Building from scratch or using Joomla?

[dovidyitzhok]

Hello!

 

Since I am thinking about building my own website from scratch, I have been wondering about the advantages of using Joomla instead of doing everything myself.

 

I see that for an online store most people recommend to use an ecommerce software (like Prestashop, TomatoCart...) instead of building the website ourselves. Is that the same logic for a regular website?

 

My idea would be to write my own template, but to use Joomla to publish my articles.

 

Any advice?

[Guest Keytone]

You have to decide what you want. The advantage of writing you own website is that you have total control of how it is presented to viewers. Using a template type service such as Joomia restricts your abilty to make it exactly how you want it. If you want it right, you should do it yourself, unless you have a fortune to spend. You can get proficient with HTML, javascipt, PHP, and more by online tutorials. There are also "paint" type programs such as Paint.Net

which are free and very good for editing photos.

On the other hand you could use an affiliate site such as commission junction ( cj.com) where you can get the ads and creatives (images) for free and get a commission if anyone buys anything.

But, as I said, you will need to figure out what it is you want to do. If you want a "ready-made" site you'll have to spend some money. The good part of writing your own is that you will learn a lot in the process and it will get your imagination going. Good Luck!

[dsonesuk]

You can start with a blank joomla template, or adjust any joomla template to look how you want it, the only restriction is learning how to do so, by learning how it module system works, adjusting template index page, css, you can come up with any design you want, with the bonus of using joomlas already built in features, or extensions that can be added to the FREE joomla CMS.

[Guest Keytone]

Yep, I guess...what dsonesuk said! You can use whatever you choose, you just have to learn how to use it and figure out what you want. Again, Good luck! John

[Dreadful_Code]

If you want a starter site up in a jiffy, go with a CMS. Joomla works pretty well out of the box. Drupal and Wordpress are also great publishing platforms,too. They should also be considered, since you are starting out at 'square 1'.

 

Each CMS offers their own advantages - namely, the community. As a beginner, the community of X platform should be just as important as the software features. You will often times spend more time reading and communicating with others during your journey than you would be pushing code.

 

BUT

 

As a long term project, I highly recommend building your own website from scratch. I only recommend this, of course, if you intend to become more of a coder/developer instead of a marketer. Doing this is not for the feint of heart, though. There are frameworks to help you out. Codeignitor,Yii,Zend, and Kohana are some of the thousands of PHP frameworks out there. They abstract away a lot of mundane tasks such as session handling, page caching, security- the things we often take for granted in cms's. But in any case, building from scratch is not easy, and can fast become a rite of passage. It takes years to really 'get it together'. But once you have built up a toolbox of useful functions and classes, you can build just about anything you can imagine. And you learn more about programming in your favorite language instead of becoming indoctrinated in the culture and idiosyncasies of a CMS. If you want to be really bold skip the frameworks, too.

 

I'm sure that judging by the tone of the above paragraphs, you can guess which route I have taken .

 

Here's an article for your amusement. How to become programmer in 10 years. Written over 10 years ago, and it's spot on.

Edited July 11, 2013 by Dreadful_Code

[Guest Keytone]

I agree, basically. But it doesn't have to take "years" to learn to write HTML code or to use CSS or even to write javascript or even to learn PHP. HTML isn't programming, it's a way to use code to tell the viewer's browser what you want it to show them. You can learn it all, it takes time, but you won't die of old age. Just decide what you want and go for it, you can find tutorials online to teach you! You'll do fine!

Edited July 12, 2013 by Keytone

[Dreadful_Code]

I agree, basically. But it doesn't have to take "years" to learn to write HTML code or to use CSS or even to write javascript or even to learn PHP. HTML isn't programming, it's a way to use code to tell the viewer's browser what you want it to show them. You can learn it all, it takes time, but you won't die of old age. Just decide what you want and go for it, you can find tutorials online to teach you! You'll do fine!

 

Yeah, markup isn't that bad. It's the coding that takes time to learn. Ooof!

 

Another idea:

 

I've seen webmasters avoid coding altogether- take the basic template, and copy+paste content in between the designated areas. Cut out the middleman! It's quick and dirty, but hey, content is king.

[dovidyitzhok]

I really want to thank all of you guys. Your help is very important to me and I'll give myself time to think about you told me.

 

Right now, I feel like jumping into the HTML's sea and to learn everything. My only doubt is about my ability to do that, but that is a personal consideration.

 

Again: thanks a lot!

 

Dovid-Yitzhok

[Dreadful_Code]

Good luck with whatever route you take- just remember that there are a thousand ways to build your dream. That's half the fun!