So you want to start a business and you’re looking for a new home? Well, it’s not the easiest task to start a business, so we’re here to point you in the right direction and make sure you get the best start possible. You’ve got a product
Joomla for ecommerce is a fantastic choice for setting up an online business, as they offer an extensive package, providing ease of use and adaptability (to name a few features) that can help you get started. Joomla ecommerce templates also make online shop design easier than ever, leaving the focus to selling your wares and not needing to pick up another skill to simply get started. If you’ve gotten this far and still feel a bit uncertain, here is a brief history on Joomla to get a taste of what they have to offer.
Joomla: TL;DR
Joomla was first released in 2005. They got their initial start as a fork of Mambo, another ecommerce platform that no longer exists by the time you’re reading this article. Similar to the popular WordPress and nearly as old, Joomla has stood as a solid contender in the ecommerce market for 15+ years now, and for good reason. They are a free and open source content management site (CMS) and make publishing web content easier and ever.
Joomla Yearly Market Share
After receiving multiple awards over the course of their tenure in the ecommerce world, they provide extensive services to those looking to set up an online business without the hassle of having to take a web development course.
Joomla lets you build a website without using HTML or CMS. This, paired with the fact that they are entirely free, makes them an incredibly attractive option for the new online business owner. While not as large as their competitor WordPress, they still power 2% of all the websites on the Internet. Their package offers a large selection of easily integrated extensions for your site, while allowing for seamless SEO
But what about security? Surely, putting all of your cherished goods and services online can be scary and leave yourself open to security risks. Well, to add to an already impressive list, they also offer a dedicated Joomla Security Strike team (JSST) to keep all of your data secure while you conduct your business. They constantly make sure that your platform is up to date by frequently updating core data and extensions through patches, keeping those exploits hidden from
Did we also mention that they’re free? Because even if we did, we want to really drive that home. It’s completely free.
This all sounds amazing, right? Everything you could need in one convenient place. It does, however, take some understanding of basic web development needs, and that’s where we step in. With this tutorial, you’ll be setting up shop in no time.
All Your Domain
First off, every business needs a name. There’s a lot in a name, so be sure not to skip this step (although we’re not quite sure how you would). Once you’ve got a name figured out, the next step when setting up your business in the real (online) world is getting an online domain. This domain will act as your own homebase for all of your business site development or online hosting needs. It will be the main moniker from which you work once you set up shop and get your business going. Once you’ve got all of that sorted, it’s finally time to get Joomla ecommerce involved.
Zoomla to Joomla
Okay, so corny section titles aside, hopefully by now you’ve got your domain established and have your shop name figured out. With that taken care of, you’ve reached the part where Zoomla comes in. Depending on which site you went through to set up your domain, you might be able to find Joomla! for ecommerce as an option through their portal’s Advanced settings.
Regardless, you’re going to need to head on over to Joomla downloads to start your install of Joomla ecommerce. Did we mention that it’s free? Rest assured, we’re going to keep driving that point home. Once the install is complete, extract the files, and we’re on to the next step.
Your (Data) Base of Operations
The next step is going to be to establish a database. What this database will do is store all of your resources for your online business, which Joomla ecommerce will be able to pull from when designing your site. Depending on your host, you will be able to find a section in the Advanced section where you can create a MySQL database.
Once you find this, you’ll need to create a name for the database, name of the user associated with that database, provide a password, and provide your server address. After this, with Joomla installed and the files extracted, connect to your server via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and upload the extracted files to where your domain is pointing (usually the root directory).
Once that is finished, it’s time to move on to the next step.
One Install to Rule Them All
With the extracted files uploaded to your server, the next step is to finally visit your URL. If everything was done correctly, the Joomla installation should start automatically. Luckily, this is the easy part. At this stage, you’ll need to enter a Site Name and Description (optional). This will be what shows up in search engines, but that can always be edited later.
Next, you’ll need to enter Super User account information. This includes giving an email, username, and password. This will act as the main administrator hub, so be sure to pick something secure that nobody could easily guess.
The next tab will bring you to your Database upload. This is where you will connect everything from the MySQL database earlier. Once all of that information is filled accurately, you’ll be so close to getting started. The Final tab will mainly be a recap of everything you’ve done so far, so here’s your chance to
Back to the Basics
All the technical stuff is done…sort of, and you can finally visit your site. Now, don’t be shocked at what you see, as it’s not going to be anything impressive. That’s okay though. Baby steps.
You’re going to want to go to yourdomain.com/administrator and log in using the credentials you made during the initial setup. And with that, you’re in! You’re finally ready to start exploring all of the customization features that Joomla has to offer, from the various Joomla ecommerce templates and all the other fun toys you can utilize.
Stay Calm, Create On
Maybe it’s a bit of a bonus step, but the final word of advice is to stay calm. It’s a lot to learn and will take some time, but this is the first step to reaching your goals.
Go through the Taskbar to see where all the tools are, click on all the buttons, and simply play around to get your bearings. There are many online sources and videos that will take care of this step, so remember that you’re never alone. The business can only grow from here.
