Joomla core offer basic functionalities that is found on many conventional content management system, you can build article based websites with the core system. A non-technical person can easily get it installed, setup the back end configurations and start adding content to the system. Below is a small list of the types of website that Joomla is capable to build :-
- Corporate websites or intranet
- Online commerce / product showcasing
- Small business websites
- Non-profit and organizational websites
- Government applications
- Corporate intranets and extranets
- School and church websites
- Personal or family homepages
- Community portals
- Online Magazines and newspapers
- the possibilities are limitless...
With the flexibilities Joomla is providing, it is possible to build lots of different types of websites by just using the basic core system, which has most of the important features ready for use, or add extra features to the core system by installing extensions / plugins contributed by the active community. To give you an idea of what type of extensions / plugins are there for you, here is a small section of the extension list :-
- Dynamic form builders
- Business or organizational directories
- Document management
- image and multimedia galleries
- E-commerce and shopping cart engines
- Forums and chat software
- Calendars
- Blogging software
- Directory services
- Email newsletters
- Data collection and reporting tools
- Banner advertising systems
- Subscription services
- and many, many more...
Joomla offer a robust API for web developers to extent the power of Joomla by allowing web developers to develop powerful extensions / plugins, these plugins can be easily integrated to the Joomla core system and since it is a modular approach, these extra addition does not interfere the core system, this implementation approach allow a friendlier environment for plugin developers and the core developers to work independently without worry on crashing on each other when releasing upgrades or enhancement when releasing upgrades or enhancements. If you are excited and want to become a Joomla developer, there are lots of info at the Joomla developer network.
Some web application requirements that may not be satisfied by just adding extensions to the Joomla core, for example to implement a set of work flow or a tightly integrated shopping card system, these is somewhat beyond the core and the extensions library. Thanks to the flexible Joomla application framework, you are able to write custom codes to achieve the unique requirements of your web application, of course you need to have good hands on experience on developing PHP / MySQL based applications in order to start customizing Joomla, there are plenty of books available and good information at Joomla developer network
