User Documentation If you want to create a Joomla website, you first need to decide on an approach. There are several options – which one is best depends on your project.
To set up a website on the internet, you need:
- A unique name (domain)
- Storage space on the internet (webspace)
Many hosting providers offer these services with a range of features.
- Free Hosting (Ideal for beginners) – Want to get started quickly and get to know Joomla? Then use joomla.com – a free service from Joomla that lets you get started straight away. It’s ideal for testing and for simple websites. For larger projects, you can upgrade to paid premium features later or switch to another provider.
- cPanel Hosting (Ease of management) – cPanel is a handy control panel for your web space. It allows you to manage your website easily with just a few clicks, without having to type in complicated computer commands. (Note: There are also other control panels, such as Plesk or ISPConfig, which operate in the same way but look different.)
- Auto Installer Installation (1-Klick-Installation) – Many providers offer an automatic installation feature that allows you to set up Joomla very easily with just a click. However, there is a major catch: you often don’t know whether the provider is actually installing the latest and most secure version of Joomla. Experts therefore generally advise against using this automatic installation feature.
- Moving Installation Directory (e.g. for testing) – Sometimes you might want to try out a new version of Joomla without disrupting your main website. To do this, you can temporarily move a second copy of Joomla into a subfolder. This article explains exactly how to do this.
- Local Setup (On your own PC) – You can also install Joomla directly on your own computer or on a small server (such as the Raspberry Pi). As there are many different ways to do this, we have devoted an entire chapter to this topic. Tip: If you’re looking for detailed, step-by-step installation instructions, see the article Installing Joomla in the Getting Started section. Everything is explained in great detail there.