First I should say that my experience with Joomla so far is on the older stable platform and not on the new platform which is now stable enough to install using fantastico. I believe that this newer version has improved on navigation and seo. The Rich Niche Blogging Library is a Joomla site. This blog is a Wordpress blog.

There are many threads asking whether you should use Joomla or Wordpress. The answer is not simple. Both platforms or content management systems have benefits, but for different things. The one true factor, although others may disagree, is that both these content management systems are the best of their type, that is the ability to add content in a modular way without need of a programmer.

Joomla v Wordpress is perhaps not the right question to be asking as they are different. Use both Joomla and Wordpress, if you have need of the functions that they each provide.

Wordpress is the primo blog – an easy to use from the box platform ideal for new web site makers and those who don’t want to do any code modifying. For those who want more functions, it is adaptable and customisable and versions are improving every day – but even with extensive plugins it is still primarily a blog. The main benefit of a blog is the fast indexing that occurs from new seo optimized instantly pinged content, and the more personal style of writing you can use to connect quickly with your readers to elicit their comments for interactivity.

Joomla is the primo content management system. It’s harder to learn to use – not from a code point of view, but from a conceptual point of view – as the architecture and navigation of it need to be thought through before posting content. Once you have understood the basic concepts for the layout of Theme, Categories and Subjects in Joomla, it quickly becomes easier. Joomla can then enable you to use a range of functions called components. These are awesome and well supported by the Joomla community in forums. Like Wordpress they are available free to use, although some components are only for purchase and offer extensive personal support from their writers.

Examples of Joomla components are Docman – enables you to share downloadable documents (pdf, zip, word, txt) in registered (password access) or private group areas; Community Builder - enables you to build a membership site where members can have a profile page and share their pictures and info etc; and Virtuemart – enables you to have an ecommerce store with a large inventory and shopping cart which is easy to connect to paypal and most popular gateways.

There is a list of  Joomla Components Links at the Library.

As with Wordpress plugins, many other functions are available via what Joomla calls components or modules. Modules, are similar to the widget system for Wordpress, placing functions and information that you want displayed in the side, footer and header areas of the website. There are also plenty of great free themes or templates available for Joomla just as there are for Wordpress, in fact some are exactly the same for both, making it possible to match a joomla site to a blog.

Drawbacks :

To Joomla: It can be a ‘heavy’ site – slow to first load and sometimes slow to load the next page into the browser. The older version of Joomla is difficult to convert to search engine friendly urls – by default displaying an url with a component number and an id for the content. It is hard to get Joomla content indexed. These two problems and the harder to learn navigation make Joomla seem daunting at first.

To Wordpress: Although there are store plugins for Wordpress they are generally only for use with paypal and Wordpress wasn’t designed to display an inventory. These plugins are really just adding a shopping cart functionality to your posts for paypal. You can have multiple users or blog writers with Wordpress but community site builder is so much more – much more like MySpace, offering profile pages with lots of choices. Categorisation is still limited in Wordpress. Good navigation requires an understanding of what plugins to employ and the knowledge to use them.

In conclusion re Joomla versus Wordpress;

Wordpress is easier for beginners and for those who want to use it for updating fast content posts, for the benefit of instant pinging, trackbacks and easier seo. (Wordpress still needs a plugin to make its seo ideal).

Joomla is better to create a non coded website (as opposed to a blog), meaning you don’t have to know html (but it helps) which you can easily use to create a large inventory store, community site or private download area. Joomla has better categorisation options which can be used to make an article directory.

Where there is a need for both, having and using both is the best option.

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This entry was posted on Friday, September 26th, 2008 at 12:38 am and is filed under Blog Layouts, How to Website Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.