Last updated - July 8, 2021
Want to create your own sports site but can’t choose between WordPress or Joomla? Both of them are free and easy to use, so here you will find the pluses and minuses of each.
WordPress or Joomla: Which Platform Is Better for Sport Sites
Today, owning a personal website doesn’t necessarily equal having programming skills, knowing HTML markup or work in the IT field. Why? The answer is simple – everyone organizes CMS systems that manage websites. The most popular of them are Joomla and WordPress. They gained their fame due to ease of use and accessibility for understanding even by beginners. With their help, you can create not only one–page copyright pages but also sites with a complex structure and many blocks.
The essence of the work of CMS systems
When decoding the English abbreviation, we get the definition of “Content Manager System” – a special system that controls the content of the site. Sometimes a CMS is characterized as an “engine”. In fact, this is a special program that is installed on a hosting specialist. It is the link between the administrator of the web page, ‘users’ and the hosting system.
The main component of the ‘engine’ is Database – a database. It is a table that stores information in cells: the name of published posts, description, important comments. The wizard can change the database structure in the web interface. When you open a specific page in a browser, the control program transfers the correct information to the prepared template. Thus, all the blocks of the portal appear.
A big plus of such a system is the ability, if desired, to radically change the design of the site without affecting the content. And the introduction of new data on its complexity is similar to managing a page on social networks.
What to choose for a sports-related site?
It is impossible to give a definite answer to the question of which is better – WordPress or Joomla. Each system has its pros and cons, identified in certain areas of use: in the design of the social network, it is better to choose one and to control the home page – another. We will examine in more detail what are the differences.
About Joomla
You should choose Joomla to create a personal project of a social network or a corporate website of a medium–sized company. Joomla is also great for developing a sophisticated news or entertainment portal. An example of this is the numerous online cinemas: they are created precisely on this system. In general, Joomla is an ideal choice for those who want to create a really large site with rich multimedia content: photos, videos, GIF animations. So, if you’re a bookmaker in need of an online bets site, the choice is simple.
Another plus is the relatively low cost of Joomla templates from popular web designers. Similar templates for WordPress are many times more expensive. The Joomla engine is also better in terms of expanding functionality: for this option, there are many easy ones that do not require knowledge of widget programming. As for WordPress, the user will have to learn PHP to expand the functions.
An advantage of Joomla is also the ability to manage various elements of the site, including changing the content in any block, plus everything is in a multi-language version. WordPress means buying a paid template and installing your native language version if needed.
Website developers also speak well of the diversity and ease of managing the Joomla menu. A huge selection of categories that can be edited and regularly updated – in WordPress, the functionality is limited to the ‘Pages’ and ‘Categories’ blocks.
SEO
Now let’s talk about how the Joomla engine can contribute to the profitability of your site. Here, the capabilities of the CMS system are slightly reduced. And with the help of WordPress you can easily create effective sites that in the future are highlighted at the forefront in search engines. Of course, this is achievable only after careful work on the content.
Cons of Joomla
Firstly, not every user is satisfied with the design of the template. In particular, this concerns the need to manually remove many elements to facilitate the work with the site. To do this, it is important to know HTML and editing itself is time-consuming.
Secondly, the Joomla engine takes a relatively long time to load sites. Sometimes even a not very busy portal is loaded for four seconds on a powerful server – only after a long and tedious alteration of the template, the time is reduced, and then to 1–2 seconds. This drawback is due to the creation of a mass of folders on the server by the system. And this, in turn, reduces the speed of indexing a resource.
What about attendance? More expensive hosting costs comparing to WordPress, the possibility of disruption of the engine when the traffic is too high – all these shortcomings significantly worsen the characteristics of Joomla as a system to increase website traffic. Therefore, it may be problematic for holding online broadcasts of sports matches and events. However, WordPress also has its pros and cons, which we will now talk about.
About WordPress
This engine is familiar to everyone who has at least once encountered the need to create web pages. WordPress has become famous because it is great for developing blogs and personal pages (great for sport-enthusiasts), online movie theaters – although the latter is better to create with using Joomla.
There are a lot of development options, but it’s best to use the WordPress engine to create your own blogs. All of the minuses and pluses will be described below.
Cons of the system:
- The main nuisance that WordPress user faces is the low level of security. Sites developed on the basis of this CMS are most often hacked.
- The second point that you should pay attention to is the complexity of deep website customization. In order to go beyond the standard functional capabilities, you will either need to know PHP perfectly or consult a specialist.
On this, the visible disadvantages of the system end, let’s analyze the advantages.
WordPress strengths:
- A big plus is ease of editing WordPress templates – you can deal with the device on an intuitive level within 10 minutes.
- They also note an incredibly large number of concise and elegant themes for WordPress.
- The download time of an average blog on this system usually does not exceed one and a half seconds.
So, WordPress or Joomla?
And yet, which engine to choose to create your site? The results can be deduced in the middle of the article – each system in its own way is ideal for specific types of sites. When creating voluminous pages with advanced content, the choice should fall on Joomla. We’ll have to put up with a large number of folders and a reduced download speed, but this is complemented by wide functionality and the ability to design really complicated sites. Many professionals believe that Joomla is the best system for beginners, thanks to the functional features.
WordPress is loved by many users due to its high download speed, ease of use and is suitable for creating small pages, blogs, which will definitely be in the future one of the most visited sites. There is an option to develop complex projects, but for this, you will have to buy a paid template. If it’s about the mobile version, both handle it well.
And finally, a piece of advise for users: choose the engine that is most effective to meet your work needs. Now the most popular among masters is WordPress – it is loved for its ease of installation, many free themes. But Joomla is much more secure and wider in terms of functionality. Remember that both analyzed CMS–systems can cope with everything, however, consider the minuses and advantages of each engine!
