A few days ago, we looked at Flash 8 band website templates and how you can get a band website up and running for under a few hundred bucks. Another option, (and this could very well be the sensible thing to do - it would be much easier to maintain over time) is to set up your own Joomla Website. If you haven’t heard of Joomla before you’ll be amazed that you can download this content management software for free. At the time of writing, the Joomla community had just announced the laucnh of the latest Joomla! 1.5 Stable [Khepri]. On first impressions it looks very nice.

Setting up your own Joomla band website might sound complicated, but it’s not. Once you have your domain and hosting sorted (refer to the previous post), you can easily find someone on Rentacoder to set up your Joomla site for you. The great thing about a Joomla site is that you can maintain a lot of the content yourself - you can even setup polls, login forms, news sections, who’s online, and much more. It’s very easy to uuse and it’s always good to get your visitors involved in your website. The more you can get them involved, the better off your band will be in the long run as for as getting your music heard. If you opt for a flash website (which is great if you want to brand your website) you might run into problems with updating your content over time, or as your band gains popularity. A Joomla website is definitely a viable alternative to a traditional Flash or HTML website.

If you do decide to head down the Joomla path - we’d recommend you install the following “plugins” and “modules” (in plain language; stuff to make your website better). You can rent a coder who will have no problem setting up your Joomla website and installing any of the following extensions:

Gig Calender (FREE GNU GPL) - gigCalendar is the world’s first free solution for maintaining a
Joomla website’s touring calendar. Maintaining a calendar for your bands tour dates has never been easier.

All Videos Plugin - (FREE) - Upload your videos to Youtube and then display them within the content on your site.

Joomla SEF patch - (FREE) - This patch makes your Joomla site more search engine friendly, which means it will be easier for people to find you on the web using Google or Yahoo search.

Frontpage Slide Show (22 EUROS) - You don’t need a Flash website to impress your fans - with this slideshow creator you can make “uber-cool slideshow with text snippets laying on top of images, in a variety of templates”.

You can also save loads of time on design (which can cost a fortune) by downloading a ready made Joomla website band template from the Internet. Here’s a few we found at Template Monster and a few other Joomla template sites. In no particular order……

1. Inspire

This Joomla site template has a great glossy look, and everything is user friendly for your visitors. They won’t have any trouble getting around your site, and overall the template looks great! I especially like the particular colors used within this design. PRICE: $45

DEMO / DOWNLOAD

2. Grunge

Looking for a Joomla template to match the look of your grunge band? Look no further because this template definitely has what it takes to draw in attention. This template has it all, and other than that what else can you hope for? PRICE: $49.95 Gives you access to this template and more!

DEMO / DOWNLOAD

3. Black is Back

This slick black template would be great for any band to call home on the internet. The black background really makes the white and light blue text pop out, and gives this template a lot of style. If you are in to the simplier, yet sophisticated looking templates then you should definitely give this one a peek. FREE

DEMO / DOWNLOAD

4. Get The Guitar

Guitars often define a band so why not let the guitar define your website as well? This design is classic, yet it still gives off the presence of a band. The unique color combinations set it above the rest as well! PRICE: $49.95 Gives you access to this template and more!

DEMO / DOWNLOAD

5. Simple Site

Don’t want all the clutter of fancy graphics and want your content to speak for itself? If that’s the case then I highly reccomend this simple template for you to look at it. It has enough to let the visitors know its a music site, but without having to load anything unneccessary. Trust me when I say dial-up users will thank you for it!

PRICE: $49.95 Gives you access to this template and more!

DEMO / DOWNLOAD

6. Jazz it up a little!

Jazz bands need websites too! Here is the perfect template for those of you who want to show that you play the blues online. The blue template is defintely appropriate for the situation, but the color really adds a great look to the site even if it wasn’t fitting the jazz/blues theme. If your band fits into this genre then you certainly can’t go wrong with this template. PRICE: $49.95 Gives you access to this template and more!

DEMO / DOWNLOAD

7. Punk It

This Joomla template would be great for a punk or alternative style band. It’s fun, fresh, and has a lot of personality in the design. I especially like the splash effect on the home page! FREE

DEMO / DOWNLOAD