Rather they are built on top of something called a content management system, or CMS for short. What that really means is when you set out to build a website, you can install a content management system (most are absolutely free) and then tweak everything to make it look and function the way you want it. You can use this technique to quickly and easily build your photo gallery website in less than a day without sacrificing anything.
A Content Management System, The Blueprint To Your Photo Website
A CMS is to a website just like a blueprint is to a house -- it lays the foundation for the owner to build and customize.
Just like a blueprint for a house, a content management system lays the foundation of your website, but you are free to change, modify, and tweak features within reason. You will be able to choose what goes where, what colors to use, what features to enable and what to turn off. Most of the hard work is done for you. All you have to worry about is the personalized tweaks that you want to make.
Sound interesting? Let's see dive into the specifics of using a CMS to create your photo gallery website.
Joomla -- The General Purpose Content Management System
If you did an internet search for "content management system," you'll quickly find that one named Joomla is one of the most popular CMS's around -- if not THE most popular. There are many reasons why this is so, and here are the highlights:
Joomla is free
Joomla is easy to use, with an easy learning curve
Joomla is compatible with most webhosting companies
Joomla has a wide range of plugins
Joomla has an active community
I'm not here to sell Joomla -- it's free for crying out loud! If you want to learn more about Joomla and it's awesomeness just do a little searching. Meanwhile I'll outline the steps you need to take in order to use Joomla to create your photo gallery website.
Using Joomla For Your Photo Gallery Website
Here's a quick run down on how to build a photo gallery website using the Joomla content mangement system
- Register a domain name.
- Sign up for a web hosting account. Many sites offer domain registration for free if you sign up for web hosting with them.
- Download and install Joomla to your web hosting account. Some web hosting companies offer an automatic install of Joomla.
- Install the RS Gallery Plugin for Joomla. Installation is a matter of clicking two buttons
- Change your Joomla template and remove the example items from your Joomla installation
- Start uploading your photos!
Six steps is really all there is to it. Definitely well within anyone's capabilities.
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