I'm an experienced Joomla user and have built HTML sites from scratch in Dreamweaver. I like the backend for Joomla but wondering how difficult is it to install a template for a new site? I don't know much about php and don't understand the need for a database i.e.) MySQL. When I look at a Joomla index.php file in Dreamweaver I can't get a visual, so I'm leaning toward simple HTML. Are there any drawbacks to starting with one of those $50-$100 templates where all you need to know is Dreamweaver and Photoshop? Any thoughts or clarifications are appreciated. Thanks.
Well.. a database is needed to manage the content dynamicly. So that you don't have to have like 10000 html pages. The reason why you can't 'get a visual' of PHP code in Dreamweaver is because it's a server side language, it needs to be runned on a server with PHP installed to work. I don't know much about thos "$50-$100" Joomla templates though..
If you open the index.php file for Joomla in dreamweaver it will just display code, because all the template files are stored in the templates directory.
if you know html and css, why not start from a free template and build your way around ? This way, you can get familiar with the coding of joomla templates.