Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS), which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use and extensibility, have made Joomla the most popular Web site software available. Best of all, Joomla is an open source solution that is freely available to everyone.

What's a content management system (CMS)?

A content management system is software that keeps track of every piece of content on your Web site, much like your local public library keeps track of books and stores them. Content can be simple text, photos, music, video, documents, or just about anything you can think of. A major advantage of using a CMS is that it requires almost no technical skill or knowledge to manage. Since the CMS manages all your content, you don't have to.

What are some real world examples of what Joomla! can do?

Joomla is used all over the world to power Web sites of all shapes and sizes. For example:

• Corporate Web sites or portals
• Corporate intranets and extranets
• Online magazines, newspapers, and publications
• E-commerce and online reservations
• Government applications
• Small business Web sites
• Non-profit and organizational Web sites
• Community-based portals
• School and church Web sites
• Personal or family homepages

Who uses Joomla?

Here are just a few examples of Web sites that use Joomla:

• United Nations (Governmental organization) - http://www.unric.org
• MTV Networks Quizilla (Social networking) - http://www.quizilla.com
• L.A. Weekly (Online publication) - http://www.laweekly.com
• IHOP (Restaurant chain) - http://www.ihop.com
• Harvard University (Educational) - http://gsas.harvard.edu
• Citibank (Financial institution intranet) - Not publicly accessible
• The Green Maven (Eco-resources) - http://www.greenmaven.com
• Outdoor Photographer (Magazine) - http://www.outdoorphotographer.com
• PlayShakespeare.com (Cultural) - http://www.playshakespeare.com
• Senso Interiors (Furniture design) - http://www.sensointeriors.co.za

More examples of companies using Joomla can be found in the Joomla Site Showcase Forum.

I need to build a site for a client. How will Joomla! help me?

Joomla is designed to be easy to install and set up even if you're not an advanced user. Many Web hosting services offer a single-click install, getting your new site up and running in just a few minutes.

Since Joomla is so easy to use, as a Web designer or developer, you can quickly build sites for your clients. Then, with a minimal amount of instruction, you can empower your clients to easily manage their own sites themselves.

If your clients need specialized functionality, Joomla is highly extensible and thousands of extensions (most for free under the GPL license) are available in the Joomla Extensions Directory.

How can I be sure there will be Joomla! support in the future?

Joomla is the most popular open source CMS currently available as evidenced by a vibrant and growing community of friendly users and talented developers. Joomla's roots go back to 2000 and, with over 200,000 community users and contributors, the future looks bright for the award-winning Joomla Project.

Joomla! seems the right solution for me. How do I get started?

All you need is to sign up for a hosting account, we will install your Joomla software for you.