can probably make that.”

What current skills do I have that will be useful in creating web pages?

I can do a little photoshop work.  

Which skills will I need to brush up on?

I have to learn everything.

Which hardware and software tools do I already have for web design?

I have a pretty powerful computer and photoshop so far.

Which tools will I need to buy?

I’ll probably get a Macbook soon and I’ll need to get some other Adobe products such as Fireworks.

Choices

Choices. Choice is something that we all crave but don’t know what to do with once we get it. Think about it, when you don’t have an option its really frustrating but when options are created/found it becomes a dilemma. What do I do? How do I do it? When should I do it? And more often than not, you don’t do it because there was that option as well.

The story about this blog post is similar. Taking an online Web Design class, I have the option of doing my work whenever I want, there is no one to tell me do it NOW. This post was due yesterday, I had started writing it 4 days ago but having the option to complete it in the next 3 days, I didn’t do it and forgot about it until this morning. Truth be told, I thought about it on my way home (back from work) yesterday and remembered that “today is the last day” but when I got home, I forgot. Unfortunately.

So, this entry was supposed to be about choice. More specifically, choices relating to Web Design. Just in this class that I am taking there are SO many choices. Career paths, class options, etc. Right now, I am torn between being a developer or a designer but lucky for me there is a choice in which I can accomplish both.

Nabeel

Excited about the course?

Hell yea! The most exciting part of this course is the fact that after this course (and even during it) I will be able to design and develop my own web pages, allowing me to be able to continue and set into actions some of the ideas that I have. Also, I will be able to build my portfolio (something that I have been meaning to do and have been trying to do for the past year). For example, I am going to teach dance classes and I was thinking about making a website for the classes. Now I will be able to.

This course is really great because now everything is moving on the internet and web pages are something that people rely upon on a second-to-second basis. It will be a great skill to obtain which will help in a lot of different ways in the future. Apart for just developing websites this course will also present me with an opportunity to develop my creative and design skills, which is particularly exciting. I can’t wait to get into the core of the class and start designing my own site. This is exciting stuff! And look out for my dance classes starting October! Hip hop classes for everyone at transformations fitness center on Kelly and 150^th, email nabjamal@gmail.com for more info!!

Nabeel