Install Joomla in Moodle? or ... [solved]

I'm new to both Joomla and Moodle, though I have installed them separately on my local machine and experimented with both. What I do know is that I want the features of CMS and LMS. What I don't know is whether I should install Joomla into Moodle, or install Moodle into Joomla. What questions should I be asking myself to even begin to know how to make this decision?

{edit to add the following question}

It might help me to know whether the joomdle.com site and the joomdle demo were created by:

1. Installing Joomla into Moodle? ... OR
2. Installing Moodle into Joomla?

{edit again to show issue solved.}

I see now, after working through the install, that Joomdle must first be installed into Moodle and then installed into Joomla. However, in case anyone is reading this, for some reason my installation failed at the installation into Joomla. Please see my new thread on that error here in R09 Support. Thanks.

Most people are treating Moodle as a room within the Joomla world and thus follow this logic with Joomla at the public_html (www / root) and Moodle as a folder within Joomla. However, this is not mandatory. Some others install on separate domains or even different servers. Personally, and especially for testing, I prefer Moodle in a folder of Joomla - it is just more logical to me. There are naturally additional benefits such as using Akeebabackup to backup all my Joomla and Moodle system files (and databases) as one go but I still do moodle data separately using a system backup. Note: I install Moodle in a different database although some prefer them in one.

With regards to installation process. I normally do Joomdle in Joomla before I do Joomdle in Moodle. At some point they both must be done to make it all work correctly. Why do I do it this way? Again, I treat Joomla as my house and master and thus do it first - just my way of thinking.

Hi Chris. I like your approach and way of thinking. I'm going to re-install in this order:

1. Joomla! 3.2
2. My new J! theme TK ENIGMA .
3. A clean re-install of Moodle, latest version.
4. I'll keep them both separate while I experiment a bit more to learn both platforms. Then,
5. Joomdle latest version.
6. Install Joomdle into Joomla!
7. Install Joomdle in to Moodle

I will treat Moodle as a room inside of Joomla, as that was my entire hope all along. Does this mean I will open Moodle inside an iFrame in Joomla? Or will Moodle just automatically function fully and correctly inside my J! theme?

Premature questions, I'm sure. I'll ask more intelligent ones after the process above, or post my results on this thread.

Thanks again for your attention and suggestion.

Moodle can be displayed in a Wrapper or open in a new window - the choice is yours. Many do both depending on the function / data they are trying to display. The demo site is 100% in a wrapper so that Joomla's menu is always on. The Moodle template is minimal such that all Moodle blocks and menus are hidden.

So, is there a way to unhide the Moodle inside the demo? Just curious. I have a lot to learn here. It's a wonderful journey!

Yes and no. Yes just by creating a different Joomla menu item or link. No because the custom Moodle template removes all Moodle menus to avoid confusing the student (ie provide a unified look & feel). Again the choice is yours.