Developing and running a content management system (CMS) web site for your business, association, or your own personal use has never been easier. Open source systems such as Joomla! are easy to install and maintain both on your local computer and also on a live server. Installing MAMP on your Macintosh computer takes all the pain out of the set up of the web server, database, and PHP preprocessor programming language needed to run Joomla! on your computer.

MAMP stands for 'Macintosh, Apache, MySQL, and PHP'. These are the tools that are needed to work together for fully functioning database driven dynamic web sites.

Over the next fews weeks I will describe each step in the process. We'll set up MAMP on the Macintosh, install Joomla! to run locally on your computer, and synchronize it with a live server version of a Joomla! CMS. You are welcome to join our forums here at JoeJoomla to ask questions and share your knowledge with our community.

Next week: Setting up the MAMP environment on your Macintosh computer.

Next: Installing Joomla! On Your Local Macintosh Using MAMP

Next: Exporting Your Live Server SQL Database For Use On Your Localmachine Site

Next: Bringing Adobe GoLive Into The Mix

Next: Final Step, Making Both Sites Look The Same