Feb 04
Feb 04
Both Joomla and WordPress are established web design applications used by millions of websites across the world. Web Design Companies and web designers have in general supported various open source software for developing websites. Joomla and WordPress are two of the most popular ones and have established communities on the internet. There are hundreds of quality forums and blogs dedicated specifically towards the use of Joomla and WordPress for designing websites. other web design and content management systems including Drupal and Typo3 have also proved popular and effective. However WordPress and Joomla seem to have an edge over the others in terms of global popularity and use.
Many web design agencies and design professionals are proficient with Joomla and WordPress and are able to customise the software to meet the specific needs of a business. Both these platforms offer the flexibility to extend the core features to meet individual requirements. This article offers an insight into which software is more suitable for developing your website.
WordPress versus Joomla
Usability
WordPress probably scores higher in terms of usability, both from an end user as well as developer’s point of view. Due to its simplicity WordPress is easy to learn and get acclimatised to. However this is also due to the fact that Joomla offers many more features than WordPress and offers more advanced functionality. the new version of Joomla, the 1.5x version has made significant improvements in usability.
SEOMOZ.org, a leading web design and technical blog recently published an article where the author stated that “if you are willing to trade some extra learning time for a more advanced site, go with Joomla.”
Versatility
WordPress is better described as a blog software whereas Joomla is an advanced content management system. WordPress is excellent for publishing content. Joomla on the other hand offers many powerful features. There are Joomla components that target almost every industry and market.
If you have limited time to set up a website or if your requirements are simple then WordPress is probably the better choice. However if you would like to develop or design an advanced website with powerful features then Joomla is more suitable.
Search Engine Optimisation
WordPress is known for its search engine optimisation advantages. By default WordPress is search engine friendly and webpages tend to rank high on Google. on the Joomla needs some customisation in order to target the full benefits from search engines. with the right customisation however, Joomla websites are equally capable of ranking high on search engines like Google. Any expert Joomla developer will design a website to be SEO friendly.
A Joomla websites can be customised a accordingly to overcome any SEO shortcomings.
Scalability
Joomla is easily scalable. Joomla can be used to design small websites as well for developing complex functionality on websites. WordPress is great out of the box and will work excellent if the only purpose of the website was to publish informational content. WordPress is great out of the box but limited somewhat for developing complicated web applications.
Joomla can be scaled as required. almost any custom feature or application can be developed in Joomla. Joomla has been designed for extending and modifying to meet specific needs. WordPress is fairly limited. There are add-on features available for WordPress as well in the form of WordPress plug-ins but they do not compare to the advanced features that can be developed as add on Joomla modules or components.
Integration
Joomla has clear advantages with regards to extending and integrating the website with other third party applications of software. Joomla has a well formed and powerful API that developers can use to extend the software or integrate with other systems as required. Joomla websites can be easily integrated with other sources or websites.
Development of bespoke features
Joomla is the clear winner here. Customised development can be done in WordPress as well as Joomla. However Joomla’s development framework is more suitable for developing bespoke features for the website. There are many powerful add-on components that can be easily installed on a Joomla website.
Web designers and developers are able to develop additional customised features with ease using Joomla’s powerful development API. WordPress can also be easily extended however development API is not as powerful as Joomla’s.
Administration Features
WordPress has an easy to use, light weight administration panel. It is excellent if the main purpose of the website is solely to publish information. the administration panel is limited to updating or adding new content or media. Joomla has a powerful administration panel that offers a range of features such as e-commerce (Shopping cart), order management, enquiry management, User management, document management, multi-lingual content, etc. Joomla offers endless possibilities are and the administration panel is fully customisable for specific requirements.
Feb 04
Wordpress out of the box permits basic management of the primary SEO meta information. To extend the functionality we add our own super-charged version of the All-In-One-SEO Pack. The SEO pack makes it easy to alter the page title and page meta description.
The All-In-One-SEO Pack is a great WordPress plugin that completes the SEO aspects for WordPress. For some unknown reason WordPress still has not got the SEO fixed out of the box.
The All-In-One-SEO Pack provides for you to change the most important page elements – page title and page description. It also permits you to change the page keywords, but as we all know, search engines no longer take note of these because they have been spammed too much in the past. Google stopped using the keywords for page ranking in the early 2000\’s.
Page Title tags
This is the No1 SEO component to manipulate. Always make sure that you control the page title. The page title appears in the browser window at the very top of the screen. Search engines use this in the listings and show it in their search results.
Always try to make the page title only contain the keywords you want the page to rank for. Try to restrict them to two or 3 maximum.
Just like with a book the page title of an HTML page is the most significant element. Never leave this element to chance. Make sure you use keywords in the title.
If your page needs to stretch to cover two or three keywords we have found that you can still get solid rankings from adding multiple keywords to the title. But do remember that the closer the page title is to the keyword you want to rank for the better.
If you are a larger branded company you will likely want to add your company or brand name into the page title considering this is displayed on Google. Keep it short and simple though. Do not add your brand statement just your brand or company name.
Page Description Meta Tags
This element is NOT used by search engines for ranking purposes. However, most search engines will employ this in their search results so it is important. Google does not use the description all the time but we find that it uses it about 80-90% of the time. The rest of the time it will pick up the first piece of text on the page.
By having a good description it will increase your click through rates because the text will be more appealing to people. Ensure that you use a maximum of 156 characters. If you use any more characters Google will cut short the rest. If you can keep your descriptions to–0 characters or less this is even better seeing Google sometimes adds a date to the start of the description which is part of the 156 characters it displays.
SEO Meta data shown on Google listing
Changing the meta data and page title
At the bottom of every page and post you will find the meta tags plugin details. Update the details appropriately. Note: If you can only use see the title for the plugin and no details, just click the title and the section will expand.
SEO Magic Webs SEO Pack
http://www.seo-magic-webs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/seo-services-SEO-pack-settings1.jpg
Discover more SEO tips and tricks at www.SEO-Magic-Webs.com. For the latest SEO Training details visit us today. You can use this article on your website but please use a unique version and retain this footer.
Feb 04
Open-source blogging platform WordPress has released an app for Android smart phones, adding to the existing iPhone and BlackBerry versions that already exist.
The Android WordPress app allows bloggers to configure and manage multiple blogs, moderate and reply to comments, create and edit posts and pages, and receive alerts of new blog comments in the Android notification bar.
As WordPress for Android is based on wpToGo, those using this will find the interface familiar as it has been worked on by Dan Roundhill in association with WordPress’ parent company Automattic.
By Marie Boran
Dec 13
Author: Tierra Innovation
Tierra’s Audio Playlist Manager offers extensive flexibility when embedding mp3 audio into your posts or templates. Features include:
- Embed single/multiple audio file(s) on a post page or template
- Embed single/multiple audio playlist(s) on a post page or template
- Build your own XSPF compatible player and link our XML to it
We provide customizable short code that can be pasted into any page / post, as well as code to embed into your template. For example code and samples, visit our Audio Playlist Manager page.
Dec 13
The world of WordPress Development is constantly changing. As well it should. No surprise there. Several days ago, I posted an article how to add the post thumbnail feature on your themes for the upcoming WordPress 2.9, which is currently in Beta.
Previously, the code for themes was:
<?php the_post_image( ‘post-thumbnail’ ); ?>.
It has changed to:
<?php the_post_thumbnail( ‘post-thumbnail’ ); ?>.
The entry in functions.php is still the same. This code activates post thumbnails feature. In case you’ve forgotten, it’s:
if ( function_exists( ‘add_theme_support’ ) )
add_theme_support( ‘post-thumbnails’ );
Lastly, Technosailor talks about the changes for WordPress 2.9. Great read.
Dec 13
As many of you know, bbPress has been in transition lately. Some have wondered if it might become an abandoned project. Significant changes are on the horizon that may make it simpler than ever to integrate bbPress with WordPress. Whether you prefer bbPress as a separate platform or fully integrated as a WP plugin, one thing is certain – WordPress is not letting bbPress fall off the face of the earth. You can rest easy.
Recently, the WordPress Core Commit Team announced that it will be extending its official umbrella to what are currently known as ‘canonical plugins.’ These are defined by the Team as:
“…plugins that are community developed (multiple developers, not just one person) and address the most popular functionality requests with superlative execution. These plugins would be GPL and live in the WordPress.org repo, and would be developed in close connection with WordPress core. There would be a very strong relationship between core and these plugins that ensured that a) the plugin code would be secure and the best possible example of coding standards, and b) that new versions of WordPress would be tested against these plugins prior to release to ensure compatibility.”
bbPress is in consideration to be one of these canonical plugins that will fall under the leadership of the WordPress community.
What Does This Mean for WPMU?
Depending on when the WP and WPMU merge occurs, relative to when bbPress becomes a WP plugin, the main differences developers would be dealing with are forum structure and theming architecture. It’s not yet clear whether there will be a standalone version of bbPress, as many sites use now, in addition to the WordPress plugin. The most compelling reason to use bbPress is its ability to integrate with WordPress, as it does already. However, there are some users who embrace the bbPress platform outside of a WordPress installation.
According to the logs for the 12/9/2009 IRC meetup for the new bbPress, if the plugin option is pursued then Matt and his team will consider the implementation of bbPress shortcodes within WordPress, which would ensure that bbPress has access to more features available in the WordPress core. This may also simplify the bbPress theming process to utilize WordPress themes with forum-specific page templates. The IRC meetup included discussion about centralizing the documentation and the creation of a task force to organize the bbPress community.
It is reassuring to know that the bbPress platform will continue to be developed, albeit with a different direction. It’s about to become more accessible to a wider range of users. So, keep on building with bbPress, contribute to the community, and don’t hesitate to put in your thoughts over at bbpress.org. If you want to get involved in the changes coming to bbPress, you can get linked up here. What do you think about the future of bbPress? Do you prefer it as a stand alone option or do you welcome its integration as a WordPress plugin?
Dec 13
Dec 02
Nov 25
Are you interested in enhancing your blog posts with media, maps, images, and more?
If so, then this new Wordpress plugin called Yahoo Shortcuts, might just be your answer.
As you write your blog post, Yahoo Shortcutswill automatically detect pre-licensed content, images, and more to be added to your blog post, and thus enhancing the readers experience.
Here’s a quick video to learn more – I wasn’t able to embed the video so you’ll have to just visit the link:
http://fe.shortcuts.search.yahoo.com/wordpress/tutorial.html
Also, here’s a description from the Wordpress plugin page:
“Yahoo! Shortcuts for Wordpress plugin intelligently enriches your blog post with great content from Yahoo! Maps, Finance, and beyond. We are excited to make the software code for Yahoo! Shortcuts plugin for Wordpress available under the BSD license. Note, however, that the images, designs, logos, modules (including the content and services that flow through the plugin) are provided under the terms located here, which you agree to by activating the plugin.”
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