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Joomla

Joomla

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.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Joomla is a versatile content management system used by various businesses and organizations to run and manage their websites. It is …
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Jammin' with Joomla!

10 out of 10
October 18, 2019
Incentivized
Joomla is used across our organization. It solves our website address needs and much more due to its flexibility and ease of use. We …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

Popular Features

View all 16 features
  • Availability / breadth of extensions (45)
    8.0
    80%
  • Role-based user permissions (44)
    7.0
    70%
  • Page templates (45)
    7.0
    70%
  • WYSIWYG editor (46)
    6.0
    60%

Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Pricing

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Unavailable

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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Product Demos

Joomla! 3 Quickstart Installation Step by Step Guide

YouTube

JA Elastica - Free Responsive Design Template for Joomla 2.5!

YouTube

Template Creator CK 3 - Overview, simple demo, create your Joomla template in 7minutes

YouTube

Template Creator CK 3 - Overview, simple demo, create your Joomla template in 8 minutes

YouTube
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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.

7
Avg 8.0

Platform & Infrastructure

Features related to platform-wide settings and structure, such as permissions, languages, integrations, customizations, etc.

6.5
Avg 7.7

Web Content Creation

Features that support the creation of website content.

7.2
Avg 7.6

Web Content Management

Features for managing website content

6.6
Avg 7.3
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Product Details

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.

Joomla Video

What is Joomla!

Joomla Competitors

Joomla Technical Details

Operating SystemsUnspecified
Mobile ApplicationNo

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.

Drupal, Kentico Xperience, and Plone are common alternatives for Joomla.

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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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(285)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

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:

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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

(51-68 of 68)
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Marni Derr | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • 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.
Kelli Riley | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • Joomla is highly scalable, there are so many extensions available to add pretty much any functionality that could be needed like a photo gallery, a store, or a blog.
  • Joomla is easy to use, once you know where and how to update the different parts of the website it's quick and easy to update your website from either the frontend or backend of the site.
  • Joomla makes it easy to manage different access levels of your website and give users different access to the website based on access group.
  • I think that Joomla security has improved but for a while there it was not the most secure platform making it vulnerable to attack. To combat this you have to be vigilant about keeping Joomla updated and all extensions updated as well. It also helps to make sure the site folders and file permissions are set securely. Changing passwords regularly is also good practice.
  • Joomla can be quirky at times, for instance in Joomla 2.5 I kept having problems with menu items rearranging themselves after I would add a new menu item. This was frustrating to have to keep reordering menus. I found that this was a common problem after searching the joomla forums but it was definitely something that should not happen.
Philippe Sauve | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • Functionality. Thousands of great extensions
  • Ease of use for customers
  • Price: can you beat free?
  • Maybe just a bit more 'drag and drop' for editing purposes, especially in the front end for non-developers (clients).
  • A little elbow grease never hurt anyone. I have always found a solution to anything I have needed....can't really say I've ever been really disappointed.
  • Not really Joomla!'s doing, but some third party extension licences are all over the place. As a web developer, you have to be very careful when purchasing components, plugins etc. You may buy something incredible for a few bucks and be allowed to install on multiple domains or pay a fortune for something not as good and only licenced for 1 domain. You need to do your research very well before spending any money.
Todd Bellamy | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • User management, the creation of custom groups of users, various security levels, and the ability to separate back end from front end users. For example you could grant a customer access to a particular front end page that has content dedicated to them only with a username and password, yet keep them from other customers files on the back end of the system.
  • Numerous free extensions, Joomla provides a solid foundation for whatever kind of site you would like to build and offers a range of not only free templates but free functions such as photo galleries, contact forms, shopping cart functions.
  • Joomla! extension development and customization for plugins and modules. With knowledge of MySQL and PHP a skilled developer, or in many cases, even novice users can create their own extensions. For example, we created a custom FTP front end to share files with users.
  • Joomla! is open source and therefore does not provide immediate support for the product. If a problem occurs during setup or operation the best way to solve a problem is report it to the Joomla! community support, but a quick fix to your problem is not guaranteed.
  • Joomla!'s data is held (typically) in a MySQL database that the user will never see. When a Joomla! site becomes very large with an extensive number of users and/or information it can become sluggish, but this can be mitigated with some basic database management skills, specifically someone who can create new indexes, procedures or someone who knows the data well enough to archive at a certain point.
  • Content Management Solutions, such as Joomla!, continuously update and change with the market requirements and security requirements of the online community. I would like to see a standardized backup and restore process implemented so that if a user does upgrade there system it is easily reverted and or changes are tracked more thoroughly.
December 04, 2014

Joomla Rocks!

Andrey Dik | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • Suitable for any business niche and business type.
  • Easy in customization and understanding
  • Huge community and support
  • Largest among competitors extension directory
  • Some people find administrative panel a little less convenient compared to competitive products. But it is just a matter of convenience and personal habits.
  • In some cases requires relatively more experience to install/run comparing to competitors.
Bill Rosner | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • Solid core functionality, including the new version tool.
  • Many extensions to customize the application to my client's needs.
  • Devoted development community.
  • Could use better documentation.
Jennifer de Spain | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • The relationship between the frontend (visitor side) and the backend (admin side) of the website is well thought through and easy to handle. A visitor may register in the frontend and get special privileges on what they can see and what they can't. Admins can log into the front or the back and manage content, modules, and components on either side. Keeping the frontend and the backend separate gives an advantage to designers and developers, as they can work in the backend on, say, text for a page, save it, and then view it in a different tab as a separately logged in frontend registered user.
  • User group and access management is highly flexible. I had a client who had 7 different levels of members. Some members could have access to pages x, y, and z, some only x and y, and some only x and z. Joomla allowed me to create different user groups and access levels to accommodate this complex member access. Allowing one user to be part of multiple groups was a big part of making the particular membership system work efficiently
  • Joomla manages the content of the site in a database, with different aspects of the content being stored in different tables of the database. The organization of the database is very logical and easy to deal with, in the case that one would need to.
  • The code for the core Joomla system extremely well documented within the source code and is clean. Any code that it uses to render the content from the database is standard code compliant and does not raise any errors in the browser.
  • The current Joomla version, Joomla 3.x, uses redundant database calls when rendering the pages. When a page is being rendered, a specific file is used to control what shows up on the page. That file calls information from the database, so that the correct text, images, etc. are rendered onto the end page. Currently, unnecessary calls to the database are being made, making the pages load slower than they have in previous versions of Joomla.
  • I wish it was a little easier for clients to be able to manage their own content once the site is finished. It is not very hard to do once you are on the page you are editing, however, getting to that page from the backend is difficult for many novices, because they don't know the relationship between what they are editing and how it ends up on the frontend.
  • While the menu system is extremely logical for designers and developers, it is difficult for clients to set up new menu items or pages on their sites, beyond adding blog posts. To set up a menu, you...
  • Have to add a menu in the "Menu Manager"
  • Go to the "Module Manager" and place the menu into a module spot in the template
  • Create a category in the "Content Manager"
  • Create an article in the "Content Manager" that lives within a category that has already been created
  • Finally, a menu item must be added to the menu from part 1, that calls the article created in part 4.
  • This is highly organized when setting up the site, but is difficult to deal with for users who are not used to the set up.
August 23, 2014

Ya for Joomla!

Lindsay Diedrich | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • It's customizable
  • Open source CMS
  • Good amount of support available
  • Not so great for blogging
  • Hard to implement proper SEO techniques - we had to do some research on how to
  • Good amount of templates available
Leontine Vandermeer | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • It does an amazing job of posting articles and posting them in several different styles, such as blog style. This way the newest articles are always on top.
  • The linking and navigation is very well designed within Joomla!. It's very easy to create menus on the fly, links to content or to anything else.
  • The user interface is very well laid out and designed. The different options available for publishing an article are endless. It is very easy to work within Joomla!
  • Search engine optimization is handled very well within Joomla! Articles and pages automatically take the words from the title. The website performs very well in the search engines, the newest articles always show up on google's first page.
  • The entire setup of Joomla! is ideal for online newspapers, magazines and more. You can set a publish date and time, or a time to unpublished something.
  • With the huge range of modules available for Joomla! there is really nothing you can't do with this program. Whether it's a simple website or a very large online magazine or newspaper, or non-profit, whether the administration is done by one person or an entire team, it all works flawlessly.
  • Joomla! allows for many users and user roles which makes managing an online business a breeze.
  • Since I am using Joomla! 1.5 with this online magazine, I don't have experience in a newer version but overall I find it easy to work with Joomla!
  • Designing a template for Joomla! might be the hardest part to do and maybe could be done in an easier way.
  • More control over the featured image of an article would be nice. In Joomla! 1.5 it always grabs the first picture in an article to use on the article list pages, when sometimes you wish it could be a different image than the first one.
Katherine Hambley | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Edit in Context - Joomla allows editing in context right out of the box which Wordpress and other open source CMSs do not
  • Approval Chain processing - It is easy to set up an approval chain workflow in Joomla unlike other CMSs
  • The Admin page - Very well crafted admin page and access
  • More Templates! Wordpress has thousands of "themes" available and you just plug them in, in my experience, it's not that easy with Joomla.
  • There needs to be a Developer API, making it easy for devs to create plug-ins, templates, and access the back-end database.
  • I find that end users don't understand "articles" and other Joolma specific jargon. Stick with the defacto standard like "posts" and "pages"
August 06, 2014

TL:DR

Sarah Banas | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 3 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Clean cut, business-type design and layout. Looks good for business.
  • Solid core development and upgrades, stable.
  • Majority of plugins are costly to use, even in basic versions. Have to pay to use most plugin functionality.
  • Separating component/plugin/module is over-complicating development. Combining the functionality together would make it much simpler, perhaps cleaner.
  • Upgrade the plugin repo. While listing some available plugins, oftentimes you still have to externally download them upload said plugin.
August 06, 2014

Easy to use CMS

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Available templates that are easy to customize and deploy almost immediately
  • Great open source so a lot of available documentation/support to help with issues
  • Easy to use interface and easy to hand off to client to update on their on with minimal support from us.
  • More embedded templates for menu, header, slide show and footer customization instead of having to implement 3rd party modules.
  • More in-built templates to select from so there is no need to look for other templates to customize to have some basic layout with responsive design.
  • Better security measures would help some sites that have been hacked in the past. We were able to control that through the cPanel through our hosting services.
August 05, 2014

Joomla! Review

Score 4 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
  • Easy to build websites. Most of the tools on Joomla! are self-explanatory.
  • Great templates- most templates created for Joomla! have a modern look
  • More hands on assistance and trouble shooting
  • Easier way to migrate or integrate with other programs
Pradeep Wickramanayake | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
  • Joomla is capable of handling medium to large online stores
  • Joomla is capable of handling large content as well as blogging websites
  • Joomla overall is easily accessible and client friendly
  • More versality in Extensions
  • - Shopping Cart
  • - Blogging
  • - Forums
  • - Slideshows
  • - Galleries
  • More support needed
  • They release quick new versions too freqently
Vince Ginsburg | TrustRadius Reviewer
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
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