Joomla 1.6 alpha is ready to download.  Please remember it's NOT for production sites!!! And yes, there are a TON of bugs and problems and issues. That's why it's called an alpha.

Like it? Hate it? Have comments on it? Be sure you get involved with the Joomla Project, either on the Bug Squad or helping out in the forums. There's plenty of work to go around for everyone.

Also, remember there is a tech requirement of PHP 5.2+ and MySQL 5.0.4+ in order to run Joomla 1.6. Talk to your web host to make sure these are available to you.  If you're running WAMP or XAMPP on your local machine, make sure you're running the most recent version, which will support these requirements.

My Lynda.com blog post is up, all about Joomla 1.6 alpha and what's coming next in the Joomla world.

You've got your first Joomla site running! It's fabulous! It's amazing! And now how do we start taking it to the next level?

Just like you should never wear white shoes after Labor Day, and visible panty lines are never cool, there are a few fashion NOs that you should stay away from doing on your Joomla site.

1. Why does it need to say "Main Menu"?

So you've built a site or two or five in Joomla 1.5.

Maybe you have a background in HTML/CSS, or maybe you've been learning it, but you don't necessarily have a background in PHP/MySQL.

You're interested in taking your Joomla site to the next level. You think you could be doing more with your Joomla sites than you are already.

I think this video says it all.

Get your scope clear at the beginning, get clear on how many hours it will take, and don't be afraid to walk away from a client who pulls this nonsense!

Originally seen at CMS Watch.

... but I am all excited about this past week on Joomla.org.

First, Amy Stephen wrote a very nice article about me, in response to my post about those who can't do, teach. I was really surprised but am really grateful to Amy for the nice article.

Then, Neri Valentin-Macias wrote a terrific article about the Lynda.com movies that Joe LeBlanc and I created. Thank you, Neri! I am so glad this information is on the Joomla site, as these are really hot Joomla training topics.

Recently, a student of mine showed me a Twitter exchange between two prominent Joomla developers about this very phrase. The argument made was if you're good enough to actually do, you wouldn't have time to be teaching. The implied conclusion to that is if you're teaching, you clearly aren't a first rate designer/developer, and you have to teach to pay the bills.

We could carry this argument to this: if you are a first-rate designer/developer, you wouldn't have time to volunteer your services to work on the Joomla project, because you'd be too busy building sites for paying clients.

Obviously, that statement is not true. We are tremendously lucky to have very talented designers and developers volunteering their time to work on the Joomla project. If they weren't talented, Joomla wouldn't be among the top open source content management systems in the world.

Lynda Weinman and I are scheduled to chat next week about some new movies for Lynda.com.  She has a great description on her new blog of what we're discussing.  It's the same thing I've been discussing with many of you.  When I created the Joomla templates movies, my assumption was that people knew how to make a static HTML web page with an external stylesheet.  Since then, I've heard from some of you at the user groups, and others at conferences and online, that this wasn't a good assumption.

Many don't understand the workflow of defining the graphic design based on client input (typically using Photoshop or Fireworks), converting the design to individual GIF/JPG/PNG images, and creating the static page design (I use Dreamweaver to do this).

A second aspect: Those of us who have been using Adobe tools for years don't necessarily understand how they fit into the workflow when working with a product like Joomla.

Heidi and I are here in Evanston, IL, at the Hotel Orrington for CMS Expo, now through May 1. It's a very cute town, with lots of stuff within walking distance.

If you're here for Expo, be sure to drop by our booth for Joomla template cheat sheet cards and a brochure describing Marlboro College Grad School's new Certificate in Open Source Web Development.

We've also got a sale on Lynda.com DVD training! You can buy Jen's "Joomla! Creating and Editing Custom Templates" or "Joomla! Advanced CSS" for just $40 -- a 20% savings over the usual $50  price. And if you want to buy both DVD's, they're just $75 together. But that's only for this conference, so hurry!

A student asked me, "Why would someone use Joomla instead of just building a website with XHTML and CSS?" Great question!

Of course, there is no such thing as a PERFECT technology solution. You always make tradeoffs. However, I think this one lands pretty solidly in the Joomla camp... there just isn't a lot of reason to build Dreamweaver sites in 2009.