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Joomla!
Top ten reasons why Drupal and Joomla! suck:
- They are way too easy to install and configure.
- They are excellent at managing content.
- One does not have to give anyone their credit card information to download them.
- They have way too many 3rd party extensions, especially Joomla.
- They have communities that are way too large and, on the whole, much too friendly and helpful.
- They are easy to write templates/theme for (although some may give Joomla! the edge here).
- They have forums where users can ask and answer questions.
- They have semi-decent documentation
- They have created a service industry around them, e.g., selling templates, themes and extensions, building web sites, providing ongoing operations and maintenance support, etc.
- They have provided shining examples of the benefits of open source software development.
I found this today on the Joomla! Forum and thought it was worth passing on...
A comparison of the capabilities and features of the latest releases (as of September 2008) of Joomla 1.5, Drupal 6, and Wordpress 2 with respect to 1) functionality -- multi-user publishing, layout and design, search engine optimization (SEO), mobile device support, and internationalization/localization; 2) extensibility -- the general climate and quality of third-party extension development for each platform; 3) support; 4) specific kinds of websites -- media/publishing sites, community/social sites, eCommerce sites. This is a helpful breakdown when it comes to deciding which platform is the best fit for a specific purpose.
You can view or download a PDF version of the comparison at NewLocalMedia.org.
The Joomla! CMS Project recently announced a change in the policy for listing 3rd-party extensions on their popular JED site. The new policy requires that all 3rd-party extensions must use the GPL license in order to be listed on the directory. Furthermore, they will no longer accept extensions that contain encrypted code, which some open source software developers use to discourage individuals and warez sites from redistributing their software.
This came as no big surprise to me, as Joomla's overall policy on extension licensing, which was announced about 18 months ago, is that extensions to Joomla!, which is GPL, are, by definition, GPL since they are considered "derivative works."
While I personally have no problem with this new policy (other than wondering why GPL-compatible licenses are not allowed), I wondered if anyone had really thought about what the long term effect of a GPL-only policy would be on one of Joomla's often stated future goals. That being the desire to have the Joomla! CMS spawn a companion "application framework" upon which a number of diverse applications could be built.
One thought that crossed my mind while burning a minimal amount of brain cells thinking about this was:
| Conditionals | What They Do |
|---|---|
|
<?php if($this->countModules('condition')) { ?> do something <?php } else { ?> do something else <?php } ?> |
| jdoc:includes | What They Do |
|---|---|
| <jdoc:include type="head" /> | Includes default header section xhtml in template's index.php file |
| <jdoc:include type="modules" name="nnn" style="sss" /> | Includes all active modules assigned to a position in template's index.php file |
| <jdoc:include type="module" name="nnn" style="sss" /> | Includes one particular active module assigned to a position in template's index.php file |
| &<jdoc:include type="component" /> | Includes component position in template's index.php file |
| &<jdoc:include type="message" /> | Includes system and error messages in template's index.php file |
| Examples of Include Usage |
|---|
|
<jdoc:include type="head" /> – inserts the following xhtml statements within <head></head> in the template's index.php file:
<base href="http://domain-name.domain-sufffix/" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <meta name="robots" content="index, follow" /> <meta name="keywords" content="joomla, Joomla" /> <meta name="description" content="Joomla! - the dynamic portal engine and content management system" /> <meta name="generator" content="Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Management" /> <title>>Welcome to the Frontpage</title> <script type="text/javascript" rel="lightbox" src="/media/system/js/mootools.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" rel="lightbox" src="/media/system/js/caption.js"></script> |
|
<jdoc:include type="modules" name="left" style="xhtml"/> – defines where the "left" module position will be placed in template's index.php file layout and use of the "xhtml" module encapsulation style for all modules assigned to the "left" position:
<div id="leftbox"> <!-- left module display --> <jdoc:include type="modules" name="left" style="xhtml" /> </div> <!-- end leftbox display --> More details about the <jdoc:include type="module" name="nnn" style="sss" />: The name="nnn" is the name of the position the module lives in when it is active. Joomla! has a number of pre-defined module positions and you also have the ability to add your own ( see the TemplateDetails.xml discussion). The style="sss" tells Joomla! what kind of xHTML constructs to generate. The choices are:
|
|
<jdoc:include type="component" /> – defines where the "component" position will appear in template's index.php file layout:
<div id="middlebox"> <!-- component display --> <jdoc:include type="component" /> </div> <!-- end component display --> |
