Having worked in the industry for many years, I thought I would take a quick look at a common question customers ask – Which CMS is best: Joomla! or WordPress?
To be honest, its a hard one to answer and there are various circumstances surrounding why a particular CMS may be better suited to an organisation than another.
Joomla and WordPress have often sat on a fairly equal playing ground and certainly, I personally believe it is fair to place them side by side. As in yes, you are comparing apples with apples so to speak.
WordPress has come a long way in recent years. Its easy to use and most project are achievable using the WordPress platform. Another key benefit is that it has a huge developer base. This means you won’t struggle to find a developer to work on the site. Hosting is no problem and support is readily available.
The provided Dashboard/Admin may really be the deciding factor. The old “short codes” in the content are not user-friendly for the average person. They get frustrating. kmo utilise a modern drop and drag content builder that provides excellent usability. This makes updating content in WordPress easier than ever before. Most people tend to quickly like using the widgets and there is a phenomenal amount of plugs available.
Joomla has a similar way of organizing content by keeping the menu separate from the actual content, but makes much more use of sharable content modules including systems such as K2 for placing additional content. WordPress doesn’t offer the same level of control for adding supplementary content, particularly when it needs to be shared across only a few pages.
One of the key considerations and deciding factors on selecting the CMS is whether or not the staff member looking after the site has experience with one over the other. That’s not to say one is easier to manage, rather, if you are a time-strapped small business like most of our clients, you’ll know the convenience of using something you are familiar with. Otherwise, take a look at a demo of each and see which appeals to you most.
