Well said Madfish, also I respect your recent post on the logo comments. Well said. Its refreshing to see a someone with a dev logo acually acknowledge there is community unrest with the current 'leadership'.

With all of this conversation about XOOPS vs. Joomla/Mambo, I thought I would try Joomla out. I have never really used it. I remember about 2 years ago when i first started creating websites, I tried out a bunch of systems, including xoops, mambo, movable type, php nuke, post nuke, etc. I ended up opting for XOOPS at the time because it seems the most intuitive, easy to use, and stable. i couldn't get alot of the modules and components working very easily with the other systems and had a hard time figuring out the admin interface.

Well, I've been getting a little burned out on XOOPS after upgrading my sites to 2.2.x without really investigating the 2.2 version and not knowing about all the bugs. Things have definitely gotten better in that regard with 2.2.3 Final, but it still needs some work. Anyway, so an opportunity to test a different system came up. . so I installed Joomla! over the last few days and have been building a site.

And the verdict is: Joomla! actually isn't that great, and I would not use it over Xoops. The admin interface is certainly more professional looking than xoops, but the structure is way too complicated. Joomla is also not optimized for community sites that focus on user generated content. The modules and components are not as advanced as those of XOOPS and do not provide the advanced functionality that XOOPS modules do. In fact, in order to get the XOOPS level of functionality in article management, forums, or photo galleries in Joomla, you actually have to use the standalone versions of whatever gallery or forum and then use a "bridge" component or module, to bring that content into the Joomla frame. These bridges are very complicated to install and do not work that well, not too mention the challenge of wrapping or framing a different system. You will notice on most joomla sites that any sophisticated galleries or forums are actually the standalone versions, and often times to go to these from the main joomla site, results in a changing the GUI and layout of the site. This is exceedingly jarring to users and is just plain bad web design. The alternative is to use integrated Joomla components but these generally have far less utility than the XOOPS equivalent. Also, installing certain components and modules in XOOPS often disrupts the proper functioning of other componentes.

Also, in Joomla it is not easy/intuitive to create custom blocks or to copy blocks to make them appear in different areas and positions on your site.

Basically, Joomla would probably be fine for a relatively static site whose content doesn't change that often or a site that doesn't really need to provide advanced user generated content features.

Frankly, IMHO Joomla in know way excels beyond XOOPS in terms of technology and functionality. The only areas that I believe it beats XOOPS in, is the enthusiasm of the developer community at the present time (despite the recent Mambo/Joomla fork) and the quality of the theme design for this system. They've got a huge number of very talented theme makers and thus Joomla sites often "look" more sophisticated than XOOPS sites. But don't let the nice design fool you. . . It's not that great of a system.

So, I am here with Xoops! And, feel much better now that I have tried at least one of the competitors and despite whatever challenges this project continues to have, I'm sticking it out!

Sorry this is so long, I just thought I would provide my experience here. Now I have to run and delete my Joomla site and install XOOPS 2.0.x.

Oh, I thought I would also add that from my last few days of research and testing, it appears that the only Joomla component that I discovered that is really on par with XOOPS modules, is one created by Predator - a former XOOPS developer. He has ported Wordpress with true integration (not just a bridge) into Joomla. . and it is fantastic. It doesn't have all the functionality that the phpPP Wordpress for Xoops, but it is a beauty to behold.

So, in short. . XOOPS is something special and unique and has tremendous power, flexibility, and relative simplicity. Whateve it's challenges, it's a fantastic system. With some better marketing and community relations, along with continued advanced development, it will most assuredly remain a leading CMS. . .

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Yep, that pretty much sums up my experiences with other CMS packages. Some of them have better modules than XOOPS, but the admin sections are awkward. Others had great admin sections but not enough module functionality. Almost all of them have better design templates, but beauty is only theme deep. I finally chose XOOPS because it works. And for the most part, it works the way I want it to, when I want it to.

i have tested mambo before xoops, but i threw it off.
the CMS modules just don't work together and don't share anything.

in XOOPS for example, the poll module is 100% integrated with the newBB/CBB module. In Mambo it is a completely different thing.

just give me xoops. thats it.

toddherrold,

Thank you for your clear, concise comparison. I think you've accurately captured the essence of why many of us chose XOOPS over the many other offerings out there.

You certainly hit the nail on the head with me.

Best Regards,

James