Joomla Site VS Custom Coded Site - Please advise

E

EMU

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Hi Guys

Let me explain my question. I am exploring website options. So far I have two options.

(1) A Joomla option. I understand that Joomla is a open source CMS. From what I have read it is very customizable and has loads of plug-ins that are all open source. The Joomla option seems very good value for money.

(2) Option two is a site custom coded for me. It also has a CMS that is pretty nifty. It costs almost twice as much as the Joomla site.

I want a website with probably around 15 pages for now. I would also like to have a newsletter module that sends out newsletters to a few thousand of my clients (with their permission of course). Down the line I would like to expand the site. I would like to add an online shop and probaly more content. Can you give me some indication on what the difference is between the custom site and the Joomla site. My priority is to get the right thing. Not the cheap thing. PS: I have an independent graphic designer that will design for both options.

Thanks
 
Well one glaring difference is - if you fall out / fire / whatever with the developer you can find a someone who has worked with joomla and have him work on the site. The same does not apply with the custom CMS.
 
OK I think I was confused. The other site is actually based on Microsoft asp.net the guy says that anyone can edit it. He recons that Joomla is a security risk as it is open source. He says that server setting for the online shop will have to be changed as that may pose a security risk.

Thanks
 
EMU said:
What do you recommend I do Wizard?
Click to expand...

something worth more than R100k ;)


Joomla (or even Drupal / e107 / Wordpress / similar OSS projects) has a very large community base and you can very quickly find a new developer if the current one leaves you / gets fired / emmigrate / get tired of coding / etc. You, or any other PHP developer can code anything, and everything you ever want for a Joomla website, but normaly based on their CMV framework (which means less sloppy code, in short)

ASP.net developers are normally more expensive, you can expect to pay R450+ per hour, so the developer community is smaller. proper ASP based servers (i.e. Windows, not Linux + ASP emmulation) is also more expensive due to licensing so your monthly running costs will also be more expensive.

My recommendation: go the Joomla route, it's easy enough for you to create (or download) a new theme if you feel like it (especially when you want todo seasonal themes, i.e. Halloween / X-Mas / Father's Day, etc) and you'll probably also easily find a plugin that could give you new functionality, already written, for free. Or generally in the region of $39 - $59, which is far cheaper than getting the same functionality developed on ASP.Net
 
EMU said:
OK I think I was confused. The other site is actually based on Microsoft asp.net the guy says that anyone can edit it. He recons that Joomla is a security risk as it is open source. He says that server setting for the online shop will have to be changed as that may pose a security risk.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I would recommend that you go the Joomla! route. There should not be too many security risks as long as the script's modules are securely written and kept up to date (together with Joomla!), with the server and script being properly configured.
 
I would also recommend Joomla!

Run Joomla! from a Linux server = R0.00 (ok, you'll have to pay for the hardware, but that's it)

Run ASP from a Windows server = slower performance and lots of $$$ that you'll be throwing in the water

There's tons of Joomla! info out there + tons of developers + a huge community = you're in good hands. :)
 
I personally don't like Joomla! and I would set up a WordPress site. If you then decide to add an online shop I would use something like Magento or osCommerce. You might run into a bit of an issue sending thousands or emails as many ISP's will limit you so a few hundred a day so you may also need to look for a 3rd party for this too. I personally have converted all my clients sites from Joomla to Wordpress as the WP community is great and there as thousands of plugins.
 
SoftDux-Rudi has a great point (large community base, cost effective), .net might also be overkill for what you are looking for and I would also recommend Joomla.

Just note that most of Joomla's extensions (components / modules / plugins) usually has some limitations with regards to customization but there are some gems, it just takes awhile to find them.

Not sure if you will be involved with selecting the extensions (Free or Commercial) but, if so:
Read the reviews on Joomla's extensions directory
Check the developer's website status (active / outdated), does it supply user manuals / tutorials?
and most importantly, check the extension's support forum, how active it is, how is the vibe within the posts, positive / negative.

Virtuemart for instance, is a great e-commerce extension.

Good luck with your venture
 
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If your options are Joomla vs Asp, always Joomla. If you won't have a lot of content, more than 20 pages or so, then go for a online shop option that provides some CMS functionality as well. Determine which is your first priority and work from there. I found it to be alot easier to use smaller components (not talking about Joomla components) than to try and moer everything into 1 big system. If I had to launch a website with the features you mentioned, I would investigate an easy CMS option like Wordpress, which also has a massive community and some very decent plugins, and try out something like Shopify or even Paypal for payment. Also maybe have a look at Prestashop, might be something you like.

Good luck!
 
Riiiiiiight... I'll just retire from this thread now. Seems like the PHP fans here haven't had much experience in .NET here and don't realize the power of it. Oh well, their loss... :p

FWIW - Open-source CMS built on .NET: Umbraco
 
FarligOpptreden said:
...and what would be the basis for this argument?
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15 years working with ISPs?

Watching how poorly they perform, having to maintain them after the developers go on another drug binge, having to move and update them, having to work with ASP its permissions and all the crap, having to work with MSSQL databases, etc etc etc I know for a fact how ASP performs when compared to PHP. Its about 8 times slower than PHP. Its crud. End.

I havent even started talking about how terrible the hosting platform is. Gay checkdisks, crappy file system, extremely slow http systems, etc etc. IIS is just lame.

Its terrible, only an ASP dev (its their bread and butter and they have no other choice) would think otherwise.

@EMU: I would go joomla, just make sure you always keep it updated to the latest version or it will become exploited.
 
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FarligOpptreden said:
Riiiiiiight... I'll just retire from this thread now. Seems like the PHP fans here haven't had much experience in .NET here and don't realize the power of it. Oh well, their loss... :p

FWIW - Open-source CMS built on .NET: Umbraco
Click to expand...

15 years not enough? Oh riiiight, I dont want to brown nose ASP so I dont have experience. Uhuh.
 
w1z4rd said:
15 years not enough? Oh riiiight, I dont want to brown nose ASP so I dont have experience. Uhuh.
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WOW! You are soooooo super awesome having 15 years experience in .NET! I bet Microsoft came to you asking for tips in building a managed, interpreted language for use in desktop, web and mobile applications... You probably recommended the term .NET as well, didn't you? Just because you have 15 years experience in .NET!!!
 
FarligOpptreden said:
WOW! You are soooooo super awesome having 15 years experience in .NET! I bet Microsoft came to you asking for tips in building a managed, interpreted language for use in desktop, web and mobile applications... You probably recommended the term .NET as well, didn't you? Just because you have 15 years experience in .NET!!!
Click to expand...

Also, ASP devs appear immature.
 
FarligOpptreden said:
Well, unfortunately not all of us can have 15 years experience in .NET, you know?
Click to expand...

Perhaps you should not ask what experience people have if the answer makes you throw your toys out the cot? I dunno.. use it.. dont use it.

FYI, its 15 years working and now managing ISPs. Ive dealt with thousands of ASP websites.
 
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