When it comes to choosing a CMS, I am often asked which is better: Joomla or WordPress. Although both are unique and powerfully different, they also have many similarities. Both Joomla and WordPress are open source software, which allows them to be easily customized to suit your needs; often deciding which one is best to use becomes a daunting task. So, we bring you a comparison between Joomla and WordPress to help you make an informed decision:
Basic function:
In WordPress: WordPress is a website engine, which allows all the work of installing and running the system, as well as publishing basic content, very easy.
In Joomla: Joomla is about managing and publishing a bunch of different types of content, in various ways.
Primary use:
On WordPress: Although it started as a blogging tool, it has evolved into a full CMS. You can check out the NY Times blogs to take a look at what WordPress can do. However, WordPress still caters primarily to newbies.
In Joomla: caters to end users, developers, and designers alike.
Estimated number of users:
On WordPress: There are 54,971,377 WordPress sites in the world. More than 333 million people view more than 2.5 billion pages each month. WordPress.com users produce around 500,000 new posts and 400,000 new comments on an average day.
In Joomla: As of March 2012, Joomla has been downloaded over 30 million times. It is believed to be the second most used CMS after WordPress.
Expansion Plugins vs. extensions:
On WordPress: There are over 20,951 WordPress plugins in the directory, which have been downloaded 338,446,638 times and counting.
In Joomla: Joomla has 3 types of extensions: Components, Modules, Plugins. Each of these extensions handles a specific function. According to Joomla! Extensions Directory, 10019 extensions have been served to the community.
Expansion issues vs. templates:
On WordPress: There are thousands of WordPress themes, some free, some paid. The free WordPress themes directory lists 1,580 themes, which a user can download at no cost.
In Joomla: Although there is no central directory where templates are stored, it is estimated that there are over 8,000 templates (counting both free and commercial ones).
Popular companies using the CMS:
In WordPress:
yahoo! (Internet search)
PlayStation Blog (Gaming Blog)
eBay (online auction purchases)
Boise State (educational)
Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs (Celebrity)
In Joomla:
MTV Networks Quizilla (social media)
IHOP (restaurant chain)
Harvard University (educational)
– Citibank (Financial Institutions Intranet)
– The Green Maven (Ecological Resources)
– Outdoor photographer (Magazine)
– Play Shakespeare.com (Cultural)
– Senso Interiors (Furniture design)
– Thousands of government agencies worldwide
Security:
On WordPress: The availability of various security plugins for WordPress has simplified the task of managing your CMS security. WordPress tools can check for various updates to core files and installed plugins and automatically patch them, further simplifying the admin’s job. You can further enhance security by changing the administrative account name of the default administrator through the MYSQL command line client. Features like password protection, restricting and changing file permissions, separate database management, firewall plugins, etc. They help strengthen the overall security of WordPress.
In Joomla: Joomla’s core code, based on MySQL and PHP, is largely considered safe and secure.
User base and support:
On WordPress: Although it has a loyal user base, the WordPress forums are not as active as the Joomla ones.
In Joomla: a large user base and a high level of activity on the Joomla forum.
Installed CMS size:
In WordPress: Around 10 MB on the server.
In Joomla: Joomla installs in about 30 MB, while a small workstation can take up 100 MB of space.
SEO:
On WordPress: WordPress has tunable plugins, which can help improve your rankings.
In Joomla: You can get 100% perfect metadata and SEF URLs if you have your website setup right. However, the tables in the layout schema pose a problem.
Ideal for:
On WordPress: Small 5-10 single page sites up to large and expansive sites.
In Joomla: Websites that can be expanded to include a multitude of functionalities.
