Recently the DIRT FORGE Blog performed a migration from a Wordpress blog on a sub-domain to a JoomlaWorks K2 blog wrapped within the Joomla CMS framework installed upon the root domain. While Wordpress remains one of easiest all-around web development platforms, especially for websites that require the capabilities of a blog or content management system (CMS), it has its limitations, particularly for projects that require or may require a relatively high level of integration with more mission specific software applications, such as e-commerce, photo gallery, file download repository and forum software. This is where the Joomla CMS framework excels.

Not only does Joomla possess formidable native applications to perform the duties of e-commerce and message boards, but Joomla also boasts the ability to bridge with a myriad of standalone software applications. And because these applications are standalone, they are often backed by robust development communities that continually strive to enrich the code base with incredible features and functions that consistently build a more impressive application. What's best about this, when it comes to Joomla, is that your Joomla-based site inevitably inherits these capabilities, But moreover, the layer of integration extends far beyond the basic user level integration. Through the use of Joomla's module system, you can layer and even weave virtually any element of either a native or bridged application any number of other applications on the Joomla framework. Not only can you publish these modular elements anywhere upon the template but also upon specific pages. This is the power of Joomla.

So, while I hated to leave Wordpress behind for its extreme ease of publishing, the advent of JoomlaWorks K2 led me to seriously reconsider Joomla. After just more than a week and a few blog posts on this site (as well as posts on a few other sites), I am satisfied with the move from Wordpress to K2 but have nevertheless learned a few things that I would like to see changed in future releases. K2 is nowhere near as easy as Wordpress when it comes to web publishing, but K2 is by far the best content management software and blogging software Joomla has ever seen, which is why several of the sites that used the default Joomla content component were immediately switched to K2 with the releases of the last version. But for sites run a separate Wordpress blog or run default Joomla component and require one or more of the features listed below, the switch was not so fast or has yet to begin.

JOOMLAWORKS K2 FEATURE REQUESTS

• Ajax Content Editor Auto-Save - Implement an Ajax auto-save within the content editor similar to that found in Wordpress. This way, when writing or editing a blog post, your work is consistently saved in the background without having to refresh the page. And when there is a database hiccup or your computer loses its internet connection, you are alerted to the error. This way, even when either connection is lost, you are not losing your content to a resulting blank page that emerges after you have pressed save. Adding versioning to K2, just as Wordpress has, would be yet another great step, but auto save would be a great start for any amateur or professional writer or website editor.
• Ability To Use WYSIWYG Editor Within Extra Fields -  This is the only feature request that I have not come up with on my own and posted either on Twitter or the K2 Community Forum. I have yet to attempt any form of compression on the topic of K2 extra fields. But after a bit of reading, specifically on the topic linked here, my interest on the subject has spiked considerably. Essentially, these guys are looking to harness the power of K2's extra fields by integrating the ability to edit these fields with a WYSIWYG editor. After giving it some though, this would be huge and must agree with their desires to enable such functionality.
• Content Tagging Editor - Where Wordpress creates keyword tags on the fly when a keyword tag has not been created and likewise applies it to the content when it has, K2 falls short on the intuitive nature of Wordpress editor tagging, since if the tag has already been created, you have to search down what quickly becomes a very long list of keyword phrases that are not alphabetically ordered in an effort to find the keyword tag that already exists. As your site content grows, this quickly becomes more of a headache. Being just a few weeks into my experiment with the latest K2 version, it has already become a web editor's headache.
• Extend K2 Tools Module To Include Other Assets - There have been several topic started, including one or two that I have started upon the K2 Community, that request the capability to publish file attachments from the module and either make them available through direct download or as a link to the original page. I invision such a capability as well as the capability to call other content elements, such as content images, content photo galleries, content videos and possibly even elements of the fields tab. This would work to extend the K2 immensely and really solidify the concept of using K2 as not just a blog but also simultaneously as a photo gallery, a video gallery and a document repository, which is easily conceivable through the use of category-specific K2 templates.
• Publish More Than One Video / Image - In the same way that multiple attachments can be published, it would be great to be able to publish more than one video and image and have it associated with the content item.
• Skip Number Of Items Within Content Module Parameters - I was a bit disappointed to find that the K2 Content Module did not have the capability to skip any number of content items in the same manner that the classic MiniFrontpage Module does for default Joomla content. One purpose of this capability would be to have multiple modules published upon the same page but have different emphasis placed upon the more recent content items than the older items. For example, you might have intro text, a larger headline and larger photo for the most recent items. The second module might have slightly older content with smaller headlines, smaller photos and a smaller amount of intro text. And the third module would have even older content but with no intro text, smaller headlines and no photos. And because these separated into modules, these modules can be published elsewhere upon the page, in between ads or within tabs.
• Filter Items By Tag Within Content Module - Yet another parameter within the K2 Content Module that would improve basic functionality would be the ability to filter the content published within the module by tags.
• K2 Conflict W/ Virtuemart Ajax Admin Category Search Drop Down Menu - This is actually a bug but completely compatibility with the money-making Virtuemart component is a must on many of the sites I run. This bug existed in the previous version of K2. For more information on the topic and a progression of the discussion you may visit DIRT FORGE Twitter (3871090032) / DIRT FORGE Twitter Status (3871211568) / K2 Community Forum Post.