Durga Apoorv Durga

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Joomla! and Mambo are finally different

14-May-2007

As Web CMS Report readers know, Joomla!'s roadmap for future versions is quite ambitious. The project has indeed incorporated many new features in the recently released Joomla! 1.5 Beta-2, called "The Red Barchetta." These include a new API and development framework, as well as improvements in accessibility and internationalization. But what makes it really different is that Joomla! was rewritten from scratch with almost zero code from its one-time parent, Mambo. Previously, almost all extensions, templates, and third-party applications developed for one could run on the other. No more. This presents two challenges to Joomla! and its users:

  1. A major reason for Joomla!'s (and Mambo's) popularity was availability of huge number of third-party extensions. As an extension developer, you could code an extension that could be used by both.
  2. If you are a customer using Joomla! and want to upgrade, you may need to wait for third-party developers to re-write your favorite extension or app to run in new Joomla! codebase.

 

Joomla! for its part has a very vibrant and helpful community that you can turn to if you need any assistance. But new codebases always bring new challenges, and for better or worse, Joomla! is going its own way now.

    Excerpt from the Joomla! Evaluation

    Web Content Management Evaluation Stream looks at... Upgrading Joomla!

    "As Joomla! continues to become a more capable tool with major areas of functionality that were previously missing, do not assume that upgrades will be easy. Previously, almost all extensions, templates, and third-party applications developed for one version could run on the other, but this is not the case, any more. Hence, we would caution you..."
    (p. 816)

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Tags: Web Content & Experience Management, Marketplace at Large, Open Source, Selecting Technology, Joomla!