On the Joomla Blogger site there's an update on the release plan for the upcoming 1.6 version of the popular content management system:

When Joomla 1.6 Alpha was released a few months ago, the original plan was to release the beta version six weeks after that, in August. However, the time came and no beta arrived. So what happened, and what's the status of Joomla 1.6 as of now? Hannes Papenberg from the Joomla 1.6 Release Team has done a write-up on the current status. He explains why Joomla 1.6 beta 1 was delayed and outlines some of the features we will be seeing.

Topics discussed include the access control functionality, the project's involvement with the Google Summer of Code and some of the other features currently in development. Hannes hints at a beta release of the 1.6 version in around two to three weeks.

This new tutorial from the Server-Side essentials blog on SitePoint introduces you to one of the most powerful content managemnt systems the PHP community has to offer - Joomla.

Joomla (TM) is among the most popular Open Source content management systems that exist today, in the company of Drupal and WordPress. If you just need to build a web site for yourself and are unfamiliar with all this HTML stuff, or you develop web sites for other people, or if you’re at the pointy end of developing web-based applications, then Joomla really should be on your evaluation list. It’s easy to install, use, and extend.

He walks through the entire process complete with screenshots - installation, configuration and even included some links to other resources (community sites, reference links).