Sandbox

I'm in the process of redesigning my http://www.bereavedparents.com website.  In the middle of designing it, I started thinking that maybe a CMS would work well so I can easily add content.  Could someone look at what I've designed so far and let me know if Joomla is a possibility.  If not, what design elements would I need to add/subtract?  I really don't want it looking like a CMS/Blog type site.  Not a typical one anyway.

VIEW SCREENSHOT

My final question, if Joomla is a good option for me, once I finish the design, is there someone that can code it for me?  I may be able to offer hosting in exchange for coding work on the site.

Thanks,
Pamela

Joomla would work well for a redesign of the site and would have no problem with organizing its content.  Beyond that, there are 'extensions' available for all of the different features of your site.

Extensions are easy-to-install add-ons for Joomla, such as slide shows, galleries, forums, etc.  For the most part they are free.
http://extensions.joomla.org/

From a quick review of your site some extensions that may be useful :
*Paypal Donate
*Be Involved (donation module)
*All Videos Plugin

With some browing, you'll also find plenty of extensions for the Guestbook, Chatroom,etc.

I suggest searching for 'Joomla Template Turtorial' - since you will have Joomla's functions in mind as you design the site.

Good luck.

From a Joomla beginner's point of view, I would suggest the following steps:
1.  Find a template that you like. If you know css ignore colours and other details because you will be able to edit those. Just look at the basic structure and layout and estimate if you would be able to modify that into what you want.
2.  Make a list of the extensions you think you will need, for later reference and to check if you can find everything you need.
3.  Go to the security forums and study how you can secure a Joomla site. Keep all the links at hand.
4.  Install Joomla in a non-public place, either on your server or on a local development server on your pc.
5.  Secure your Joomla installation if you installed it on your server and install a backup extension for daily use.
6.  Insert your content and create the menu structure you want. Ignore layout at this point.
7.  Install the template of your choice.
8.  Assign style suffixes to menus and modules as you wish.
9.  Modify the layout as you wish. This is where you would take the template of your choice and change it at will.
10. Add extensions one by one, checking after each installation if there any layout needs to be modified.
11. Revisit site security. I am stressing this because you are probably used to static sites. Dynamic sites are much more likely to be attacked. However you will find a wealth of information about security in these forums.
12. Publish your site. If you had installed Joomla on a local development server on your pc you can use one of the backup and restore extensions to migrate the site.

In short, don't stare yourself blind on templating, that is just part of the process and it is quite unlikely that you will not be able to create the layout that you want. Using Joomla may well be more effort for you in the beginning, as you already have a site with content and various functionalities, but as you said you will be able to change the content (and the layout) more easily later.

Good luck!

Thanks so much to you both for taking the time to reply to my post!  I really appreciate it.

ewel... I understand what you're saying as far as the design aspect.  I would like to get the basic overall look I designed and then I could develop the content areas as I go along in the css.  Hopefully I can find someone that can code the basic layout for me and then I can work on the rest later.  Here is an idea of the basic design:  LINK TO SCREENSHOT.  I do understand about security and the importance of it.  I have a hosting company I'm getting off the ground and run different scripts so I keep up on all that.  Don't want my servers cracked into!   Anyway... the design aspect is important int he sense that the designed elements have special meaning regarding my son which is why I started BereavedParents back in 1996.  So I would love to get the basic design developed at least and work from there.

noirize.... thanks for pointing out the extensions.  The paypal Donate is great and I see there are google and banner ad options... among many other extensions that could be useful.

Please contact me if there is anyone that can code my design for Joomla.  I have different services that I could offer in exchange for clean coding.  Hosting, web, logo, banner, corner peel ad design, etc.    So, if you can code a clean Joomla with  THIS DESIGN as a base, PM or email me.

Thanks again for your time.
Pamela

With your expertise I am sure that you will not have much trouble converting a template to exactly what you want.

Looking at your mockup the two key things for you to find are examples of the menus. I have no experience with these but I think there are also menu extensions that would help you getting it to look right. Doing a very quick search I found a post and a template with a similar top menu: http://forum.mamboserver.com/showthread.php?t=51505 and http://www.joomlart.com/templates_demo.php?template=ja_altair.

You could insert something like that into another template which has the overall structure you are looking for. Here is a possible one which I found in 30 secs: http://www.cmslounge.com/demo3/index.php?jos_change_template=tem_quickconnect. Like your layout it has a high header and menu left.

Once you look into the index.php you will see that a template by and large is the html and css you know from static pages, but where content is added by hadn in a static pafe (menus, articles, modules) you insert some pretty standard code - the output of which is also subject to your css. So you should be able to use much of your existing html and css.

If you do not want to start it yourself, you can see if you can try to find someone to outsource it to, see http://forum.joomla.org/index.php/board,47.0.html.

Thanks so much for the information.   I will post for help with coding.  I just don't have the ambition to code it and I want it done correctly.  I'm also anxious to get going and get my new site live! 

Thanks again,
Pamela