The fragmentation of the topics on this discussion board are indicative of the fragmentation of the entire joomla experience.... especially in the back end.
As someone who has developed many joomla sites for commercial use, i can't tell you the fear and trepidation with which i approach the moment i have to hand my clients the keys. Just consider what it takes to create an article and a supporting sidebar module. The client's newly appointed 'content developer,' who may be little more than an administrative assistant or 'marketing coordinator,' is faced with a bewildering array of menus - and a far-too-complex workflow just to complete the steps required to publish a simple artlicle with a right column module (create article, module item, create menu item, back to the component to assign it the right menu item...and heaven forbid that they forget to publish the menu, or choose the wrong module; then upload any photos or media....and try this with an event app!) My clients aren't coders, and they aren't the sharp company managers who hired me - they are low or mid-level office workers.... they are despaerate for Wordpress simple, even Facebook easy (create an event on one screen, and post with one click - now that's usability). Or compare publishing an audio recording on your Joomla site - with publishing on soundcloud - where you can do everything from one screen, with one click. No need to understand the difference between a plugin, a module and a component.
I wish I were a coder, not a mere designer-developer; i would dive in and help. But for my clients' sake, I hope there is a group making it so they can create and post an article (and supporting module) without ever leaving the screen they're on, and by clicking only one, just one, 'publish' button. This is an existential challenge for Joomla:
One screen, one button.
