Joomla 1.5 beta review

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in Content Management Systems

Although it is a beta version, I am reviewing Joomla 1.5 because it has many improvements over the 1.0.x versions and even though it may still have some bugs Joomla 1.5 is here to stay!

Ahh, Joomla – my first CMS! Well, it was actually Mambo but Joomla is a fork that is pretty close (at least in the 1.0.x versions), so…

When I started making sites I (like everybody else) coded them by hand and FTPed them to the server; after a while it started getting tedious and more than anything else, a nightmare to update. This is when I started looking for a CMS and eventually chose Mambo, mostly because I had the feeling that no matter what problem I would have the community would help me. And I was right!

There have been many improvements from the 1.0.x series, many of which are a breath of fresh air to Joomla users:

Joomla requirements:

Joomla learning curve and usability:

Although it’s easy to use after a little bit of messing around and testing different things at first it’s somewhat confusing. Some of the things that are different from other content management systems:

The content categorization system – you can put articles and content in categories which belong in sections. You can’t put content in sections and you can’t create a category without assigning it to a section; also, you can’t have sub-categories or sub-sections. This is simply unbelievable for such an advanced CMS, and it can be a major limiting factor for some sites.

The Check-in system is a very good idea – when you are configuring a module or a plugin the system denies other users’ access to that component. The thing is, when you don’t know that you need to do a “Mass Check-in” you start losing access and it gets confusing.

Other than that, it’s usually simple for somebody who wants just a simple site: install Joomla, create sections and categories and add content. Of course, there always is a little bit of configuration involved, but that is minimal.

Joomla security:

Unfortunately the latest Joomla doesn’t have something that I need from most systems: granular access control. There is a module that gave you more control over the ACL but that only works with Joomla 1.0.x.

Another thing is the server security: you should do anything to improve it, and the first thing is to modify the htaccess.txt file. Joomla actually requires it to be renamed to .htaccess when you want to use mod_rewrite, but it is a smart move to do it anyway.

Also, although the administration folder is protected by Joomla you should password protect it with a .htpasswd file (the same as .htaccess, but for passwords). Get more details about .htpasswd here.

You should also pay attention whether PHP Display Errors are turned on or off – when you are working on a test site it’s perfectly ok (and actually recommended) for the server to show all errors, but when the site is in production state (being visited) you are just inviting trouble in by letting the Display Errors turned on.

Joomla plugins and applications:

The Joomla community is one of the most active and helpful in the content management world, and some members have contributed by writing some great plugins and applications:

Joomla documentation and support:

In my opinion, the Joomla community deserves an A+ for its support! The official forum is great: users get help immediately and it is usually something that solves your problem. Also, the user manual (pdf) is very detailed and will help get a newbie on his way quickly.

Joomla sites:

Other Joomla sites: