Executive Abstract JoomlAssist Proposal

I don’t like to do Joomla anymore, I vastly prefer to work with WordPress and am as rapidly losing whatever qualifications I had for creating in Drupal and Joomla as I did for hacking and maintaining Windows, which I was much better at – until Ubuntu set me free.

Some of this may inspire WP parallels.

2009-11-13 04:59:43

More Extensive Version of this Letter

Resume Index - My Web Portfolio - montesite.net

My Tutorials for UWM students

www.metrodining.ca – random high end looking Joomla site.

There are a lot of options today to enable those needing cheap access to an enterprise quality web presence.

We can do more than providing static web services. I can create and index lists of resources that better enable sites to be easily created, quickly modified, and updated with barely computer literate skills.

Whether the need is an intensive focus on a few clients, or to maximize the number which can be assisted, there are open source platforms available that can produce a better return on our labors.

Joomla! CMS (Content Management System) has shown many people that it is more important to have an easily modified site accessible by more than just Webmasters, than one that uses the latest flashy techniques to just look good and do nothing.

Drupal and Joomla have remained the most popular Open Source CMSs for many years, even though they’ve been joined by thousands of competitors.CMS allows a site to be much more interactive, adaptable, easily posted to, and edited. For individual webmasters similar efforts at hand coding such database integration cannot begin to achieve as much function as quickly and reliably as an average computer literate user can get from Joomla.

The work flow of a CMS is awkward at first. Many days can be saved by having some very simple things pointed out up front. I would like to make link lists and desktop vid tutorials to ensure people get off on the right foot by becoming familiar with the tasks of editing and creating articles.

A small sample listing of free tutorials and templates is found in the More Extensive Version of this Letter.
Where there are gaps between the diverse and numerous aids and resources available for free, I will create desktop video tutorials like this one http://montesite.net/os/tutorial/1.html.

While some of the best Joomla tools and plug-ins are not free they are usually quite cheap. I am likely to buy all we need myself anyway given a renewed regular income.

Certainly, while www.metrodining.ca is similar to sites that can cost as much as $3000-$4000 or more, it could have come in well under 10% of that. Even seeking the very best, Joomla or Drupal can make it better, cheaper, faster, easier.

To look at the Joomla admin interface, or take it for a test drive:

Go to http://montesite.net/joomla/ for more instructions,

or open the Admin Control Panel @ http://montesite.net/joomla/administrator/index.php

In the resulting screen enter this data:Username = human

Password = admin

The “Content” drop down menu is the most interesting one. Go to “Articles” to post a new article or to edit old ones, or rearrange the front page in “Front Page Manager”.

“Look and feel”, or overall design, of a Joomla Site is controlled by a CSS template.

I’ll create a list of the best sites offering quality free templates which can be installed gratis, and a growing list of templates displayed on a local server from which to choose more quickly. A list of resources on how to modify or create Joomla templates can accompany this.

I will work with users to ensure that their sites well reflect the branding and intent of their enterprise, and I can help with branding development by suggesting logos and graphics.

The first resource I plan to purchase given additional funds is a recently released template editor. Artisteer’s intuitive drag and drop interface allows anyone to easily manipulate templates ($129.95, twice tha price of any other Joomla product I know of).

There are several business suites of plug-ins and extension modules available for nominal fees that allow better e-commerce integration and more options. I also expect to be investing in some of these anyway. The over head of buying Joomla services and products is kept low, for there is always a free option.As the effort acquires more plug-ins, templates, and extension modules, more pages will go up on a central index to show how to use these options.


Socialweb Apps and Promotion
I have tried hundreds of socialweb applications. As the biggest by far, Facebook has proved to be the king in most respects, but social bookmarking is often overlooked as a real help to publicizing and promotion.
My Social Web Apps List

Other important resources and information for a neophyte’s web presence include ones about understanding and implementing effective website monetization, promotion, and metrics. This is another skill set that has been made much easier by good technical solutions.

About My Work
All of my own intellectual work is always open source. The Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation will have every right to use it in perpetuity.

I believe in thorough documentation of work flow, practices, and priorities, to create a durability to my work on structuring information.

Let’s create an infrastructure of resources that will allow us to help people help themselves first, so as to have the resources left to provide expert opinions, advice, and skillful support.

A small sample listing of free tutorials and templates is in the More Extensive Version of this Letter.

My Resume