Content management systems (CMS) have
gained a good deal of popularity over the last decade or so. While CMSs have
existed in some form for quite some time now, it wasn’t until relatively
recently that they have taken the form they do today. The catalyst for this
change has been the proliferation of high-speed internet connections that have
made watching high definition video, for example, over the internet a real
possibility.
Joomla may be one of the many
CMS systems out there, but it happens to be one of the Titans. In
fact, it is the second most popular CMS in the world today, with WordPress
pipping it to the top spot. A little over 3% of all websites online today utilize
Joomla. Not only is the software well-known and respected among web developers,
but it also has a solid and dedicated community behind it and a team of
vigilant developers.
Joomla enables even those with no prior
coding or web design experience to produce professional looking websites with
relative ease. If you are a business owner, this is extremely helpful, as all
businesses are expected to have professional websites, even though relatively
few entrepreneurs have the know-how to make one.
What is Joomla?
As far as CMSs go, WordPress is the
undisputed champion. There’s no getting around the fact that WordPress is more
widely used and more popular. However, WordPress isn’t for everyone and
competition in the form of viable alternatives is important.
If you have ever tried to use WordPress but
found that you just can’t get along with it, Joomla is well worth checking out.
The platform takes its name from the Swahili word “jumla”, which approximately
translates as “whole” or “all together”. Joomla’s creators have stated that the
name is a reflection on the platform’s purpose and open source nature.
Joomla launched in 2005, making it nearly
15 years old now. In that time, it has grown to be used on more than 3% of all
websites online today. It is becoming an increasingly popular tool for creating
websites among those who have no formal training and many web design
experts use it. Joomla offers the rare combination of an advanced feature set
and a simple and intuitive user interface.
All things considered, Joomla is a
versatile and highly scalable platform that can be used to produce high-quality
websites for personal or business use.
How it Works
For those who are unaware, a CMS is a
system that enables multiple users to collaborate on a single website. Each
user of the CMS can modify, create, add, and delete digital content to be
published on a website. Generally, CMS’s are used to make web design much
simpler for those who aren’t HTML coders.
Whereas WordPress was designed specifically
with blogging in mind, Joomla is pitched as a much more general CMS that can be
used for just about any type of website. Joomla can be utilized at every stage
of a website’s life cycle – its conception and design, the building of the site,
and its long-term maintenance.
Joomla is similar to WordPress in a number
of ways. Both CMSs are designed to make creating and building websites
accessible to those who have no prior training. You will find plenty of
templates for Joomla on this website. These templates can be used to create the
outline of websites for specific purposes. The user can then populate and
refine the template until it resembles the kind of final website they want.
Why Joomla?
The number of tools available to the modern
web designer can be overwhelming at times, especially if you don’t have the
benefit of experience to guide you through the choices. There are a plethora of
tools on the market today for just about every task you could think of that is
related to web design and maintenance in any way. For many people, Joomla is
just one of many other tools that they’ve never used, so what makes it worth
it?
Joomla’s greatest asset and selling point
is its scalability and flexibility, both of which make it one of the most versatile
and scalable CMS options out there. Joomla offers more technical functionality
than WordPress, although to unlock this extra potential you will need to be
able to do some coding. Joomla is better for managing some types of website
than WordPress, and the number of businesses and universities that use Joomla
is steadily rising.
For the most advanced users, the Joomla
Framework allows developers to write their own modules and design
their own systems, so the possibilities are virtually endless. And yet, in
spite of its advanced feature set, Joomla remains one of the most usable and
accessible CMS systems out there today.
Getting Started With Joomla
You can use the Joomla launch service to
create a free website and to try out all the different features that Joomla
offers. This is the best way of deciding if Joomla is right for you, no amount
of reading and researching beforehand is going to tell you whether Joomla is
right for you better than some first-hand experience will.
Joomla’s Launch service enables you to
experiment with Joomla without making any strong commitments. This is
definitely a much better option than paying for a domain name, hosting package,
etc., just so you can try and build something with Joomla. If you decide that
you like the way it all works and you have access to all the features and
functionality that your website will need, installing Joomla on a self-hosted
website is about as straightforward and simple as it could be.
Joomla is not going to be suited to everyone.
Some people will find WordPress, or another CMS, to be better suited to their
needs. The best CMS system for you is the one that leads to the best end
results. Don’t base your CMS decision on anything other than the quality of the
website that will result. Make sure you take the time to try out different CMS
before you commit to a particular system. Remember, the right website can make
or break a business.
