Joomla! is an award-winning web based Content Management System written in PHP. It provides for split front end content access and backend administrator access. Group based access control allows for different levels of system control for both the site and the administrator. The Joomla! framework allows for extension by installable components (applications), modules (template blocks), languages, templates and mambots (plugins that enhance system functions). The source code is available under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL).
Version 2.0 of Joomla! due in 2006 will be a new framework written on PHP 5 and taking the best practice ideas from Rails and Patterns and embracing new technologies such as SOAP, XML-RPC and AJAX.