Building Websites with Joomla!

Very helpful for the beginner and the developer just getting started with Joomla

I think this book is very good, esp. as a reference guide for new Joomla designers. Like any software, you will learn more by using it rather than reading about it. However, this book will get you to the point of comfort with Joomla Design much much quicker. I think you should buy it, at the very least, to support the Joomla programmers.

Basically, I got what I wanted... which was a relatively brief overview and guide to this powerful program. The language is a bit awkward (It's a mediocre translation from German), but it's knowledgeable and concise. Not brilliant, but useful just the same.

Hagen has done a beautiful job at explaining how to use Joomla!. From installation to using all the wonderful features of Joomla! to installing third party extensions to creating your own templates and extensions, this book will have you up and running as quick and with about as comprehensive understanding as possible. As a user of Joomla! from the very beginning of its inception and long time user of its ancestor, Mambo, I wish I had something like this to take me by the hand and start me off when I first began. Everything is all in a nice tidy little package which can be referenced again and again as needed. I even learned a thing or two I didn't know before by reading this. This book is a great investment for anyone wishing for a thorough introduction to Joomla! Open Source CMS.

This book is worth the $40+ dollars I paid for it b/c I believe it will save me time messing when compared with the rather frustrating online documentation for Joomla! The text is an introductory one and focused primarily on NON-PROGRAMMERS. It reads much like the manual that should be in the Joomla! online documentation, but isn't yet. It is true that you can muddle through the Joomla! program and get most things figured out, but this book will help you do it quicker. What it will be really good for is to loan it to clients I've installed Joomla! for so they can quickly get up to speed on what most things do. There are so many options in Joomla! it can be overwhelming at first and this guide helps break it down into bite sized pieces. What it isn't, and I sooo wish it was, is a particularly effective guide on how to program components, modules, and mambots. It can be done from the information provided but I like to understand every little thing before I start programming and that is not the case here. It is after all an introductory text. The spelling errors and language issues mentioned in another post are isolated to the Preface, Chapter 1, & Chapter 3. Page 2 has fro instead of for. Chapter 1 pages 16 & 17 show some example sites in German & Norwegian, however the language is unimportant since it's the style I was concerned with. Page 50 mentions a tutorial in German, not real useful, however since I understand how to work a search engine I'm pretty sure I can find the htaccess information I need. I would definitely buy a intermediate/advanced version of this book. There is an Apress book coming out in August about Joomla! I hope that will fulfill that product niche. I also really like that the publisher donates a portion of the proceeds back to Joomla! I actually scanned chapters 7-9 & the appendix and carefully read the rest of the book. Chapter's 7,8,9, & the appendix didn't deal with topics I need to know at this time. I hope this was helpful Robert Speer www.robertspeer.com