Although there are many Content Management Systems (CMS - the acronym also works for Content Management Software) in use throughout North America, Joomla remains relatively unknown, at least in certain areas of the United States. This is certainly true for the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Karma Marketing & Media, where I work part-time as Lead Programmer, is the premier firm for Joomla website development in St. Cloud and the central Minnesota areas (and beyond). For organizations who might be interested in finding out just what Joomla is - and can do for them - I would present the following salient points:

• Joomla is a whole system of website components and modules integrated into a common framework. This means that it offers incredible functionality 'out of the box.' These functions include administrative access for clients and approved users, blogging functions, media management (including images, video and audio files), menu systems, contact functions, and so forth.
• Among the most useful of these functions is access to content, which can be handled through both the 'front-end' and administrative (or 'back-end') views of the site. This means that the Joomla site owner or user or some approved party can edit, delete, modify, and change the layout of the content without having to go through a third party. This saves time (you change the website content as soon you like) and money (you do not have to pay someone like myself to do this. Not that I wouldn't ne happy to help you!).
• In addition to the many 'out-of-the-box' features, Joomla sites can take advantage of the many extensions - currently numbering some 1,824, a number that increases almost every day. Most of these are 'open-source,' which means that they are available to the general public for no charge so long as users respect the terms of the various open-source licenses. These terms are designed to prevent unscrupulous users from copying the package or code and then reselling, and so forth. A significant number of extensions are commercial. These often provide functions and solutions for specialized needs or niche markets, such as real estate, or else they provide (so they claim) better quality than their open-source cousins. The price of the commercial extensions is rarely exorbitant, and the final choice of which product to use often comes down the particular context and needs, rather than budgetary restraints.
What do the extensions provide? Tons of features: calendars, galleries, e-cards, blogs, forums, chatrooms, guest books, polls, shopping carts, newsletters, weather panels, business directories, google map links, rotating 'Flash'-like banners, the list goes on and on.

This depends, naturally enough, on your experience and expertise, and your goals for a website. If you are like me - a do-it-yourselfer by nature (I know the layout of every Home Depot, Lowes, and Menards in the North Metro...), you can take the plunge and give it a whirl. Most users, however, do not have the time to set up and troubleshoot a site. That's where I can help: I can create a site to your specifications with the features you want and then show you how to work on the content once it's up and running. I will take care of the hosting - by the way, Karma has an extraordinary hosting service that provides unsurpassed security and service.

Once the site is up, working on content through the front- or back-end views is no more complicated than sending an email attachment or using ebay. The interfaces use big, easy to spot icons and there are lots of prompts and help resources to guide you along your way.

And you can always ask me! If you have a question about Joomla, even if you're not a client, I would be delighted to help out.