There are many open source CMSes around. They're all great tools, each with its own typical uses and benefits. Why would you want to choose Joomla? Here's why:
People tend to choose Joomla because they find it easy to use. It has a clear and friendly user interface that keeps getting better every year. Using the redesigned interface, it's even simpler to create and publish articles to keep your site updated. You can manage content anytime and anywhere, whether you're using a web browser on a PC, tablet computer, or smart phone.
Adding new features to your site takes just a few clicks. There are thousands of extensions available for Joomla, ranging from menu systems to commenting systems and forums.
It doesn't take much effort to change the site's appearance. There are abundant templates for Joomla and they can be installed within minutes, giving your site a fresh look and feel.
The current Joomla release adds many improvements and new features, making CMS both easier to work with and more powerful. It takes less steps to install the software, it's mobile ready (that is, it has an improved text editor screen for creating content such as the screen layout that automatically adapts itself for the device being used, whether it's a laptop, computer, tablet, or a smart phone), and it has tons of other new and improved features. One example is that it offers great support for multilingual sites.
Apart from these typical Joomla benefits, it comes with all of the advantages of a state-of-the-art CMS. Some of them are as follows:
Adding content and keeping it organized is a breeze (even if there's lots of it). Joomla allows you to categorize content using an unlimited number of multi-level categories, but you can also choose to use a really flexible new system of assigning tags to organize content.
Keeping hyperlinks to other content on the same site up-to-date is greatly automated. For example, you can add category overview pages without ever having to manually update them—on a category overview page, Joomla will automatically add links to all new pages you'll put in that category.
You don't have to maintain the website all by yourself. Other users can add content, add new menu items, and do much more.
The numbers seem to indicate that Joomla is the open source CMS of choice for web builders worldwide. It's been downloaded 35 million times since its start in 2006 and the number of sites powered by Joomla is still growing rapidly everyday. It's one of the biggest open source software projects around, it is supported by a large user community, and it is constantly being developed further by an international team of volunteers.
For an overview of Joomla, its capabilities, and examples of real-world sites using CMS, you should browse the Joomla site at http://www.joomla.org.
