Are you contemplating between WordPress and Joomla for your website? There are plenty of amazing reasons to utilize WordPress.
However, WordPress (WP) is not the only Content Management System (CMS) that would help you to build and create a website.
We have researched multiple CMS’ stats that are available in the market. We have compared WordPress to them as well.
In this article, we will compare WordPress to Joomla.
Let’s dig a little deeper into each of these CMS’ so that we get clarity on each of these platforms and look at the various pros and cons they offer.
Contents
WordPress vs Joomla: Introduction
Both WordPress and Joomla are open-source, self-hosted CMS. They have been in the market for over a decade.
WP platform was originally launched in 2003 as a platform for blogging. Today, it is a CMS that is multipurpose.
It is powering more than 40% of websites that are on the web that includes much more than blogs.
When it comes to CMS WP’s market share, I have to state that it has a dominant position with over 40% of the market share.
Joomla was launched in the year 2005, and I can say it has been in the market just as much as WP. Joomla is a very popular CMS but only after WP.
It powers approximately 3% of websites that are available on the web, holding 6% of the CMS market.
Joomla holds second place as of now. However, its CMS market share has been shrinking since 2010.
For the very first time, the overall share in its website market reduced in 2017. In fact, Joomla was equal or even leading until 2010; post this period, WP began dominating.
Well, we could say one thing for sure that ever since 2010, WP has been consistently growing. Joomla seems to be moving backward; however, Joomla does have plenty to offer.
Advantages
If you’ve done your research for WordPress and Joomla, you will find many battles between various developers on the WP vs Joomla spectrum. So, we have listed a couple of advantages that both these platforms have to offer; take a look;
WordPress
- User friendly
WordPress is very well known to be one of the easiest CMS to utilize, and non-developers enjoy using it.
- Beneficial for blogging
WP has a distinction, especially for ‘static pages’ vs ‘blog posts’ that are available from the beginning.
In comparison to Joomla, Joomla has one ‘article’ type that can be manipulated with categories.
- Extendibility
WordPress websites have one of the biggest ecosystems of WordPress themes and WordPress plugins. This makes it extremely easy if you wish to extend the website using multiple features.
- Support Community
WordPress site is extremely popular. That’s why it’s so simple to receive support through their vast third-party ecosystem, which includes developers, several Facebook groups, and blogs.
- Development Cost
Because WordPress sites have such a huge community, this makes it very convenient to get the development work completed at a lower cost.
Joomla
- User Management
With Joomla, you will receive plenty of advanced systems, especially for user management and access control.
- Flexibility
Joomla has various modules and components that will offer you plenty of flexibility to display content that is non-standard types.
- Multi Linguistic Support
Joomla offers its users multi-lingual support that’s inbuilt. While WP needs you to utilize a plugin that is a third party.
- Multiple Templates
They allow their users to utilize various templates for various parts of their content. WordPress allows you to use only a single theme.
Learning Curve and Simple Use
WordPress is the fastest and easiest way to build and create a website. While Joomla is known to be a very beginner-friendly solution.
Let’s take a look at how simple they are to utilize as well as the learning curve they offer.
WordPress
If you’re looking at building a regular site to start maybe a blog, it is possible to set up and start running one that looks amazing. It will only take you a few hours to do that.
Any host offers WP as an auto-installer, and at times they also preinstall WordPress.
From here, the WP interface is very simple to utilize, and most casual WordPress users start to create content almost immediately.
The latest additions include WP customizer. This also makes WP very simple for users to make code-free and safe changes in themes.
This is very helpful as there is an increase in WordPress themes embracing the WP customizer in multiple interesting ways;
The various page build-up WordPress plugins use advanced designs. This makes it extremely easy to create layouts by utilizing the very convenient drag and drop feature.
The latest Gutenberg editor makes it easier for their users to create content that is unique.
Joomla
Similar to WordPress, many web hosts offer an auto-installer for Joomla website, making it extremely easy to install the Joomla software.
From here, you will be required to give some time as well as an effort towards your website.
As we discussed earlier, Joomla site utilizes a combination of Categories and Articles.
So, before creating the content, you’ll require to create various categories for the various types of content that you would require.
This process is extremely simple and not at all overwhelming.
However, I would say you need to be much more involved in the entire process in comparison to WordPress. This is true for non-developers.
TinyMCE Article is an editor offered by Joomla that is very similar to WP’s implementation of TinyMCE editor.
This does not have a major difference. However, users that are not familiar with the interface from Joomla will be totally slowed down.
This is because they’ll have to wait for the various number of choices that are available in the multiple admin screens.
I must say that Joomla site does offer a few tools that are all extremely user-friendly for editing. This makes the page building a bit less developer-focused.
Extending the Website with WordPress and Joomla
Both WordPress and Joomla provide various types of add-ons that can be utilized to extend the website that includes;
- Functionality
WP has labelled them as plugins, and Joomla has labelled them as extensions.
- Aesthetics
WP hashtag these as themes, and Joomla has tagged them as templates.
The marketplace for WP extensions is much bigger in terms of number. However, both platforms provide a wide range of options.
Number of Themes and Plugins WordPress has
At the moment, WordPress has;
- Over 54,000 plugins that are free on the WP.org official plugin directory. In addition, it has hundreds of premium plugins.
- Over 5,000 themes that are free as they are WP.org official plugin directory, additionally hundreds of premium teams.
Number of Templates and Extensions Joomla has
At the moment, Joomla has
- Over 8,000 extensions that are listed on their official extension library.
They do not have an official template library. This makes it hard to receive a number of Joomla templates that are available.
We tried to conduct a general Google search and found a wealth of premium templates that Joomla offers.
Are Joomla and WordPress Equally Secure?
The basic software that WordPress and Joomla have is very secure. In addition, both of them have platforms that feature third-party extensions and plugins for additional security.
It also allows easy update systems in the dashboard in order to keep everything updated.
Having said this, human error is a very real thing because every platform is extendable. There are always chances of security issues.
Sucuri’s data suggest that Joomla websites experience a high amount of hacked websites when compared to the market share.
However, I must mention that there isn’t anything inherent with WordPress and Joomla that would make their platform secure most of the time.
WordPress Security
With regards to the hacked report from Sucuri’s website – 2016, WP has accounted for almost 24% of websites that are hacked.
This is larger than 25% of its total market share that is off 58.9% (in 2016). Now in spite of this, WP performed way better in comparison to Joomla. This is reflected in the data published by Sucuri.
Joomla Security
Sucuri published in a similar report that Joomla websites account for an overall of 17% of hacked sites. This is way higher than their market share of 7.3% (in 2016). Thus the statistics reflected a whopping 132% which is extremely high.
During the time that they were infected, they noticed that Joomla sites that were hacked were using software that wasn’t updated. It amounted to 84% of such sites. WordPress sites that were hacked in comparison to Joomla had 61% of such sites.
This simply means that platforms are not insecure. It is the outdated platforms that are insecure.
Migration – Joomla to WP
Suppose you are utilizing the Joomla platform. It’s much of a simple way to switch to WP. We suggest you take a quick look at those that offer complete service.
This is with regard to site migration, helping you to move your data to another CMS that also includes the Joomla platform.
They will help all sizes of businesses, be it small or large. They have a well-equipped team of professionals who are very popular and called the WordHerd team.
This team of professionals is well versed with not just CMS migration but also very good at CRM data migration too.
If you wish to learn more about the DIY process, take a quick look at the below-mentioned plugins;
- FG – Joomla to WP
- CMS2CMS – auto migrator for Joomla two WP
Joomla vs WordPress: Which One’s Better?
I think a question like this is flawed in itself. Joomla and WP show their own advantages, and none of them are superior in all situations.
I suggest you ask yourself, “Which platform would be good for a specific requirement of your website that you are creating?”
We have noticed that WordPress has a good majority of sites. You should make it your default preference for various situations due to;
- The CMS they offer is extremely user-friendly, and non-developers would find it simple to work with.
- The platform helps you save up on plenty of money. And has spent on the development of websites. Within no time, you can have an attractive site up and running.
- The platform will offer you additional assistance in terms of professional help that is free. You can optimize it the moment you face an issue.
Conclusion
If you’re willing to outsource this to a developer, or you’re a developer, then Joomla will offer you greater flexibility. It will help you to display various types of data as well as manage users.
There is something you must consider. The market share for Joomla is steadily declining, and this is not the situation with WordPress.
Joomla still holds its position at the second level. We do not see them moving from this place in the near future.
There is always something to consider while selecting a CMS. Selecting a CMS that is showing consistent growth is always advisable.
We always suggest a platform that is WordPress powered. You have various hosts in the market that are officially recommended by WordPress.
These hosts offer strong customer support that’s available 24/7 and infrastructure that is cloud-powered, focusing on security, performance and scalability. We do hope that you suggest a CMS that meets your requirements.
If this article has been an enjoyable read, do share with us your thoughts and feedback; thanks!
Guide
What is WordPress (WP)?
WP is a publishing software that can be utilized to create and build a good blog or website. It is known to be an extremely flexible and easy CMS used by many websites and blogs. Many beginners prefer to use it.
WordPress was launched in 2003, and since then, it has been an extremely famous platform in terms of publishing.
Currently, they power over 40% of websites on the Internet. This includes various types of blogs and multiple famous websites online.
WP enables its users to create and manage their individual, fully-featured sites by utilizing their web browser.
The user does not need to have any knowledge of coding. If you’ve used MS Word text editor, then you’ll find that working with the WP editor is a breeze.
On a technical note, WP is a CMS that is open source and licensed with GPLv2. This means that a user can easily modify as well as utilize it through software without incurring any additional charges.
At the end of the day, WP makes building and creating a website simple and accessible to everyone. Even for people that are not developers.
What is Joomla?
Similar to WordPress, Joomla is a CMS that is open source. Joomla assists the user with building applications and websites that are powerful and dynamic.
It also has an extremely intuitive interface that assists the users in utilizing its multiple functionalities and features.
Joomla’s popularity has increased over the years, successfully growing to be an old, widely used CMS globally.
Joomla was launched in 2005 and since then managed to capture a massive clientele successfully. It has more than 99 M downloads.
It was created in PHP and uses a MySQL database to save all of the data while utilizing object-oriented techniques of programming.
It could be easily set up with a single click installation via their hosting control panel. You can find multiple articles that are available on the Internet which would assist you in successfully installing Joomla.
Joomla utilizes MVC, short for Model View Controller architecture design. As per the MVC, when a request is processed by Joomla, the URL is verified first.
This is done in order to evaluate the competence that processes the specific request. This model includes the information that is utilized by the component.
The model also has the responsibility of updating the database when required. This is responsible for delivering the output.
It connects with the model in order to receive the required information. Once the view has delivered the output, the element returns the control to the framework of Joomla. Then the template will be executed.
Now that we have discussed what Joomla is, along with an insight on how the mechanism works.
We have determined that WordPress and Joomla are well-known CMSs. However, are you aware of what exactly a CMS is? If you do, that’s amazing. However, the next bit will speak about a CMS. It is specially written for the ones who need more clarity on it.
Content Management System
A Content Management System is also called a CMS. This is a system software that permits the user to efficiently build, optimize and manage digital content.
CMS is simply a convenient tool that allows you to create a site without the involvement of any complex coding.
CMS offers an extremely intuitive interface that helps you to modify and create website content. You can install a CMS on the web host.
Once it is installed through the web browser, you’ll have easy access to the site and make the required changes.
It is a blessing for new users. This is because a CMS will allow you to structure your content without any hassles and minimum efforts.
Many CMS’ provide a WYSIWYG editor, making your work simple. With this editor, you’ll receive output on the web browser that is similar to what you find in the editor.
Various Kinds of Sites that can be Made with WordPress and Joomla
WordPress
Some years ago, WP was a tool primarily used for creating blogs and not so famous among traditional websites. Of late, this hasn’t been the case.
In fact, I can say for years now, thanks to the many changes they have made to their core code. Also, to the WP environment of themes and plugins. This enables you to build and create all types of sites with WP.
For instance, WP powers a large amount of business blogs and sites, and they are also extremely popular in creating E-commerce stores. With WP, you can build;
- Business sites
- Blogs
- E-commerce stores
- Resumes
- Portfolios
- Social networks
- Forums
- Membership sites
- And anything you can dream of
Joomla
They are used by individuals around the globe to power a variety of different websites of all sizes and forms. You can also visit their official site to view a couple of companies that they power. However, they are utilized by;
- Business websites that are small
- Corporate hotels or websites
- Online reservations
- E-commerce stores
- Online publications, newspapers and magazines
- They are also utilized by non-profit, government as well as organizational websites
- They are extremely popular among community-based church and school portals or websites
- Family and personal home pages
So, all in all, both WordPress and Joomla platforms are excellent to utilize. You can select any one of them depending on your experience and business requirements.
We are confident that both Joomla and WordPress platforms will help you with your website needs. You can also check our article on CDNs Compared: Cloudflare vs. MaxCDN.