Wordpress & Joomla

Ah the content management system, the web developer’s answer to the inevitable series of requests to be born after the web 2.0 revolution began with sites like MySpace and Facebook. Once it was clear that websites could be built in which users could gain a superior level of interactivity, the necessity for this functionality became clear in various facets of the web. Everything from social media to eCommerce and everything in-between, with a particular premium being placed upon the ability of users to add content via commenting and other means. This is where the content management system (or CMS for short) came in vogue, and began to make a huge impression on both developers and users alike.

It can be very tempting to place all of one’s faith in extensions and plugins when you are operating a Wordpress/Joomla site, but it is critical to understand the underlying infrastructure in terms of HTML, CSS, and JS (Javascript). Now, while it is true that with regard to both Joomla and Wordpress there is a lot going on in terms of PHP/MySQL, we’re going to put that on hold in this article and zero in on what can be accomplished with the three knowledge bases above.

In the last five years alone, there has been a tremendous shift in terms of the way that the world views the web, and while it began in 2007 when the original iPhone was released, it has really come to a head in terms of the number of people accessing websites via a mobile device.

Currently, Wordpress is the most popular CMS on the web bar none, this is true by leaps and bounds given the fact that it now powers around 30% of the web. Challenges remain for many users new to the platform however, because they are encountering an interface (at least initially) which presents them with an even more complicated picture than the one they face with a static HTML/CSS/JS setup.