Gane.ca

For those who follow me on Twitter are aware that I recently released a new blog aimed towards self improvement, namely my own, currently at Timis.Me. What makes this project / blog special is that it is my first adventure with Wordpress, and not Joomla or Drupal.

I'll save you the back story on the project, you can read that here, and simply talk about the the thing I've noticed about Wordpress. And yes, you can expect comparisons to my CMS of choice, Joomla.

Structure

File size wise, on my harddrive, Wordpress 3.0 RC1 at 9.69 MB is less then half the size of Joomla 1.5.17 which weighs in at 24.4 MB. Wordpress is a much more pleasurable upload experience then Joomla, and this is because of the over size of the CMS, but could also be attributed to a lot of smaller files in Joomla.

When it comes to the database layout for both system, again, Wordpress seems to be sleeker and smaller then Joomla. When comparing this site, to Timis.Me, the database is a 1/5 of the size. Joomla has just over 52 tables, while the Wordpress has a round dozen.

Extension System

To be fair, my experience with the Wordpress extension system is limited to installing and configuring plugins. With Joomla I have created and modified extensions of all types. However two things I've noticed very quickly when using the extension system: installing extensions and upgrade ability.

Joomla allows you to upload a zip file, and it will distinguish what type of extension (Component, Module, Plugin) or if its a template and install them into the system. Wordpress install is much simpler: just upload the folder for the extension into the proper place in the Wordpress folder structure. After that, login to the admin side, and you can simply enable it. Both systems have benefits and drawbacks.

One thing that caught my attention immediately i#mce_temp_url#s Wordpress provides the ability to automatically update extensions via by a simple button click. Once upon a time, I remember seeing this in an article, but the convenience, ease of use and how it just works on my localhost and on my web server is simply awesome.

Template System

I must admit, I prefer Joomla's template style. Although, like the extension system, it is relatively simple to install a new template into Wordpress, but creating a template is a different story. With Joomla, for the most part, the templates are a single PHP file.

Wordpress templates are much bigger, at least by default. I am sure you could simply create a single file template, but looking at the default template the comes with 3.0 RC 1 it is more then 1 file. Not a major deal, but when modifying the template it can lead to some confusion and errors due to omissions and code typos.

I prefer the single file template, it allows me to view the entire template code at once. Having said that, it appears that you have much more control of the template parts via code with a Wordpress template.

Final Thoughts

I think it is safe to say, Wordpress is beginning to win me over. From the areas I discussed above, I think Wordpress is most defiantly winning. The ease of use and smaller learning curve compared to other system for general users makes me more likely to recommend to clients & friends.

I do however think Joomla has it's place, and is still incredible flexible and powerful solution. And maybe it's my familiarity with the system, or the things I've seen it can do, but it will always have a place in my heart and for the time being will be my goto CMS.