Introducing the Joomla! CMS

Web Server

The Web Server is where your website's directories and files are stored.

Each directory contains either:

1. logic files which control the way your website works, or
2. files which you have uploaded, for example, the images used in your website.

All files related to the operation of your Joomla! website are held in a directory.

Depending upon the hosting control panel you are using this could be called:

• htdocs,
• httpdocs, or
• public_html.

Example Directory

Whilst this image does not represent the latest release of the Joomla! CMS, it is a useful approximation.

Database Server

The Database Server is where your website's database tables are stored.

Database tables hold all your website's data.

Some of this data is used by the logic files (stored on the web server).

The remainder is presented in the body of your website when viewed in a web browser.

Example Joomla! Database

This is what you see when you view the database structure of a Joomla! website using PhpMyAdmin (after signing into your hosting control panel).

Whilst this image does not represent the latest release of Joomla! CMS database, it is a good approximation. 

How it all works

The Joomla! CMS may be described as a dyamic website.

In the Joomla! CMS:

• images are stored in a directory on a web server, whilst
• text is stored in a database on a database server.

When a visitor selects a link in a Joomla! website, a request is sent for content to be brought to the screen:

• images from the directory on the web server, and
• text from the database on the database server.

In a traditional static website, when visitors select a link they are taken from the page they are currently viewing to another one.

Traditional static websites may comprise hundreds if not thousands of separate HTML files, each one a separate web page.

Dynamic websites on the other hand consist of one page which loads in the visitor's browser when they visit the website.

When the visitor selects a link, a request is sent for text, images and other media to be brought to the screen.

It is the content of the page being viewed which changes and not the page itself.