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Jun
10
2009
What's Your Favorite Joomla Analogy?
Written by Steve Burge   
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People who teach Joomla know they feeling ... things have been going well, but suddenly there's a blank look. The student's stuck on one point. You've tried a few ways to explain it, but they're not getting the big picture. You rack your brain and start, "well, Joomla's just like a ... " and you try to dig out a comparison.

Here are my top five favorite analogies to help people grasp Joomla's key concepts. Please feel free to post your own in the comments.

Joomla = Book

Via the Joomla documentation:

"An analogy that might make the relationship easier to understand would be that Joomla! is a book and all the components are chapters in the book. The core content component (com_content), for example, is the mini-application that handles all core content rendering just as the core registration component (com_registration) is the mini-application that handles user registration ... To continue in our book analogy, a module can be looked at as a footnote or header block"

Content = Filing Cabinet

Joomla Filing CabinetVia Brian Teeman, this helps people understand how sections, categories and articles are arranged.

People sometimes think that they can put content directly into the sections and categories and they often try to put articles into the description field. They also think its possible to cross-categorize articles. This analogy neatly explains that neither works correctly.

Churchofchristsite.com has this useful graphic to explain the analogy:

Joomla = Operating System

Via How to Joomla:

"A good analogy (at least for me) is to think of Joomla! as an operating system like Windows, and components as programs that run on the operating system. Going with that analogy, I like to think of the Joomla! content component (com_content) as the word processor (like Microsoft Word)."

Extensions = Car

Via me. I was struggling in classes to help people understand that an extension could consist of a component, a module and a plugin:

Joomla Car
  • Components = Engines. They drive your site and do all the hard work.
  • Modules = Dashboard. They show what's going on inside the engines.
  • Plugins = Spark Plugs. Tiny things that help your site run by doing one small task repeatedly.
  • Templates = Paint-job. The color and design of your car or Joomla site.
I also use it to explain security. People need to treat their Joomla site like their, taking it in for regular checkups and getting new parts.

Templates = Play Doh

Joomla Play DohVia Cindy Montano. This helps people to understand how different templates change the look and feel of a site, but don't actually change the content. The content is the play doh. It always remains the same. However, if you change the template, that's like changing the shape you squeeze the playdoh through. If you change from squares to circles or rectangles, the modules will be in different places and the output will be different.
 

Comments  

 
#1 Brian Teeman 2009-06-10 11:19
double drat. I saw your tweet and though I had better post a link to my filing cabinet and I found you already had.

So hear is another one
Joomla is all a SCAM

Section Category Article Menu

Remember that and you should have no problem adding content
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#2 Steve Burge 2009-06-10 11:27
Ah - that was one we invented for our classes last year. Mnemonics rock!

Looks like its catching on and others are using it for their classes too:
www.joomla4web.com/blog/Sections-Categories-Articles-Menus-Its-all-a-SCAM.html
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#3 Joomla_dude 2009-06-10 11:32
I have used the "Filing Cabinet" to explain for customer how it works, can't find out any better way...
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#4 Cory Webb 2009-06-10 11:36
The Joomla = Operating System analogy is actually via HowToJoomla... http://www.howtojoomla.net/2006120741/how-tos/miscellaneous/joomla-jargon

I wrote that a couple of years ago and double posted it over at JoomlaShack.

That's my favorite analogy because I can relate to it. I guess that's the point of an analogy, though. It's to take a complex topic and relate it to something that people are more familiar with.

I really like the car and filing cabinet analogies as well. The book analogy loses me a bit, but I kind of see where they're going with that.
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#5 Steve Burge 2009-06-10 11:37
Thanks Cory - I've fixed that and changed the link to point to your site.
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#6 Samantha Bovat 2009-06-10 12:17
I am all about the SCAM- without it I would never remember the proper order.
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#7 hilsatlvsonline 2009-06-10 12:53
On the basis that the ridiculous can be memorable, I use food, wrapped up in categories and put in carrier bags (sections).

Hils
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#8 Paul S 2009-06-17 16:45
Joomla = News paper
(good for remembering the filing order)

Section -> Business, Sports, etc (hence "sports section")
Category -> (under Sport) Football, Cricket, etc
Articles -> are articles, what else would it be!
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#9 Paul S 2009-06-17 16:47
... but whilst we're on this point... don't you find you end up using "uncategoried content" a LOT? Maybe not for blog sites or news sites, but for pretty static websites, most of my pages end up being uncategoried.
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#10 Jason C 2009-08-01 09:44
i do too, for static sites. I think that is where the part about putting content items in a section and creating a menu item for it comes in...
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