When it comes to choosing a CMS, I am often asked which is better: Joomla or WordPress. Although they are both unique and powerfully different, they also have many similarities. Both Joomla and WordPress are open source software, which allows you to easily customize them to suit your needs; Deciding which one is best to use often 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 the publication of basic content, to be very simple.
In Joomla: Joomla is for 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 grown into a full-fledged CMS. You can check out the NY Times blogs to take a look at what WordPress can do. However, WordPress still caters mostly 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.
On Joomla: As of March 2012, Joomla has been downloaded more than 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! Extension Directory, 10019 extensions have been served to the community.
Expansion Themes 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 free of charge.
In Joomla: Although there is no central directory where templates are stored, it is estimated that there are more than 8,000 templates (counting both free and commercial ones).
Popular companies using the CMS:
In WordPress:
yahoo! (web search)
PlayStation Blog (Video Games Blog)
eBay (online auction purchases)
Boise State (educational)
Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs (Celebrity)
In Joomla:
MTV Networks Quizilla (social networks)
IHOP (restaurant chain)
Harvard University (educational)
– Citibank (Intranet of Financial Institutions)
– The Green Maven (Green 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 the security of your CMS. WordPress tools can check for various updates to core files and installed plugins, and patch them automatically, further simplifying the admin’s job. You can further enhance security by renaming the administrative account from the default administrator via 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: The core code of Joomla, based on MySQL and PHP, is largely considered safe and secure.
User base and support:
On WordPress: Although it has a loyal user base, WordPress forums are not as active as Joomla.
In Joomla: a large user base and a high level of activity in 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 adjustable plugins, which can help improve your ranking.
In Joomla: You can get 100% perfect metadata and SEF URLs if you have your website setup correctly. However, tables in the layout schema pose a problem.
Ideal for:
On WordPress: Small 5-10 single page sites all the way up to large, expansive sites.
In Joomla: websites that can be expanded to include a multitude of features.