Friday, January 25, 2008

Professional Real Estate Agent Website with Joomla

Navega Bem - Web Design has developed and published a highly competitive multilingual Real Estate Agency website for the Portuguese company Imofactor.

Most of the site developed with proprietary programming and is laden with features that are normally only available with hi-end software solutions.

Compare the following features with other professional solutions:

Multi Lingual
RSS Feed
Company Presentation
Simple and Advanced Search
Special Offers and News
Forms for sales and purchase
Contact Forms
Contact Details
Property Printing
Recommend Property
Publicity Banners
Recruiting
Animated/Flash Offers and News
Commercial Contacts
Animated Logo
Video and Audio
Animated Menus
Credit Simulation
Mortgage Calculator
Animated Introduction
Recommend Website
Page Printing
Google Mapping
Personalised Property File
Unique Design
Panoramic Images
Property Galleries
XML Exportation

Apart from this inspiring functionality there is another big advantage for Real Estate agents: There is a one time purchase fee, which includes unique site design and SEO work. No License fees, no monthly fees, no maintenance fees, no set-up fees.

The site is developed around Joomla and offers comfortable, user friendly administration of Real Estate properties and the site CMS through just one back-office. A front-end ‘Real Estate’ manager is now under development. The site also allows XML exportation to other Portals.
Source: Joomla Tribune.com

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Joomla based Furniture eCommerce site

Navega Bem Web Design in cooperation with OrangeWeb have just published an eCommerce site for the Portuguese furniture retailer company ‘Movéis Estrelí­cia‘, based on Madeira island.

The site was uniquely designed to display a user friendly interface that does not conform with standard CMS eCommerce sites. Lisete Gonçalves, Project manager of Navega Bem explained “it was our intention to provide a user friendly site that would give an enjoyable shopping experience. We developed a proprietary component to display the different types of furniture available at the store.”

The site incorporates online payments with credit card through the Portuguese Redunicre system.

Navega Bem chose Joomla as the CMS platform. Chris Szabo, MD explained “since we began our web design services in Portugal - we have created many successful Joomla sites and we are continually impressed and inspired by its versatility and powerful functions.
Source: Joomla Tribune.com

How Does Joomla Compare With Other CMS's?

Joomla is a content management system (CMS) like none other I've researched to date. There are a dozen or so CMS competitors. Some are commercial and charge for their software. Several others, like Joomla, are open source and available without cost.

Any perceivable differences are limited to a few specific traits. For some there is the cost factor which could deter many potential purchasers from buying the commercial products. While there are a few open source products that have low costs the commercial software products tend to be much higher.

Many proponents of the commercial CMS software suggest the product is a better choice once installed, primarily because of the post sale support such as training and stability associated with security experiences with the software.

Since most of the open source CMS developers are largely volunteers the issue could appear to be a potentially formidable challenge. This is where Joomla, for one, works very hard to capitalize on several factors that are currently feeding the product's success.

An example of Joomla's out-of-the-box approach to creating a trouble free product is a recently held "Doc Camp." This international get-together was a follow-up to a weekend Joomla "bug squashing event." The company promoted the events with the goal of increasing the viability and functionality of the product while focusing on cleaning us any inconsistencies in its operational functions.

Reports indicate literally thousands of volunteer developers were on the project. Industry observers state Joomla has a strong commitment to timely upgrades and new releases. Credit is given to the marshalling of volunteers and their exuberant, as well as technologically strong support.

Comparisons tend to favor open source CMS options due to several features:

Consumer friendly free downloads
Strong documentation.
Reliable training.
Ongoing support and development

The Players

In addition to Joomla other open source CMS's are Mambo, Drupal, PHPNuke, Post Nuke, Plone, TYPO3, e107, Open CMS, MODx CMS, WordPress, XOOPS and Zope.

The commercial entrants in the field are Vignette, Alfresco, RedDot CMS, Interwoven Teamsite, Tridion, Microsoft CMS, Oracle portal, Immediacy CMS, GOSS iCM, Hot Banana and Fatwire Content Server.

Can Joomla Hold On To The Top Spot?

Joomla tends to meet the strictest parameters expected of companies that would like to be considered leaders in the field. The competing team at Mambo also renders a build quality and application strength that keep them squarely in Joomla's sights.

The remainder of the group provide add-on features like, job posting, guest books, and chat to name a few of the most popular features.

Once thing all open source CMS have in common is they are distributed under GNU GPL and tend to work well with most operating environments. Joomla gets the higher marks mainly because of the strengths of its largely volunteer developer family.

When looking more closely through the list of commercial CMS contenders we find the licensing differs greatly. Additionally databases and related servers in addition to programming languages are similar but created specific differences depending on the applications.

Overall, when comparing features like, building applications, operability, performance and user friendliness, Joomla out ranks 99.9% of all comers in every category. It must be hard to be humble when you're that good and Joomla's legion of fans is expanding more rapidly at every download.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

How Good Is Joomla?

Joomla is riding an exploding wave of acceptance throughout the online world. This growing “family” of Joomla fans is a kind and helpful group with definitely fuels the popular program’s acceptance. We’re not only talking about techie types like developers and designers and such but mainstreamers as well.

For those who are savvy enough to work with the program and yet have questions related to this robust content management system, you’ll find no shortage of forums. This helpful community is nearing a million strong and tends to focus on serving their fellow members needs in any way they can. Best of all the assistance does not cost a dime.

Developmental Enhancements

Joomla, like most expansionary programs, is releasing upgrades to its popular versions. Like Microsoft or any of the big guys, Joomla too must expand its range to meet the hungry demands of its users. Their versions are user friendly and creative at the same time. And the Internet community can’t seem to get their hands on them fast enough.

The developer’s teams are working with users and forum leaders in regard to the upgrades Joomla is considering and development. This is a smart play for the relatively new company and one that is expected to build strength into their expanding portfolio.

What’s It Made Of?

Already becoming a familiar name, Joomla’s components/modules are easily obtained and their use is relatively smooth, considering the youthful stage of the company’s development. The aftermarket gurus are already on task with loads of hot new programs on tap. Being able to access free downloads or low priced options makes Joomla’s expansion plan an almost certain blockbuster in the making. Website adaptability and functionality improvements make this a no-brainer.

Joomla Templates

Currently a host of templates are available for ease of website design options. The best loved feature of all is the savings realized because a web designer is not required. Forum feedback indicates the hot and up-to-date graphics and overall appearance of the site once Joomla is introduced is grabbing a huge and loyal client list. Ease of installation is only one of the raved about features.

And There Are More Benefits

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia lists several features of Joomla that deserve a closer look.

• “It is a free open source content management system for publishing content on the Web.”
• The system included features like caching, RSS feeds, printable versions of pages, news flashes, blogs, polls, website searching, and much more.

To this I would like to add:
• This is an expandable non-geeky customer friendly simple program.
• Those who like to author their own subjects, etc are more than pleased with the flexibility..
• The search engines gobble this one up.....regularly.

Take a look at a previously secret manual that shares Joomla's recently revealed insider tips.


Dodging the Bullets: A Disaster Preparation Guide for Joomla! Web Sites

Monday, January 21, 2008

What Is Joomla?

Back in the day it was a challenge to have your own website. Completing your first webpage was a feeling not unlike doing your first oil change. Using your physical and mental muscles to complete what was a formidable task pumps adrenalin like few other experiences.

Now days nearly everyone has a website. Doctors, lawyers, preachers, teachers, school kids, and more. It’s just a sign of the times. However, for those of us who are focused on building an Internet business, just having a website is not nearly enough. That’s where a CMS AKA Content Management System comes into the picture. And that’s what Joomla is all about.

One of the great things I’ve learned about Joomla is you can have a well written and sharp…fresh…professional looking webpage with the image of a business that paid over $1000 in web designer and web author fees to get the job done. Now, with Joomla, none of that is necessary. Do you have to be a web-master with skills up the kazoo? Absolutely not.

Content management is leading edge technology that has proven its worth for years. None of the heavy hitters from A to Z would bank the big bucks if content management systems did not exist. Here’s the skinny.

Joomla is your friend and will soon, if you’re really serious about growing a business, be your very best friend. I hasten to add, I am not trying to sell you on Joomla so you’ll buy the system from me. It’s not for sale!

Joomla represents a brand new application of open source code. This means you can use it without paying a dime for the system. You don’t need to know what that means because there are dozens of forums with thousands of friendly folks waiting to answer your questions and get you up to speed.

All you do is download Joomla and it goes to work for you. You’ll find templates that are easy to customize with just the look you want. You can add as many or as few bells and whistles as you please. The system is very user friendly and demos are abundant….and super easy to understand.

Hopefully I’ve triggered your appetite for more. Just take a quick read of the rest of the story about Joomla.

Starting Out

Joomla is a brand new open source CMS that began its rise toward Internet supremacy in 2005. Following a steady course of development and expansion Joomla is now a primary system for literally thousands of developers and companies. Adding us neophytes to the mix makes this a system that is impacting the lives of millions of Internet businesses.

Currently there are three basic platforms of Joomla. The systems are simply identified as major, minor and maintenance.
Joomla is working in many different applications for as many different users. There are those who use it for personal pages. There are business web pages, newspapers, newsletters, magazines, Government portals and much much more.

Is It Very Popular?

Joomla now has more than 100,000 on its development team throughout the world. More than 40 languages are supported and the numbers continue to explode.

Joomla has its own working groups, much like Microsoft, but different. Its main, core team has subgroups that work through a group leader for continuity. The infrastructure is simplistic and the processes are smoothly established to ensure stability.


For more information about Joomla click the link:
Joomla! Template Design:
Create Your Own Professional-Quality Templates with This Fast, Friendly Guide