As an open source website content management system CMS, Joomla can sometimes be a little daunting for the beginner. Well never fear, Barrie M. North is here with his book Joomla! 1.5: A User’s Guide. When I first started using Joomla! this was the book I turned to and I now recommend it to all our clients.

Joomla! 1.5: A User’s Guide eases you into Joomla by first discussing what a CMS is and how Joomla fits into the realm of dynamic web pages. Next there is a complete chapter on how to install and configure Joomla. This is aimed at people who want to develop their own Joomla. website, as opposed to those who want to maintain an existing Joomla. website.

Mr. North gets into the nitty gritty of Joomla, discussing and demonstrating how to administer your website, organise your content and create menus and navigation. With these three areas covered you are well on the way to becoming a Joomla devotee.

Once you are comfortable with how to administer your Joomla website, Joomla! 1.5: A User’s Guide builds on the fundamentals, introducing you to Joomla extensions and more advanced information on developing and maintaining your content. At this point you could stop reading the book and have all the skills you need to create and maintain your Joomla website.

For those looking to delve a little further, the book then touches on search engine optimisation (SEO) and Joomla templates. These subjects are covered briefly but give you a taste of what you can expect from sources dedicated to the subjects of SEO and template creation, both of which could easily fill their own books.

To get you on your way the book then provides a number of example sites and case studies for you to review. This is great to get a feel for what sort of extensions you may want to include and how you can organise content for a specific type of business or organisation.

Without doubt, Joomla! 1.5: A User’s Guide is the best reference for people who want to learn how to use Joomla to create and maintain their own websites. When you combine this with face-to-face Joomla! training you will fast-track your way to mastering the skills needed to create and maintain your website.