Creating Website - This was simple and fast. It needed registration on Joomla.com website. All I needed is the subdomain name i.e. the name I wanted for my website, email ID and password. I received an email with a link to click for email ID verification. And that is it, my website was up and running.

After registration, I could also access the website dashboard and admin console. Dashboard offers high level website details and provides options to modify those like profile details, changing template, subdomain etc. Admin console is accessible through dashboard.

The admin console lets user explore concrete details of the website and add/update/delete those.

<li>
    <p>
        <strong>Choosing Template -</strong> Next, I had to choose a template
        to decide the look and feel of my website. There are four templates
        available to choose from for three template types each viz. Blog,
        Corporate and Personal. I can choose blank template or with sample
        data. The warnings shown when applying a blank template or with same
        data were quite appropriate and guiding user well on their selection.
        The choice of template is very limited over here and I did not find
        any way to personalize the template.
    </p>
    <figure class="text-center jpp-margin-b30"><img alt="choosing-template-joomla" src="my-first-experience-with-joomla-dot-com/choosing-template-joomla.jpg" class="img-polaroid"/><figcaption class="img-caption">Choosing Template On
            joomla.com</figcaption></figure></li>


<li>
    <p>
        <strong>Adding a New Article -</strong> Adding content to the website
        is done by adding articles. It is quite easy with good WYSIWYG
        editor. I could add text, format it, add images and create a complete
        article the way I wanted to. Properties of the article are
        categorized through various tabs which makes it easy to find and
        update one.
    </p>
    <figure class="text-center jpp-margin-b30"><img alt="adding-new-article-joomla" src="my-first-experience-with-joomla-dot-com/adding-new-article-joomla.jpg" class="img-polaroid"/><figcaption class="img-caption">Adding A New Artical in
            Joomla</figcaption></figure><p>Below is the snapshot of a dummy blog I had published on my
        website.</p>
    <figure class="text-center jpp-margin-b30"><img alt="divya-dummy-blog" src="my-first-experience-with-joomla-dot-com/divya-dummy-blog.jpg" class="img-polaroid"/><figcaption class="img-caption">My Dummy Blog</figcaption></figure></li>
<li>
    <p>
        <strong>Adding Category -</strong> Each article has a category
        associated with it. I had chosen a template with sample data so I
        already had a category named ‘Blog’ in category manager. When I
        wanted to publish an article with category set as `uncategorized`, it
        did not appear on my website. I changed it to `Blog` and it worked
        fine.
    </p>

    <figure class="text-center jpp-margin-b30"><img alt="adding-category-joomla" src="my-first-experience-with-joomla-dot-com/adding-category-joomla.jpg" class="img-polaroid"/><figcaption class="img-caption">Adding Category In
            Joomla</figcaption></figure><p>I added few more categories like Personal Blog, Tech Blog and
        assigned those to few articles. But those too did not get published
        on site. I could not figure out what category was meant for so, I
        parked this for later and continued.</p>
    <figure class="text-center jpp-margin-b30"><img alt="joomla-blog-category" src="my-first-experience-with-joomla-dot-com/joomla-blog-category.jpg" class="img-polaroid"/><figcaption class="img-caption">Adding Multiple
            Categories</figcaption></figure></li>
<li>
    <p>
        <strong>Changing Template -</strong> I switched the template I had
        used with a new one and it was all set again with new look and feel.
    </p>
    <figure class="text-center jpp-margin-b30"><img alt="changing-template-joomla-dot-com" src="my-first-experience-with-joomla-dot-com/changing-template-joomla-dot-com.jpg" class="img-polaroid"/><figcaption class="img-caption">Changing Template At
            joomla.com</figcaption></figure></li>
<li>
    <p>
        <strong>Changing Subdomain Name -</strong> I quite liked this
        feature. There may be situations like rebranding, mergers and
        acquisitions, change in ownership, or reimaging when website name
        needs to be changed. I just had to give a new name and it was all set
        with new URL.
    </p>
    <figure class="text-center jpp-margin-b30"><img alt="changing-sub-domain-joomla-com" src="my-first-experience-with-joomla-dot-com/changing-sub-domain-joomla-com.jpg" class="img-polaroid"/><figcaption class="img-caption">Changing Sub Domain At
            joomla.com</figcaption></figure></li>
<li>
    <p>
        <strong>Miscellaneous -</strong> Apart from these I also found that
        there are many more options available on the dashboard like changing
        the profile information, upgrading to a paid service with support and
        more features, exporting and deleting the website etc. The website
        contains documentation on how to’s and various step by step
        tutorials.
    </p>

    <p>The admin console also offers lots of configurability and
        extensibility options like managing users, groups and access levels,
        setting up global configuration, managing components and extensions
        which I am yet to try out.</p>
</li>

<p>To summarize, my first hands on experience with Joomla.com was
    quite impressive and promising. The service offers a great deal of
    ease to its users with moderate level of customization. The UI of
    dashboard and admin console is clean and responsive. The number of
    templates available to choose from is limited though, which may not
    fit well for needs of a wide range of users. Since the low level
    website setup details are abstracted by Joomla.com service, the users
    can concentrate better on their business details and content.</p>

<p>As a new user Joomla website intrigued me enough to explore it
    in greater details. Keep watching this space to be my companion on
    voyage to Joomla! Do share your experiences with me by leaving
    comments. Your suggestions and comments are most welcome.</p>