Wondering whether your current platform is limiting what your website can do?
interGen loves Joomla. It is the open-source platform we use to build, host, and support most of our clients' websites—and one reason we can help organizations build websites they can continue to rely on.
Joomla is a content management system, usually called a CMS.
A CMS works somewhat like the catalog and circulation system in a library. The books are still the part visitors came to use, but the system keeps track of where everything belongs, who can manage it, and how it can be found.
On a website, the CMS organizes pages, images, documents, menus, forms, users, and other information. It gives authorized staff a structured way to update the site without editing its underlying code.
The CMS also affects something visitors may not see: how much control your organization retains over the website after it launches.
That is one of the primary reasons interGen uses Joomla.
Your website remains under your control
Joomla is open-source software. It is not a rented website builder controlled by a single commercial platform.
A Joomla website can be hosted by different providers. It can be maintained by different qualified developers. Its files, database, and source code can be accessed, moved, reviewed, and adapted as an organization’s needs change.
That becomes important when:
- A hosting or vendor relationship ends
- Platform pricing changes
- The website needs functionality its original setup cannot provide
- Responsibility moves to another staff member or department
- The organization outgrows a system that once worked well
- A provider is no longer able to support the website
Moving a website still requires planning and technical work. Custom development, third-party extensions, hosting requirements, and the condition of the site all affect how complicated that transition will be.
Joomla does not make every transition effortless. It gives your organization options.
The underlying platform does not require you to remain with interGen—or any other single provider—forever.
An award-winning open-source platform
In March 2026, Joomla won Best Free CMS and Best Open Source CMS in the 14th Annual CMS Critic Awards.
The Best Open Source CMS award was Joomla’s third consecutive win in that category, following wins in 2024 and 2025.
Awards alone are not a reason to choose a content management system. Continued recognition does show that Joomla remains an active and respected option more than 20 years after the project began.
That longevity matters when an organization expects its website to remain useful for years rather than until the next redesign.
Joomla is free in more than one sense
Joomla can be downloaded and used without paying a license fee for the core software. The more important freedom is what an organization is allowed to do with it.
Joomla is released under the GNU General Public License. That license allows people to use the software, study how it works, modify it, and share it.
For an interGen client, the practical consequences are clearer than the licensing language:
- You retain access to the website’s files and database.
- You can move the website to another suitable hosting provider.
- Another qualified Joomla developer can work on it.
- The platform can be extended or modified as requirements change.
- Joomla cannot be converted into a closed product by one commercial owner.
- Your continued relationship with interGen does not depend on technical lock-in.
We want clients to remain with interGen because the ongoing support is valuable, not because we have made it unnecessarily difficult for them to leave.
Learn more about the GNU General Public License and the principles of free software.
Open source does not mean unmanaged
There is no license charge for Joomla’s core software. There are still real costs involved in operating a dependable website.
A Joomla website may require:
- Secure and properly configured hosting
- Core software updates
- Extension updates and licenses
- Reliable backups
- Security monitoring
- Compatibility testing
- Performance management
- Accessibility improvements
- Technical support
- Custom development
- Planning for future changes
Many Joomla websites use professionally developed extensions for forms, calendars, directories, document management, e-commerce, and other specialized functions.
Some of those extensions require recurring license fees. Those fees support continued development, compatibility updates, security releases, and technical support.
Avoiding every software cost is rarely a sound long-term goal. A free extension that has been abandoned can become far more expensive once it creates a security problem or prevents the website from being updated.
A flexible foundation for complex websites
Joomla includes tools for managing pages, menus, media, categories, users, permissions, workflows, and other common website functions.
It can also support more specialized requirements, including:
- Event calendars
- Online forms
- Staff and department directories
- Searchable document libraries
- Member-only content
- Multilingual websites
- Detailed user permissions
- Content review and approval processes
- Connections with external systems
- Custom applications and integrations
Joomla’s extension system allows us to use established software for many common needs instead of building every feature from the beginning.
That can reduce development time and cost, but installing an extension is the easy part. The harder questions concern whether it is secure, actively supported, compatible with the rest of the site, and likely to remain sustainable.
interGen evaluates those factors before making an extension part of a website we will be responsible for supporting.
Joomla is built by a community
Joomla is developed and governed by an international open-source community rather than one commercial platform company.
Volunteers contribute code, documentation, translations, testing, accessibility improvements, support, governance, events, and other work needed to sustain the project.
Community governance involves tradeoffs. Decisions may take longer than they would inside a company controlled by one executive team. Technical requirements still change. New Joomla versions are released, and older extensions eventually reach the end of their supported life.
The difference is where control resides.
Joomla’s future is not determined by one company’s investors, acquisition plans, subscription strategy, or decision to pursue a different market.
For organizations that expect to depend on their websites for many years, that independence has practical value.
interGen’s involvement in the Joomla community
interGen has worked with Joomla for years, but our involvement has extended beyond using the software for client websites.
Members of our team have participated in Joomla events including:
- Joomla World Conference in Rome
- Joomla World Conference in Boston
- JoomlaDay Chicago
- Joomla Developers Conference in Chicago
- JoomlaDay Florida
interGen president Brian Mitchell has served as a member and team leader of multiple Joomla Teams, and has served as an Officer. That involvement gave interGen direct experience with Joomla’s community, governance, and long-term development—not merely the experience of installing the software for client projects.
It also reflects our belief that companies benefiting from open-source software should contribute to the communities sustaining it.
Why interGen uses Joomla
We use Joomla because it provides a strong balance of structure, flexibility, and organizational control.
It works particularly well for organizations whose websites need to:
- Remain useful for many years
- Grow beyond a basic collection of pages
- Support multiple departments or content managers
- Control who can view, create, edit, or approve content
- Add new features as organizational needs change
- Avoid dependence on a closed website platform
- Remain transferable to another provider
The platform is only one part of what makes a website dependable.
A well-built Joomla website can still deteriorate when updates are deferred, extensions are neglected, backups are inconsistent, or nobody is clearly responsible for what happens after launch.
interGen provides that ongoing responsibility.
We manage hosting, software maintenance, backups, security oversight, support, training, and technical planning. We address many routine issues before they require escalation, while keeping the website on a platform your organization continues to control.
Joomla provides the foundation. interGen provides the continuity required to keep that foundation secure, stable, and useful.
Put Joomla to work for your organization
To learn more about what Joomla and interGen can provide for your company or organization, call (888) WEB-GET1 or (888) 932-4381, or send us an email.
We will help you plan a website that meets your organization’s needs today without giving up control of what happens to it later.
interGen Web Solutions is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Joomla! Project or Open Source Matters. The Joomla! logo is used under a limited license granted by Open Source Matters, the trademark holder in the United States and other countries.