Can you use Joomla to make a membership site?

I am pretty good with Wordpress, but its still a little too blog-ish for my site idea..
I know there are a few membership type extensions or whatever, but I don't know enough about Joomla or its inner workings to know if it would save me time using Joomla or if I should just code my site from scratch..

Basically I want people to be able to sign up to my site through whatever means, facebook, gmail, yahoo, etc.
I want members to have viewable profiles like on a forum board.
And (using PHP/MySQL) I want to code some unique features that I will allow the members of the site to partake in.

I am wondering if this would be easier to just code the whole site from scratch or if it is possible to do with Joomla.
Certainly would like to avoid burying my head in too much code..
also are there any extensions that I should take a look that would help me with my goal?

Well, you are not good enough at Wordpress, cuz with WP you can do anything you can think of. And yes, Joomla also allows you to create this kinda site.

There are lots of tutorials out there.

Well, you are not good enough at Wordpress, cuz with WP you can do anything you can think of

Click to expand...

and you can pull a semitruck with your own strength. Doesn't make sense to do so.
Wordpress is not the end-all app. I hate how everyone on here thinks it is. It is not.


@OP:
Yes, joomla has the ability to do what you want. Be careful and research the version you're using and all the extensions you use. Many of the mods made for Joomla have stupidly simple exploits. Check security sites for any holes, otherwise you will get your site defaced.

Check this out on BHW

Watch Us Build a Multi Category Membership Website
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/membership-sites/450161-watch-us-build-multi-category-membership-website.html

You will soon see the versatility and creative capabilities of a membership site on WP

Not trying to be rude but I was asking about Joomla, not wordpress.
I have a few sites on wordpress, but I want to know if this is possible on Joomla.
Never said I couldn't do it with wordpress, just that I'd rather not.

Thank you Zapdos I'll be sure to play it safe with extensions. Any suggestions on where to start from a fresh install of Joomla?

steelballs said:

Check this out on BHW

Click to expand...

Do you need to promote your thread in my thread?
This has nothing to do with Joomla.

I think I am going to end up coding the site from scratch.
But I would still like to know more about teh Joom

Porthos said:

I think I am going to end up coding the site from scratch.
But I would still like to know more about teh Joom

Click to expand...

If you're planning on using forums I would go straight to SMF. They have membership features already built-in with plenty of (secure) extensions. Easier to modify than the spaghetti-code joomla has. As for addons, there is one but I can't for the life of me remember the name of it or the creator. I just know I've used their plugins in the past and had no problems or security concerns. If I come up with it, I'll let you know. There's also no specific mods I don't recommend with the exception of those with security holes. If a mod has a track record of atleast 1 SQL injection problem, never trust the mod or its creator. In this day and age you can avoid that with so much ease there is no excuse for it.

Also, instead of going from scratch (highly not recommended unless you know lots about security) you can take a peak at http://www.amember.com/p/
It's a membership program that can be standalone or a plugin ( joomla is included ) which provides tons of flexibility without the need to recreate the wheel. I've not used it personally yet, but it will be in use on an upcoming site I'm making.

You may want to consider Drupal

why don't you try wordpress it's easy and comfortable

You can start with joomla. Joomla has membership plugins and if you are good at joomla, you can do with joomla.

Thanks for all the helpful advice guys.
I haven't started on the project just yet, cause I want to consider all my options.
I have a wordpress site that as I use as more of a website than a blog already, but Wordpress becomes quite cluttered when adding lots of plugins..not to mention the compatibility issues that some plugins cause when used with other plugins...
Thats not to say I don't love Wordpress, because as of right now my opinion is that it is the best CMS on the market.

I have noticed that Joomla is pretty widely used though, as corporate, and business sites..as well as innovative new ideas.
My idea (at least Id like to think so) is one of those innovative new ideas...which is why I would be too scared to share it on here at least until I have it all finished and running

However though, I think some of you are thinking I mean like a membership site where people pay a subscription/one-time fee for access to extra content. Thats not quite what I'm going for.

I want people to be able to make an account, and use the service. It is an on-site service.
I can code the actual main feature of the site myself with PHP and MySQL, but I just want to make sure I am going the right direction before I decide on using a CMS or coding it from scratch.
I know enough about security to avoid SQL injection for this site, mysql_real_escape_string() does the trick nicely, and I have a registration/login script that I use that is fairly secure (never had any problems with other sites Ive used the system on)...

So I am still undecided on this whole thing lol

There are many ways to build membership sites, it really depends on what you are looking to do. If you want a straight membership site and want free membership software to build it I would recommend membersgear.