Web CMD Fall 2024

Joomla: Open Source CMS #1

https://www.joomla.org

History

Created in 2005 as a fork of Mambo, another CMS, Joomla was created because many of the people running mambo claimed that the company they were working for was acting in bad faith. They established Open Source Matters Inc (OSM) and helped to change and improve what Open Source software meant for many people. They continued to revise and improve upon the project, and despite some leadership quitting in 2012, and criticisms about the overall development in 2015, the project has largely been improving. There were some hiccups, both with the rise of COVID and a data breach both happening in 2020, but the project largely seems to be going strong. 4.0 was released in 2021 and considered a major milestone for the organization. Currently the newest version is 5.1, released on April 16 of 2024, and version 6.0 is slated to be released on October 14th of 2025.

Requirements

The current requirements for Joomla 5.0 and higher are:
– Software: PHP 8.1 or better
– Databases: MySQL 8.0.13 or better, MariaDB 10.4 or better, or PostgreSQL 12.0 or better
– Web Servers: Apache 2.4, Nginx 1.21 or better, Microsoft IIS 10

Hosting

Similarly to WordPress, Joomla is self-hosting. Users are required to find a domain and hosting plan from a provider, but some providers offer Joomla installations as a service.

Cost

While the software is free, paying for hosting and any other benefits does cost money. One site, joomlatools.com, offers $99/year for 1 website, going all the way up to $400/year for as many websites as you need. Joomla developers themselves also ask that you “pay them forward” by contributing time and energy to helping contribute to the software.

User Base

Joomla is used by 2.4% of all websites utilizing any kind of CMS. Overall, they’re the 2nd most popular CMS after WordPress. While WordPress is best for beginners and more streamlined sites, Joomla is favored by people looking for more advanced and complex features, so anyone who has been in the business of CMS’s for a while may favor Joomla.