Overview
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.
TrustRadius Insights
Joomla! Review By JoomTech Solutions
New Joomla! 4 jumps ahead of the others
Jooma! the website developer's software of the future.
My two cents on Joomla!
We are creating creative websites with unparalleled ease
Be satisfied with Joomla
Joomla was adopted in my company as a content generator for the internet, with the objective of making websites quick for temporary or …
Ok for users, not fascinating for developers
Joomla is a developer's dream
A Satisfying CMS software
Joomla! Is the best CMS that you don't know you need.
Nobody puts Joomla in a corner!
Joomla Expert Admin Since 2006 - Technical Support Specialist
Excellent, Easy To Use CMS
Jammin' with Joomla!
Awards
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Popular Features
- Availability / breadth of extensions (45)8.080%
- Role-based user permissions (44)7.070%
- Page templates (45)7.070%
- WYSIWYG editor (46)6.060%
Reviewer Pros & Cons
Pricing
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.
Entry-level set up fee?
- No setup fee
Offerings
- Free Trial
- Free/Freemium Version
- Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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18 people also want pricing
Alternatives Pricing
What is Adobe Business Catalyst (Discontinued)?
Adobe Business Catalyst was a cloud-hosted system for building and managing web content and online stores with a built-in CRM framework in addition to sales, service, and marketing features including eCommerce and Email Marketing tools. It has been end of life (EOL) since 2020.
What is Agility?
Agility CMS is a cloud-based content management system from the company of the same name in Toronto, Ontario.
Product Demos
Joomla! 3 Quickstart Installation Step by Step Guide
JA Elastica - Free Responsive Design Template for Joomla 2.5!
Template Creator CK 3 - Overview, simple demo, create your Joomla template in 7minutes
Template Creator CK 3 - Overview, simple demo, create your Joomla template in 8 minutes
Features
Security
This component helps a company minimize the security risks by controlling access to the software and its data, and encouraging best practices among users.
- 7Role-based user permissions(44) Ratings
Permissions to perform actions or access or modify data are assigned to roles, which are then assigned to users, reducing complexity of administration.
Platform & Infrastructure
Features related to platform-wide settings and structure, such as permissions, languages, integrations, customizations, etc.
- 7API(39) Ratings
An API (application programming interface) provides a standard programming interface for connecting third-party systems to the software for data creation, access, updating and/or deletion.
- 6.1Internationalization / multi-language(40) Ratings
The software supports multiple languages, countries, currencies, etc.
Web Content Creation
Features that support the creation of website content.
- 6WYSIWYG editor(46) Ratings
What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get editing tool allows users to build pages without writing code.
- 8Code quality / cleanliness(44) Ratings
Code generated by WYSIWYG editor is clean and validates according to W3C standards.
- 8.4Admin section(43) Ratings
The admin page is easy to navigate and use.
- 7Page templates(45) Ratings
The CMS has standard webpage templates or types of web pages (e.g. homepage, article page, interior page, blog page, etc.); users can also build custom templates.
- 9Library of website themes(43) Ratings
A library of website frameworks or themes is available as a starting point for building a website.
- 7Mobile optimization / responsive design(43) Ratings
The CMS helps users build webpages that work well on mobile devices – whether m-dot pages or responsively designed pages.
- 6.1Publishing workflow(43) Ratings
The software allows users to set up a custom workflow for updating the website, including approval processes.
- 6Form generator(39) Ratings
Users can build website forms for visitors to fill out.
Web Content Management
Features for managing website content
- 8Content taxonomy(44) Ratings
Users can create multiple levels and types of content categories including tags.
- 7SEO support(44) Ratings
The CMS helps users create the right website infrastructure (pagination, page headers, titles, meta tags, url structure, etc.) to increase the site’s visibility in search engine results.
- 4.1Bulk management(42) Ratings
Users can change an attribute on a group of documents or sites all at once through features such as global search and replace, making bulk changes easier.
- 8Availability / breadth of extensions(45) Ratings
There is a broad library of extensions, plug-ins, modules or add-ons that allow users to easily customize their websites without building custom code.
- 6.1Community / comment management(43) Ratings
Users can put post/page comments through an approval process, auto-approve commenters based on their email addresses, block commenters by IP address, delete comments, etc.
Product Details
- About
- Integrations
- Competitors
- Tech Details
- FAQs
What is Joomla?
Joomla Video
Joomla Integrations
Joomla Competitors
- Drupal
- Kentico Xperience
- Plone
- Magnolia (V5 and later versions)
Joomla Technical Details
Operating Systems | Unspecified |
---|---|
Mobile Application | No |
Frequently Asked Questions
Comparisons
Compare with
Reviews and Ratings
(286)Community Insights
- Business Problems Solved
- Pros
- Cons
- Recommendations
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.
Attribute Ratings
Reviews
(1-3 of 3)A great CMS with an even better community of developers behind it.
- Joomla provides a strong core to get website development started quickly and easily.
- The possibilities that the many Joomla extensions offers are unlimited.
- Joomla's templating system is quick and easy to create a custom design for your website.
- The community of experts are second to none, the community offers excellent support.
- The administration can be difficult for non-technical people to use, some of my clients find it daunting and not very user-friendly.
- Security...Joomla is a really big target to hackers...I do know that Joomla works hard to get security patches out as quickly as they can though.
- Speed, I'd like to see the core Joomla sped up with out having to put in tons of work to speed it up.
- WYSIWYG editor
- 90%9.0
- Code quality / cleanliness
- 100%10.0
- Admin section
- 70%7.0
- Page templates
- 100%10.0
- Library of website themes
- 90%9.0
- Mobile optimization / responsive design
- 90%9.0
- Publishing workflow
- 100%10.0
- Form generator
- N/AN/A
- Content taxonomy
- 90%9.0
- SEO support
- 80%8.0
- Bulk management
- 80%8.0
- Availability / breadth of extensions
- 100%10.0
- Community / comment management
- 100%10.0
- API
- 100%10.0
- Internationalization / multi-language
- 100%10.0
- Role-based user permissions
- 90%9.0
- The Joomla community has made it easier for me to find answers to questions I've had on Joomla issues and customizations making getting projects for my clients done quicker and easier.
- The administration has NOT been liked by many of my non-technical clients vs other administrations for other software, and has caused some clients to be unhappy with making changes to their website themselves.
- Joomla has made getting complex websites up quicker for my clients resulting in happy clients.
- Non-Profit website with membership directory, e-commerce for events/products and a large amount of content.
- Website for a specialized antique furniture dealer showcasing constantly changing pieces available with custom information provided on each piece.
- Previously used for a social network specializing in the home design industry with extensive customized features.
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.
Joomla! is very suitable and the best choice for medium to large sized organizations. For example a city government, county government, state government, a high school, college or university, a police department or a fire department. I do use Joomla! for small, medium, or large organizations or projects, but for some people it might be overkill. Just like any other piece of software, the developer and the administrator need to know how to use it.
I think a great use of Joomla! would be in the education sector. Joomla! has a wealth of Components, Modules, and Plugins.
Two of my favorites that I have been working with currently are:
1. Joomla’s: JomSocial http://www.jomsocial.com
2. Qontori Pte Ltd’s: Joomdle http://www.joomdle.com
The really awesome part about both is that Moodle and JomSocial can interconnect with each other providing an even more useful experience for students and staff in an Online Learning Environment.
In conclusion, I have had a great experience using Joomla and I will continue to use and implement it whenever I can.
- WYSIWYG editor
- 80%8.0
- Code quality / cleanliness
- 90%9.0
- Admin section
- 90%9.0
- Page templates
- 90%9.0
- Library of website themes
- 90%9.0
- Mobile optimization / responsive design
- 100%10.0
- Publishing workflow
- 90%9.0
- Form generator
- 50%5.0
- Content taxonomy
- 100%10.0
- SEO support
- 100%10.0
- Bulk management
- 100%10.0
- Availability / breadth of extensions
- 90%9.0
- Community / comment management
- 100%10.0
- API
- 100%10.0
- Internationalization / multi-language
- 100%10.0
- Role-based user permissions
- 100%10.0
- As far as overall business objectives, because of the ease of use of DIY websites now like: 1&1, SquareSpace, Shopify, Weebly, etc., business has not been good. But when it comes to implementing it into an organization, it has greatly and significantly reduced government business process congestion and optimized the way a government body can quickly deliver information to its citizens at an extremely low cost.
- WordPress,Drupal
Before I settled in on using Joomla for the City of Pomona, I experimented with WordPress and Drupal, as being the right fit for the new website. Each time I went through the analysis, research and development, both WordPress and Drupal, came up short for quickly delivering a robust extendable and easy to use solution that had to be in place immediately.
Here's some frustrations that I encountered with WordPress and Drupal:
- WordPress limits the number of links you could have in the Main Menu.
- WordPress's Menu Manager is lacking many features that are standard in Joomla's.
- WordPress has a useless Media Manager that does not allow for Folder Creation or custom built Hierarchical structures that reflect real life departments and organizations.
- WordPress lacks the ACL that Joomla has.
- Drupal also has a useless Media Manager that does not allow for Folder Creation or custom built Hierarchical structures that reflect real life departments and organizations.
- Drupal was a time consuming headache that always had a dramatic problem popup every step of the way when trying to build the website, and frequently the whole operation would just implode.
- Drupal wasted months of time because of its incompatibilities.
- Drupal lacks the ACL that Joomla has.
- Both Drupal and WordPress are NOT MVC or OOD.
When I worked at the City of Pomona, I built the Public Internet Website, and the Internal Intranet Website for them, and there are about 20 users who use it. It has greatly de-congested Government Business Processes.
An average user who is familiar with Microsoft Word could use Joomla well.
- The City Calendar needs to be updated.
- Water and Utility rates need to be updated on the Water Dept section.
- Planning needs to upload a PDF to the site so the public could get to it for downloading purposes.
- Before I implemented Joomla in the City of Pomona, one particular dept had to print up thousands of pages and fax them over to other agencies that they work with. Now, they can simply list them on the website for the other agency to download.
- City of Pomona has been able to submit one post to its news section of its front page, and then it automatically posts to the City's FaceBook page.
- Citizens are able to subscribe to not only the RSS feed but also to the Calendar for updates of events.
- You can use Joomla as an Intranet.
- With the right component (JomSocial), you can create your own Private Social Network similar to FaceBook.
- You could incorporate the Online Learning Management System: Moodle into your Joomla and into your JomSocial together.
- With the Component Fabrik, you can build Software Applications with Joomla.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
- Implemented in-house
Phase Two was to copy all of the data from the older website, which was still up and running and publicly accessible a that time, into the new one and configure all the plugins.
Phase Three was to go live with the new site by putting it on the root of the "public_html" folder and replacing the old one in the Host.
- Bad low quality Web Host.
- No budget for a better Template.
- At that particular time, Joomla was jumping to different versions. This was a headache, but understandable because of its growing pains. Joomla is no longer going through those growing pains.
- Adding a new Category.
- Adding a new Article.
- Adding a new Menu Item.
- Implementing Title Meta Tags
- Implementing Keyword Meta Tags
- Implementing Description Meta Tags
10 Year of Joomla Use
- The ability to build a site with no coding experience.
- The ability for free software and hosting from joomla.org.
- One of the world's most popular CMS systems.
- Core in-line editing would be a nice feature.
- Better marketing to help people understand why Joomla! is unique from other CMS systems.
- WYSIWYG editor
- 70%7.0
- Code quality / cleanliness
- 100%10.0
- Admin section
- 90%9.0
- Page templates
- 100%10.0
- Library of website themes
- 70%7.0
- Mobile optimization / responsive design
- 100%10.0
- Publishing workflow
- 70%7.0
- Form generator
- 20%2.0
- Content taxonomy
- 100%10.0
- SEO support
- 90%9.0
- Bulk management
- 50%5.0
- Availability / breadth of extensions
- 100%10.0
- Community / comment management
- 20%2.0
- Internationalization / multi-language
- 50%5.0
- Role-based user permissions
- 60%6.0
- Faster Development Time
- Reduced Client Training
- Ability to manage users with ACL
- Client Sites
- Intranet Application
- Front-end marketing tool
- We use it as a health database for one of our clients that needs to meet HIPPA standards.
- We use it to process and quote insurance sales for multiple national insurance clients.
- Use it as a digital signage product for lobby areas.
- Marketing
- Landing Pages
- Custom applications
- Edit Content
- Add Menu Items
- Add Content
- ACL Rules
- Enable 2 Factor
- Smart Search
- Faster
- Micro SEO
- Security
- Security
- Improved Media Manager
- Built In Backup Utility