Mistake Number One: The Client thinking that they do not need to be involved in the process.

Joomla! CMS for simple sites with prepared content and well defined design specs on a site that does not change could be handed off to a team to “just build this” but sites with any type of dynamic and changing content requires a very hands on approach from the client to be effective.

Since the shift from static web sites through the introduction of the dynamic website revolution there has been a battle between where and when a client should be actively involved in the process of developing their site and where they can or should hand off aspects of the development. This is highly contrasted by the size of the budget and diversity of the stakeholders. The client almost always has superior subject matter expertise on their content while the Joomla! CMS support team has theirs in the framework, project execution and technology. We have found that every project is unique in these areas and there is not a one size fits all that works for any project.

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Let me share a few good reasons why I think you should consider using Joomla! CMS for your web development platform.  If you want to download a pdf version of this to show your boss or share with a friend click here.

Rapid web site development: Joomla is easy to use and deploy for non-technical users. Easy to install templates with sample content and clear directions can help you get started and on the right track in minutes. Existing site configurations can be easily cloned for backup or replication.

Thousands of extension and integrations: Joomla! CMS offers over 7000 extensions and is supported by one of the largest global development communities. You can focus on developing a great web site and user experience without having to recreate well understood features available elsewhere.

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Recently we were asked to bid on a new learning management portal since we have had a lot of experience with these types of sites.  The client was expecting to do this in Drupal since they had familiarity with that CMS system. Our core team focuses on Joomla! but we brought on a couple new folks that have done a lot with Drupal so I started looking around and reviewing the specs and comparing features etc. and slogging through the forums. We have been working with several LMS systems for Joomla! for several years now so I just took for granted that there were equivalents out there for Drupal but I was vastly mistaken.

It is blatantly obvious to me now that one of the areas where Joomla! CMS really “Shines” in comparison to Drupal or Wordpress is with learning communities, since there are no legitimate comprehensive LMS solutions out there for Drupal like there are for Joomla! CMS.

We have had great luck with three key LMS components for Joomla! CMS:

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I have watched my son’s fascination with Lego’s grow over the past year and I remember back when I was a kid and how much I loved them too (I confess I still enjoy helping my son). Back then we only had a few types of Lego’s but managed to build many things that let our imaginations wonder. Today they have much more refined building blocks and a much more sophisticated collection of worlds you can explore. They even have digital games and animated films etc. around this whole culture of building blocks. Essentially it has grown into a whole new dimension much like technology has evolved.

When I found Joomla CMS, 5+ years ago they were cutting a new pathway that started a global initiative unmatched in the current webosphere. A collaborative open source culture has emerged with Joomla! CMS now used on over 2.6% of all web sites on the internet. Joomla CMS has evolved as a platform and now has well over 7000 extensions  or what I refer to as “building blocks” for creating just about anything you can imagine for the web.  One of the great things I like about Joomla is that it is actually as fun as Lego’s not only for geeks like me that like to build cool stuff and integrate interactive webs of passing and associating data relationships but it is easy to understand and use for the non technical users as well.

I remember in the Joomla 1.0 days there were fewer components and goodies and they were not as refined but since Joomla 1.5 this has grown to be a powerful collection of tools on top of a stable and secure environment (When you keep up with your upgrades). With Joomla 1.6 this promises to only get better in so many ways. When Joomla CMS is compared to Drupal, Wordpress and other CMS systems you cannot match the depth of the community supporting Joomla! CMS nor the magnitude of building blocks and template designs available for this exciting technology platform.

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ConnectLMS offers simple and affordable SCORM Compliant Solution for Joomla! CMS

ConnectLMS is a learning management system that offers a powerful solution for organizations to deliver SCORM compliant e-learning packages in an easy to use, low cost of entry framework that fully integrates with the open source Joomla! CMS.