The Never-ending Debate: Joomla Vs WordPress
The question about whether Joomla or WordPress is the best open-source CMS is a never-ending debate. The two have been rivals for years now. So if you’re wondering which one to opt for, it’s best to start with a look at how both CMS’s work – their features, and the pros and cons of each.
Given how well known WordPress is, there’s no question that it’s more widely-used of the two. But being popular doesn’t always mean being the best. Because although WordPress is worthy of its fame, it still has some shortcomings.
Many people may have not yet heard of Joomla. This may be because of the all-encompassing fame of WordPress drowns out the message of all rivals, but also some people might be put off by Joomla’s reputation for being quite hard to learn. However, Joomla isn’t just for geeks, if you explore it further you’ll find that it only requires you to learn its advanced features if you want to develop your website further.
Key Features
Management
There’s a reason why WordPress is popular. It’s relatively easy to use. It splits your website’s elements, like posts, pages, widgets and plug-ins, into different sections to make managing these easier for you.
People sometimes argue that Joomla’s content structure is very similar to WordPress’. Yes and no. Both systems use a very similar content structures, it’s just that WordPress provide beginners with an easier system to manage.
For more advanced users, Joomla offers a more complex structure. So, beginners should start with WordPress. While advanced users, and WordPress old hands, can use Joomla.
SEO Plug-ins
Plug-ins and extensions allow you to optimize your content for search engines. Both WordPress and Joomla have SEO plug-ins, but who has the best selection?
WordPress users get to play with one of the best known SEO plug-ins around: WordPress SEO by Yoast. This actually helps you write content that will stand a better chance of getting indexed by Google. It does this by making you to choose a keyword when writing an article and then making sure you use it throughout your article. The plug-in does all sorts of other things like check your page content to see that it has been added properly.
Joomla on the other hand has the catchy title sh404SEF. This plug-in has returned with a new update after being neglected by its creators after a few Joomla updates. The plug-in actually offers more than just SEO, but it does SEO very well. You can also use sh404SEF for analytics, site security, to manage your customer error pages, and act as an URL manager. The only trouble is you have to pay for it. The extent of the software’s adaptability is an indication that it’s better suited for business sites, but then so is Joomla.
Overall it’s probably fair to say that for a small business site WordPress is better for SEO plug-ins – as they are cheaper. However if you’re wedded to Joomla, you shouldn’t have to miss out on getting in on the SEO action.
Themes and Templates
Joomla has ‘templates’ and WordPress has ‘themes’, and they may also look similar however it’s not that simple. Generally one can say that Joomla’s approach is to offer more versatility about what their themes can be used for, while WordPress aims to cater more for content.
If you are a developer, or have access to one, you shouldn’t have too much problem with either CMS. If you’re not a developer, then you will probably find WordPress easier as they have a fantastic selection of simple themes to download.
Community and Support
Both Joomla and WordPress shouldn’t give you any problems at all, but then there will always be those times when things go wrong and you need to see what everyone else has done upon encountering similar issues. Community is support for open-source software, so it’s important to have as many people as possible all discussing their issues.
Joost tries to boost their discussion forums by ranking users by the amount they contribute. This is very helpful and will allow you to decide whether the people whose comments you’re reading really know their onions.
To supply you with helpful video tutorials you can try WordPress.tv, while Joomla has even more useful community-building resources. Joomla offers users Joomla Connect which brings Joomla-related news from around the world into one place, while the news and features stuffed Joomla Magazine is published both online and offline.
Verdict
Both content management systems offer different features for different people. If you’re a writer and you want to share your ideas, articles, and news to your readers, then WordPress would be the best place to go for you as it’s so easy to use.
For those who want a more complex site – and have more development and design skills – Joomla will be the go-to. You’ll have full control of your website, its functionality, content, structure, and extensions are yours to develop. It’s a complex CMS that’s filled with advanced features that you can utilize to expand your website.
And the verdict, it depends what you want! Sorry, but it’s not possible to say WordPress wins or Joomla is better. It really depends on how much flexibility you want, if you simply want a blog with attitude or are building a company website. Indeed, if you’re after something really complex, you might find that Drupal is even better than Joomla. It might be an idea to download both packages and experiment with them both.
Allie Cooper is a young upcoming writer, a certified gamer known for weaving in her indelible wit into tech and game reviews, and writes about O2 and other tech companies, from UK and internet start-ups to bigger businesses.
Both content management systems are great for web frameworks. Its a matter of customer projects which one to use