When Joomla 2.5 was initially released, I spent a good amount of time researching Joomla-compatible blog extensions. Early on, there simply were none and I really needed to have a blog in place not only on my own website but on some of my client’s sites. So, where I need to have Joomla, I also now install WordPress along side it on the same host and this has worked for me ever since. WordPress is in its own directory, usually /blog/. I just create my templates in both Joomla and WordPress so they match and the user never needs to know that they are looking at my site on both Joomla and WordPress. 

That said, I now typically create new sites entirely in WordPress and skip Joomla altogether.

During my research I may have looked at EasyBlog as I remember the name, but I don’t think that I actually tested it so I can’t help you there. I’d just really recommend installing WordPress right from the get go.

Heather

@gregelwell Hi Greg! If the dual installation idea doesn’t work for your client, you can read the documentation for EasyBlog here - http://stackideas.com/docs/easyblog.html. Plus there is a good getting started tutorial here - http://www.ostraining.com/blog/joomla/easyblog/.

I tried joomla twice and never got into it. Lazy? Very well could be.

@clusterwebdesign – Thanks Heather for your answer above. I am very interested in installing the WordPress site within my Joomla site. Can you point us to any good step-by-step resources to do that? Also curious, do you feel that WordPress handles small ecommerce sites equal to, better than, or less than Joomla?

@lorilr – The easiest way to install WordPress is through your cPanel (or whatever platform your host provides). But, however you install it, the key is to install it into its own directory. So, if your Joomla install is in the root of your directory, install WordPress into a new directory like /blog/. Now, when you need to modify your blog, you visit http://www.yourdomain.com/blog/wp-admin and if you need to work on your Joomla content, you visit http://www.yourdomain.com/administrator. 

In Joomla, simply add an HTML link to your blog as http://www.yourdomain.com/blog/. 
This is exactly the way I’ve done it on my own website. If you want to take a look, visit http://www.clusterwebdesign.com and then click on blog in the top menu.
This all said, if I could go back and start from scratch, I’d do the entire site in WordPress. I just need to find the time now to convert all of the Joomla content into WordPress and then remove Joomla. But my calendar says it’s not looking good. lol

Heather

Thanks @gregelwell & @clusterwebdesign! Do you have Wappalyzer installed on your computer? It’s the coolest thing ever. When I go out on the web, as a web designer, I am always interested in what & how a site was built. Wappalyzer allows you to see exactly what a site was built with. It resides on the right end of the URL bar. When you open a site, several icons will appear there. You can click on those icons to identify the programs used. It’s easy to spot Joomla, WP, GA and many others. I use it several times a day. I can’t imagine not having it!

http://wappalyzer.com/

Update on EasyBlog for Joomla…I wound up installing and setting it up on my client’s site. The installation and configuration of settings/options went very smoothly, took about an hour. I was impressed with it’s features – there’s a ton of options and ways to customize it. The cost of the plugin we used was $59 and it looks to be a great value. So far, so good!