Joomla! is one of the most powerful Open Source Content Management Systems on the planet. It is used all over the world for everything from simple websites to complex corporate applications. Joomla! is easy to install, simple to manage, and reliable.

Packt Publishing is a modern, unique publishing company with a focus on producing cutting-edge books for communities of developers, administrators, and newbies alike.

What happens when you mix both? You get a free eBook titled "Building Websites with Joomla!".

This eBook is a fast paced tutorial to creating a website using Joomla!. If you've never used Joomla!, or even any web content management system before, then this book will walk you through each step in a friendly and accessible way. From installation, to initial set up and content entry and then on to customization for your own look and feel, this book will get you to a stable and working Joomla! based web site fast. You don't have to be an experienced web developer or designer to get a great looking site with a full set of functions using this book and Joomla! The eBook is available online from the link below.

» Building Websites with Joomla!

Web design isn't 100% about design, we know that. It's a complex mix that requires several ingredients to be effective. In every webdesigner, there should be a graphic expert, a useability guru and a marketing specialist. That's a lot of things to combine.

In their neverending quest for excellence, our friends from Smashing Magazine wrote two extremely interesting articles over the basic principles of effective web design. These articles do not discuss implementation, code or design per se, but rather focus on the theory, the principles, the heuristics and the approaches for an effective web design.

Keep in mind that there's no magical receipt; creating a website with an high value requires a lot of work. You won't become the next "big man" after you've read those articles. But you'll better understand some key concepts like avoiding to squander users' patience, make use of effective writing, using fluid and minimalistic designs, and adressing the user's needs and expectations — certainly the most important one, and also the least implemented one...

» Article #1: 10 Principles of Effective Web Design
» Article #2: 5 More Principles of Effective Web Design

Photoshop Lady is a new online repository for graphic designers and graphic artists, that aims to provide the best existing Photoshop tutorials in one single location.

This repository is updated daily, and categorizes the tutorials into 3D Effect, Abstract Effect, Drawing Effect, Photo Effect, Text Effect, Texture & Patterns and User Interface Design. You can also bookmark your favorite tutorials easily and create your own private tutorial collection.

» Visit Photoshop Lady

Web design is a complex discipline that involves a wide range of skills. Often, some of the most basic skills are lacking in many web site designs. Those basic skills are quite simple, but can be hard to gain because of a lack of teaching material.

Designing effective web sites requires having a firm understanding of design fundamentals, and applying them with an eye for simplicity. The simple approach doesn't make sites boring or plain! On the contrary, well-designed sites can be beautiful, and fulfilling and enjoyable to use.

If you've ever wanted to create your own killer website but you don’t have a clue about how to, then you should probably take a look at Web Design From Scratch, created and maintained by Ben Hunt from Scratchmedia. On this site, you will find everything you need to know about designing, building, maintaining and promoting a simple and effective web presence. The topics covered range from basics to usability, graphic design, copywriting, and more.

Web design and development is a huge area that grows and changes every day. While it's impossible to document everything there is to know, this site aims to help you understand the principles of creating great sites and to teach you some of the most important skills needed to do it successfully and repeatedly. And although the site is fairly swamped by big ads that invite you to buy the ebooks written by the author, it remains a solid resource for all webdesigner and web developers that care about their users' experience.

» Web Design From Scratch

The folks at Smashing Magazine are a perpetual source of inspiration for the webdesign community, as they continuously provide quality references on design, coding techniques, resources, and much more.

Always searching for the best tutorials out there, we found in their columns a very interesting article on the CSS Float Theory. It might not be the latest one, but it's extremely well documented and very informative.

» CSS Float Theory: Things You Should Know

We all love vector art, but we might not all master the essentials of vector drawing. In order to unleash the creative beast in us, n-Design Studios, a well-known player in the web industry, has released several free, step-by-step Adobe Illustrator tutorials. Make sure you take a look at these, you'll be amazed how easy certain things can be after all...

» n-Design Studios Illustrator Tutorials