Joomla! is a free web content management application. Some people find Joomla! difficult to learn and many have given up to try something else. But the truth is, Joomla is not that difficult once the concepts are grasped.
The easiest way to learn Joomla! is to go through the admin area, item by item, and play with it until you start seeing how everything relates and how to get things set up.
Install Joomla: Doteasy installation tutorial
1. Design your website – Content
To save headaches later on, I strongly recommended spending some time planning the content you want to display and what you want to achieve with your website before you get your hands dirty with Joomla. Do you want a blog? Photo gallery? Forum? Shopping Cart?
2. Joomla! Extensions
Extensions are elements (or applications) that will help you display your content on your website.
There are thousands of extensions available for Joomla!, from blog to gallery, shopping carts, forums and more. Extensions come in three different types: components, modules and plugins (or mambots).
Components are core elements that make up the functionality of your website. Components are linked using menu(s) and are displayed in the main body of your website. Examples include blog, gallery, etc.
Modules are small display items with content that can be displayed anywhere your template permits. Examples include Main Menu, Hit Counter, Polls, etc.
Plugins/Mambots are small, task-oriented functions that add extra functionality to a component. For example, you can use an image viewer plugin to display pictures within your blog entry on Joomla.
Browse the Joomla! Extensions Directory
Use the Joomla installer to install extensions. You do not have to unzip the files prior to uploading, the Joomla installer will take care of all that for you.
3. Joomla! Themes
The standard Joomla installation comes with a couple default themes. If you want something different, you can check out these Joomla theme sites:
4. Find your Module Positions
Now that you have decided on a theme and you have uploaded all the extensions you need, your next step is to place the modules on the website. To do so, you will need to know where each module position is.
There are two ways to find the module positions:
a) One is using the code index.php?tp=1 right after your Joomla URL. If you have installed Joomla in the root directory: http://www.yourdomain.com/index.php?tp=1
b) The second way is to use the “Site -> Preview -> Inline with Positions” function in the admin area.
This will give you a screen with all the module positions laid out with the module numbers and names.
Once you have the positions figured out, you can start placing the modules on the positions you want them to be, moving them around until they fit your needs.
More information
General/Beginners Guide
Quick Start: Joomla! v.1.0
Quick Start: Joomla! v 1.5