Spacemonkey Labs, LLC

Here's an initial case study on our experiences implementing the current version of the website you are looking at right now. Total time spent? Less than one week.

Core Tech

The base platform is Joomla! 1.5, with no customization at all. We're huge linux fans, and the servers are running Debian. For httpd we shun the venerable Apache, and prefer LightTPD as it is extremely fast, stable, and simple. The best part perhaps is the usage of fastcgi, meaning you can use one httpd to power all kinds of apps: php, rails/ruby, django/python, whatever.

For cache we roll with XCache, as that is created by the LightTPD folks and has extremely good performance. You don't have to rely on our opinions though, as there are plenty of folks who have been impressed. XCache is two things:

1. opcode cache - precompiles all php scripts and keeps them in memory, so each subsequent execution is wicked fast
2. variable cache - a place in memory to store data, like a simplified (and much faster) memcache

Layout

We went with a grunge themed template from JoomlaJunkie called Snappa. Not a lot was changed overall, as we basically took the theme and replaced the login and subscribe buttons with twitter and rss icons. Of course we had to get our logo in there, which was not as easy as it looks.

The existing logo is a bright, candy-button like image that looks great on white or other bright colors, and was a total eyesore when wrapped in all that dirt. Fireworks to the rescue - simply taking the existing logo and dropping it on top of the background, and then giving it a strong color burn did the trick. Now we have the logo distressed and beat up to match the grungy theme of the template.

The 'Junkies provide a source download for all their template graphics, which made the above step a snap. I also used some of their distressed borders for custom graphics for modules.

We took advantage of those source files for a custom Twitter background as well. Check it out!

The icon images are a fantastic fit - and were a complete surprise as they were totally unrelated to the template itself.

Additional Tweaks

One additional module we used from JoomlaJunkie is SimpleSocializer, although we also could have hardcoded the module as static HTML. The SimpleSocializer module made it quick and easy though, and will be just as easy for non-techies to keep things current (when we add a new account or change an existing one, for instance).

Google Analytics code was inserted at the bottom of the Snappa template file, which was a snap. There are modules and plugins available that make this a lot easier for you, but we chose to just add it into the template as it was easy enough and of course was better for performance reasons.

Next Steps

At this point the blog needs some additional goodies - I'm trying RocketTheme's RokComments but not having any luck getting it to play nicely with IntenseDebate.

There's also a great slideshow module called RokSlideshow which looks great, and we will take advantage of that most likely on the frontpage and services pages for some additional visual elements.

And finally there's a simple ticker called Simple Ticker that looks great at the top of the site (Snappa already has a great spot for this in the template) where we will have announcements and teasers in the future.

Feedburner is under consideration as well, as there are many niceties that come with using the service to host your RSS feeds.

Conclusion

All in all this entire corporate website required membership at JoomlaJunkie for the template and free modules - everything else was provided for free under an open source license. If you are looking to get a business website up as quickly and inexpensively as possible, look no further.

Most importantly, we've deliberately used extensions instead of custom code for ease of use and maintenance. When you have non-technical people contributing to your website, you need all the creature comforts you can get; and the simplicity and power of Joomla with a few well-chosen goodies does the trick.