Joomla + Wordpress… All a Webmaster Needeth..
June 30, 2008 · Print This Article
Besides learning the basics of HTML and CSS which you can pick up pretty easy between what we provide at Ezy Websites and what’s all on the web — the massive amount of tutorials and resources on the web — you only need to learn 2 things.
Joomla and Wordpress satisfy any project that I ever want to tackle…
Yes, Wordpress is a blogging platform… but it’s versatile enough to use for regular ‘ol websites too. It’s basic, but knowing what your goals are for the site up front, it might be the right option.
See as an example: www.ezy-websites.com
And for the All-Inc Members reading this, you’ll know I use Wordpress to deliver all the content and products.. In fact, you’ll notice I gave it a face lift last night with a new, fresh theme (the last one I had to put to sleep.. it was wasting my time;)
Check it out here:
All-Inclusive Membership Area (All-Inc Members Only)
So it’s versatile.. but is it all you need? And is it right for every site? Answer is simple: No.
That’s where Joomla picks up for me.
Some of you have already seen what I did over the weekend.. I finally developed MattLevenhagen.com..
It uses Joomla. In fact, I go into detail exactly how I accomplished setting it up in under 30 minutes in this thread:
What Do You All Think of that Joomla Install? (Members Only Link)
It’s not only amazing, but super scalable. Support is unmatchable. Huge community; huge documentation.
And there are tons of tutorials out there… tons of templates to help you build an outstanding site.
—
Why am I telling you this today?
Well, Ezy isn’t just about building a site in a snap, but about focusing on solutions that can be used for a variety of uses — and that can be free.
I have thought about including an HTML site builder as a service at Ezy.. maybe I will someday. It’s not hard to build, but..
Is it necessary? And is it possible that Tomorrow is here today. Do we really need anything besides what Wordpress can do and Joomla?
Why wouldn’t you want an easy interface to add and modify content? Why wouldn’t you not want to forget FTPing all together? Why wouldn’t you want an easy way to update an entire website with ease..
And the other 100+ benefits that comes with a Content Management System.
—
Is there a bigger learning curve that just working with regular ‘ol templates?
Maybe.. maybe not. Actually I think Joomla’s new interace in 1.5 is much cleaner and it’s pretty easy to get around. You’ll note that I’ve been using Joomla for the CBS membership for almost 3 years… I’ve loved it and after the learning curve and I had it set up, it’s been a cinch!
So what’s the hardest part? Getting it set up right?
So if setting something up is the hardest part, but if you live through it, content management becomes a 100 Times easier… what’s the problem?
What if it took you 5 times as long to learn how to use Joomla than just building a regular ‘ol HTML/CSS static site.. (that’s debatable.. actually I think it would take about 10 times less time to learn Joomla than to work with regular templates and code in HTML/CSS)..
But what if it not only saved you time adding content and managing it for years, but also allowed you to manage the success of your site.. in other words, you won’t grow out of it and you’ll never have to worry about your content becoming unmanagable..
The time it saves there and in other areas I believe can eclipse any downside of the learning curve and the time it takes to get the hang of it.
—
Where’s your time better spent?
Just think on that… are you wasting your time with scripts and solutions that might be out of date in 6 months? Or the support and development may or may not be there in a year or 3?
I’m more comfortable sticking with software that is well established and there’s no question the development team will still be there for years to come.. and that not only gives me a dynamic platform, but the piece of mind that I won’t ever have to worry about outgrowing my solution.
Boy… Almost sounds like I’m selling something that’s free today? But I’m a big supporter of open-source… doesn’t cost you a dime unless you purchase themes or mods etc… (if they ask for donations, don’t hesitate!)
Hope you found this enlightening!
-Matt Levenhagen
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
[...] Go to the author’s original blog: Joomla + Wordpress… All a Webmaster Needeth.. [...]
I agree with you on WordPress Matt.
It’s really easy to use and quick to adapt with.
Support and Template, Scripts available everywhere for free is the main consideration for everyone who’d start a site or blog.
I’ve tried to build a plain website using some free HTML builder, a plain HTML webpage. It was really pain and time wasting.
Joomla?Hmm…. I am not really sure about Joomla.
It seems great, many people have rave about it everywhere.
I once consider to use Joomla for my blog, but I changed my mind after few minutes trying to get ‘the feel’ of the interface.
There are so many buttons and options! I wonder where i should started with
On the other side, WP is very easy to understand. The interface are great, I just spend few minutes to find a way to post my first post. ( No, It’s not the hello world, lol)
Anyway, I’ll see try and get my hand dirty with Joomla someday.
Thanks for the insight!
Hendra
Matt:
Good post…and I agree with you 100%. I’ll be honest with you, as a all-inclusive customer of your’s, I NEVER use the Ezy Websites stuff. I haven’t even logged into it. Why? Because I use WordPress for everything and I think HTML builders and templates are archaic and too static. Sure they’re good for building landing pages and the like, but I can even do that with WordPress!
I hope someday you turn Ezy Websites into a WordPress template/how to site and can the old-school HTML stuff.
Travis
Hendra, there is definitely a bigger learning curve with Joomla than Wordpress.. WP is simply a blogging platform; Joomla is a feature-rich, powerful Content Management System. It takes some getting used to, but it’s no different as far as how you can categorize content and it has even a more feature rich editor - far and beyond what you have with WP…
WP can be used as a ‘basic’ CMS.. Joomla IS a CMS.
I don’t think either/or is bad though… as I mentioned in the forum, Joomla’s another option.. it can do everything that Wordpress can do and a whole lot more.
You just have to know your long term objectives with your site and what type of look and feel you want.. what functionality you want now or to build in the future. How scalable do you need or want your site to be?
–
Travis, it’s very likely that’s the direction I’m going to be taking Ezy… part of the reason I posted this to get some feedback in that dept to see if my gut is right..
I don’t think I’m phasing out the HTML/CSS/PHP training.. I think it’s important even if you are developing sites with dynamic solutions. Even just learning the basics will help you out tremendously. It’s not always the best use of your time and money to outsource every little tweak.
Even though I use and build sites with Wordpress, Joomla and even osCommerce, I still find I need to know how to code with HTML, CSS and PHP to really have more flexibility with my design etc..
But I think I will seek out tutorials and materials.. and create tutorials and materials.. for Wordpress and Joomla.. maybe other CMS etc, but I do want to have a focus mostly on those 2. And those 2 are a couple of the more popular solutions that I have personally the most experience working with.
I appreciate both your feedback! Thanks for taking the time!
-Matt Levenhagen