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A Worthy CMS Battle: Joomla vs. WordPress

3 minutes 12 comments
Art
Art
Web Hosting Geek

Joomla vs. WordPress has become one of the hottest topics around the web.  In actuality, the comparisons aren’t all that fair because these platforms are designed with different purposes in mind.  WordPress is more of a website engine based on the premise of installing the software, running it and publishing basic content in a fast and easy manner.  Joomla is completely different, built for publishing and managing all types of content.  This gives Joomla many capabilities WordPress lacks. You gotta have a reliable website hosting to run either WordPress or Joomla. Free web hosting providers might not handle the CMSs.

Distinguishing the Two

A good way to compare the two systems would be to look at the fundamental differences.  With Joomla, you can place ten different menus on a web page in any position or style you like.  Much of this can be done from scratch in a few easy clicks.  Its functionality is ideal for multiple users who have their own roles on the site as well as the administrator who needs to control the whole operation with ease.

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If it has to be a user-friendly publishing tool for simple content that only requires one administrator, WordPress is the way to go.  This platform covers the blog scene with more efficiency, which is exactly what is designed to do.  It is very useful for attracting search engine bots with features such as ping and tracks, tag capabilities, and optimized URLs.  Though Joomla can be configured to produce clean URLs, it does take a little more work.  The overall theory is that blogs are search engine friendly and WordPress makes up a good portion of the argument.

WordPress as a CMS

WordPress has many beneficial uses but the results aren’t always that good when using it for larger jobs.  When the page count starts to add up in different categories, you may start to experience management issues  Joomla on the other hand, is made to handle such jobs and does it with relative ease.  If you’re looking to use WordPress for something that was created with a true content management system, you could be in for a rude awakening.  This platform will support a couple of hundred pages and basic content but don’t expect more than that.  Try to over do it and you could find yourself spending time on things that wouldn’t have been an issue with the proper software.

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The Last Word

If your goals call for a blog or even a more interactive website, WordPress could be a viable option. This platform is highly regarded as the most streamlined publishing tool available, allowing you to get online fast with little to no technical knowledge.  Joomla is better for managing a larger amount of more complex content.  In the end, an expert user should be able to make the most of both solutions.  With all the available plugins, WordPress can be extended to the point where you wouldn’t know the site was power by a blogging tool.  If this platform can’t deliver the functionality you need, a genuine CMS such as Joomla makes a great choice.  The key is knowing what you need to get the job done and making the right choice from the start.

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Recommended Web Hosting Services

For both WordPress and Joomla we recommend WebHostingHub.com, currently our best web hosting with average user rating of 4.7, based on 80+ user reviews. Check our WebHostingHub review and see for yourself.

Comments

12 Comments

  • Avatar Jeff says:

    Joomla is definitely not the best way to go. It has lot of security issues.

  • Avatar Why can't I get a job says:

    I’ve only ever used WordPress to work with my blogs. I’ve tried using Joomla (once), but the instruction manual was too complicated.

  • Avatar Karyah (Liberia) says:

    I work for a newspaper whose site was recently hacked. Called to rebuild from scratch, I had the option to choose WP or J!. After two days of research and experimentation I personally concluded the WP was easy but lacks the functionality to handle complex nature of our newspaper site.
    Frankly I’m new to both CMS systems but not to web site development in general.

    Joomla is extremely flexible and expandable regardless the size of your site.
    I’m currently working on my personal site using WordPress while managing the newspaper’s site using Joomla.

  • Avatar Joomister says:

    I’ve used both. It amazes me when the WordPress folks come out with comments like WP matches the CMS capabilities of Joomla. Are you kidding me? Sounds like someone started out blogging, learned WP(which is easy, I will give you that), tried Joomla, figured out it’s not as elementary, and now are harping the virtues of WP. Learn Joomla and you will change your mind. I promise you.

  • Avatar Ben says:

    WordPress is now just as much of a CMS as anything Joomla can be. WordPress has tons of plugins, especially for handling those page managements you complained about above. I’d say WordPress hands down, Joomla is too bulky.

  • Avatar Kcmartz says:

    I don’t know what to pick. I have a small website aimed for hanging out at. It is mostly a forum with some pages. I think WordPress would do the trick…

  • Avatar Flv Player says:

    Joomla is a wonderful CMS which is getting famous by every passing day. Building a website through Joomla involves less time. Within the shortest span of time, we can build a wonderful website with excellent content management system.

  • Avatar Andrei says:

    hmmmm. i would really would like to hear about what things you can do in wordpress that you can’t in Joomla.

    I’ve used both in the past and I find that wordpress is good for smaller sites (i’m talking about more of a homepages/small blogs.). However – imho Joomla gives you more granular control over site.

    I find Joomla template structure is more convinient – you can put”positions” anywhere in your code and your module will load just there. Very convenient. wordpess doesn’t even have a menu concept. I don’t consider “page loop” a menu. In most cases you have to hardcode your menu for nice appearance anyway. One more thing that blows in wordpress: that you have to split your code into different files like footer.php, sidebar.php, header.php, page.php, single.php, index.php – workable but annoying.

    IMHO: go for WordPress if you are new to web development.
    go for Joomla if you want more features/better control and if there will be more than 30 pages on the site.

  • Avatar DCKAP says:

    Good and useful information for visitors

  • Avatar Bruce says:

    what are you after, a blogger or a cms?? Some previous posts don’t seem to understand the difference.

    If you are the sole user, basically adding new stuff sequentially (which is the basic blogging pattern) use WordPress, Joomla is an overkill

    If you are running a mulit-level authority organizational site (and therefore need to reuse and reorganize quite often, Joomla with its section/category structure is your sensible choice.

    Horses for courses.

  • Avatar Keith Davis says:

    I’ve never used Joomla and I am new to wordpress. What does seem obvious is that wordpress is gathering momentum, it’s everywhere, and no doubt will reach a point where it takes over all CMS type websites.

    A bit like betamax and VHS in the days of video…. there can only be one winner although the loser will no doubt hold out forever with a trusty band of believers all saying… we were the best

  • Avatar Alberto says:

    WordPress wins! Hands down! There are so many things you can do with a WordPress blog that you cannot do with Joomla. Not only that, but WordPress blogs are much easier to get ranked in the search engines.

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