Mobile applications are growing in popularity and it is becoming increasingly important now that you tailor your web portal to be supported in mobile environments. Fortunately Joomla! CMS has several extensions and template configurations that will offer this capability.

Start with a smart template:

Using a third party template vender for your design foundation can save you a ton of time and money when implementing a mobile strategy for your site.  Rocket Theme or YooTheme templates for are a good example of template venders that have built in features for presenting your portal on mobile devices. You are allowed in these templates to configure primary menus for a mobile user which allows you to segment content just for your mobile user. This is often a good idea if you have a portal that leverages a lot of 3^rd party components since not all components will display as well as others in a mobile browser. There is also a great component/template extension called “MobileJoomla” which is simple to install and works pretty much right out of the box. It is very important to test and view your portal on the targeted mobile devices so you can see what your users are seeing and adjust where required to create an optimized mobile user experience.

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The Debate

One of the big debates lately regarding comparisons with Joomla! CMS, Drupal and WordPress is; Which works best for Government web sites? Well there is not really a definitive answer since each of these tools has their place and you should carefully consider the dynamics of the client and use of the system to determine this. However, since we have worked with all three systems and overwhelmingly prefer Joomla! as the solution we most often recommend to our customers, I wanted to share a list of Governments around the world that are committed to using the Joomla! CMS solution. http://docs.joomla.org/Government_Websites_Using_Joomla

This list is still incomplete since it is rather hard to track but it does give a pretty good slice of types of Government organizations using Joomla right now all around the world and I think the pendulum is leaning very heavy towards Joomla as a solution that Government agencies can use with the greatest easy and confidence. With over 7000+ extensions, a global development community and an open source architecture the flexibility and capabilities are simply unmatched.

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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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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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One of the first steps in any web development project is design. Since design is more than just the graphics or a functionality spec you must take a well rounded approach if you plan to be successful with your web project. It is also the information architecture and matching the end business goals with the right technology solutions.

It is often that the actual business goals and intended audience are not fully considered upfront with a cohesive strategy. This is usually because of two reasons; one, that the there is no research available and you are going off instinct or experience, or two, that it is simply just overlooked.

Every good strategy needs good tactics for execution if it is going to become successful

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