Why Open Source and Why Joomla?
Before we can answer "Why Joomla?" we have to first answer the question "Why Open Source?". Our background is in consultancy, and as consultants we would advise any of our clients to be cautious of buying a site created using bespoke CMS software developed by their proposed web developer, mostly for reasons relating to the undesirability of being "locked-in", issues of system security, and ongoing support.
Back in 2004 when we decided to go down the road of designing content managed web sites we were faced with the decision of whether to develop our own system (rather contrary to the advice we'd been dispensing!), or use an off the shelf system.
We quickly decided that "off the shelf" was the best way to go, and once that decision was taken, Open Source was the obvious choice, as the open source ethos is to make the source code open and available to allow integration and customisation, an important factor in being able to create customised web sites.
Once that decision was taken we reviewed and tested several of the leading systems, quickly coming to a short list of two: Drupal and Mambo. We finally chose Mambo as our system of choice, as we felt it more user friendly and easier for the average web site owner to understand and manage.
In 2005, Joomla was spun off out of the Mambo project. We also shifted allegiance to Joomla because we felt that of the two, the Joomla team had the better ideas for future development, something since borne out by the plethora of awards won by Joomla since its first release.
Obviously we were not alone in our assessment, as since 2007 some 50 Million copies of the Joomla system have been downloaded!
So what are the other key reasons that make Joomla so good?
Ease of use
The Joomla back office interface is clean and simple to use. It uses simple form based pages to add and edit content, which makes it really easy to maintain your content without the need for any knowledge of HTML or web programming.
Expandability
Joomla was designed from the outset as a framework that would allow specialised add-in components to be plugged in to expand the core functionality. This includes everything from highly functional e-commerce stores, to news managers, community building systems, forums, events management, document management - currently over 2,600 plug-ins and growing!
Reliability and Security
As an Open Source project, Joomla is supported by a global network of developers. Any bugs or security issues that come to light are very quickly identified, analysed and patched, usually within a day - much quicker than most proprietory software.
Support Community
Again the advantages of Open Source come to the fore. The Joomla support forums have over 250,000 registered users and over 1.5 Million posts. That's an awfully large help resource!
Low Cost
We've left this until last - traditionally sales people talk about cost last, because they like to show you all the benefits before they shock you with the price tag ... but with Joomla we have to tell people about the benefits first so they don't discount the quality ... because the core Joomla system doesn't cost a thing!
When you commission a Joomla web site from us you are buying our time and expertise in creating the design and the templates, and deploying and configuring your site. You aren't paying for the core Joomla system itself.
