In a previous article “Getting Up & Running the Traditional Way” we looked at getting up and running by installing the Astroid Framework and Templates on top of an existing Joomla install. At which point you have either already built your Joomla Site from scratch or you need to do so. In both scenarios you are going to have to do the leg work. Ensuring that the Content and Mechanics of Joomla work seamlessly with the Astroid Framework. The advantage of this approach is that you start with a blank canvas adding what you need when you need it. Very much a process of a process of addition rater than subtraction. Slowly getting your feet wet step by step. Whilst the disadvantage is that sooner rather than later you will have to perform a lot of very receptive work in Joomla, getting the site usable. As in creating menus, categories, articles, linking them up and all that Jazz. You might even hit a couple of road blocks this way that could potentially be avoided by taking the Quickstart approach.

Which brings us to the idea of having a head start. And out of the gate having every thing working with Dummy Content and a Boilerplate Template. Enter the Quickstart Way. In this Video Tutorial we will be performing a brand new fresh install of Joomla in its entirety, with the Astroid Framework and a slick new Astroid Template all linked up with demo material. The Content and Mechanics of the site work seamlessly. Maybe not exactly as you would like it but it all works and looks great. This way you can potentially save yourself a ton of leg work. Using the Quick Start Way most of the work you will end up doing will be being modifying content and removing features that you do not require. This time around more of a process of subtraction than addition. The disadvantage of the Quick Start method is that it is not going to help much if you already have an existing site that technically works and is populated with piles of content. You could however also argue that having a poke around a fully functional Joomla/Astroid Site is a good way to understand how to build your own site from scratch. Or maybe you are a developer and want to use a workflow like this to get multiple sites up and running on a daily basis. In which case you will probably really dig this method.

A couple of words of caution. This is currently all very new and things are changing all the time. First up you need to be able to run Joomla 5 to get this to work. Most decent Web Hoster's should be able to do this but you need to check just in case. The requirements for Joomla 5 are listed HERE. Alternatively you can do all this in a so called AMP. The process is very similar and this is actually the method I use for demonstration purposes in this tutorial. But not all AMPs are equal. Examples of AMPs include: MAMP, Wamp and XAMPP. I am on a Mac and my usual weapon of choice, MAMP is not Joomla 5 compatible. I ended up taking a slightly less trodded path and using Herd with DBning. On a side note if you are on a mac and curious about Larvel Herd, I suggest starting HERE. It is early days and I can not really say if I can recommend this method or not...

One last thing maybe you just want to do the install online and cut straight to the chase. And indeed in the spirit of unlocking the Power of the Astroid Quick Start package there are a lot of very good reasons to get this all up and running online from the start. My priority here is being able to illustrate the potential of the “Getting Up & Running the Quick Start Way” with the tools at my disposal. Your exact tools or combination of tools will very likely differ somewhat. Find Out More About Astroid HERE.