1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000 You might have built a Web site before with Dreamweaver, FrontPage, or GoLive. 2 00:00:04,001 --> 00:00:07,001 These tools usually create what are called static Web sites. 3 00:00:07,002 --> 00:00:10,002 A static Web site is quite simple. 4 00:00:10,003 --> 00:00:18,003 You type in a Web address like www.lynda.com/ index.html into your computer's Web browser. 5 00:00:18,004 --> 00:00:22,004 A Web browser is a piece of software that displays Web pages from the Internet 6 00:00:22,005 --> 00:00:27,005 like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and Opera. 7 00:00:27,006 --> 00:00:35,006 This request for the Web page goes from your computer also called the client to the Web server. 8 00:00:35,007 --> 00:00:37,007 Server is a tricky word that means two different things. 9 00:00:37,008 --> 00:00:40,008 One is a hardware sense of the word. 10 00:00:40,009 --> 00:00:44,009 A server is a very powerful computer that is shared in some way. 11 00:00:44,010 --> 00:00:47,010 Server can also be used in the software sense. 12 00:00:47,011 --> 00:00:49,011 A server software is designed to serve up Web pages. 13 00:00:49,012 --> 00:00:56,012 Apache and Internet Information Server or IIS are examples of server software 14 00:00:56,013 --> 00:00:58,013 that are compatible with Joomla!. 15 00:00:58,014 --> 00:01:03,014 The term Web server is frequently used interchangeably with the term Web host. 16 00:01:03,015 --> 00:01:05,015 However, they are somewhat different. 17 00:01:05,016 --> 00:01:10,016 A Web host is a service that offers Web servers for your use. 18 00:01:10,017 --> 00:01:15,017 The server locates the page called index.html in its files from lynda.com. 19 00:01:15,018 --> 00:01:19,018 Then sends a copy of this page back to the client. 20 00:01:19,019 --> 00:01:26,019 It also finds any associated images, CSS, Flash files, JavaScript, and so forth 21 00:01:26,020 --> 00:01:28,020 and it sends those along as well. 22 00:01:28,021 --> 00:01:33,021 The client displays the page, plus the images and the associated files. 23 00:01:33,022 --> 00:01:37,022 The system is static and that the pages contain fixed content. 24 00:01:37,023 --> 00:01:42,023 The server simply picks up the right page from the right location and sends it. 25 00:01:42,024 --> 00:01:44,024 No processing of that page is required. 26 00:01:44,025 --> 00:01:49,025 You create the Web pages on your computer, the client, and you send a copy of 27 00:01:49,026 --> 00:01:52,026 those pages to the Web server via FTP. 28 00:01:52,027 --> 00:01:58,027 All the Web server does is store those pages and send out copies as requested. 29 00:01:58,028 --> 00:02:04,028 A Content Management System or CMS is very different than static site. 30 00:02:04,029 --> 00:02:09,029 A CMS is a Web application, software that runs on the Web server instead of 31 00:02:09,030 --> 00:02:11,030 running on the client. 32 00:02:11,031 --> 00:02:15,031 For example, Microsoft Word runs on your computer, the client. 33 00:02:15,032 --> 00:02:18,032 Google Docs, however, runs on the server. 34 00:02:18,033 --> 00:02:22,033 Both applications are designed to create and edit word processing documents, but 35 00:02:22,034 --> 00:02:26,034 the way they get that job done is very different. 36 00:02:26,035 --> 00:02:30,035 CMS generally functions in the same kind of way from a bird's-eye perspective. 37 00:02:30,036 --> 00:02:36,036 The server software, middleware software, and database software may vary, but 38 00:02:36,037 --> 00:02:38,037 the functionality is all the same. 39 00:02:38,038 --> 00:02:49,038 Just like before, type in a Web address like www.lynda.com/index.php into your 40 00:02:49,039 --> 00:02:50,039 computer's Web browser. 41 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:54,040 Your computer sends this request for the page to the Web server. 42 00:02:54,041 --> 00:02:58,041 The Web server looks at its files and realizes the page you requested is written 43 00:02:58,042 --> 00:03:01,042 in PHP, a programming language. 44 00:03:01,043 --> 00:03:05,043 The Web server knows it can't send this page as is to the client. 45 00:03:05,044 --> 00:03:07,044 Some processing must be done first. 46 00:03:07,045 --> 00:03:12,045 So instead the Web server sends this request to the PHP application. 47 00:03:12,046 --> 00:03:17,046 PHP looks at the document and determines that some information needs to be 48 00:03:17,047 --> 00:03:19,047 pulled from a database and then processed. 49 00:03:19,048 --> 00:03:23,048 PHP is functioning as middleware in this way. 50 00:03:23,049 --> 00:03:28,049 This means PHP mediates the discussion between the Web server and the database. 51 00:03:28,050 --> 00:03:32,050 The server and database can't talk to each other directly. 52 00:03:32,051 --> 00:03:36,051 They need a translator that can understand server speak and database speak. 53 00:03:36,052 --> 00:03:42,052 Other examples of programming language used in this role include ASP and .NET, 54 00:03:42,053 --> 00:03:45,053 ColdFusion, Java, and Perl. 55 00:03:45,054 --> 00:03:49,054 A database is a collection of organized information. 56 00:03:49,055 --> 00:03:52,055 The database type that we will use in Joomla! 57 00:03:52,056 --> 00:04:00,056 is called MySQL, but other types of databases include MSSQL or MSSQL or Oracle. 58 00:04:00,057 --> 00:04:05,057 Axis is a database that runs on your laptop and is not suitable to use in a Web site. 59 00:04:05,058 --> 00:04:10,058 Joomla! has been designed to work primarily with MySQL, but it supports some 60 00:04:10,059 --> 00:04:13,059 other databases as well. Joomla! 2.5 and Joomla! 3 61 00:04:13,060 --> 00:04:18,060 supports some Microsoft environments including Windows Azure, the cloud platform. 62 00:04:18,061 --> 00:04:24,061 In addition to supporting Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and SQL Azure, 63 00:04:24,062 --> 00:04:30,062 Joomla! 2.5 supports Azure Storage CDN and Azure deployment and so does Joomla! 3. 64 00:04:30,063 --> 00:04:36,063 Both Joomla! 2.5 and Joomla! 3 also support PostgreSQL. 65 00:04:36,064 --> 00:04:38,064 However, be careful just because Joomla! 66 00:04:38,065 --> 00:04:43,065 supports alternative databases does not mean third-party extensions support 67 00:04:43,066 --> 00:04:44,066 those databases as well. 68 00:04:44,067 --> 00:04:49,067 Check with extension providers to find out if the extension you want to use is 69 00:04:49,068 --> 00:04:50,068 compatible with these other databases. 70 00:04:50,069 --> 00:04:57,069 Finally, the database receives a request for information from PHP via a database query. 71 00:04:57,070 --> 00:05:02,070 The requested information is copied from the database and sent back to PHP. 72 00:05:02,071 --> 00:05:07,071 PHP arranges the database information into the way specified in the PHP code. 73 00:05:07,072 --> 00:05:11,072 The actual PHP code is stripped out from the page and replaced with HTML 74 00:05:11,073 --> 00:05:14,073 according to the instructions on the page. 75 00:05:14,074 --> 00:05:20,074 Now that a page is created and it consists of HTML and associated files that is 76 00:05:20,075 --> 00:05:22,075 sent to the client to view. 77 00:05:22,076 --> 00:05:24,076 All of this happens in the blink of an eye. 78 00:05:24,077 --> 00:05:28,077 In order to run Joomla!, therefore, you must have a Web server configured 79 00:05:28,078 --> 00:05:34,078 with Apache or IIS, PHP, and MySQL including the right versions of those 80 00:05:34,079 --> 00:05:35,079 pieces of software. 81 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:40,080 You can check Joomla.org for the latest requirements and recommended Web hosts. 82 00:05:40,081 --> 00:05:45,081 So obviously a CMS is way more complicated than a static Web site. 83 00:05:45,082 --> 00:05:49,082 In fact, you might be a bit intimidated by all of that technology running on your site. 84 00:05:49,083 --> 00:05:53,083 Why are CMSs preferred over static Web sites? 85 00:05:53,084 --> 00:05:57,084 Because of the power of the database Web sites are much easier to maintain with a 86 00:05:57,085 --> 00:06:01,085 CMS than they are with a static Web site. 87 00:06:01,086 --> 00:06:05,086 If you wish to make changes to the CMS Web site, you can change it without 88 00:06:05,087 --> 00:06:11,087 knowing HTML, PHP, MySQL, or anything else, which means your average client can 89 00:06:11,088 --> 00:06:16,088 easily create new pages, link them to menus, change content, and make other 90 00:06:16,089 --> 00:06:18,089 updates without talking to you. 91 00:06:18,090 --> 00:06:23,090 In a world where we increasingly integrate photo galleries, calendars, social 92 00:06:23,091 --> 00:06:29,091 media, news feeds, blogs, and other dynamic information a CMS becomes more 93 00:06:29,092 --> 00:06:33,092 important due to the ease of integrating these features into the Web site. 94 00:06:33,093 --> 00:06:37,093 If you're still feeling like a CMS is complicated, don't panic. 95 00:06:37,094 --> 00:06:41,094 This movie was as geeky as the rest of this title gets. 96 00:06:41,095 --> 00:06:43,095 Keep watching and you will start feeling more comfortable 97 00:06:43,096 --> 00:06:45,096 with Joomla! shortly.