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I've been designing and developing with Wordpress for about two years (and I love it). Recently, a respectable designer told me that I could work for him. He works with Joomla! My job was to create a Joomla! template. I didn't feel myself comfortable using it. I don't like the back-end's UI, the way you add elements and content (I don't even like Joomla!'s logo). I'm used to simple interfaces and Joomla! seems too cluttered to me.

That's why I started to wonder if I'm better off just finding clients and using the CMS that I love or making an effort to learn a CMS that I don't like using?

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5 Answers 5

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In the technology world, if you want a job, learn something. If you want a career, learn everything you can. Because all technologies go away in time.

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  • Well, I agree at some extent. Well, we all learn as much as we can, but at some point, we have to choose the tool that helps up to get the work done three times faster. Or Am I wrong?
    – janoChen
    Sep 26, 2011 at 17:30
  • @janoChen The WordPress market, right now, is very volatile. It is oversaturated with developers, and I have a feeling the codebase is going to go through a major overhaul very shortly here. I'd strongly, strongly suggest working with other CMSes like Joomla! or Drupal because the WordPress outlook could change very quickly.
    – Nic
    Sep 26, 2011 at 17:42
  • @melee Well, right now I'm living in Taiwan. And believe me, I've done all I could to find a Wordpress developer but I couldn't (to partner with). But any ways, isn't easier to provide Wordpress services since more clients are used to it?
    – janoChen
    Sep 26, 2011 at 17:45
  • @janoChen it really comes down to the right tool for the job - WordPress is a great blogging platform, but it takes a lot of modifying to replace what a CMS/Portal system provides. Larger clients/businesses will have needs that differ from what WP has to offer.
    – Nic
    Sep 26, 2011 at 17:48
  • @janoChen : You absolutely have to choose the tool that gets the job done faster/better, however, your question was about using a different CMS to get the job. If Wordpress isn't an option and you NEED the job, then you better start learning Joomla. Personally, I think it's bad to be a 1-trick pony in the technology world.
    – James P. Wright
    Sep 26, 2011 at 18:20
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I would suggest learning it. Tying yourself to any language, technology, framework, or tool is just shooting yourself in the foot. It's perfectly fine to have favorites, but it's good to have options.

Think about it this way: what would happen to your work if, tomorrow, WordPress just died? You would have to learn something new to find work, and it would be harder to find work over people who already had the experience you didn't. However, if you get some exposure to other technologies now, it becomes easier to learn them when you need to use them for a job.

There are personal benefits as well. Learning how to learn and applying those techniques makes it easier to learn. Therefore, you shouldn't stop learning just because you found something you like. You might also see a new way of approaching problems that is better that might have an impact on the way you do things now, and I don't think anyone would argue against self improvement.

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Probably wouldn't hurt to learn, depending how much spare time you have. I have used both, and I do like wordpress better as well, but it really won't take that long to get up to speed. You can also ask your designer (or a forum) why they prefer Joomla over Wordpress, the advice may make it seem more appealing at least. But if you really hate it after a least a little bit of time getting used to it, then its not worth it, as you don't want to be doing something you hate to do.

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If you can earn a living doing the option that makes you happier, then of course do that. Otherwise, do what you have to do.

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You're being a sissy here. Even if Joomla turns out to be utter garbage (which I doubt), approaching it open-mindedly and working on a project that uses it can only expand your horizon. Learning a framework isn't hard, it shouldn't take you more than a week or so to get the basics down, all the while you get paid for doing so. And complaining about the logo is plain out silly - vim, one of the best text editors in the world has a horrible logo, and let's face it, Tux isn't exactly a masterpiece either.

Imagine yourself on the other side - you have this project, and there's two candidates you think you might be hiring. One says, "I haven't used the stuff you're using before, but I'd love to get my hands dirty with new things", the other goes "Woohoo, why won't you let me use the shiny fluffy things that make me feel comfy!" - who do you hire?

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  • OK, I guess I agree with you. But I had 2 days to get the job done (not even a week).
    – janoChen
    Sep 27, 2011 at 4:49
  • 2 days is a different story. You probably don't want to get involved in a rush job driven by unrealistic expectations.
    – tdammers
    Sep 27, 2011 at 9:27

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