By default, a Joomla site will give you an external message produced by error.php.    The reason this is bad is because it tosses the visitor outside of the website, and it's pretty unattractive... and favorite is spelled funny.

Here's how you fix that:

1.  Make an attractive (examples) article called 404 Page (or whatever)

2.  Save it, then get the URL to that page

3.  Copy error.php into the root of your templates directory  (by default it's located in templates/system directory)

4.  Copy this code immediately following the Restricted access line in your template's error.php.  (replace the http location with the URL to your attractive 404 page.

if (($this->error->code) == '404') {
header('Location: http://localhost/fresh/404.html');
exit;
}

If you are learning Joomla (or teaching it to someone else) we have found this to be a fantastic exercise:    Start with the sample content and then delete it.    It provides a good opportunity to click around in the backend of Joomla, doing something that shows immediate results -- all with zero risk.

If you plan to try this, here are some steps to content removal in Joomla 1.5

Note: You would only do this for training purposes.  If you plan to build multiple Joomla sites, the best method is to create an empty install, then use that copy of the database for future ones.  All of the above clicking is of real benefit when learning a new system as the best way to drill something into your noggin is with repetition.

There are some good things about Fantastico. It's a script that does lots of the leg work for you. No DBs to create. No files to upload. Upgrading can be a simple click-click. What's not so great: You can't control the naming of your DBs. You don't always get the latest version. Upgrading can render your site trashed if you have other components installed that were not ready for the update. Summary: Fantastico is fantastic for new webmasters that want to try different open source products. If you're a serious developer, you would never use it.

SEE FULL FANTASTIC INSTRUCTION SHEET

If you have a Joomla website, it's often a good idea to encourage visitors to register to get something that's not available to the anonymous public.   You do this so you have a way to potentially follow-up with potential clients.     This could happen without the potential client part.    Maybe you're running a site for your local org and you just need a way to get a list of everyone in your group.   By default, Joomla does not have a way to export members and their email addresses.

There certainly are some components for this, but if you just want to get to a list, here's a fast way to get it done...

READ FULL INSTRUCTIONS