Joomla is the second most popular CMS (Content Management System). 

This open-source software offers several benefits, which makes it popular for building community websites, blogs, business websites, scalable and secure web applications, and a lot more.  

While the CMS has been downloaded over 90 million times and has a steady following, there are certain myths that are associated with it. 

As Joomla experts, it pains us to see this well-deserving CMS not getting its due appreciation. So, here we are. Through this blog, we are going to bust some of the most common myths associated with Joomla – 

        1. It’s hard to achieve great designs with Joomla 

Today, any web application visual design is everything, given the fact that users consider visual appearance as a part of the experience. Joomla has several features and functionalities, which let developers achieve great designs and offer a stellar visual experience to the visitors. 

These features and functionalities include but are not limited to:

        2. Joomla is based on PHP, which is an old technology  

This myth perhaps comes from the fact that some of the popular CMS editors now have block-based editing. Think JavaScript, which is used in the Gutenberg blocks in the CMS. However, this doesn’t necessarily imply that PHP is dead and done with. 

In fact, PHP is used in as many as 78.9% of all the websites that have a known server-side programming language. Not just WordPress and Drupal, but even Joomla uses PHP to run a large number of websites. 

Moreover, the latest versions of PHP are faster and better than before and also stack favorably against other languages. 

For firms who are looking to expand their business using Joomla, the best part is that they needn’t look far and wide for PHP developers. There are numerous expert PHP developers for creating high-quality functioning websites. 

        3. Joomla doesn't scale for high traffic websites.

Let’s take an example of Mitch Pirtle from Space Monkey Labs. In an interview on the Joomla community, he specified that he was the lead architect and developer for Quizilla.com, which is a Viacom property and has over 58 million page views per week. This site was built using the Joomla framework! When asked why he chose Joomla, the answer included a list of pointers, including – the performance and the platform, a modular flexible framework, an impressive community, API richness, and MVC, among others. 

There are also examples of Joomla being used for building websites with massive traffic. One such example is the website of the Aadhaar project by the Indian Government. This site serves over 50 million hits per month.

        4.  Joomla has limited customization options

Joomla has very good extensibility via plugins, modules, and components, the core is light and has minimum features. Although the core is enough for most content sites, there are over 7500 extensions in 30+ categories which can add features like e-commerce, donations, ad placement, image galleries and more.

There are several plugins, modules that come for free, and the paid versions also have a free light version that can be upgraded to a premium version later. With the right integration and development capabilities, the customization options are more than plenty!

        5. Developing extensions for Joomla is difficult

Each application has its own extensibility features, and Joomla is no different. Joomla has very well defined extensibility paradigms - component, module, plugin, and template. Each adds different types of functionality to the core. The development guidelines are very well documented on docs.joomla.org with helpful examples and code to get new developers started. So the learning curve is similar to developing plugins for other CMSes.

in addition, the Joomla installation process is easy and straightforward, and once you understand how the folders are organized and what goes where development is not difficult ☺ 

        6. Joomla is difficult to learn

Every CMS comes with its own set of documentation, tutorials, and guides for users to set it up in a perfect manner. This means that setting up a Joomla website is as easy as setting up any other CMS website. The supporting documents available online also makes it easier to explore the best features and functionalities of the CMS. Of course, when you want to make use of the advanced features, you need to be well-versed with the functionality. 

        7. Joomla sites are difficult to use for non-programmers, aka marketers

Another common misconception about Joomla is that it is only easy to use for developers as they have the technical know-how. This myth is completely baseless as Joomla has a simplistic design, and therefore, even the non-experienced users can use it without any prior expertise in CMS platforms or websites. 

        8. Joomla’s security is not very good.

Hack attacks are commonplace, but it is not just with Joomla. It can happen to any site and any platform when the right security measures are not in place. As for Joomla, there are a bunch of security best practices that can be followed while using the Joomla platform. More so, Joomla has a codebase that is designed to be robust. It also has built-in two-factor authentication and extensive access control levels. But what takes the cake is the Security Strike Team, which strikes quickly when any vulnerability is reported and makes patch releases.

Also, most of the hack attacks happen when site owners use older versions of Joomla or other extensions. When using custom extensions, it is important to use ones from reputed companies. The Joomla Vulnerable Extensions List (VEL) also maintains a list of vulnerable extensions and also allows developers to report if the vulnerabilities have been fixed. 

       9. It needs higher hosting specs

Joomla 3.x server requirements require – PHP 5.3.x or above, MySQL 5.1 or above, Apache 2.0 or above, Linux OS Platform, etc. That is just an example of the specs required for hosting. 

It is always recommended that you optimize your Joomla website and regularly maintain it to optimize your hosting space and resources. Some tips for doing that include: Keep the version of Joomla always updated. Regularly update the extensions to the latest version. If you are not using any particular extension, delete it and free up the server space. You should also consider optimizing the images that you use for your website.  

       10. Joomla doesn't have easy to use Drag and Drop Page building tools 

Joomla allows developers to try some of the best third-party add-ons and plugins. It allows developers to come up with some of the best page builders for the CMS. Take the instance of Quix, which offers a visual drag and drop functionality and does away with writing code for creating a page. JSN Page Builder is another excellent tool. Recently, Joomla has also started working on a Page Builder that may be available in Joomla 4.

These tools allow creating good looking pages by using an easy drag and drop interface. Most page builders have plenty of blocks that can contain videos, galleries, images, and text. 

       11. Joomla is not very popular  

Developed as an offshoot of a CMS called Mambo, it is one of the best tools for developers and includes several features that help in the design and development of highly scalable websites. In fact, Joomla has won the CMS Critic People’s Choice Award for Best Free CMS several times.

All in all, it caters to a wide range of needs. The massive popularity of the CMS can be gauged from the fact that it has been downloaded more than 93 million times. Joomla powers roughly 3% of all websites in the world!

        12. Big companies don't use Joomla.

There are a number of noteworthy Joomla sites built across the world. Several government websites use Joomla, and so do several sportspeople. In fact, we recently re-built one of the biggest Joomla sites for UIDAI (India’s resident identity program), serving 50 million hits every month. 

Did You Joomla Yet?

It is obvious from the above pointers that you should very well use Joomla for web applications of your choice, and all the myths are baseless. Moreover, given the fact that there are several plugins, extensions, page builders, templates, and other elements, you can easily come up with the most well-designed and responsive website. 

That said, are you ready to go Joomla for your next web page or blog? Share your responses with us in the comments below.