Although knowing how to write HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are excellent marketable skills for Web developers, the days of creating websites from scratch are just about over. In today’s age, content management systems are used to create websites instead. Content management systems (or CMS for short) allow webmasters to create customizable websites quickly and at relatively low costs compared to creating an entire site from scratch.
When choosing a CMS, there are many options to choose from. WordPress and Joomla are two very popular choices, both with their own strengths and weaknesses. Let us analyze the pros and cons of each to determine which choice is best for your new website.
WordPress
Boasting over 140 million downloads, WordPress is the most popular CMS on the Web. It is the best choice for beginners given its widespread usage, easy installation, and knowledgeable support base. WordPress is also highly customizable with thousands of plugins and themes that can be used to modify a website to meet customer expectations along with professional hosting services optimised for its usage. A professional-looking website can be set up for free using WordPress, but premium themes and plugins exist which provide even more functionality.
WordPress is an extremely versatile CMS, but it is geared more towards blogs and personal sites. Users that want to create a quality blog can do so in under five minutes. More complex sites will take more time, but they can also be created. Online shops, for instance, can be created using WordPress.
Installing WordPress may be a cinch, but modifying WordPress themes is not an easy task for those of us without much Web design knowledge. For this reason, customizing a site down to a ‘T’ may be difficult for newer webmaster. Creating complex websites will be a chore without proper support or lots of practice.
WordPress is probably the best CMS to chose for personal sites and those that are new to creating a Web presence due to its ease of use. Those that need more power will have to look to other alternatives, however.
Joomla
When a webmaster needs more power than what WordPress can provide, they may want to look to Joomla. Joomla has earned second place in the CMS popularity contest with over 63 million downloads. Since it is not as widespread as WordPress, there are not as many themes or plugins available for this content management system, but with over a thousand themes and seven thousand free plugins, there is still a lot to choose from.
Joomla is more challenging to get up and running compared to WordPress, but this cost of complexity comes with the reward of being more robust. Webmasters that want to quickly set up an eCommerce website or social network are better off choosing Joomla over WordPress. Yes, it will take some technical savvy to be able to set up, but luckily, the learning curve is not too steep and there is a supportive help portal that can help you to get your site up and running.
Joomla is incredibly versatile, and can be used to create just about any kind of site. It may be overpowered for a simple blog, but it really shines when a more complex site needs to be created. Compared to WordPress, this CMS will take more work to install, but compared to other alternatives, the learning curve is much more shallow. This combination of easy-of-use and versatility makes it a great middle-of-the-road choice for setting up a website.
Conclusion
There really is no perfect CMS. With enough time and effort, any CMS can be used to set up the site of your dreams, but when some are geared towards particular sites, it is better to utilize what would take minimal effort to get a site off of the ground. That being said, the type of website that you are trying to build and your comfort level with the usage of Web-based technology come into play when making your decision.
If you are looking to create a personal blog or small business site, then WordPress is the better of the two options mentioned in this article. Those that are trying to build online shops or their own social networks will want to get set up with Joomla. The best part about it is that other than the installation of premium themes or plugins, both CMS options are free giving users the chance to try them both out!
