Is Joomla good for a small business website

Discussion in 'Joomla' started by jaredgravatt, May 18, 2008.

  1. #1
    I am building websites for a few clients and would like to know it Joomla is a good CMS programme for small to medium sized websites
     
    jaredgravatt, May 18, 2008 IP
  2. richrf

    richrf Active Member

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    #2
    It all depends upon what you have to deliver. My general advice is that if you can build a site using Wordpress, then use Wordpress. Otherwise, you have to fit requirements to the CMS and its available extensions. Each version of each CMS unfortunately has its own flavor of reliability and problems, so simply choosing a CMS is not sufficient, you also have to choose a version of the CMS ... and its extensions/modules. It is tough, because it is such a mess. ExpressionEngine may be appropriate, because it is relatively stable, if you can figure out how to use it.

    Rich
     
    richrf, May 18, 2008 IP
  3. Joomla Dude

    Joomla Dude Banned

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    #3
    Yes Joomla is absolutely the best CMS for all types business websites. And if you are looking for Blog,then i would recommend to use Wordpress. But since,you are talking about a website,then forget about Wordpress,as it will never give you a website look.
    Thanks..
     
    Joomla Dude, May 19, 2008 IP
  4. richrf

    richrf Active Member

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    #4
    I have often heard this said. Yet, I have not been able to find anything that Joomla can do that Wordpress cannot do. In most cases, Wordpress does it much better. There are some pre-built applications that are available with Joomla that are not available with Wordpress, however, in most cases, these applications are either very buggy, or have not been ported to the new version of Joomla.

    Otherwise, Wordpress seems to be equally or more capable than Joomla under most circumstances for most applications. If Joomla has any advantages, they, so far, have eluded me. If anyone has specifics, I would very much like to hear them. After several weeks of product analysis, I have not found any. Anyone have any specifics? I think it is time to end these empty declarations that "Wordpress is for blogging and Joomla is a real CMS". This is nonsense. Joomla, and Wordpress, are nearly equivalent in functionality, and Wordpress is far, far, far superior when it comes to backward compatibility, selection of plugins, etc.

    Thanks.

    Rich
     
    richrf, May 19, 2008 IP
  5. mrspeed

    mrspeed Guest

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    #5
    +1 on everything richrf said
     
    mrspeed, May 19, 2008 IP
  6. mixke

    mixke Prominent Member

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    #6
    Both, Joomla and Wordpress are good and they offer more or less same functionality. Joomla based websites with great themes look more appealing to me when compared to Wordpress blogs. But, that's just me ;) :)

    Also, it's easy to use WP when compared to Joomla.
     
    mixke, May 19, 2008 IP
  7. bandarushiva

    bandarushiva Peon

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    #7
    Joomla has great flexibility and expendable. wordpress is good for blogging but joomla is alrounder.
    with joomla you have business feature like intranet , PM system ,support Forum, wikies,different user levels ( admin,author,user, guest), membership registration, live chat etc..
     
    bandarushiva, May 19, 2008 IP
  8. richrf

    richrf Active Member

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    #8
    There are a few specific extensions built on the Joomla platform that a developer may want to take advantage of, that may not be available on other platforms. For example, you will find that Wordpress also has a wiki plugin, live chat plugin, etc. The problem with most of these extensions (plugins), is that they either do not work, are not maintained from one version to another, or are woefully short on functionality compared to other full range applications such as Mediawiki.

    It is easy to pull out a "feature list" of stuff, and claim that one package does more than another. For example, Drupal has a powerful View module that Wordpress and Joomla does not have. The one problem is that it is so far not available in 6.2, and given the way that Drupal is pieced together with different pieces coming from different part-time developers from all over the world, who knows if it will ever work? That is the problem with products like Joomlar and Drupal - they are jig-saw puzzles, where certain pieces are either missing from the box, or no longer fit together with other pieces. The whole opensource approach is fraught with major reliability, backward compatibility, and support issues. Wordpress is somewhat of any exception.

    Rich
     
    richrf, May 20, 2008 IP
  9. Cbrooker

    Cbrooker Active Member

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    #9
    While I won't profess to be an "expert" on the subject, I will say that my company has been using both Joomla and Wordpress extensively in the development of websites. There are pros and cons with both, and the platform that we choose to develop in is based entirely on the clients needs and the functionality they want at the end of the development process.

    Saying that the whole opensource movement is fraught with major reliability issues is not a fair assessment. What would be a more fair statement is saying that Opensource may not be the way to go if you don't have the technical skillset (or access to the skills required) to hack/fix issues that you encounter while using opensource.

    Making the statement that alot of the modules & plugins for Joomla are "buggy" and not ported to the new version of Joomla is somewhat deceiving as well. There are many of the same issues with WordPress, including some custom professional templates that cost some major $$$$. I know, I'm dealing with this issue right now.

    If you are simply choosing one platform over the other without doing the proper assessment on what the client requires to do their job at the end of the day, then the process is fundamentally flawed anyway. However, If you're looking at basic content however, with little customization or the need to include some unique modules, either will do.
     
    Cbrooker, May 20, 2008 IP
  10. richrf

    richrf Active Member

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    #10
    Fair enough. Then we return to the OP's question - Is Joomla good for a small business? Does a small business have the technological knowhow and budget to pay for the technical skillset required to implement Joomla? They may or may not have it, but my guess it that the owners do not have any idea what they are getting into when they get themselves involved with Joomla. Not only are the development costs going to be far in excess of what they imagined, but their ongoing costs are going to be a business nightmare.

    It is true, that Wordpress has many of the same issues, but much less severe, since the framework is much more limiting. You can put together a WP site for next to nothing and keep it running at a very low cost, assuming that the business owner understands the limitations of the solution.

    Rich
     
    richrf, May 20, 2008 IP
  11. mnymkr

    mnymkr Well-Known Member

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    #11
    In my opinion, Joomla is best for small websites, upgrade to Drupal for larger ones
     
    mnymkr, May 20, 2008 IP
  12. richrf

    richrf Active Member

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    #12
    Best for the consultant who is charging exorbitant bucks, or best for the small business owner?

    Rich
     
    richrf, May 20, 2008 IP
  13. manung36

    manung36 Peon

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    #13
    i recommended you can use joomla! joomla feature is best for e-commerce sites.
     
    manung36, May 20, 2008 IP
  14. Cbrooker

    Cbrooker Active Member

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    #14
    With most hosting packages now, Joomla / WordPress is simple to install through Fantastico. The problems that will come up for the non technical companies wanting to do this is the implementation / modification of their site template to the look & feel required for their company. If it can't be purchased or downloaded for free as a lot of the small developers tend to do, then these companies will run into alot of problems or have a website that is less than functional.

    SEO is a bit more of a challenge with Joomla. I'll admit that. For that reason alone I have switched some companies to WordPress and have gotten them ranked much higher in the SERP than when using Joomla.

    However, these same clients are now complaining because they have lost some functionality they were accustomed to in the backend of Joomla.

    In this case, I still think that either solution will suffice and will give the "edge" in ease of use to WordPress.
     
    Cbrooker, May 20, 2008 IP
  15. richrf

    richrf Active Member

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    #15
    I think we are in general agreement.

    Rich
     
    richrf, May 20, 2008 IP
  16. ferman

    ferman Well-Known Member

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    #16
    it all depends upon the functionality you need in your site...if you just looking for a blog you can go for wordpress only its easy to use
     
    ferman, May 20, 2008 IP
  17. richrf

    richrf Active Member

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    #17
    Disagree. I have found almost nothing that Joomla can do that Wordpress cannot do. Most of the statements that have been made so far concerning the superior functionality of Joomla over Wordpress are either false or outdated. Both products have APIs that can be utilized to build a CMS platform, and I find very little functional advantages of one over the other - especially when you consider the true quality and availability of the extensions/plugins. At the end, if a small business wants to build a site, they are going to have to hire developers to hack the code of either product to get something working. The the issue is, what costs more to hack and what costs more on an ongoing basis.

    The proof of the pudding is just look at the average Joomla, Drupal and Wordpress sites. Not much difference from the user point of view. However, the development and maintenance cost differential is huge.

    Rich
     
    richrf, May 20, 2008 IP
  18. helloman

    helloman Peon

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    #18
    Obviously Joomla! Can be use for a Small Business website. If you have bulk orders just make a package for your own & use it.

    there is are lots resources available in the web, so joomla! is highly recommended.
     
    helloman, May 20, 2008 IP
  19. Cbrooker

    Cbrooker Active Member

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    #19
    Yes, there's no denying that you can develop or find something on the net for this product.

    However, maintenance & the associated costs of installing for the non-technical are much higher. My company specializes in Joomla websites for the small - mid-sized companies. We do it because we can quickly deploy a solution and we do sell other services associated with the installation for a continued revenue stream.

    Rich is right when he talks about the maintenance costs.
     
    Cbrooker, May 20, 2008 IP
  20. jaredgravatt

    jaredgravatt Active Member

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    #20
    What sort of maintainence costs are there?
     
    jaredgravatt, May 20, 2008 IP