Hi,

Can we make gamesite with joomla like http://game4mania.com

thanks andvance !

Yes you can, you will need to grab plugins to do it, but yes.

 

However, *I* probably wouldn't; Joomla is a popular solution; IMHO it's popular mainly for the scope of plugins and it's penetration rather than the quality of the product. It is also a bloaty product (as its a one size fits all kind of product).

 

So I would advise looking at other solutions; checking them out (as in the quality of the codebase, how secure it is, how extendible it is, how supported it is, and most importantly; how well it fits your problem. Then making an informed decision, rather than choosing a popular solution; as popular != best.

 

 

Also; that site is quite simple, it does not need a heavyweight solution to power it, by any standard.

 

If you break the site down into "a smaller problem"; the site is composed of the following:

 

1. A category list

2. Entries which are indexed by category

3. Each entry has a thumbnail, some formatted text, star rating, a flash movie (the game - which has nothing to do with the CMS that powers the site) and comments

4. Social integrations; for commenting and probably sharing entries (games)

 

 

You don't need Joomla for that, I would say, don't use Joomla for that. I would say to use Wordpress for that; you will want to use a plugin in or two.

 

If you want a custom design from a designer, skinning Wordpress will be a lot cheaper than skinning Joomla.

 

Also, if your running on a shoestring (as in a personal; non business site); sites like that can be custom built cheaply too if you have a reason to avoid Wordpress (there are reasons why you may not want to use it).

 

 

Bottom line, my advice is; use Wordpress and/or look and "shop around" for a solution that is relevant to your problem and will work in your favour. THAT is a rookie mistake btw; choosing a solution because everyone else is using it, without critically thinking about whether the solution is actually relevant to your problem or the best solution.

Edited October 13, 201213 yr by FizixRichard

thanks.

...THAT is a rookie mistake btw; choosing a solution because everyone else is using it, without critically thinking about whether the solution is actually relevant to your problem or the best solution.

The same applies to Wordpress of course

 

popular != best.

I couldn't agree more.

 

Yes, you can do this very easily with Joomla, and without any plugins (except maybe social buttons).

 

FizixRichard does give great advice in saying that you should clearly define your requirements though. As with anything pick the tool that will do the job and one that you are comfortable handling.

The same applies to Wordpress of course

Of course, but if they want an off the shelf solution I would say; from looking at the example site; that Wordpress is probably the best fit; so my comment wasn't saying choosing Joomla is blindly choosing the most popular solution & Wordpress is not; just that from looking at the example site that Wordpress is probably the best solution from the solutions I would put my trust in. In my opinion at least.

 

 

Yes, you can do this very easily with Joomla, and without any plugins (except maybe social buttons).

 

Correct but with Joomla you would have to put up with things like:

- A larger footprint for no real gain

- A non intuitive administrative/cms interface; or someone elses interface

- A poorer templating system

 

Whereas with Wordpress you have a much smaller footprint, the administrative and cms side of the solution is more user friendly as stock and it is easier to build a good theme for Wordpress which would allow them to hit the ground running moreso than with Joomla.

 

 

FizixRichard does give great advice in saying that you should clearly define your requirements though. As with anything pick the tool that will do the job and one that you are comfortable handling.

 

Thanks and I agree with your latter statement to an extent; but it's a bit too shallow. The solution you may feel more comfortable with; while may fit well functionally may be complete overkill or detrimental to the clients needs or deployment process.

Edited October 15, 201213 yr by FizixRichard

Correct but with Joomla you would have to put up with things like:

- A larger footprint for no real gain

- A non intuitive administrative/cms interface; or someone elses interface

- A poorer templating system

 

Whereas with Wordpress you have a much smaller footprint, the administrative and cms side of the solution is more user friendly as stock and it is easier to build a good theme for Wordpress which would allow them to hit the ground running moreso than with Joomla.

 

These are your opinions. You are clearly more familiar with Wordpress than you are with Joomla, but that does not make such statements true.

 

Thanks and I agree with your latter statement to an extent; but it's a bit too shallow. The solution you may feel more comfortable with; while may fit well functionally may be complete overkill or detrimental to the clients needs or deployment process.

I didn't mention what I felt more comfortable with...

In the end you can build most types of sites with most types backends. It's all down to whatever you're comfortable with and what you can afford at the time.

 

Wordpress, Joomla and the rest of the non bespoke options you might find are a good start for the beginner and I recommend them highly, just don't expect to build something truly amazing.

 

Good luck!

They are tools, like any other. You certainly can build something amazing, the only limiting factor is yourself. A platform that will allow you to build something amazing with the click of a button? That doesn't exist.

 

The big advantage to open source offerings is the breadth and experience of the community. In this respect, Wordpress, Drupal, Joomla are by far the best choices.

 

Millions of like-minded users and developers, active communities with free and extensive support options, and continuous development by thousands, if not not hundreds of thousands, of developers? FOSS platforms are a no-brainer in this respect and something to which bespoke systems cannot compare.