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Content Management Systems

Which Content Management System Is Right For Me?

Content Management Systems (CMS) are nothing more than a set of files designed to assist in the creation, storage, and manipulation of website data. Web Content Management Systems (WCMS) are able to handle all types of internet files such as HTML, PHP, Flash, Java, and more.

CMS’s have evolved greatly over the last ten years. With today’s open source (free) content management systems it is possible for someone with limited knowledge of website programming to make a functioning website for their personal or business use.

In this article we will attempt to show the strengths and the weaknesses of the two most popular CMS systems that are freely available on the market today and what types of website should consider using them.

Joomla!

Joomla! has become one of the most widely used CMS systems for website designers, especially over the last three years. The Joomla project grew out of open source development of an older CMS platform known as Mambo. Joomla emerged in 2005 and has quickly become the top CMS platform and most downloaded for a variety many reasons. Below we will look at the top three reasons Joomla! has experienced such Worldwide success.

1. Out of the box functional website

Joomla is very easy to install and setup. Because of the module based nature of Joomla! and the fact that it is template driven, a website owner is literally able to setup a Joomla! installation and have a working website up in less than 30 minutes. The flexibility of Joomla is evident when one delves into customizing even the free templates that are integrated within the standard Joomla! installation. Because it is so easy to install and customize, Joomla! is a fully functional CMS that can be utilized by nearly any vertical market large or small.

Some of the most well known sites using Joomla! as their content management system today include big players such as:

No matter how big or how small your website is going to be, it is wise for someone considering a CMS system to take a hard look at Joomla as your first choice. Once you begin to recognize the true power and flexibility of the Joomla! CMS platform it is very difficult to deny why it has become the top CMS platform in the world.

2. Ease of administration

Many people have very little knowledge of HTML, PHP, CSS, and other web based programming languages. This is why many website designers have begun to favor the Joomla! CMS platform. The front end administration of Joomla! is very well organized and simple to navigate. With one training call with your clients, a web designer is able to effectively show the website owner how to add, remove, and change content easily. As long as the user has some experience with Microsoft Word, they will have no problem at all using the Joomla administration panel to manage their websites.

This ease of use is what we rate the #2 best feature of the Joomla! CMS platform is for both web designers and end users.

Advanced programmers are still able to access the .PHP files directly and modify them in any way they see fit. This is why the Joomla! platform is also so popular with website designers.

3. Diverse community developed extensions

This final point should not be overlooked. There are thousands upon thousands of user developed free and commercial extensions for the Joomla! platform. Extension for Joomla! can be found for virtually any need one may have with a website. Extension range from things as small as adding Google tracking code to your site easily to as large as a complete community management system.

Joomla! extensions have been developed specifically to help many vertical markets needs such as realtors, car salesment, and most importantly e-commerce. As was uncovered in our last blog about Joomla! it’s even possible to buy an extension that integrates a WordPress blog into your Joomla! website installation.

joomla modules

Drawbacks To Joomla!

The biggest drawback we have found to date with Joomla is that it has not been able to truly integrate the power of other CMS systems such as Worpress into it’s existing website installation. We get around this by integrating WordPress manually into the Joomla! website, however many people find this too difficult to do on their own. For those people there is a pay extension available that integrates WordPress fairly well into Joomla!. It is not 100% complete integration, but it is good enough in most cases.

WordPress

WordPress is a system that has been around since 2001. Most people did not start actively using WordPress until 2005 with their version 1.5 release that introduced themes. In 2005 their 1.5 version was downloaded 900,000 times. In 2009 estimates put WordPress downloads well above 4 million!

WordPress has grown for a standard blogging platform into a fully functional content management system in it’s own right. Worpress.com is available to host blogs for those that want the absolute simplest method of blogging software. WordPress.org is where one can download the WordPress software that is needed to install on your host.

The top three reason for the success of WordPress include:

1. King of the blogging hill

WordPress is the undefeated, one of a kind, king of the hill blogging platform. WordPress simply has no equal when it comes to a powerful, SEO ready, scalable blogging system. With social media and social marketing becoming an ever increasing part of of every business’s marketing strategy, it is clear why WordPress has gained such a huge dominance in the marketplace for blogging software.

Because of the incredible community participation is the WordPress project, with the help of plugins and administrator customization, it’s quite possible for a website owner to create an entire site using nothing but the WordPress CMS platform for both static pages and dynamic blogging. As WordPress further develops it will surely gain even more footing over more popular CMS platforms such as Joomla! for complete website CMS .

2. diverse community developed plugins

The community has many free and pay commercial plugins that help to customize and extend the basic functionality of WordPress. Thanks to these unique plugins and other Worpress hacks, website owners are able to utilize WordPress installation as a one stop CMS for small and large website projects alike.

Some popular blogs you may not have known were powered by WordPress include:

3. simple administration interface

Wodpress has bar none one of the most straightforward, no nonsense user interfaces of any CMS you will ever see. The WordPress administration is elegant and at the same time powerful. Without having any programming knowledge at all, a website designer’s client would likely be able to figure out how to navigate and blog using the WordPress administration panel easily.

The WordPress administration interface is one of those areas where a programmer can learn a valuable lesson. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID! Website owners with no knowledge of programming can very easily manipulate their way to blogging utopia using the simple administration of WordPress. There really isn’t much more to say then wonder at the simple glory of the WordPress administration interface people!

wordpress admin panel

Drawbacks To WordPress

Okay so WordPress hasn’t exactly grown into a fully functional out of the box CMS platform for website development. Most website owners needing an in depth website platform will find themselves very frustrated with the limitations that WordPress has for them. The “out of the box” website is simply not there yet for WordPress.

User created hacks and plugins however greatly enhance the flexibility and scalability of WordPress as a full fledged content management system. For those not at least somewhat familiar with HTML or PHP, you may not be ready to try your hand at using WordPress as a one stop shop for your website development needs. WordPress is clearly on a path to becoming a full CMS platform and every year they are making leaps and bounds with the out of the box functionality of the WordPress platform.

There is no doubt that one day WordPress will rival Joomla!, Drupal, and other CMS platforms for dominance.

As it stands today website owners must evaluate the needs of their websites before deciding on a CMS platform to work from. At the highest level we recommend WordPress to anyone with a website that will be heavy on social media and blogging. Joomla! is often the first choice for static and dynamic scalable websites that may have special needs depending on your vertical market.

We welcome the insights and comments of others using these two powerful platforms and your thoughts on how to help others determine which platform is the right one for them.


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This entry was posted on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at 8:07 PM and is filed under website design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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  • The post of content is very interesting and exciting. I learned a lot from here.The content from simple to complex, so all of you can come in . No matter you want to see what can be found.By the way ,there are some websites is also very wonderful,you can go and see.such as ajf 3
  • The post of content is very interesting and exciting. I learned a lot from here.The content from simple to complex, so all of you can come in . No matter you want to see what can be found.By the way ,there are some websites is also very wonderful,you can go and see.such as ajf 3
  • I have been using (developing on) WP since 2006 and it has really come a long way. All tech stuff aside, what really keeps me using it is how much easier it is to teach my client to use. It has a very User friendly admin panel and people are overall less intimidated by Wordpress IMO.
  • I ran a Joomla site for a year and gave up - it was so fiddly and frustrating. I switched the site to Wordpress, which is so much easier and, in my view, more flexible. Also, software upgrades were a nightmare whereas they are completely painless now in Wordpress. I am in the process of migrating my corporate site to Wordpress and my blog has always been on Wordpress. Unless you have a very specific reason for using Joomla - and I can't really see what it might be - use Wordpress.
  • Wordpress is becoming the best CMS - not just for blogging anymore!

    I was just reading an article about how it's best for SEO too!
    http://bit.ly/bqsgcq
  • I agree with Matt, I think the biggest thing is the mentality that Wordpress is your CMS. I personally would choose Wordpress over any other CMS for the almost all the same things that were called drawbacks earlier! Good article though :D
    .-= Justin Bartlett´s last blog ..HSBC Loan Modification =-.
  • Keith Marc
    I agree with Daniel Bardi, that many people are overlooking the the .Net platform. Especially those who need to keep their budgets at minimum. And it's so easy - there are free editions of the commercial asp.net solutions like Sitefinity or Kentico CMS. They can be used even for commercial purposes - you save a lot of money and get a profesional UI, stable product and enough features to meet your needs.
  • Wow! That's really great article describing 2 most powerful CMS. I think Drupal must also be added to this list and I saw the outgoing link to Joomla site is not correct.
    .-= Stephen´s last blog ..Use These Tips and Maximize your Earning With Paid Surveys =-.
  • Wow this is useful. Thanks.
  • Looks like the author has a little affection to joomla :)

    No one mentions that joomla is much harder to learn than wordpress...
  • Bo
    If you want a good and flexible website, that is capable of everything, you shouldn't even make this consideration. CMSes are great but do not offer any method for defining relationships between your data. It wouldnt be the first time i've seen people using CMS software for modelling their business logic only leaving them with a total mess. Only use Open Source CMS if it suits your project out of the box, or requires little effort or adaption.
  • One of the best and most flexible CMS systems I've found so far is MODx. It even allows you to modify flash templates through XML. Check it out.
  • JD
    Drupal should be here... the only problem with drupal is that non technical users will be lost when they use it without any experience but when you're used to it you'll definetely love it
    .-= JD´s last blog ..Get in touch with Wikipedia all the time with WikiReader =-.
  • Wordpress already is one of the best content management systems, but I agree that the out-of-the-box state might be a little limited and awkward.

    To be honest Website Baker has to be the one for me. It does everything Joomla! does only better, faster, uses less space and is more SEO friendly. I think Joomla! has become progressively better from the state it started out ... no access to titles, meta tags and some very awkward code.

    Drupal is very good too, but Wordpress has to be king of the content hill in terms of SEO friendliness!
  • I forgot to mention another contender. This would be BlogEngine.Net.. try it out!
    .-= Daniel Bardi´s last blog ..CRUSH IT! book review coming soon! =-.
  • Many people are overlooking the the .Net platform. It doesn't matter if you are a PHP developer and hate .Net. There are several CMS systems available on other platforms besides PHP. I would highly recommend that designs and developers move away from consider the platform and only focus on what is best for the clients. I think WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal all have there places on the web. We need to also consider Umbraco and DotNetNuke. I know the DNN is a portal system more so than a CMS, although it is very powerful. Umbraco is much more flexible and comforms to what you would consider a true CMS. Try them out and be unbiased about the technology.
    .-= Daniel Bardi´s last blog ..CRUSH IT! book review coming soon! =-.
  • I've been using WP for everything - from using it as a single landing page affiliate marketing site, full website for local business with blogging capabilities through to using membership plug-ins for a membership site.

    WP rocks for it's simplicity. And if you get stuck, you can find a WP expert who can customize your site for a very reasonable fee.

    When you think that web designers used to charge 5K plus for static websites (and still do) that do not have the SEO capabilities of WP, then it's obvious that WP has revolutionized the industry. I'm a fan.
  • Great blog and awesome tips! You guys keep me coming back, keep it up!
  • Ben
    Great article,
    I have set up wp for clients & joomla.
    I use only joomla now, it can be set up as a simple blog or a complete management system for anything and everything!
    as a web designer this is important.
    I would like to take a look at other open source systems, but I haven't gotten around to it as joomla has met & exceeded my needs in all cases.
  • Joomla is limberger. Stay away from it.
  • Nice Article, BUT I'd have to disagree...

    "There is no doubt that one day Wordpress will rival Joomla!, Drupal, and other CMS platforms for dominance."

    I Think it is much closer, if not above the others. You don't have to hack it at all. You jus thave to learn how to use it as CMS.
  • It is amazing how much power Wordpress has acquired over the years. Their platform is amazing and it seems to be getting better and better.
  • As a freelance SEO, the amount of quality seo plugins makes life a lot easier. The url rewriting is fantastic if you have had mod_rewrite stresss in the past.
  • I have personally used WordPress for my projects. It's semi-easy and there's a great deal of plugins and resources available. I'd be interested in seeing how Drupal compares as I know very little about it.
  • Why leave off Drupal, the CMS that has won best open source CMS two years running? Just sayin'...

    Why are people so fixated on making WP match the flexibility of systems like Drupal MODx, EE and Joomla? With greater flexibility comes weaker usability. Flexibility and easy of implementation are trade-offs. If you want easy and straight forward software use WP, if you want flexibility and a larger learning curve use a different CMS.

    It's about positioning. WP completely dominates the blogging market by being solid, easy to use blogging software. Trying to match other CMS's flexibility runs the risk of positioning WP as too complex for newer, non-technical people (the majority of their market share), yet still falling behind Drupal and Joomla in flexibility. I'm already seeing a lot of this with the Thesis theme.

    It will result in a "stuck in the middle" strategic position. If people think WP isn't meeting their CMS needs, use a different CMS instead of forcing a square peg into a round hole.

    The web needs an easy to use CMS like WP. There are plenty of Drupals, Joomlas and MODxs.
  • Rob,

    I have to agree with you that Wordpress "can" get you most of the way as it is. For more elaborate sites it's just not there yet. It surely does seem like they are on there way to getting there though. It's far less clunky them Joomla for sure which I'm sure has a lot to do with it's increase in popularity.

    Scoff... can you give some examples of how Drupal is more flexible than Joomla?

    Jon... never heard anyone say Wordpress is better as a complete CMS. I would love to see any examples you have of sites you've done using Wordpress as the CMS!
  • Rob
    Having used both, I personally prefer Wordpress.

    I agree without implementing hacks or hooks within the functions.php file Wordpress doesn't yet stand-up as a fully-fledged CMS for every site need. But I think it will get there - even though it has always sold itself as publishing/blogging software rather than a straight-out CMS solution.
    .-= Rob´s last blog ..September Highlights =-.
  • drupal, MODx, wordpress (for simple single-user blogs)
    joomla is popular but it's not as flexible as drupal and not as good for a "just blog" site as wordpress
    .-= scoff´s last blog ..Подборка красивых логотипов =-.
  • Lav
    We use Joomla and think it's great! But we have also heard great things about Wordpress too, and will definitely git it a shot on our next couple of sites.
    .-= Lav´s last blog ..A Short Introduction to Generating Keywords =-.
  • Nice article on Joomla and Wordpress.

    great
  • Jon
    Wordpress is a much better option for a straight CMS IMO. Lots of options and much better for SEO. Joolma much more bulky, less secure and harder to fit your design into, it does do a fair job on e-commerce, but I think Magento will start taking its market share away.
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