Great Product for the Easy User
We used Joomla to edit our content and maintain our website. All of our page edits were done via Joomla, as well as building new pages. …
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What is Joomla?
Joomla! is a free and open source content management system used to publish web content. Included features are page caching, RSS feeds, printable versions of pages, news flashes, blogs, polls, a search function, and support for language internationalization.
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- Availability / breadth of extensions (45)8.080%
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- WYSIWYG editor (46)6.060%
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What is Joomla?
Joomla! is a free and open source content management system used to publish web content. Included features are page caching, RSS feeds, printable versions of pages, news flashes, blogs, polls, a search function, and support for language internationalization.
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What is Joomla?
Joomla! is a free, open source content management system used to publish web content. Joomla is written in PHP, uses object-oriented programming (OOP) techniques and stores data in a MySQL, MS SQL, or PostgreSQL database. Included features are page caching, RSS
feeds, printable versions of pages, news flashes, blogs, polls, a search
function, and support for language internationalization. Its dashboard organizing administrator tasks into context
menus, from which content is edited, permissions set and changed, contacts
managed, and messages sent to users. Extensions modify functionality in widely
varying ways and provide flexibility.
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Joomla Competitors
- Drupal
- Kentico Xperience
- Plone
- Magnolia (V5 and later versions)
Joomla Technical Details
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
|---|---|
| Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Joomla! is a free and open source content management system used to publish web content. Included features are page caching, RSS feeds, printable versions of pages, news flashes, blogs, polls, a search function, and support for language internationalization.
Reviewers rate Library of website themes highest, with a score of 9.
The most common users of Joomla are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Joomla is a versatile content management system used by various businesses and organizations to run and manage their websites. It is popular among marketing departments as it allows them to update web content without the need for a developer, saving time and resources. Web development teams also benefit from Joomla's user-friendly interface, using it to design websites for clients and teach them to make small changes independently. Additionally, Joomla serves as a content management system for a wide range of projects, both internally and for clients. Its flexibility and extendability make it a preferred choice for both non-technical users and developers.
Joomla is widely used across organizations to manage content on public-facing websites, including non-profit organizations and startup companies. It is also utilized by web hosting platforms for its user-friendly interface and automatic installation. Companies rely on Joomla to manage their company intranets, providing a centralized information clearinghouse. This CMS is also commonly used by website design and development departments to create and maintain websites for various industries. Furthermore, Joomla finds applications in educational institutions to manage department pages and provide control to individual representatives. Its ability to handle different features like e-commerce and blog sites makes it an attractive choice for businesses with diverse needs. Developers appreciate Joomla's customization options, allowing them to create templates and extensions tailored to specific requirements.
The City of Pomona's website is managed using Joomla, enabling web administrators to easily edit and disseminate important information to the public. The built-in Access Control List features of Joomla allow the creation of users and groups with specific rights, granting access only to authorized individuals. These specific users can sign in to the website from the front-end to edit or update content as needed. Additionally, Joomla's Social Network AutoPoster feature automatically posts new articles from the City's website onto its Facebook Page. The CMS also includes a contact manager that lists the contact information of city departments, council members, and the mayor. The user-friendly interface provided by the Joomla Content Editor Component, known as JCE, makes it easy for standard users to edit and update content, similar to using Microsoft Word. Overall, Joomla offers a range of features and functionality that make it a valuable tool for managing websites across various industries and organizations.
Versatility and Customizability: Users have found Joomla to be highly versatile and customizable, allowing them to create websites that meet their specific needs. Several reviewers have mentioned how they were able to tailor the CMS to their unique requirements, making it a popular choice for businesses and organizations.
User-Friendly Interface: Many users appreciate the user-friendly interface of Joomla. They find it easy to navigate and perform various tasks without much hassle. The logical and intuitive admin interface has been praised by several reviewers, highlighting its contribution to a smooth user experience.
Availability of Third-Party Components and Extensions: Reviewers have expressed their satisfaction with the availability of third-party components and extensions in Joomla's marketplace. This wide range of options allows users to enhance the functionality of their websites by adding features like e-commerce capabilities, social media integration, and more. Some users have even mentioned specific third-party components that have greatly benefited their website development process.
Confusing User Interface: Users have found Joomla's user interface to be confusing and not user-friendly, making it difficult to perform tasks quickly. Several reviewers have mentioned this issue.
Security Concerns: There were concerns about Joomla's security, with users mentioning that it was not the most secure platform in the past and needed regular updates and secure file permissions to combat vulnerabilities. Some reviewers have expressed worry about the security of their websites.
Menu Items Rearranging Themselves: Users reported frustration with menu items rearranging themselves after adding new ones. This inconsistency in menu organization has been mentioned by several reviewers as a source of annoyance when managing their websites.
Based on user reviews, users commonly recommend the following for Joomla:
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Consider other CMS alternatives: Explore other CMS platforms, especially if you are not tech-savvy or lack previous web programming experience. Compare different CMS options before committing to Joomla.
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Invest in learning Joomla: Highly recommend dedicating time and effort to learning Joomla. It is particularly beneficial for small business owners who publish their own web content but have limited experience. Having someone at your business who knows code, including HTML and CSS, is recommended.
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Use Joomla for specific purposes: Joomla is suitable for developing web applications and websites, especially for small businesses without the resources for a website agency or in-house management team. It is also recommended for associations and small to medium-sized businesses with the help of a Joomla expert. Additionally, it is seen as a good option for beginners and creating multilingual websites due to its ease of use and flexibility.
It's important to note that while Joomla offers powerful features, it may not be suitable for all users or scenarios. Users advise considering other platforms if SEO is a major part of your company's future or if advanced or e-commerce features are required. Checking out WordPress as an alternative before deciding on Joomla is suggested.
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December 27, 2023
Great Product for the Easy User
We used Joomla to edit our content and maintain our website. All of our page edits were done via Joomla, as well as building new pages. This solved the problem of bulky editors plus allowed us to edit on the fly or remotely off site, which was a huge plus.
- Simple editing
- Easy page setup
- Great templates
- Has a steep learning curve
- Must have a basic understand of website development
- Must understand the language
September 20, 2021
Joomla! Review By JoomTech Solutions
I am a Joomla! Developer having around 8 years of experience. I have started working [with] Joomla [since the] 1.5 version. I really like the Joomla! structure. While I am also working on WordPress, I love Joomla! because of its strong backend and MVC structure.
I have worked for many clients in Joomla!. It is more secure and well managed than WordPress but it has fewer templates or themes available for everything compared to WordPress. The same thing for SEO purposes, WordPress has lots of plugins available to boost website blogs. So nowadays Joomla! [is] going down in comparison to WordPress. Every Blogger recommends WordPress.
I have worked for many clients in Joomla!. It is more secure and well managed than WordPress but it has fewer templates or themes available for everything compared to WordPress. The same thing for SEO purposes, WordPress has lots of plugins available to boost website blogs. So nowadays Joomla! [is] going down in comparison to WordPress. Every Blogger recommends WordPress.
- Joomla! [has the] best component for eCommerce website that is Virtuemart and Hikashop.
- Joomla! [has the] best component for membership like RS Membership. It manages memberships in [a] very well manner.
- Joomla! [has a] Drag and Drop template like Helix Ultimate framework - JoomShaper.
- [It] is [a] very good theme provider.
- First of all, I suggest to Joomla! Support Team, it should be more flexible to reply. There are no live chat options available. It should be developed.
- Joomla! templates need to develop more functionalities like WordPress where templates [are] available for most of [the] functionalities.
- Joomla! SEO options [are] not enough.
August 19, 2021
Jooma! the website developer's software of the future.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Joomla! CMS for all our website design and development. This is the foundation of the website design department but even our own website was designed and developed using Joomla!. Once a website is designed we train the owners to manage their own content. This helps us to focus on new developments rather than to have to maintain websites for other companies.
- Joomla! has a vast quantity of developed extensions available. There are very few applications for which there isn't an extension available, paid or free.
- The Joomla! CMS back-end administration control panel is extremely user friendly. Once you have mastered the basics of Joomla! editing it is very simple to manage the content of your website.
- Joomla! is easy to install and there is a legion of information available on how to use the software, once installed. Using Akeeba Backup, makes the backing up of sites simple and easy to move around, if necessary.
- Joomla! needs to be constantly updated. Some of the extensions makes it vulnerable to attacks from hackers. This makes it very important to always update to the latest version.
- One has to be very thorough before updating Joomla!, or any of it's extensions. Backups are extremely important as some updates are known to "break" the site.
- One can do a lot with Joomla! using CSS and PHP but both these languages are fairly difficult to learn. This forces you to do a lot of research if you want to be able to tweak sites using CSS and PHP.
Joomla! is adequate for working on website development; we use it frequently, which has helped us save time and effort while getting the most creative websites. We have benefited from each tool and its default templates that have streamlined the construction of websites remarkably; it has many extensions that help us achieve excellent results.
- We use Joomla to build our websites and web applications because of its incredible intuitiveness and tools to make everything more manageable.
- Its working environment is quite comfortable for my development team, and its web design resources significantly speed up our work when carrying out web development projects.
- It allows you to use blocks to create and visually manage websites and divide them into different categories without programming knowledge.
- Its interface is complicated to understand; it is not as friendly as other tools and text editors to develop web pages.
May 24, 2021
Ok for users, not fascinating for developers
It was suggested (more like selected) by a development company as the only CMS for a client with multiple localizations, and I'm running two of those sites (Spain and Latin America). The site was implemented by that company and I am only in charge of maintenance/security for the client.
- Image gallery
- Statistics
- Localization
- Terrible for updates (compared with alternatives)
- Poor in links customization (for SEO)
- A big learning curve (takes time to learn where options are and easily forgotten)
May 06, 2021
Joomla is a developer's dream
Joomla is used as our main CMS for all things web-related. We run our web pages, the online cart and all the communication for wood gallery through this CMS.
- Content management.
- Image management.
- free templates
- extension help
April 14, 2021
A Satisfying CMS software
Joomla! is a customizable software, we have used it to create web applications for our organization because it only takes a few minutes. It is more effective than other tools for developing web-oriented projects.
- It provides control and personalization to your website.
- The third party components are also easily available for Joomla!.
- Joomla! has built in revision control. Going back and fixing previous work is easy.
- It's free and open source.
- Sometimes cache buildup becomes a problem..
- Its learning curve is more complex compared to others.
- It can't create a very complex website.
October 18, 2019
Jammin' with Joomla!
Joomla is used across our organization. It solves our website address needs and much more due to its flexibility and ease of use. We needed a web presence, mailing list, and shopping cart system. Joomla! solved all of these business needs.
We love the additional plugins/components that can be integrated into Joomla! that solves our business needs without relying on hosted services that may hold your services hostage due to their policies. With Joomla, you have the freedom to do what you need and that's what we love.
We love the additional plugins/components that can be integrated into Joomla! that solves our business needs without relying on hosted services that may hold your services hostage due to their policies. With Joomla, you have the freedom to do what you need and that's what we love.
- Joomla! now does automatic updates very easily by just clicking one button. Vulnerabilities are patched quickly with automatic notifications.
- There are so many additional plugins, many of which are free or for a nominal cost, that extend your business capabilities. These plugins are mostly a perpetual license model so they continue to work after their support date has expired so it gives you the freedom of choice to either continue to use it without any strings attached by hosted services.
- The framework that is available to Joomla! such as the Gantry framework makes it easy to rapidly deploy and structure Joomla to our liking.
- Joomla is doing a great job so far. They should continue to improve their guidelines in which they have the developers conform to their policies and motivate the developers to make use of automatic updates of their extensions. In turn, it's easy for the end-users to keep their extensions up to date in order to reduce any vulnerabilities with outdated extensions.
- Any system requires some level of a learning curve. Like many people, in regard to complexity, I feel that Joomla! is in the middle ground compared to other CMS. If there's a way for Joomla! to make it really simple to adopt, then I think it will be a big win for them.
- If Joomla! can capture the market where it's a matter of drag and drop or a friendly WYSIWYG, then it's a huge win for them. While drag and drop environment is extremely useful for a novice or someone who just needs a basic website, we love the extensibility that Joomla! provides so having both would be immensely valuable.
February 11, 2019
Make sure it's the right fit for your team - for many, it's not
We work with the Joomla CMS when helping customers with website updates, maintenance, and new functionality. Joomla is a Content Management System - so it provides an interface for customers to make updates to their website on their own. It also provides a framework for custom functionality and a library of extensions written by the community to extend its core functionality.
- The menu/category/article structure provides a decent organization.
- The check-in/check-out system can work well to prevent overwrites with large numbers of editors.
- Creating a community-driven site - with large numbers of contributors.
- The Process is smoother with the latest versions.
- There is a bit of a learning curve in order to make edits as compared to other CMSs.
- Upgrading from older versions is very difficult.
- The framework is decent, but it's not the most flexible, nor the most intuitive.
October 18, 2018
Joomla Offers Hassle, Headaches and Stress
Joomla is used to manage our company Intranet. It is used as an information clearinghouse. We both communicate information on the page and use links, documents and videos to further assist communicating what ever is needed. Whether its for Human Resources, Medical Staff, Security or Marketing, we have place for it on our Intranet.
- Document indexing
- WYSIWYG editor
- Page version control
- Multiple language support
- Massive learning curve to get ramped up on the product. In my opinion, is more difficult than Drupal.
- Terrible experience upgrading between versions.
- Migrating content into Joomla is not easy.
- WYSIWYG editor is a pain. Almost always errors editing content in this fashion as extra code is generated around functions such as bold, italicize, header, etc.
- Document management can be a pain with files uploading into multiple spaces.
- Overall, not user friendly for tech leaders and content managers.
December 23, 2015
Why Joomla still matters and the benefits of its use!
From 2011-2013, as the Web Master for the City of Pomona I personally built a 300+ page website for a city government with little to no budget. The old website was antiquated and didn't allow for the easy and quick editing and dissemination of important information for the public citizens to obtain. After implementing Joomla, the City of Pomona’s website now has these features:
- Each department has its own individual folder to store its data in.
- The web administrator can Create users and groups and then assign them specific rights according to the built-in Access Control List (ACL) features of the new CMS system.
- Specific users with specific rights can sign-in to the website from the Front-End and edit/update content.
- When the web administrator posts new articles to the front page news section, it is also posted to the City’s FaceBook Page automatically with a Social Network AutoPoster.
- Specific users with specific rights can access, edit, and update the City’s Calendar, directly through the front end.
- The website features a contact manger that lists the pictures, phone numbers, email addresses, and fax numbers of the city’s departments, council members and the mayor.
- Utilizing the Joomla Content Editor (JCE) Component, when standard users sign into the website to edit or update, it’s easy for them to get work done because the JCE is incredibly user friendly and very similar to Microsoft Word.
There are many more beneficial features that are too numerous to list.
- Joomla has a Built in Media Manager that allows you to create your own folder, name it whatever you like, and then configure the settings of your Media Manager to redirect to the new folder. Then, after that is complete, you can create other folders inside of the “Main Media” folder in a proper organized hierarchical manner.
- Joomla’s Menu Manager is extensive and configurable. Joomla allows for an Unlimited amount of Links to have in your Unlimited amount of Menus.
- No Separate “Page” and Separate “Post.” There’s only one type: “Article.” ALL “Pages” are “Articles.” All “Posts” are “Articles.”
- Joomla has Unlimited Custom Module Management – Joomla gives you the ability to create your entire website out of Modules or simply create and manage as many modules as you want. You could put them anywhere you want, in any place, on any page you want. You can even put Modules into the Menu Items.
- Joomla has a Built-in Access Control List (ACL). This allows you to create Specific Groups and then you can add Specific Users to those groups and manage with a fine granular approach, which group can access which individual part or element in the website.
- Joomla lets you Sign-in to the website from the Front-End and edit/update content in Articles and Modules.
- With Joomla there is one central place for installing Templates, Components, Plugins, or Modules: the Extension Manager
- Joomla has built in Cache Control. This gives your site a quicker response to requests, if nothing has been change to an article or other element.
- Joomla has a built in Contact Manager that includes Google’s new reCAPTCHA v2. This is the modern version that helps to block spam and other malicious submissions.
- Joomla has built in Global Check in for items. Useful if you want to quickly return articles and release them from users editing it.
- Joomla has a built in Language Manager. Very useful for International Websites or websites that welcome people who speak different languages.
- Joomla is compatible with Microsoft Windows SQL Server and Microsoft Windows IIS Server so it could be seamlessly used in a Microsoft Environment. Most corporations run on Windows Networks with Windows Servers.
- Joomla has a built in Authentication – LDAP plugin that synchronizes with Microsoft Windows Server’s Active Directory so you can just use your standard A.D. Login to sign in to Joomla on your organization’s Intranet Website. Implementing a Joomla based "Intranet" is a great low cost solution.
- Joomla has built in Nested Categories. This provides for a more organized hierarchical atmosphere.
- Joomla has built in Revision Control. In case something goes wrong in an article, you could revert back to a previous version.
- Joomla has built in Tag Management. Tags help users to find articles pertaining to specific subject matters.
- Joomla has built in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) settings on important parts of the Website including: Articles and Menus. This is where you can insert keywords and metadata. This helps with search engines.
- Joomla has Search Engine Friendly (SEF) URL abilities that use Apache Mod_Re-Write. Instead of the user trying to read "?=itemid1" they will easily read "about" or "services" in the url of their web browser.
- For Developers and Software Engineers:
- Joomla is Object-Oriented Designed - Unlike Joomla's main competitors: Drupal and WordPress, Joomla, is an Object Oriented Designed (OOD) CMS. Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) takes the view that what we really care about are the "objects" we want to manipulate rather than the logic required to manipulate them. One of the principal advantages of object-oriented programming techniques over procedural programming techniques is that they enable programmers to create modules that do not need to be changed when a new type of object is added. A programmer can simply create a new object that inherits many of its features from existing objects. This makes object-oriented programs easier to modify.
- For Developers and Software Engineers:
- Joomla is MVC - Also unlike Joomla's competitors, Joomla's architecture is MVC. Model–View–Controller (MVC) is a software architectural pattern for implementing user interfaces. It divides a given software application into three interconnected parts, so as to separate internal representations of information from the ways that information is presented to or accepted from the user.
- Joomla is SLOWER than its competitors. Although, with the implementation of new Solid State Device Hard Drives in Modern Website Host Servers, the slowness is becoming less noticeable.
- The Image Editing abilities of the built in Media Manager are USELESS. WordPress is much better at built-in Image Editing.
- The ability to either turn off or turn on, Automatic Menu Item Creation does NOT exist. WordPress is much better at that.
- Sometimes, it seems like Joomla or its database becomes confused and\or Cache Build Up becomes a problem, and then the cache has to be cleaned out.
- There is no built-in Automatic Cache Cleaning at configurable intervals.
- The updating and upgrading process is easier than it ever has been, but it’s still not as flawless and as easygoing as WordPress.
- NO Automatic Update abilities for Components, Modules, or Plugins.
- Joomla is NOT nearly as popular or as used as WordPress.
- Joomla lacks a comprehensive Preview ability. And there really isn't a good plugin for it. WordPress's Preview ability is far superior to both Joomla and Drupal.
November 11, 2015
Joomla - the mature, responsible older sibling in the CMS family
We use Joomla as the primary platform for the development of client and internal websites. It provides a robust framework for creating dynamic websites and meets the needs of web projects from simple informational sites to complex action driven projects. Over the years we have used a variety of Joomla versions to deliver web solutions and have enjoyed the new features that each upgrade brings. We find it to be the best overall CMS on the open source market.
- Framework stability and continuous development by a dedicated group of developers
- Comprehensive network of extension developers providing a wide range of solutions via components, modules and plugins that will accomplish virtually any web related functionality goal
- Well organized, active support community that is communicative and easy to tap in to.
- Reasonably priced template options offered by a variety of professional companies focused on the ongoing development of cutting edge templates to reflect the latest trends and features.
- Easy to customize and build off of without the need for repeated redevelopment when the time comes to revamp and renew a sites' look/feel
- It would be nice to see more of the "internet marketing" based extensions that easily incorporate marketing strategies like email list building, user/mobile friendly popups, etc. There are some available now but it will be nice when they become more plentiful.
- Would like for more SEO options to be built into the core framework but it is simple enough to install extensions to meet those needs.
- Transitioning from major versions can be a tough transition. (i.e. moving from J2.5 to J3) It can be time consuming and tricky to upgrade. They seem to be working on that in the latest version - J3
September 30, 2015
Joomla!, An Open Source CMS For The Rest of Us
I am a freelance web designer and content strategist who uses Joomla! as my platform of choice to implement websites for small businesses and non-profits. These websites run the gamut from brochures, landing pages, e-commerce storefronts, to major information portals. Joomla! and its extensions handles all aspects of each of these types of sites.
- Joomla! is a content management system based on a database so it creates web pages dynamically based on a single editor and keywords. This allows users to update the site themselves and let Joomla create the pages from their input in a familiar environment.
- Joomla! is Open Source software managed by a non-profit organization called Open Source Matters. Because it's free under the GNU GPL license, there are millions of programmers worldwide working on the platform honing it and maintaining it. Open Source also means that there is a strong community of approximately 8 million users who cooperatively share this free software platform.
- Joomla! is modular. You only use what you need for your particular project. Joomla! has an extremely strong value-added software community providing add-ons for security, editing, forms, newsletters, storefronts, payment gateways, SEO, and so forth.
- Joomla! is currently split into a framework and kernel and because it is Open Source, programmers are using Joomla!'s framework to build enterprise-level content management systems and cloud-based systems such as Nooku. Joomla! complies with most standard modern software protocols and runs on LINUX/Apache/MySQL/PHP so it is highly secure and easy to set up.
- Joomla!'s organization consists of a front-end and a backend (called the Administrator). The Administrator area is meant to be intuitive but falls short because of the complexity of its structure -- areas where you perform work. There is a strong learning curve to get used to modules, plug-ins, and components plus articles and categories and how they work together.
- Joomla! has a rigid structure that allows only certain types of pages, namely blogs and lists of articles based on how you classify subjects. Everything in Joomla! is an article. You have to know content strategy to add appropriate keywords to ensure that your articles show up on the appropriate pages either with others tagged similarly, or by themselves. Navigation is based upon these keywords as well. You need to design the site before you jump in and add articles.
- Joomla! is built using PHP and runs on an Apache server. As such, it is not totally secure from malicious attacks at the server level. Extra care has to be taken to set up passwords, roles, and permissions to ensure that spammers and hackers cannot touch the database or Administrator.
- Joomla! is not meant to handle more than a medium- to small-sized website with up to one million concurrent users. It can be placed on the Cloud, such as Amazon Web Services, where instances of the platform can take more users, but it is not enterprise-level software.
July 08, 2015
Why We Went With Joomla Most of The Time
We implemented various CMS platforms for various size non-profit enterprises (small 1-10 employees to 100-1000 employee ranges). Some of them would select Joomla (others Drupal, WordPress, etc.) based on their specific needs/intentions for their web presence needs and requirements and expected use cases. Ultimately the decision was on the client as to which CMS they would choose/go with, but we'd make strong recommendations according to their needs.
- No CMS is perfect for 100% of a clients needs. Usually the base CMS get's 70-80% of the requirements out of the way with just a base install. Then there is another 10-15% that is covered by a standard set of extensions/modules that you would typically install for almost every client (SEO optimization, ACL/permission levels, etc.). The remaining 5-20% is usually custom module work (either building out a custom version of existing modules/extensions/components, or building a new one from scratch). The extensibility and ease of developing components/modules for Joomla is one thing it does very well.
- We used Joomla for a majority of our clients solutions because of their preference in the administrative interface for Joomla. Obviously administrative interfaces are something that can be customized/skinned/themed in most CMS's, but the native back-end interface was always more intuitive than Drupal (where a non-technical end-user always had a hard time telling if they were logged-in or not, and where the WordPress admin area was always very blog/post centric). Joomla was almost always the top choice for non-blog specific web platforms.
- The Joomla community was always the most helpful and responsive (WordPress maybe slightly greater, but most of the WordPress community at the time was focusing on themes/skins and less on the development of feature/functionality heavy plug-ins). Much of our work on Joomla went into making the modules/components available look good/consistent with our site designs, which was an easier feat then building out actual functionality/features that were missing from the communities of other CMS's.
- Updating was never as seamless/easy as it seems to be with Wordpress. Obviously we accounted for this with our own workflow/methods, but I remember whenever we did WordPress updates it always seemed a breeze compared to the time/energy involved with a Joomla update/upgrade.
- For a while (I think this has changed some) Joomla left itself open to attacks when administrators were not as well versed as they should be. There were developer additions that did security checks/audits for you, but the CMS was the subject of a lot of attacks when left in the hands of our clients for a long time (who had changed permissions to make editing easier/convenient). Ideally the CMS would have been more restrictive on some of these things to prevent easy abuse. Obviously this is more the fault of the misinformed/human then the CMS, but it could have been more dummy-proof.
- No native versioning. There are some community extensions that add this functionality, but they pale in comparison to the versioning plugins of other CMS's (WordPress specifically). Again this was some time ago and in our experience, it could have changed by now.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Joomla is a free CMS platform that I've used to develop websites for our clients. Joomla allows us to deploy websites faster with better solutions.
- Joomla has tons of templates. Some free, some paid. I particularly like Joomla Bamboo templates which are responsive and highly customizable.
- Joomla has a very strong community that will assist newbies if they have questions. There is also a database of questions, answers and solutions that can assist newbies and solving their problems.
- Joomla has tons of modules and components. Most of the free ones are sufficient to develop to comprehensive website.
- Joomla is capable of building a more complex website than wordpress. That said, the learning curve is slightly steeper too.
- Joomla documentation can be better and clearer. Since the change of Joomla 1.5 to 1.6 to 1.7 to 2.5 to 3.0, the knowledgebase wiki is quite messy and sometimes confusing.
- Joomla has a lot of hidden functions whereby changing a certain part might affect a totally different part. The link might not be obvious especially for newbies.
- Joomla version change is quite rapid with the new direction that they are going with. After I mastered Joomla 2.5, we are now moving towards Joomla 3.0 now. The version change is sometimes unwarranted and unnecessary.
July 07, 2015
Joomla is best now, and will be in the future.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
If you are new to CMS development, Joomla is a good solution to learn and use. I started in web dev. as a designer with low coding skills. When the time came to make myself more productive to my clients, I knew CMSs were the way, so I researched many and the two I chose to learn were WordPress and Joomla, which I picked because of their open scalability. That was four years ago and I almost exclusively use Joomla today because in my opinion it far exceeds the functionality of WordPress and only is widening the gap with its advances like Joomla Framework, which will soon bring RAD to the masses. I am about empowering my clients to do for themselves and even if Joomla (currently) has a more steep learning curve than WordPress, if trained correctly, I find my clients quickly going from newbie to developer in a short time. I taught high school for ten years and know what and when something works for my students, so trust this former teacher and make your choice Joomla. You won't regret it.
- Scalability
- Responsive
- Functionality
- Intuitive
- Open
- Mobile
- Modular
- Steeper learning curve than WordPress
- Less customization than Drupal
- Newest 3x versions are lagging with 2x modules keeping up
July 07, 2015
Joomla!: For What?
As a contract-based developer for marketing agencies in the Chicagoland area, it is my job to quickly turn their aesthetic and brand development into viable, interactive web applications. Their clients generally need the following: the ability to log in and make changes themselves after the project is complete, the ability to keep track of users, and the ability to carry out business and communication using their web presence. Joomla makes it possible to check off these goals while still fitting within strict timelines.
- Joomla! makes it easy to create pages and organize menus/navigation on the fly for flat content. An informational website is a synch with the quick CMS workflow for content.
- Customizing or creating custom templates is quite easy with a basic understanding of HTML and CSS. Joomla! is incredibly flexible and customizable if you have the know-how and desire to make it your own, and its templating system is intuitive and not messy or too complicated.
- Having users and keeping track of accounts and security levels is built-in and easy to do. Accounts are accessible and manageable, giving you a lot of control over who accesses and sees what, or who can edit and contribute to the content. Once again, this is a sign of Joomla!'s flexibility and scalability - the tools are there if you need or want them for your project.
- Sometimes you end up locked into screens while editing or viewing settings and/or content. It'd be nice to not have to "cancel" a current action in order to quickly get somewhere else.
- Certain common additions, such as forms, are not included in Joomla out of the box. Contact Forms, for example, should be easy to implement without third party plugins/extensions, but should also be customizable - a drag and drop sort of interface for form creation may be a critical addition to the system, as even the simplest websites generally have at least one.
- Database issues are pretty common with Joomla!, especially when migrating to new servers and/or updating database information. The database connectivity should be streamlined so that developers don't get locked out and forced to edit core or config files manually on the server in order to fix it.
A professional photographer needed a CMS tool that would allow her to have full control of content. I felt that Joomla! provided the tools needed for her request with expandability to handle her changing needs. There was a lot of good plugins to represent her photos, which was the core of what we were trying to do with her site.
- Display photos using Lightbox
- Sort content inside the Joomla! admin tool
- Allow the developer (myself) alter the code inside the templates easily for personalization.
- Not SEO friendly
- Some Joomla! plugins cost while same is free in WordPress
- Much bigger learning curve than WordPress out of the box
March 18, 2015
Why I Choose Joomla over other CMS's
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I use Joomla to build websites for non-profit organizations and small businesses. I find it to be a great resource for non-profits who need functionality such as online donations, event registrations, online directories and online membership management. Joomla has some great extensions that makes it easy for users to manage these function right from within their website.
- The new release of Joomla, version 3.x, has a new, user-friendly interface. This new interface reduces the learning curve a lot compared to the other versions. It also makes it easy to keep your website updated and to find extensions to add to your website.
- Joomla is also great at managing different permission levels for users. For organizations that want to have members-only content and have different levels of membership and what people can see, Joomla 3.x handles this well without need a third-party extensions.
- I find that Joomla has some great extensions for managing online donations, event registration and online membership. This is what makes me choose this CMS over many of the other popular CMS's out there.
- Joomla does not have a good preview system. If you want to preview your pages before they go live you have to use a third-party extension. I wish this was built-in as this is a common feature in other popular CMS's.
- I haven't found a great ecommerce system for Joomla yet. There are some semi-good ones but they are either overkill or not enough functionality.
March 10, 2015
Joomla, Drupal, or WordPress? Oh My! How to Choose.
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I currently specialize in using the Joomla CMS for an extensive range of web site types; From simple writer blogs to full corporate extranets, intranets, sales, portals, and knowledge bases. Joomla is easily used by employers and employees across an organization. In order to keep IT costs down, users with very little web knowledge can manage a Joomla web site with a few days of training. It is not necessary to know or understand coding or design.
- Joomla has one of the largest communities of developers in the CMS market. With easy to install plug-n-go applications there is no need to hire a developer to custom build your web sites main features or functionality.
- Joomla 3.2 and the available template frameworks are responsive, clean, and current. These frameworks keep updated on the cutting edge of mobile and web use.
- With a few hours of training, most users can maintain and update a Joomla site as easily as you would write up a document.
- Over the past few years Joomla remained behind in the ability to update a site easily, with few issues. Joomla is getting much better at one-click updates, but there can still be issues with other applications (components) that do not stay current.
- Joomla does have a small learning curve. Although it is not necessary to know or understand any coding when utilizing Joomla, a user will need to understand how Joomla compiles it pages and how to create use the main features.
- The choice of applications available can make it difficult to find the right one for your company. For example, there are 5-6 top eCommerce solutions on the market for Joomla. Careful thought and investigation should go into selecting the right one.
November 26, 2014
Joomla, a great CMS
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Joomla is a great choice for all kinds of website. Newer versions are significantly better than old; It has improved a lot. The latest version, j3, is easier for the end user , has a clean and responsive administration console and, for the PHP programmer, gives an MVC structure which is easy to maintain and control. The learning curve gets shorter day by day. I think this platform has a great future and I will follow its progress with interest.
- Structure MVC, and great framework for developement
- Powerful
- Every update makes it easier for the user
- The multilanguage system could be better
July 24, 2013
Robust and Versatile Content Management System
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
- Solid core website, up and running within minutes
- Versatile and customizable
- Vast library of third-party plugins and components for every need
- Many resources of third-party templates for just the right look
- Open Source and Free
- No central customer/tech support
- Not all plugins, components, or templates are free