One Click Installations
If you are already have your own paid hosting account, the first thing to do is to see if your cPanel has an area where you can install easily certain web applications without downloading them from their websites and uploading them to your host. These are called “One Click Installations” because after you select the desired application, the script should set up your package instantly. Many of the popular hosting providers have one click installations of blogs, forum solutions, and Joomla as well.

This is the easiest method to get Joomla hosted and you shouldn’t run into any problems because the one click installation integrates directly with the host. There are a few limitations with this method however depending on your hosting provider. First of all you should check the version of the Joomla that is offered by your host and compare it with the version found at Joomla’s website – http://www.joomla.com.

Even if the version is slightly lower, your Joomla may not be fully secure and may be subjected to attacks if your site becomes popular. It is okay to proceed with the installation if the host allows you to upgrade your installation from there. Often times the Joomla hosting company doesn’t allow so you should try the standard method to ensure you have the latest Joomla version.

Some one click installations include many templates to choose from so you don’t have to go to other sites to find the template that you need for your site. One possible limitation is that you may be restricted with these templates alone. If you have a custom template that you wish to use, consider the regular installation method. Once again, this depends on your hosting provider so try to experiment.

Web Browser Installation
If you cannot or chose not to use the one click installation, you can still install Joomla rather easily from your web browser. Before you make any moves, make sure that your hosting provider meets the requirements listed below:

• PHP version 4.3.10 or greater (but not PHP 4.4.2 or 5.0.4)

• MySQL version 3.23 or greater (but not MySQL 6.x)

• Apache 1.3 or greater

If you cannot see the system specs, you can proceed with the installation anyway as Joomla will alert you if there are problems with your host’s software.

Once you see that your host meets the requirements, obtain the latest Joomla version from their website and extract the contents to folder. You can give the folder any name you like as it will most likely be uploaded to your root directory. Open the new folder that you extracted the files in and use your favorite FTP client in uploading the files to your host. Contact your host provider or read their documentation to find out more about FTP access. If you want to access the CMS from your domain, upload the files directly to the root directory and wait for all the files to transfer. After you transferred all the files, you should be able to access the web installation by entering your domain name.

Now all you need to do is go through the 6 steps laid out in Joomla’s easy installation wizard. Follow the simple instructions on the screen. If you bump into any errors, there should be details on what you can do to fix them. After the installation is finished you should be all set. Let Joomla guide you the rest of the way.

Joomla! Resources
If you still have problems installing Joomla, visit the “Installation Manual” section at http://help.joomla.org. There you can find documentations on the different methods in installing Joomla including the manual method which is more complicated and should only be used if there are rare problems in the web browser installation.

Joomla should be a breeze to install and there is an entire community to help you out in case you have problems. Feel free to experiment and enjoy one of the best content management systems out there.