Anyone use Joomla or other open source?

[Beal9]

I'm curious if anyone on here is using anything like Joomla (open source CMS product). They offer a ton of extensions for photo galleries/ e commerce, etc.

Obviously there are things like smugmug, zenfolio, etc. but I'm trying to see if there is a way I can build a photography site myself to save some cash. At least in the beginning. Later down the road, I may upgrade.

I have a fair amount of coding knowledge and have built several sites, so I'm not as worried about that.

[bndgrl]

I swear by Joomla. Use it for all of my webdesign. Can't say enough good things about it.

[Highlight_Photography]

I use Joomla. Check out my site in my sig

[cory1848]

I have used Joomla, switched to wordpress because I feel there is more flexibility and more template choices. There are tons of templates, but the overall layouts are very similar, too similar for my taste. There are also a lot of security issues with Joomla as well.

[ibdb]

I have used Joomla, switched to wordpress because I feel there is more flexibility and more template choices. There are tons of templates, but the overall layouts are very similar, too similar for my taste. There are also a lot of security issues with Joomla as well.
Wordpress doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation when it comes to security either. . .

I've been looking at some CMS packages for a non-photographic site that I'm trying to transition, and am interested to see what people have found here.

[Highlight_Photography]

Wordpress doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation when it comes to security either. . .

I've been looking at some CMS packages for a non-photographic site that I'm trying to transition, and am interested to see what people have found here.
I used to use wordpress and it got hacked and taken over. I changed to Joomla and havent had a problem...Just have to remember to keep updating to latest version and you should be right.

[blackshadow]

I've used both Joomla and WordPress but prefer WordPress - I haven't had any security problems. For my photo gallery though I use smugmug with a subdomain. I have my main page as a WP blog and my gallery is accessible through it.

[cory1848]

I used to use wordpress and it got hacked and taken over. I changed to Joomla and havent had a problem...Just have to remember to keep updating to latest version and you should be right.

Wordpress at least has a development team in place and issues regular updates to fix security and other functional issues. I am not knocking Joomla, its just I would rather spend my time out shooting than inside messing with my website. There is a LOT more documentation for wordpress than joomla as well so unless you are a programmer, there is a steep learning curve, which is why you probably got hacked.

Third party plug ins are also more up to date with word press as well. I know with Joomla, the gallery plug ins, were an invitation to hackers, one of the sole reasons I switched. Being a photo biz, a Kinda of need that to work flawlessly.

[Beal9]

Thanks everyone!

Anyone use it for eCommerce?

[Beal9]

One other question,

For those of you who do use Joomla, do you find that it is somewhat overkill? I'm looking to potentially use it to put together a site to display and potentially sell photos. I'm wondering if just a simple HTML site with ZenPhoto, and a hook into a PayPal shopping cart (still working through that part) would work just as well? Only reason I ask is a lot of the features of Joomla I feel I would never use (i.e. Events, Articles, Friends, etc.)

[Highlight_Photography]

One other question,

For those of you who do use Joomla, do you find that it is somewhat overkill? I'm looking to potentially use it to put together a site to display and potentially sell photos. I'm wondering if just a simple HTML site with ZenPhoto, and a hook into a PayPal shopping cart (still working through that part) would work just as well? Only reason I ask is a lot of the features of Joomla I feel I would never use (i.e. Events, Articles, Friends, etc.)
I have all the article etc features disabled. I use Joomla because its very easy for me to update etc as sometimes I get very limited with time.

[mai_lin]

I use Joomla/PHP for my site, HTML for my clients only site and PHP/HTML for my proofing site.

But I'm a computer programmer so its second nature.

You couldn't PAY me to use Wordpress... ever.



Jen D.

[cory1848]

I use Joomla/PHP for my site, HTML for my clients only site and PHP/HTML for my proofing site.

But I'm a computer programmer so its second nature.

You couldn't PAY me to use Wordpress... ever.



Jen D.


Curious why you say this? Is it the ease of use of WP that gets to you since you are a programmer?

[mai_lin]

Curious why you say this? Is it the ease of use of WP that gets to you since you are a programmer?


Nope - I'm all for easier (I love LR2 for instance LOL), its the ATRICIOUS base code WP uses (its so weak its a joke), the none existant security for plug-ins and the ease of breaking a site. Their security is a joke.


Jen D.

[cory1848]

Nope - I'm all for easier (I love LR2 for instance LOL), its the ATRICIOUS base code WP uses (its so weak its a joke), the none existant security for plug-ins and the ease of breaking a site. Their security is a joke.


Jen D.

Thats interesting since I got hacked three times when my site was joomla based and have not been hacked once, since I have switched over to WP. Although to Joomlas credit, those times I was hacked were due to third party plug ins.

[PubUltraStar]

I use DotNetNuke extensively for work and also for one of my personal websites. Joomla uses PHP and runs on linux servers. DotNetNuke is .NET based and runs on windows servers, so check with your hosting provider if this is available. If you're not going to be building your own modules using .NET, the back-end platform doesn't make a difference, as there are plenty of gallery, e-commerce, and forum/blog modules for both Joomla and DNN. It is alot of work to get the skinning, modules installed, and maintenance for both of these products. I just switch my photography website over to smugmug, simply because of ease of use. Hope this helps.

Mike.

[Beal9]

I use DotNetNuke extensively for work and also for one of my personal websites. Joomla uses PHP and runs on linux servers. DotNetNuke is .NET based and runs on windows servers, so check with your hosting provider if this is available. If you're not going to be building your own modules using .NET, the back-end platform doesn't make a difference, as there are plenty of gallery, e-commerce, and forum/blog modules for both Joomla and DNN. It is alot of work to get the skinning, modules installed, and maintenance for both of these products. I just switch my photography website over to smugmug, simply because of ease of use. Hope this helps.

Mike.

It does Mike, thank you! I'll have to check out DNN, I haven't heard of that one. I would love to use SmugMug, however, I'd like to set up an ecomm piece to allow people to order prints. Without really knowing if my "business" will take off, I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to spending that much on the Pro account. However, if I get a sense that there is a market for what I'm wanting to do, then I'd like to migrate one day for simplicity's sake.

Thank you everyone else, I'm going to play with it this weekend. Supposed to get up to 8 inches of snow so it'll be a good weekend to figure it all out. Thanks again!

Oh and regarding Wordpress, from what I've read it seems pretty limiting in regards to actually customizing configurations on the backend (not just UI), as well as scalability with enhancements. But, that being said, IMHO I say use what you feel comfortable with and what works for you. I just wanted everyone's take.

Thanks again!

[PubUltraStar]

It does Mike, thank you! I'll have to check out DNN, I haven't heard of that one. I would love to use SmugMug, however, I'd like to set up an ecomm piece to allow people to order prints. Without really knowing if my "business" will take off, I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to spending that much on the Pro account. However, if I get a sense that there is a market for what I'm wanting to do, then I'd like to migrate one day for simplicity's sake.

Thank you everyone else, I'm going to play with it this weekend. Supposed to get up to 8 inches of snow so it'll be a good weekend to figure it all out. Thanks again!

Oh and regarding Wordpress, from what I've read it seems pretty limiting in regards to actually customizing configurations on the backend (not just UI), as well as scalability with enhancements. But, that being said, IMHO I say use what you feel comfortable with and what works for you. I just wanted everyone's take.

Thanks again!


FYI: I did a google search on SmugMug coupon codes and found one for 50% off. That made it a lot easier for me to commit to SmugMug for on year. I really just need to sell a handful of images to get my money back. I've spent a bunch of time learning how to customize the smugmug site, and it's actually pretty easy.

http://photography.m2creativedesign.com

[Beal9]

FYI: I did a google search on SmugMug coupon codes and found one for 50% off. That made it a lot easier for me to commit to SmugMug for on year. I really just need to sell a handful of images to get my money back. I've spent a bunch of time learning how to customize the smugmug site, and it's actually pretty easy.

http://photography.m2creativedesign.com

Thanks! I'll keep my eyes open!