Joomla! is one of the most popular content management systems (on the licence of GNU GPL) in the world. In retrospect I can say that it is now much easier to learn the CMS than a few years ago.
I must admit that the knowledge of HTML and CSS has been and is still very important, although still haunted by the belief that you can immediately (even after several days of study) build professional web site for your clients. By the way, I saw the German-language books about Joomla! (and others), directed for children. But back to history, now on the shelves of bookstores you will find many books and other educational materials about Joomla! I discovered Joomla in 2006 before books in Poland were available and the only way to learn was by reading online documentation (when you could find it!) and reading and posting questions to forums and then spending hours experimenting.
I still remember my first question on forum, to my surprise the installation completed without problems, how to add these items to the menu. Although I knew a basics of HTML I could not find how to do it in CMS.
Despite the constant update of the “naked” Joomla! still not a very intuitive CMS. Still need many hours to master its secrets. Not to mention the thousands of extensions is to enhance the functionality of the system. In a word, it is not easy, you can see it perfectly even after the fact that I’m still discovering many “hidden” options. Sometimes, watching the entries in the forum I see that people are looking for expansion opportunities without knowing the standard installation of the system such as banners, or setting the date of publication.
Returning to the question, the first step is to ask yourself, what budget you have and how much time you spend on education. Ask yourself how best you learn by yourself, whether you prefer to listen to – watch as someone shows you everything. . After all, since I started buying books for beginners (or e-book if you have a mobile reader.) . After reading it, or while reading, even without the installation of the CMS, you will have a lot of questions about how to do this or that. I suggested to save them on the last pages of the book in the notes section, so when if you decide to tutor or course, you will be able to ask questions that plagued you as you read such as how to eg. add your comments or put form fields in the article.
Are the traditional video courses a good way to learn and whether their content is equal to the book? On the one hand, a form of visual recalls situations when you observe someone at work, so reader tells what to do to achieve the desired effect, eg. to add an article or to build a menu. However, during an hour we’ll be reading more than watching a 1 hour video recording. It also follows from the fact that the lecturer says more slowly than we read. But watching a movie you will feel tired, feel like a lesson in school, not once caught myself yawning, unfortunately, are not very entertaining movies, I’d be happy to scroll. What else, if it was an interactive lesson – that responds to my behavior and needs.
Of course, the book has other advantages than the movie. There are still more mobile, especially when you’re driving the train, tram, standing at the bus stop, pull out and read, etc. .. Fortunately, the books have many screenshots, so you can visualize some things. In books such as packtpub.com will find many clues that the video courses are often overlooked. I counted all the English-language books on the market that contain information about Joomla!, and is more than 50 items. Only Packt Publishing released 24 titles of books.
Today you can save yourself a lot of time by buying a for eg. book. Currently there is no problem is the availability of books about Joomla, but choosing the right.
Some of them like Joomla! 1.5 Top Extensions Cookbook, ChronoForms 3.1 for Joomla! site Cookbook or Joomla! Social Networking with JomSocial shows you how to perform specific tasks in Joomla! using the popular extensions available in Joomla! extensions directory. It will also help you choose right extension for performing a specific task in Joomla! If you want to build a basic Joomla! site and are looking for information on the use of Joomla! extensions and their customization.
Economical but effective version of the tutoring, and classroom courses – are courses available online (eg. ostraining.com). They allow you to familiarize yourself with the material, which is still growing. The authors of this courses are not restricted as is the case in the release cycle, book, article, or video course. Easily add questions of their students, so that the knowledge base becomes richer with practical questions. The second stage, you already have a theoretical knowledge. Well done. Now you can start to build simple projects, which mastered the basics of the administration. Make a few simple pages, and administer them for some time thanks to this I will gain the necessary practical. Building a website is still like to build a house / building, you must have a plan, foundation, walls, and at the very end where people are entering.