Adding a blog to your Joomla content management system is a great way to keep visitors returning to your site, as it’s a vehicle for you to add fresh content. A blog can also help your site rank better on search result pages. Joomla is a flexible and powerful CMS that can drive sites of all sizes. Admittedly, Joomla can’t match WordPress as a blogging platform; after all, WordPress’ primary purpose is to power blog-based websites, while Joomla is a more comprehensive solution. Despite not being the #1 CMS for blogging, Joomla can still provide outstanding blog capabilities for both site operators and visitors. In this article I will compare four methods of blogging via Joomla to help you decide which solution would work best for your site.
Joomla! Core Content
A blog can be placed on a Joomla site without installation of any 3rd party components. Free and easy, this method requires little to no modification of your site’s template to create a seamless transition between the blog and the other parts of your website. The downside to this method is the lack of features available. Joomla content articles cannot be tagged, and, no module is currently available (July 2011) to view blog posts by month posted, a popular feature of WordPress and other blogging platforms. Free, 3rd party commenting extensions are available if you would like to add the ability of users to comment on your blog posts.
ZOO Blog
ZOO is a content construction kit (CCK) for Joomla, which features several “apps” (each app is essentially a different method of displaying content). ZOO itself is free, as is the Blog app (additional apps, such as a directory and an FAQ section are available for purchase). The newest version of the ZOO blog is fairly easy to visually integrate into an existing Joomla site, and a reasonable amount of features are available (including tags, comments, and browsing by author).
EasyBlog
EasyBlog is a commercial ($59) Joomla blogging component which packs a huge set of features. EasyBlog includes just about every feature a blogger could want, including tags, comments, social media integration, browsing by author, and browsing by month of posting. The drawback to EasyBlog is that it uses “themes” which will not necessarily match the appearance of your existing Joomla site, which means it may require some additional customization if you wish to have a visually consistent site.
WordPress Blog for Joomla!
Joomla component developer corePHP has created an extension which installs a WordPress blog into an existing Joomla site ($70). This allows a Joomla site operator to harness the power of WordPress, a powerful, yet incredibly easy to use blogging platform. WordPress plugins (most of which are free) can give your blog a virtually limitless feature list. As with EasyBlog, using the WordPress Blog for Joomla component may require some customization to match the look of your exsiting website.
Feature Comparison Chart
| Core Content |
ZOO Blog | EasyBlog | WordPress for Joomla! |
|
| Multiple Categories per Post | ||||
| Tags | ||||
| Browse by Category | ||||
| Browse by Author | ||||
| Browse by Month | ||||
| Social Media Links | ||||
| Comments | ||||
| Price | FREE | FREE | $59 | $70 |
| Customization Required to Match Site |
None | Less | More | More |
Key
| Feature is included | |
| Feature is not included, but is available via 3rd party extension | |
| Feature is not available |
The above chart was created in early July of 2011. Joomla extensions are being created and updated every day, so if a new feature has been added (or a 3rd party extension created) that makes our chart obsolete, let us know via the Comments section below!
Regal Creative has designed, integrated, and configured numerous blog solutions into Joomla sites. If you need help determining which method is right for you, please contact us, and we’ll help you give your business an attractive, easy-to-use blogging platform which seamlessly integrates into your company’s website.
