Joomla vs. Wordpress

[cgueyser]

Hello!

I am not too familiar with website development. However, I am continually told that our website (job search website / www.herkandassociates.com) was built on the wrong platform. We are currently operating out of a Wordpress program that actively communicates with our internal CRM of 50k people. Our new developer is suggesting migrating over to Joomla or Drupal in order to maximize efficiency and code transparency. Does anyone else have any thought on this? I appreciate all opinions!

[bruhaha66]

I have used both. There are benefits and drawbacks to each. Wordpress was designed for simple postings of discrete articles like blogs with enhanced features not found on blogger.

I looked at your site. I think it looks great and seems straightforward. What are you wanting to do with it that WP doesn't do?

I'd go with Joomla before Drupal anyday.

[ircmaxell]

If you're doing a blog, it's hard to beat WP... If you're ever (EVER) going to do more than just a blog, you're wasting time, money, and effort with WP...

[cgueyser]

Thank you for those responses! I think the problem doesn't lie in the layout or look of the site, but the internal workings. It seems that the word press requirs a lot more custom coding in order to get it working the way we would like. I guess it is more of a concern about having different people, besides my original developer, being able to come in and pick up where he left off without the difficulty of learning the custom code he created. Any thoughts?

[ajparker]

I've toyed around with using Joomla a few times. My question would be is there any straightforward to migrate/import post and page data from wordpress into joomla?

(Coming from someone with hundreds of posts and pages....)

[cgueyser]

Unfortunately, it does not seem to be the case. Since this original post we went through with the migration. We have a great developer who is creating a mirror image of our site, re-building it on joomla, then launching it once we give approval. He tells me that it may be anywhere from 1 to 2 weeks to accomplish. The reason it is more complicated is because our original site contains a lot of custom coding that must be deciphered and tranfered. However, it seems to me that it would have been a simpler more straitforward process otherwise.

[earnextraincome]

Wordpress really doesn’t really compare to Drupal and Joomla. Wordpress is much more specialized as a blogging engine rather than a general purpose CMS. I think Wordpress has a much better templating system than Joomla and Drupal and is easier to customize because of this.

[ircmaxell]

I think Wordpress has a much better templating system than Joomla and Drupal and is easier to customize because of this.

That's the first time I've heard that. I know Drupal's templating engine is lacking, but every designer I've talked to LOVES J!'s templating system...

[foke]

Wordpress really doesn’t really compare to Drupal and Joomla. Wordpress is much more specialized as a blogging engine rather than a general purpose CMS. I think Wordpress has a much better templating system than Joomla and Drupal and is easier to customize because of this.

You got that right!

[submit726]

I have used WordPress and there are many great templates out there to make it look less like a Blog and more like a Website.
for me, adding/editing posts is much easier in wordpress.
Joomla seems much more complicated and you have to understand what goes where with sections and categories and articles and menus.
Wordpress is very straightforward so if you're not techy at all than Wordpress is the way to go.
If you can understand how to build your site using Joomlas components, its sweet, but much more complicated to the average person.

[rh1]

I realy don't want to get beat up by a WordPress vs Joomla! rant, but I do wnat to start to learn more about Joomla!

I have built a couple of hundred WordPress sites, mostly Blogs but a couple of static sites too. I do own one Joomla! site that someone else built for me several years ago and it is really an excellent site.

I hope to learn more about this cool program.

I wrote a Blog post about this subject at:
[removed self promotion]

[stevetsi]

This has been said many times before and I'll say it again:

Wordpress is a great blogging tool.

It is NOT a robust content management system.

Here's an example:

Revolutiontheme dot com.

On the one hand, they make great WP themes that can make your site look like a full fledged news site like washingtonpost dot com or cnn dot com.

BUT

...and this is a big BUT...

The functionality that is created is coded INTO THE THEME - IT IS NOT NATIVE TO THE WORDPRESS CORE. All the rotating slideshows and tabs, and cool menus and article lists are created by a combination of widgets and custom coding in the template that makes the widgets work and look the way they do.

What's more, is that if you were to change your theme, you would loose a bunch of the functionality that your previous them had built into it.

God bless WordPress and it's community, but the devoted following that's trying to hammer it into a real CMS is doing more harm than good. Theme-specific functionality and a rapidly evolving user interface and code base is making it difficult for developers to look at WordPress as a standardized platform - yet many still follow.

Alright, I'll give you some reasons why Joomla is more powerful than Wordpress.

-Multiple Templates:
You can install multiple templates in Joomla and then assign the to different sections of your website selecting the *menu link* for which you want a give template to display. This means you can have completely different looking pages of your website, that can serve a variety of different functionalities.

-Module Position Assignment:
This one is big. When you create a template, you can set Joomla code that generates the content for a specific module position. Then, when you assign module, you assign it to a position name the specific *MENU LINK* for which you want that module to appear. You could even create a menu link that's assigned to an entire *SECTION* of content, so that a given module can appear on every page in that section. Remember the templates above? They can work the same way too!

-Plugins:
Joomla plugins are extensions which specifically *ACT* on content. They don't make the page you see, they just make it look different. There's plugins that can auto-generate specific code (like other articles by this author) on in articles. There's plugins that that can replace blocks of text (like {joomlaplugin} ) with other modules, components or other custom code. There's plugins whose function is to extend search capability, editor functionality and more.

-Components:
Think of them like programs you install on your website. You could have a component that is a project manager, a shopping cart, a forum or even just gives you a unique way of organizing content and displaying it on a given page.

-THE JOOMLA FRAMEWORK
HERE'S THE BIG ONE: Joomla is a CMS that is built on the JOOMLA FRAMEWORK. The Joomla Framework, as far as I have seen so far, is the MOST ROBUST *AND* EASY TO USE OPEN-SOURCE TOOL-SET for building web applications (using php/html/css/java/mysql).

-Themses?
OK, rocketheme dot com, joomlart dot com, templateplazza dot com, yootheme dot com, shape5 dot com.... Bestofjoomla dot com has a good list of them.

BUT

If you want to roll your own, you can make it look ANY WAY YOU WANT.

Indulge me for a moment...

Open Dreamweaver and create a blank html page. Now look at these functions:

Code: Select all

To include <head> content:  <jdoc:include type="head" />
To include a module:  <jdoc:include type="modules" name="somemoduleposition" style="xhtml" />
To include a component (usually com_content is called by this): <jdoc:include type="component" />
To include an error message:  <jdoc:include type="message" />

If you just dropped these functions in your html code ("head" goes between <head></head> and everything else between <body></bod>, you just made a Joomla template.

Alright, not quite so simple... you need a template_css.css, some images, an XML file with some template parameters and you need to package it all up as required by Joomla template standards. But the point is that, you can make your Joomla site look like whatever you want.

**A quick word on Access Control**
Joomla 1.6 will have a robust access control layer built in that will rival Drupal's and Wordpress'. Not that it matters, though, because solutions like JACLplus Pro (J1.5.x) have already provided this type of functionality in SPADES.

Did somebody say version control? Yup, been done as a variety of Joomla extensions.

Did somebody say SEO? How about sh404sef? Google it. Neither Drupal or Wordpress have anything that can compare to this. How many WP developers have had problems with their perma-links? Ask around. J.1.5.x already gives you the ability to define meta-descriptions, meta-keywords, robots, and authors, on a per article basis. sh404sef allows you do that as well as define custom <title> tag for any link in your website.

Anyway, sorry for this long post. I just get so tired hearing the endless banter about what Drupal, Joomla, WP, Expression Engine, dotNetnuke, blah, blah, blah are all capable of... yet somehow people keep missing all the questions that *Joomla* IS able to answer.

[Div Morbonzi]

Some fine posts on this, I will simply reiterate what has be said before: if you ONLY want a blog, wordpress is great; if you want anything more use Joomla and install wordpress as
http://www.yoursite/blog

It is a piece of cake to alter a word press theme to match a joomla template. So you do not "wrap" your blog, you treat it as an external link. Yes, if you change/alter the joomla theme, or menus, you will have to go into wp and change it also, but this takes moments. It helps to know html/css very well and just a tad bit of understanding php. You will be using two different databases also, the wp and the joomla. I have no experience with a bridge (I believe there is a new commercial one available). Just explaining how I do it.

DM

[stevetsi]

Regarding Wordpress in Joomla...

Check out corephp dot com. They have fully integrated the latest version of Wordpress into Joomla in a single install. You have to pay for it, but the integration is flawless.

[cphousing]

Regarding Wordpress in Joomla...

Check out corephp dot com. They have fully integrated the latest version of Wordpress into Joomla in a single install. You have to pay for it, but the integration is flawless.

Hey folks, bit new on the site, created a joomla gig, wanting to add a blog feature.

Wordpress seems great, the joomla integration sounds awesome, but I'm curious if there are any budget (i.e. free) options....

I did some bridge thing for bringing together logins for phpBB3 which I also installed and that seems to integrate nicely with joomla. I don't have to use wordpress, but seems to be good. But again, on a budget, are there any good alternatives or should I just pony up for the integrated solution?

thanks folks.

-colin

[cphousing]

just installed wordpress for fun.... this may be slightly off topic, but now wondering if this is what I need.

I'd like a blog for multiple users, in that I want the top site to have some user blogs (users maintain their own, hopefully customizable per the individual).

I suppose linking in the joomla integration piece may not be great then.... I only want certain people to be able to maintain a blog (not any random user). don't mind manually dealing with those permissions, I don't expect many, just a handful for the moment.

well, hopefully this question is OK.... Just starting to get familiar on the forum....

thanks,
-colin

Regarding Wordpress in Joomla...

Check out corephp dot com. They have fully integrated the latest version of Wordpress into Joomla in a single install. You have to pay for it, but the integration is flawless.

Hey folks, bit new on the site, created a joomla gig, wanting to add a blog feature.

Wordpress seems great, the joomla integration sounds awesome, but I'm curious if there are any budget (i.e. free) options....

I did some bridge thing for bringing together logins for phpBB3 which I also installed and that seems to integrate nicely with joomla. I don't have to use wordpress, but seems to be good. But again, on a budget, are there any good alternatives or should I just pony up for the integrated solution?

thanks folks.

-colin

[cphousing]

as I go along, I seem to be answering my own questions.... searched through the list of blog tools available. Picked idoblog. working with that now.... will ask questions about it later... !

[stevetsi]

@cphousing

If you've got the money, the Wordpress/Joomla integration by Corephp dot com is COMPLETELY worth it. Just make sure you understand css a little bit first before you try to customize the theme since it's been modified to work within a Joomla template.

The WP/Joomla integration actually assigned a unique Item ID to your blog link (created via Joomla, of course) so you can assign modules in various positions on your WP blog pages.

Also, WP permalinks work, too, and SEF functionality is compatible with sh404sef.

Honestly, it's almost too good to be true. You can even create a Joomla section that houses the *wordpress* categories (this is done via a Joomla plugin). This way, when you assign a category to your blog post, you can then list that content via Joomla by referencing the associated Joomla category ID (that's automatically created when you assign the WP category).

Either way, the argument should have never been between Joomla vs Wordpress, it should be Joomla vs Drupal. With the huge development-base behind it and that ACL improvements due in J1.6, Joomla looks like you safest bet to invest your time and money.

Keep in mind that, what the "versus" debates are really about is not just current overall functionality, but the promise of future development and support. This holds particularly true for businesses that need to know that their temporal and monetary investment will pay off in the years ahead. This is where the promise of *good* open source software really shines.

[spidolster]

I am using both joomla and wordpress. and as far as i know, joomla has some minor problems: hackers tend to attack joomla sites more than wordpress. I've been raided by turks and chinese hackers. And i don't like it. but wordpress also hard to develop, if we talking about functionality other than blogging.

[brianb63]

WP works pretty well as a general CMS, not just for blogging. But I think you may be right in that Joomla may be easier for developing additional functionality and custom coding. That said, it is still very doable and not necessarily essential to migrate to Joomla, though I see you have already gotten started on that as well.

[spignataro]

@stevetsi

Thanks for the kind comments - in the future we do plan on adding additional power for the end user on the template side - this will prolly come within the next month or two - only so much time for development.

Look forward for more news on that end later.

Kindest regards,

[kolkataseo]

waiting to see additional power for the end user on the template side =)

[aKosmAn]

wp and integrated with joomla in the same db, the problem olurmu

[louisjunwe]

Agree with "ircmaxell",
If you're doing a blog, it's hard to beat WP... If you're ever (EVER) going to do more than just a blog, you're wasting time, money, and effort with WP.
If you are selling something, simple html page may be better.

[richpig]

A bit late to this party but what about the free K2 component for blogging on Joomla. An amazing free tool that does so much more than just adding a great blogging system, check it out if its not too late!