Should the Joomla core be lightweight or feature rich?

The discussion came up at J and Beyond. It started with a discussion about what features people wanted to remove or keep in future major versions of Joomla. What they wanted to see in a "Joomla 2.0".

Some of the features wanted were:

• Update manager built-in for Joomla! core (why restrict it to the core? Should be for extensions as well)
• Remove web links (option: simplelist)
• Distros / customizable installer
• Customizable admin menu
• Extension install in the joomla installer
• Core extendability (add fields etc)

Then, the obvious question was asked: Should the Joomla core be as lightweight as possible, or should it contain a lot of features (the above mentioned and more)?

Obviously, there's not a single answer to this. I believe it depends on the particular website and client what features are needed and wanted.

As mentioned, many people at the conference wanted fewer options in the joomla core, keeping it small and lightweight.

Pros and cons of a lightweight Joomla core

There are several advantages of keeping the Joomla core lightweight. The install will be quick, the files fewer, the bugs further apart (because of less code) etc. The disadvantages could be that Joomla might appear as a less powerful CMS compared to Drupal and others. The reality is a different one, we all, as regular users, know that.

But if the Joomla core is small and has a limited set of features, a new user might be discouraged and choose another system with more built-in functionality. This has been a criticism brought forth by people wanting to talk down on Joomla. As a user of Joomla, however, I appreciate the limited set of functions in the core and the vast extensibility that comes with extensions.

This could be helped by including an extension picker in the Joomla administrator. Something like the Firefox add-on search or the WordPress widgets search. Search for a particular extension or pick a recommended one. Then install it directly from the Joomla Extensions Directory and into the Joomla site. That would be really sexy.

Winnie the Pooh: I must be going now. Goodbye, Rabbit.
Rabbit: Well, goodbye, if you're sure you won't have any more.
Winnie the Pooh: [turns to leave then stops] Is there any more?
Rabbit: No, there isn't.
Winnie the Pooh: I thought not.
Winnie the Pooh: [tries to climb out the front door but is stuck]
Oh, oh, help and bother! I'm stuck.
Rabbit: Oh, dear. Oh, gracious. Oh. Well, it all comes from eating too much.
Winnie the Pooh: It all comes from not having front doors big enough!

Pros and cons of a feature-rich Joomla core

A feature-rich Joomla has it's advantages as well. The core install will have "everything" you need to build different web sites. It will appear as a more powerful CMS and the user might not have to install extensions to get basic functions like comments, social bookmarking etc.

Still, this will create a lot of overhead in the install. Let's say the user decides to install a Disqus plug-in for Joomla in addition to a (future) Joomla core comments component. The core component will still be there, weighing down the install. The same goes for a lot of other situations.

Power users and beginners

There are several types of Joomla users. Beginners needs to be led by the hand and shown what to install, what to implement and how to use it.

Power users, on the other hand, want full flexibility. That's a challenge for a project like Joomla.

Which users should the project focus on? Many times, the users don't know what they need until they've installed Joomla and started playing with the options and possibilities. Given a taste of the honey, so to say.

Rabbit: [nodding head] Would you like *condensed milk*,
Rabbit: [shaking head] or *honey* on your bread?
Winnie the Pooh: Both. But never mind the bread, please.
Just a small helping, if you please.
Rabbit: Huh, there you are.
Rabbit: [gives Pooh a single drop of honey;
Pooh looks at him disappointedly] Is, uh, something wrong?
Winnie the Pooh: Well, I did mean a little larger "small helping."

Different distributions?

Someone proposed the idea of several official distributions of Joomla. There could be a "vanilla" distribution with the lightweight, core functions. The framework if you will.

The project could also create and maintain several other distributions prepared for different scenarios. Picture a distribution for Joomla blogs, another for corporate sites, yet another for social network sites / forums. More than three or four distributions might be hard to maintain, so I guess less is more in this context.

Create your own distribution

A huge advantage of future Joomla versions would be the possibility to create your own distributions. Let's say you have a set of extensions you always use. It could be Joomla security extensions, JCE, jSecure, eXtplorer or similar. It would be very nice to easily create a Joomla install containing these extensions and then install this package every time you need to build a new site.

You can do this today by using Akeeba Backup, but it would be nice if this function could be included in the core. Something like "Export Joomla site image" to create an install file with everything included, database an all.

Eeyore: It's not much of a tail, but I'm sort of attached to it.

A custom download or installation

Another option could be for the project to let you choose features to include in your download. You could have a full package with everything, and the option to create your own download package. It could be a form of some sort giving you the option to download a package containing only the functions you need for that particular site. In a way, it would be a distro, but created on-the-fly.

This could also be done in the installation process, locally. I'm just thinking out loud here. There are certainly lots of possibilities to make the customization of Joomla sites even easier and more flexible for the end-user.

My own preference

I must say: Personally, I would like the Joomla core to be as small as possible. Each of my sites have a unique set of requirements and needs. For that reason, I would like to install specific extensions for each one. There are, however, some extensions I always use. So I would like to have an easier way of creating my own distribution as mentioned above

It will be interesting to see in which direction the project is moving. Is Joomla going to be lighter, or a heavier version of it current self?

Christopher Robin: Pooh Bear, there's only one thing we can do,
wait for you to get thin again.
Winnie the Pooh: Oh bother. How long will that take?
Eeyore: Days, weeks, months, who knows?

What's your preference? Should Joomla core be lightweight or feature-rich?

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please share in the comments below.