Joomla or Bust !

Today I attempted to install Joomla for the second time. I spent some time with it months ago - but couldn't determine fully the pros or cons on either or why I should bother. But now faced with a big job, member-side features, bulletin boards and anticipated user-interface file exchange(s), I had to weigh in between Drupal or Joomla..

For starters, Xampp will not work on Mac OS for recognizing Joomla, and suspect the same for Drupal. So that meant a Mamp install, MySQL config (pre-installing/sourcing CMS in htdocs folder!!!) and then Joomla launch. All of which was a headache since I couldn't remember whether I created "master" admin vs regular admin, and which pertained to either the database vs the backend admin privileges of J. Stay organized as you admin your install.. Easy if everything installs correctly, and you have no previous MySQL databases/privileges or username discrepancies.

Having finally got the admin sign-in working, I sought out some templates, tutes to follow on template installs, and then some to get up to speed on navigating the system configuration and how it works. It was a headache at times, but i was able to finally get a banner logo installed and fumbled around the file hierarchy, folder locals, et.

The membership feature and modular aspect of how I envision to integrate files exchanges should, I hope, make this production easier, especially if membership should take off. So there's bound to be a little frontend learning curve on design, formatting and installing needed plugins. Just more WIP and remaining patient. It's my impression the PHP integration of the system is probably one of the louder bells, than whistles when it comes to SEO objectives. So, we'll see. In due time.

Nevertheless, I'm optimistic with getting the CFM community concept "on-line" soon, and tugging on favors/ears/code from developers far and wide. This is a project I started 5 years ago, however untimely, pre-broadband (50%) across most cultural and socio-economic lines. But with that changed now, and prices on related software/hardware more accessible, perhaps things will line up more readily..

Stay tuned !