TOPIC: I would like comments on an idea that I just had.

I have long wanted a layman's description of how joomla 1.5 works so that a non-programer could understand the basic concepts and see how all the extensions work together. Now I am just an old guy with only two years of experience trying to understand the hidden mysteries of joomla but I am quite good at making Flash animations so I am interested in having some guru who understands joomla 1.5 so well that he could even explain it to me so that I could make an animation using objects, movement and sound, text etc. to make a tutorial that could be modular as is joomla.

The basic workings of joomla would be the main module and components could have their own Flash animations to fit into this concept to visually explain how their component fits into the system. Since flash makes interactive *.swf files each user can search their own level of complication. The tutorial would be open source and extension makers could add their own tutorials to fit into the Flash module. I guess it would be an animated wikipedia. All the flash tutorials can be connected together quite easily with an intuitive navigation system that could be a tutorial system second to none. Photos, videos, sound, animation, fancy animated text, whatever can be embedded in Flash. Please comment.

Larry from Montreal

Ok, here are 2 books that will help you to understand how 1.5 works:
www.packtpub.com/Joomla-Extensions/book
www.packtpub.com/joomla-one-point-five-extension-framework/book

The first one is really for beginners. It will explain you how to create an extension using the old model in 1.0 and then it will show the first steps in the MVC pattern. The second one is complete guide for developers. It is a must read book if you want to work with joomla.

I don't understand exactly what you want to do? You want to make a module for joomla with flash, or you want to make a flash about Joomla?

My intent is to learn as much about joomla as my old lightning damaged brain can handle, but I am sort of a half-assed artist and I see everything visually. I think joomla could be explained visually better than in computerese and it might even be good for gurus. Basically what I would like to do is capture the concepts. what happens when you click on a joomla web site. what actions are taking place, how does the page form, How does the templating system work, how do you move modules around. I've been reading about joomla for two years and I am still very unclear about the basic concepts of joomla and how it was designed to work. Thank you for the links. I will read these.

The idea of mimicking the joomla experience with a Flash/joomla tutorial system built the same way could be very powerful.I am not talking about the flash tutorials that we see on the web. Most have missed the whole point entirely. Unfortunately gurus don't seem to learn how to communicate with us lesser beings. If some guru can explain these basic concepts to me I can make it visual and people will learn much faster than reading and looking at diagrams.

I think a very valuable teaching tool would just be a simple explanation in layman's terms with a multi-media back-up the basic concepts of joomla CMS. Could probably do an entertaining video on the history of joomla and it's evolution. That would be fun.It could be modular too because history is added on every year. I'd love to kick off a Flash wiki.

Well, that sounds interesting. I will try to help you, but I need more. What is the thing that is going to be different. I mean - there are now videos in Internet showing how to move one module to another place and so on. What would be different in this flash? What would be the interactive part?