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September 2008

2008-09 Joomla! Community Magazine

Joomla! Community Magazine - Community

Top 5 Drawbacks of Joomla!

With tongue placed firmly in cheek, Chris Szabo rants about Joomla!

Written by Chris Szabo

When it comes to CMS solutions, some things are just plain obvious - here are five ways Joomla! falls down again and again:

www.storycentre.com

1. You can’t recognize a good Joomla! Web site.

Professional Web developers who create CMS solutions using Joomla have no regard for the standard templates that are available and inevitably create sites that are totally unrecognizable as a Joomla! Web site. The origination software can only be determined after digging in the source code. Very original!

www.palheiroestate.com

2. Get lost in the available extensions.

Good CMS solutions sport a ‘reasonable’ number of extensions. I know of several that can boast dozens. I know some CMS developers who can list them by heart. I even know of commercial CMS options that sport approximately 60 extensions. But Joomla, with total disregard to its user base, has gone totally overboard and currently offers 3,704 extensions. Now that’s just sick! Who can keep track of so many extensions?

www.escoladebailado.com

3. Joomla! Web sites can fall to bits when they are finished.

It is alleged that Joomla Web sites are so easy to manage and keep up-to-date that virtually anyone with a Web browser and an Internet connection can edit their Web site. In fact, Joomla will tell you that you need no programming or HTML experience to manage your site. Therein lies the problem! Once a Web design company has handed over a finished site to a client, they go crazy and add new text and images and the whole thing ends up looking quite different to what the designer had in mind and, instead, has a really ‘up to date’ feel about it.

Caution: If you want your Web site to stay the way it was when you designed it - don’t use Joomla! and don’t let your client update it.

www.djfoksen.com

4. Joomla! is not for the elite.

Elite design companies use specialized tools. They like to use things… the elite use. So forget Joomla - apparently masses of people are now using Joomla. There are hundreds of thousands of registered Joomla developers and a whole heap more of people using Joomla Web sites. Joomla has become very common indeed.

The bottom line: Joomla isn’t for the sophisticated anymore. Stick to your Mac and your iPhone!

www.palheirogolf.com

5. You can’t deduct Joomla! from your taxes

Yes, for most of you this will be the sticking point. You really can’t get tax returns when you use Joomla. So what’s that all that about then?

Those people at Joomla really went out on a limb when they decided to make Joomla ‘Open Source’. Without going into the small print I can tell you that it’s cost free - you can’t buy it. You won’t have any ‘overhead’ advantages with Joomla. For Pete’s sake - you don’t even get to pirate it!

So there you have it in a nutshell, Joomla! is free, common, over used and quite possibly under rated. You can find many more drawbacks at www.joomla.org.

 

Reprinted from Navega Bem Web Design Blog with permission of Chris Szabo, author.


27 Comments

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  1. avatar Ken Bluttman makes this comment

    2008-09-06 12:39:25

    Great! I was worried when I saw the title. Then laughed my head off when I saw the point of the article. Thanks!

  2. avatar Eddie Elzer Joomla Valencia makes this comment

    2008-09-08 11:34:29

    Super work Chris! Thank you for the enrichment of "powered by Joomla" sites with your beautiful projects.

  3. avatar lastgepida makes this comment

    2008-09-09 20:51:40

    Thanks, are you man a serious [b]drupal-fun[/b] ? :D

  4. avatar amy.stephen makes this comment

    2008-09-13 06:27:57

    The first time I read this, I was so astounded that anyone would see those things as disadvantages. I was like "What is wrong with you? Having nearly 4,000 extensions is bad? And 60 is good? Just ignore 3,940 of them!" It took until point five for me to see the satire. Then, I couldn't stop laughing. Wonderful!

  5. avatar James makes this comment

    2008-09-17 05:01:50

    OK, this guy must be joking as I did some searches and came across a few quotes from Chris? [b]Joomla founder member Peter Russell[/b] says "“Navega Bem Web Design, on the idyllic sub-tropical island of Madeira are producing some of the [b]finest Joomla[/b]! websites on the planet.” Chris Szabo’s Specialties: [b]Professional Joomla Real Estate Agent Web Sites.[/b] Search Engine Optimization. Hotel and Tourism related web sites. Web site development and programing. Plus on his site? http://www.navegabem.com/cms-website-advantages.html Maybe I am just tired or has he changed his mind that much since 2007...After all i did not see any smilies... Regardless of what Chris may think, I stick by Joomla. James

  6. avatar kelvin makes this comment

    2008-09-29 00:19:07

    Obviously Chris is quite sick with Joomla! but I quite agree with the amount of extensions there have. I really get lost with finding a right extensions for my project sometimes.

  7. avatar Chris Szabo makes this comment

    2008-09-30 08:25:37

    Hi James and Kelvin, My article was just a bit of fun. Actually I am having a love affair with Joomla! For me and my team there is nothing that even comes close to Joomla for developing the type of websites we are commissioned to create. Honest!

  8. avatar amy.stephen makes this comment

    2008-10-02 00:20:40

    *giggles*

  9. avatar Jonathan makes this comment

    2008-10-02 22:42:45

    Made me laugh - I got it after reading the first point... of course, I was reading the post because I wondered if you were going to mention the lack of granular security, but then started smiling :)

  10. avatar Norm Douglas makes this comment

    2008-10-06 20:39:45

    I can't believe some people can't see the satire in this. HE IS MAKING A JOKE PEOPLE! Great article, I love the part about those damned elitists... I love my mac, but I love Joomla too... what am I to do?

  11. avatar web desinger makes this comment

    2008-10-17 07:49:35

    Great! Excellent work Thanks for sharing.

  12. avatar Chad Windnagle makes this comment

    2008-10-18 14:40:18

    YUS! I love this article. It hits on every singe issue I've had with Joomla since I started using it! -Chad, who hope's Chris' wife never finds out about his affair. :p

  13. avatar Zello makes this comment

    2008-10-18 19:13:55

    It took 4 or 5 seconds, but then ... Wonderful piece of work. I just love it.

  14. avatar Nick Kotarski makes this comment

    2008-10-21 14:40:23

    It's a good article and of course a good advertisment too. Nick

  15. avatar James makes this comment

    2008-10-22 19:52:40

    Chris, glad you where not serious. LOL.. James

  16. avatar Krishna makes this comment

    2008-10-27 09:35:24

    Hi, Very good points, I think it will not effect on site efficiency. The only thing that we need to consider is extensions to use. If we restrict the no. of extensions that we use in our website that will be good! Cheers! Krishna

  17. avatar Mark makes this comment

    2008-11-02 00:06:26

    [b]One of the BEST "Tongue in cheek" articles I've read in a while. Joomla Rocks, and no matter what type of website you want to create, you can do "it all" with Joomla![/b]

  18. avatar Ari makes this comment

    2008-11-08 01:28:38

    Man, first i really thought this was another flame thrower:) Good job there.

  19. avatar Adi Susetyo makes this comment

    2008-11-10 07:32:10

    Hi guys, I've review several CMS, I think you're good and next year you'll be the best, beat drupal. Oh ya only I lost the multi site issue, others are heading that direction very intens. And add a feature like cmsmadesimple when it first install especualy when come to install extensions, they offer many extensions with just a click away.

  20. avatar Red makes this comment

    2008-11-13 00:57:56

    Sigman Freud said, "there is ALWAYS some truth in sarcasm". While I got a good chuckle, I must say, I wish the extensions and the JED were regulated a bit more. I love you Joomla! My2Cents Red

  21. avatar sikanrong makes this comment

    2008-11-19 16:50:02

    You know, it might not hurt the joomla community to actually point out the top 5 drawbacks so that they could be worked on. I could rattle off five right now (I used to develop joomla extensions and sites). But I'm too busy writing ruby code at the moment :).

  22. avatar JVonD makes this comment

    2008-11-20 03:10:37

    Nice sites. To bad I can't even get a stupid poll to work on my VPS server..

  23. avatar lily makes this comment

    2008-11-24 03:08:02

    Greet,I Get lost in the available extensions indeed.

  24. avatar lily makes this comment

    2008-11-24 03:09:22

    Greet , I really lost in extension indeed

  25. avatar Jonathan makes this comment

    2008-11-28 03:04:15

    That was a good one. I like your style Chris. But I got to laugh at Joomla not being tax deductible.

  26. avatar dizzi makes this comment

    2008-11-28 14:49:14

    Top giggle-prompting piece fella :). You certainly deserve a prize for the craftily delivered literary irony. My personal favourites are 3 and 4. I have visited certain CMS communities where the developers evidently seem quite pleased to gloat about the need to be a PHP wizard in order use their framework. Thank goodness Joomla! is "easy" and aimed at the massess :). Very well presented m8!

  27. avatar Jeremy makes this comment

    2008-11-28 19:38:13

    :) I came looking to see what the 5 were, I didnt know of any... so I had to come educate myself... and lightened up the day when I did.. Very funny..
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