There had been many articles written about the two most popular Web Publishing Software, Wordpress and Joomla. Some that are written by web professionals attempted to explain similar features of each while others separated one from the other in a technical manner which of course, full of jargons and so. But this time, I would try to discuss certain features that a budding web developer like me has explored.

A few months ago, I decided to buy my own domain with the name www.edpalomo.com in agreement to our subject Interface Design and Web Technologies. At first I was a bit uncomfortable deciding on how to manage my newly owned website. Of course the pressure is a bit tough considering that I now hold a dot com which is a new addition to the so?called cyberspace. I don’t want it to become another web junk filled with senseless and outdated content, so I tried to find a useful and usable Content Management Software (abbreviated as CMS and the S sometimes for Systems) for effective and efficient result. However, before going on, what is a CMS? A CMS is like any other software which also needs to be set?upped and ran, but unlike typical software which is installed on the computer’s hard drive, it is located on a web server which is also the location of the web pages we see on the internet. So what does it do? It basically makes publishing content on websites easier with just few clicks. Unlike before, a web designer must tweak with the HTML code of a website from time to time to update its content which also makes archiving (storing of past information published on a website) more difficult. But with the development of CMS, he/she can publish information with just a click of a button and the software will automatically generate the web page and store the previous article on the database which can still be accessed.

Moving on, my search for a possible CMS has brought me to www.wordpress.org. Wordpress is called a Blog Publishing Platform, the reason why others doesn’t consider it a fully?functional CMS. Anyhow, Wordpress developers (and users as well) have managed to reinvent its usage. Fascinated with how clean and minimal the Organization’s website is, I immediately downloaded the current version of Wordpress back then which is 2.7 that is now preceded by 2.7.1. Installation is a bit easy considering that bundled with my web service subscription is another Web Software named Fantastico. It contains much of the installation packages of almost all web applications available under the GNU Public License or mostly termed as Open?Source. I just choose the program of my choice and there it is, installed and ready to use. But for curiosity’s sake, I managed to install the package of Wordpress I downloaded and took off with their famous 5?minute installation. After all has been set, I was directed to the Dashboard or Main Menu of Wordpress. I was impressed with how its User Interface is designed and the typography’s harmony which is rather difficult to achieve if I were to do it. I played around and easily got along with posting entries, managing comments, adding pages, uploading media and other stuff. Great themes can be downloaded for free over the web and some premium themes can be accessed with a few dollars using credit card. But in my case, I don’t want my site to be identical with other people who previously downloaded the theme of my choice, so I decided to pursue my subject that I mentioned earlier and up to this day, with the TomWeb summer training, to learn web design and development. And as of this writing, I learned how easy it is to make a Wordpress theme. I should just simply come up with a normal web page then copy and paste pre?made PHP tags available at the documentation site of Wordpress. However, it’s not that easy to achieve a really smashing design as I am to find inspiration and practice Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver frequently. Another thing that I love about Wordpress is its wide array of plug?ins that again, is free and available for download over the net. It gives me the power to customize and tweak my website for myself and my site’s visitor’s needs.

Joomla on the other hand, was introduced to me by my classmates who are members of the Tomasino Web Organization. Like Wordpress, it is also included in my Fantastico software but again, I chose to see Joomla’s site, www.joomla.org, to see what it has to offer. Unlike the Wordpress site, I found Joomla’s to be dull and unattractive. It seems they don’t pay attention to aesthetics and Web 2.0 standards. And most of all, what’s with the logo? It seems to me like a distorted atom?model or something. But with careful observation, I think it is similar to Ubuntu Linux’s logo with people embracing each other which used to be the universal symbol of the Open Source movement. Taking these observations aside, I went on to download Joomla’s latest installation package, version 1.5.

Installing it is the same as Wordpress but with too many words that practically I don’t have to really care about. I really didn’t have the patience back then so I decided to stop and went on with Wordpress. But as I decided to spend my summer at school and training with TomWeb, I finally got the chance to complete the Joomla installation. I found the Main Menu of Joomla to be complete and close to desktop software’s interface. It has dropdown menus and big icons that will lead to different functions Joomla provides. But just like the ill?designed website of Joomla, the same goes with its program’s typography and design. It seems to be another Open?Source application that because of its free nature, forgets the usability aspect of interfacing. Though with all the negative things I have said about Joomla, I found some pretty nice capabilities. First, Breadcrumbs, appetizing as it seems, it is the first time I heard about this and I’m quite surprised to find out that it is the breakdown of menus and its submenus you see when searching deeper into a website. It really helps because you can go back easily to your previous reading or jump a few steps more but I suddenly realized that it is the same as Wordpress’s Permalink feature which on the contrary, can be found as the URL of the blog entry and/or web page. Another is Automation, like everything from creating log?in forms to the contacts page, everything can be automatically done. Surely with that I can say that Joomla was made with the user in mind but I think they have overdone it and turned everything into spoon feeding. Well in my experience, when it comes to programming applications providing what I call “spoon?feeding” function, or like drag?and?drop?and?generate?code feature, it is likely to encounter problems that are hard to decipher which in turn should have been easier if done manually in step?by?step order.

I can tell that I became really biased with my comparative analysis of Joomla and Wordpress but what can I do, the truth really hurts. But to set the record straight I really think that Joomla has more functionality than Wordpress and is more suitable for a website project. Nevertheless, for an individual like me trying to convey information to the web jungle, I really prefer Wordpress because it provides the essential feature of maintaining a blog and is equipped with sleek and minimalist design fit for a blogging lifestyle.

Joomla on the other hand, was introduced to me by my classmates who are members of the Tomasino Web Organization. Like Wordpress, it is also included in my Fantastico software but again, I chose to see Joomla’s site, www.joomla.org, to see what it has to offer. Unlike the Wordpress site, I found Joomla’s to be dull and unattractive. It seems they don’t pay attention to aesthetics and Web 2.0 standards. And most of all, what’s with the logo? It seems to me like a distorted atom?model or something. But with careful observation, I think it is similar to Ubuntu Linux’s logo with people embracing each other which used to be the universal symbol of the Open Source movement. Taking these observations aside, I went on to download Joomla’s latest installation package, version 1.5.

Installing it is the same as Wordpress but with too many words that practically I don’t have to really care about. I really didn’t have the patience back then so I decided to stop and went on with Wordpress. But as I decided to spend my summer at school and training with TomWeb, I finally got the chance to complete the Joomla installation. I found the Main Menu of Joomla to be complete and close to desktop software’s interface. It has dropdown menus and big icons that will lead to different functions Joomla provides. But just like the ill?designed website of Joomla, the same goes with its program’s typography and design. It seems to be another Open?Source application that because of its free nature, forgets the usability aspect of interfacing. Though with all the negative things I have said about Joomla, I found some pretty nice capabilities. First, Breadcrumbs, appetizing as it seems, it is the first time I heard about this and I’m quite surprised to find out that it is the breakdown of menus and its submenus you see when searching deeper into a website. It really helps because you can go back easily to your previous reading or jump a few steps more but I suddenly realized that it is the same as Wordpress’s Permalink feature which on the contrary, can be found as the URL of the blog entry and/or web page. Another is Automation, like everything from creating log?in forms to the contacts page, everything can be automatically done. Surely with that I can say that Joomla was made with the user in mind but I think they have overdone it and turned everything into spoon feeding. Well in my experience, when it comes to programming applications providing what I call “spoon?feeding” function, or like drag?and?drop?and?generate?code feature, it is likely to encounter problems that are hard to decipher which in turn should have been easier if done manually in step?by?step order.

I can tell that I became really biased with my comparative analysis of Joomla and Wordpress but what can I do, the truth really hurts. But to set the record straight I really think that Joomla has more functionality than Wordpress and is more suitable for a website project. Nevertheless, for an individual like me trying to convey information to the web jungle, I really prefer Wordpress because it provides the essential feature of maintaining a blog and is equipped with sleek and minimalist design fit for a blogging lifestyle.