Joomla

Joomla is a currently popular Content Management System (CMS).  It is a "fork" from Mambo.  Joomla is a much larger program than wordpress, takes considerably more skill to install, and requires considerably more expertise to use well.

As with wordpress, Joomla developers are busy writing skins, plugins, modules and various other extensions.  You can even buy templates to make your site more or less unique. 

I got a far as uploading Joomla to one of my domains and installing it there.  I was also able to upload a purchased template.  However, I stalled out when it came time to make the site do what I wanted.  The fact is it takes considerable effort, even when using a template, to make Joomla do what you want.

For example, it comes with a background image at the top of the front page.  To replace that image you have to find out exactly what size it is, and find another image to replace it.  That new image will probably not have the same colors as the original so you will have to tweak the template to make the colors of text and headers match.  One things leads to another and none of it is obvious to the inexperienced. 

I have seen a template which sets Joomla up to look like a magazine.  You have a lead article, sub articles, an index into the archives and a list of planed articles.  Seemed like a neat idea for someone who could work with that kind of format.

I tried the Simplicity template...