Drupal, Joomla!, and WordPress – Which CMS to Choose?
For those individuals looking to create a website generating lots of content, but not looking to spend loads of money on a web designer, perhaps choosing a great Content Management System (CMS) is the way to go.
A Content Management System, such as Drupal, Joomla!, and WordPress, takes the need for a web designer out of the picture and puts you in the driver’s seat. What this CMS software does is generate a set base of code, wrap it in a template design, and then translate the means to create and manage a website into a friendlier and readable mode. At this point, adding pages of information becomes as simple as filling out a text box, each of which can be organised in an easy-to-follow nested fashion. Basically, beyond the initial setup process (which Digital Pacific can help you with), a Content Management System makes it easy for anyone to create and manage their own website. However, which one of all the great systems out there should someone choose?
Digital Pacific has decided to make the process easier by comparing briefly three greats: Drupal, Joomla!, and WordPress.
What they all have.
Each of these amazing systems is available for use by any business or individual for free. They are all Open Source systems being constantly worked and updated by teams of volunteers around the world. In this sense, the software will never be out-of-date as any new updates and additions will be what people actually want and need. Support for the software is brought to the user in the form of a community effort. Most importantly, they each provide the user with an easy-to-use and access control panels that make the web building process a snap. When this system is combined the use of pre-made themes and add-on features (many free), who really needs a web designer?
A closer look.
Drupal is said to have the longest learning curve of the three options listed, but many also say that once the software is learned, you won’t want to work with anything else. Drupal has a large list of features and add-ons that make the content management system one to manage even the most complex sites. However, the need to learn the entire system and coding is a downfall for many users. Another feature to point out is that the website and control panel are integrated instead of separate which may or may not be an issue for you.
• View the Demo at http://php.opensourcecms.com/scripts/details.php?scriptid=191
Joomla! is probably more user-friendly than Drupal from the install, but is said to be less powerful. However, Joomla! has an extremely large following and support group providing more and more improvements and features. As opposed to Drupal, it has a separate control panel and cannot run more than one site on the single install.
• View the Demo at http://demo.joomla.org/
WordPress seems to be a very simple and easy to use program directly from the install. Many people think that WordPress is mainly blog focused and will not be great for large websites with loads of content. However, more and more examples of non-blog websites are being produced with this CMS proving it can be used for more than casual blogging. WordPress is a very popular system meaning many users are constantly creating new and free template designs and add-on features. As opposed to Drupal, the control panel is separate from the main website. WordPress is great for use if looking for feedback and interaction through the great commenting system.
• View the Demo at http://php.opensourcecms.com/scripts/details.php?scriptid=88
Evaluate your needs.
When choosing a CMS, you must think about and evaluate your website needs. With the information presented above, those users looking to play around with code and have complex content-driven sites should choose the Drupal system. For those looking for some ease-of-use combined with developer capabilities, Joomla! is the software of choice. Finally, for those looking for quick and easy solutions to produce websites with constantly updated content and the ability for interaction, WordPress is the option.
We want to hear from you. What do you think about each of these Content Management Systems? Also be sure to take our poll to show which you would or do choose.
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June 9th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Re: multi-site management from single install.
Make that a YES for wordpress with Virtual Multiblog for WordPress.
I’ve got a few sites set up with that (granted, they are not big or complex) and you can even use separate databases for each installation.
June 10th, 2009 at 2:04 am
I like the criteria used to judge this post. For me, i started out with Joomla, but it looks too simple for me and not that powerful for what I wanted to achieve with it. So i tried Drupal. And since then, I never looked back. Now I build all my site with Drupal with just one installation. My reasons for Drupal are;
1. Thoroughness
2. Great community support(You are never alone)
3. Great template engine (Even though it requires a lot hard-coding)
4. Customizable modules
5. Flexible Theme System
6. Multisite
7. Speed of development after needed understanding.
June 10th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Good review. I really should branch out and try D and WP. Ohh for 36 hours in a day.
Keep up the good work DP
June 10th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Good Post….I prefer Joomla! and created my website with it… Simply It can said that Wordpres is best for Blog, Joomla for Portal Website….and I would not comment on Drupal….
June 26th, 2009 at 6:48 am
Is there any intention to add Drupal and Joomla to the power tools section?
Thanks
Steve
June 26th, 2009 at 9:28 am
I currently develop many sites using Joomla, it has a small learning curve if you are willing to give it the time it is well worth it.
I still strongly believe that you need to have some technical background to get it all working the way you want though.
Wordpress is the simplest to use and is probably the best place to start for the novice.
I have not checked out Drupal, but will certainly do so now after reading the review.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Drupal supports SEO friendly URLs out of the box too, no add on required. The install will automatically check if your server supports them, and turns them on by default if it does.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Has anyone tried Silverstripe (www.silverstripe.com)? How does it compare to these 3?
June 26th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
@Stephen Rowley
Hi Steve,
Thankyou for your enquiry. Even when the company who made the control panel originally, Ensim, owned the product, the Power Tools suite was only rarely kept up to date and even after Parallels purchased the control panel from Ensim a few years ago (and renamed it to Parallels Pro, changed the look of the control panel etc), they have not updated any of the Power Tools in all of that time either.
However, the good news is that we intend on migrating all of our hosted sites over to the Plesk control panel in approximately 3 months time. Plesk has its own “Power Tools” functionality called Application Vault, what makes the Application Vault so much better than Power Tools is that it provides many more applications than Power Tools does (Drupal and Joomla! both being included of course) and by way of what is called the “Aps Standard”:
http://apsstandard.org
All of the application vendors can easily and quickly keep their applications that are in the Application Vault up to date. This is something we are all looking forward to at Digital Pacific and we are working hard to get this delivered to all of our clients asap.
July 16th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
I believe if you are a designer, wordpress is the go as there are some excellent templates out there. WordPress is better looking.