If you want to set up a new easy-manageable website on your own you definitely need a helping hand. In this case premade free Joomla templates will become a number-one solution without any doubts. They are distinguished by a number of advantages:

- stunning design which attracts viewers’ attention from the first sight
- modern functionality allowing you to maintain and update your website whenever you need
- up-to-date content management facilities to manipulate your site content according to your own preferences
- free download

Today we have prepared a set of free Joomla themes you can download absolutely free of charge. They will fit any purpose so we hope you will find the best solution for your needs among this small showcase:

If you want to enable a secure socket layer (SSL) https encryption only on certain pages or components but not on the rest of the pages or components, it isn't possible in Joomla by default, however with Yireo SSL Redirection, a 3rd party extension, it is. It also has the added benefit that if a user comes in through http rather than https, it will redirect them appropriately and vice versa.

This tutorial will take you step-by-step how to configure SSL https encryption only on certain pages or components.

I've heard a lot of talk lately about whether or not Joomla can handle large-scale websites, or if it's best used for small mom-and-pop sites. I can say emphatically that the answer to that question is that Joomla is not only useful for small mom-and-pop sites, but it can also be used to build it medium and large-scale sites. There are a few popular examples of large-scale websites built with Joomla, and two developers have been involved in a number of these sites: Mitch Pirtle from Space Monkey Labs and Fotis Evangelou from Komrade and JoomlaWorks. In this 2-part series, I am interviewing both Mitch and Fotis to get their insights on what it takes to deploy large-scale websites with Joomla. Part 1 is my interview with Mitch.

Mitch Pirtle on Deploying Large-Scale Websites with Joomla

There are some amazing new and improved features in Joomla 1.6 and the new permission system (ACL) might just be the most popular of them all.

Access…control…permission…what?

Let’s just say, again, this is probably the most wanted and discussed feature among Joomla fans (you can even buy a “Let there be ACL!” tshirt on joomla.org)!

Sure, in Joomla 1.5 you can control the user group access on a basic level (think: Registered/Admin/Author etc), but Joomla 1.6 ACL takes this to a whole new level.

Imagine being able to really fine-tune who can see and do what on your site. CommunityACL and other Joomla extensions have definitely filled the gap, but having this functionality in the core will be a very welcome addition for many Joomla website admins.

If you are new to the whole concept of user group permissions, it might take some effort to wrap your head around. That said, it’s definitely worth learning more about it to understand how you can use it on your sites.

In short, ACL is all about

We've just released a Joomla iPhone Template, MobilePraise. MobilePraise will actually work on all mobile webkit browsers but was designed for the iPhone and to appear like a native iPhone App.

MobilePraise features a theme that's extremely easy to customize for any color, and a super slick Control Panel that mimics the iPhone Home Screen.

If you're on an iPhone check out the live demo, otherwise you can get a good idea of the iPhone display using this online iPhone simulator.

Joomla! 1.6 Beta Released – Download the World’s Leading PHP-based Content Management System and Easily Build Websites and Online Applications

The Joomla Project is proud to announce the immediate availability of Joomla 1.6 beta (download). IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a beta version and is not intended to run any type of production site. It is intended to be used for evaluation purposes only.

Key Features in Joomla 1.6:

New Access Control System - Allows site administrators control over who can view and manage content.
Unlimited Depth Organizational Model - Gives site administrators and content creators user-defined category levels that allow for the creation of a category tree with as many or as few levels for organizing articles and other content as needed.
One-Click Extension Updates - Allows users to keep sites secure and controlled by simplifying the process of updating extensions.
Semantic XHTML Layouts - Provides a better baseline for content presentation.