Netshine Review:

The book starts with a basic explanation of how the internet works, what HTML is, what CSS is, what PHP is, etc. - very clear, concise, and easy to understand. It then goes on to discuss setting up your development environment, and high level planning of the site before delving into the nitty gritty of choosing, installing, and customising extensions.

We are introduced to some invaluable tools, such as Firebug, and various code editors, etc. and taken step-by-step through the process of customsing a sample website.

Although a bit 'corporate' in places (eg. when advocating a 'mission statement' etc.), the overall tone is down-to-earth and not too opinionated.

There is a serious difficulty in producing a book such as this: In many cases there are just too many permutations to explain in a single volume. Customising a Joomla site often requires a thorough knowledge of HTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript, and possibly other languages. This book gives you all the information you need to customise the demonstration site (the example used is a site about Japanese housing - perhaps not the most useful example), but when you are out there in the wild with a completely different site and objective, it might not be of much help.

Even so, it does give you a 'leg up' by pointing you in the right general direction, and teaching you how to use some of the tools that you will need regardless of your site objectives. This is only really clarified in the preamble to chapter 8, where we are told that the purpose is not to teach you everything you need to know, but to give you confidence to tinker with existing extensions.

Once or twice, I felt as though we were left a bit 'up in the air' - the author starts explaining something but does not finish - for example, he talks about modules within modules, and we are told to use separate CSS file for a module, but does not clearly demonstrate how to do it.

I love the chapter on requesting support - if only everyone requesting support followed the etiquette guidelines in this book, it would make technical support much more pleasant and productive for everyone! I also found the chapter on monetizing your site to be a good introduction to the possibilites, albeit a brief one.

All in all, if you are an enthusiastic DIYer who wants to customise their Joomla site without paying for help, this book will prove invaluable. Likewise, if you are thinking of starting up in business offering Joomla customisation services, you will get a lot of useful ideas and experience handed to you through its pages. If you are a bit of a newbie though, with little or no computer experience, you will probably find it a bit too advanced.