Joomla v WordPress
I’ve just been asked by Ari Herzog (featured in the previous post ‘Interview with a Cool Blogger’) a little about Joomla. Everyone who has managed their own website has probably heard of a content management system or CMS. One of the most popular is WordPress and there is also Joomla and Drupal. In this article, I will be comparing about WordPress and Joomla since I believe they are the best two options.
As a graphic and web designer, I usually use Joomla and WordPress for most of the websites that I develop. Here are the basics of what makes both tick.
WordPress
WordPress has become the favourite content management system or CMS for bloggers. But, is it really just for bloggers?
If you are wanting a website that allows you to share your thoughts easily, then a blog set up in WordPress is the one you should go for. However, this does not mean WordPress is limited to blogging.
You can set up a basic company website or even an internal website using WordPress where notes can be shared and tasks documented. Because it is so user-friendly, extensive training is not needed for this CMS to be understood and used. This allows anyone with basic computer skills to get up and running quickly and effectively.
WordPress was developed to give bloggers an easy system to work with on the fly. A variety of comment features are ready to rock and roll including trackbacks. This make’s it an awesome tool for blogger’s since it works straight ‘out of the box’ so to speak. Having said that, you will find WordPress does not meet every website needs. For example, you will not have an easy time if you are trying to create an ecommerce site with a shopping cart. Customisation and advanced modifications can be also an issue if you want to do something a little unique.
Joomla
Taken from a Swahili word meaning, “all together”, Joomla is a CMS that can be a little more difficult to get your head around at first when compared to WordPress however it has it’s own advantages.
Designers and developers tend to love this powerful system because it has a broad range of capabilities and allows you to custom create beautiful websites. Newbies to Joomla often find it hard to understand at first but once they understand how it works, find it a breeze.
Joomla has a huge capacity for customisation and growth with many extensions already available and the ability to add your own features. For those of you who are a little techy, it has a model view controller or MVC framework, which was built so anyone knowledgeable enough to do so can override its core without having to change the original coding.
So, is Joomla better than WordPress?
It depends. In a nut-shell if you want a basic website that is really easy to manage, WordPress is probably the best solution for you. If you want a more customised, feature rich site then Joomla is probably a better fit.
Which one would you choose? Tell me about it in the comments below.
