Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I really wasn't certain if this was the best place to post this - but this topic is all about learning Joomla and getting people familiar and comfortable with using it. I am launching a free site called "HelpMeJoomla.com" to try and offer new Joomla web site designers and small business owners the step-by-step instructions they need to go from "I Have An Idea" to "I'm Ready to Launch!".

All of the content is going to be 100% free. There is not any "paid content" on the site.

I just started this site a few days ago and my logo is being created by an artist. This site is a work in progress and I'll be adding articles daily to expand the content. If you have an article that you would like to feature on the site as well as a link back to your company, please send me the story at helpmejoomla@gmail.com. I will create a section for 'Featured Articles' and list them there. Please remember that your article should over-explain things so that people can follow along easily.

I really hope that my site can become an invaluable resource to new Joomla users.

In addition to articles - I will be contacting developers of everyday extensions doing Q&A with them to review their extensions. Open Source is awesome!

What are your thoughts on the idea / project?

Hello Shawn,

My name is E'Lisa and I am the owner of Design-Unleashed. I usually use Joomla for designing websites. I have been using Joomla for a while now and love it. I think this could be a great idea of a project for you and could help many designers and small business owners out there that are tech saavy enough and actually want to take on a project like this themselves.

I would say creating a basic site in Joomla and even getting it live is easy enough. It would be very informative for us if there was more info and instruction on all of the mods and components that can be added additionally. There are so many and new ones being added everyday its hard to keep up. I go through them often to just see whats new, and how it could possibly benefit my clients. Some are pretty easy to install and configure some are more difficult and not worth the time they take to figure out. So I think I will really like the Q&A section with extension reviews.

Thanks!

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Thanks for your comments, E'Lisa!

While I agree that getting a web site created in Joomla and published on the web isn't rocket science I think you'll find many people that appreciate that helping hand to say, "Hey, I'll help you get started."

The exciting part about 2010 for me is that no longer do people have to sit back and let a select few web designers tackle their web site. Anyone can sit at their desks, sip at their coffee and get their feet wet without too much difficulty. HelpMeJoomla just wants to simplify things one step further.

I'd love to be able to eventually offer more extension reviews - the first part of this (from the development aspect) for me is to contact the developers of the modules I currently use and get some feedback from them that I can add on my site. I'd like to build a relationship with these guys and help promote their open source material.

I think there is enough information out there to get started.. while I think you will get lots of visitors, i don't think it will be as helpful as your hoping. Maybe for some. For me personally a directory with Joomla professionals with some kind payment system, perhaps through paypal a rating system similar to Ebays and past work history would be beneficial to me. That way when i need a quick fix or whole new add on to my Joomla site, and i don't have the time to fix it and read through all the various forums/online help resources, i can review the candidates, detail what needs to be done and pay all through one site allowing me to focus on whats really important to my business rather than the site itself.

Like most of us starting a business the website is not always the business itself however is an important part. I think most business owners would rather outsource the site building or start it themselves and pay for portions of work on the site so they can focus on growing the business.

Aside from Joomla developers I have yet to find a site with dedicated Joomla experts who know how this particular CMS works and can jump right in and make it do all the things it sometimes doesn't want to with regards to integrating modules and pluggins and creating custom integrations as well. And Joomla coders who are readily available to help.. Just a thought :) good luck either way!

Hello,

I would have to agree with Mike but at the same time your idea is good too. There are information all over the place for joomla designers but one place to go for variety of different levels of designrs might be good one. At the same time, you can add mike's idea which is kinda of my idea with my blogitect.com website to bring all blog technicians to share and mingle. I never got around make the site working. So you can combine both things and make a place for any type of joomla designers. Howzat?

Just my 2 cents.