Joomla - should I love it or hate it?

I'm kind of used to Wordpress and on a recommendation I installed Joomla into one of my web sites. First, it's not intuitive at all and requires a lot of figuring out. Second, one thing I have realized pretty quickly is that nothing works right if you try to use the Search Engine Friendly URL feature. Links on the site are either not found, or go to pages with just the content and no template. Switching back to the regular parameter-driven pages resolves this. I'm using 1.5. Is it just me or am I missing something?

Thanks

Anthony

 

I have rarely if ever gotten the furls to work in Joomla(for years). Sometimes its as simple as changing your base url in your htaccess file though. Have you checked that? I have to agree though, they typically just don't work.

Nigel

 

why you dont use joomla version 1.15

 

Thanks for the heads up. Now I know that I am not mad. My state of the art web host gave me 1.5 in answer to your question.

 

It's alright. But there are better CMS's out there and it really does depend on what you're looking for.

 

I am Joomla Lover ! Wordpress is good for SEO

Modx is also good for SEO.

 

If the .htacces file is setup properly the urls should work.

As for whether or not to "love" joomla...really depends on what type of site you're building with it...But I really think it's slick and powerful...learning curve is a bit tough, and you're right about nothing being intuitive.

Look on the joomla site for the documentation section...there's a wiki that's kind of guide on how to set up a landscaping site...follow that and you will be well on your way to understanding how to work with joomla

 

Joomla isn't bad but can be overkill. Silverstripe is amazing for SEO too.

 

I've been using Mamboo and Joomla for several years now. And belive that they are one of the top open Source CMS in the market. Wordpress is good as well, as long as used for blogging.

For your problem. Rename your htacces file from <- to .htacces. thats it. If you need more SEO friendly URLS download some of the plugins from Joomla.org

 

You might want to try Mambo, or Drupal

 

I've hated Joomla for years, but the new version looks pretty decent, I'm going to give it a try this weekend.

 

If you are happy with Wordpress, why don't you stay with that?

If you need more functionality and want to use Joomla + Search Engine Friendly URLs, you can use Joomla 1.5 + switch on the SEO (in Global Configuration) + use .htaccess

If you want nicer URLs, you can use a 3rd party SEF extension from the Joomla Extensions Directory: http://extensions.joomla.org/component/option,com_mtree/task,listcats/cat_id,1803/Itemid,35/

 

Why dont you try to move back to Joomla 1.15 as it is far more stable and tested a lot better than the newer 1.5.
I have used Joomla for years and have used SEF URLS on all my clients' sites!

I use Artio SEO, look for it in the Joomla Extensions (I am new here so cannot post links, so I had to remove the link!!)

When you install it, it will bring up a help file which will tell you what changes to make in your .htaccess file.
I have had very little trouble doing this, but it could also depend on your webhost. As I have had problems when I have setup SEF for clients who dont use my hosting.

 

Joomla 1.5 versions do have a learning curve, but once you learn it managing your sites is not very difficult. You have to get used to creating Sections/Categories then your content. Then your menu's and linking it all together. It is not very intuitive at first, but once you see how the connections work, it becomes increasingly easy to manage. Being able to move modules and turn them off and on page by page is really powerful!

The SEO problem you are having with URL's is a configuration issue. It's important that you install everything properly. Ask your host for help if there are problems. I use Joomla 1.5 on a number of sites and there were installation issues that had to be resolved with each update.

It's worth learning if you want to manage your content on a regular basis with minimal effort (After the installation and learning curve).

You may also want to consider the increasingly popular "revolution" series of templates for Wordpress.

 

In your root joomla directory there's a configuration.php file. Edit the following line to include your site and after that the SEO functions should work.

var $live_site = ''

to

var $live_site = 'http://www.yoursite.com'

You may need to change the attributes to 777 or RW before you modify, then change it back to r-r-r.

 

Joomla is ok. I loved it when I was new to it and got the hang of it. I admit that the search engine friendly URLs will usually always bitch out on you in some way or another.

The truth is, Joomla is too much of a headache and isn't SEO friendly. I'm now using Wordpress.

 

I just deleted Joomla from my new site. I had installed it just to take a look but have to agree with hypguy, it is not very intuitive at all. I'm sure it would be a great solution for what I'm doing, but I don't have that kind of time. I could just code something myself if I want to do that much work and take up that much time doing it. The idea of using Joomla or anything else like it is to get a solution up and running more quickly, isn't it?

 

Joomla has a learning curve. Yes, you do need to read the documentation when you're starting out. And the fact that you have to create sections, then categories and then your content drove me crazy when I first installed...actually, it was Mambo back then. In the 1.5 version you can pick "Uncategorized" instead of setting up sections and categories.

However, the amount of extensions, ability to move modules, create custom modules on the fly and the 2,500 free templates have kept me a Joomla fan.

I can get a website up in 1.5 or 1.0X in less than 2 hours. And that's including creating a custom header.

I've never been a big Word Press fan - hard coding 3 or more credits into the template isn't my idea of being SEO friendly. And manipulating PHP side bars to include ads made me nuts. Plus, no offense, but most of the templates are very cookie cutter. You usually know a Word Press site when you see it.

(Of course I have a tendency to use the same template all the time with a custom header. Because the sidebars are collapsible they all look a little different.)

 

agree with the above post. the amount of time it took to modify my pure HTML site in Notepad++ was too time consuming instead of concentratining on content. my site was pretty customized and gorgeous in my humble opinion but started sinking because it was too time consuming to modify it. i tried joomla for the first time on an established site in June. was pulling my hair out trying to understand modules, components, sections and categories but after a few weeks, i've now gotten a good grasp. i think future versions can try working on dummying it down. I can now create a full CMS site in a matter of hours if presented with the content and updating and maintaining is pretty simple.

 

Also, with BSQ Site Stats and sh404SEF, you can SEO any Joomla 1.0x site and keep track of your stats in real time.

You must turn on SEO in configuration and rename your htaccess.txt file to .htaccess.

I recently bought Joomlawhiz dot com and plan on giving instructions for setting up sites. I just have my finger in too many pies and am a little over extended on developing websites. (Plus the keyword $ return on "Joomla" sucks, so this is a labor of love for the Joomla community.)

Since I have to set up a 1.0X site in the next 4 hours, let me see what I can do in terms of setting up instructions for 1.0X.

Do most of you have CPanel? Or are you installing from scratch.