Drupal

Kommentare: I like it a lot but because of their update cycle it should only be used on projects that have a lifespan of 5 years or less.

Vorteile: Views is the best thing about Drupal. Pre-Views, Drupal is a decent CMS, perhaps a bit more logical than WordPress, but with a lot less users it's hard to justify it. However with Views, you can make advanced applications with a pretty easy to learn interface. It's really, really close to a visual programming language, although there are still some things you'll need to break out the code for. I also really appreciate that most of the modules don't make too many assumptions. With WordPress, I constantly have to fight against styling and strangely formatted HTML inserted by plugins, and that's less common with Drupal modules.

Nachteile: It requires a fairly beefy hosting setup and a good caching setup to perform well. I also strongly, STRONGLY dislike that sites created five years ago now HAVE to be rebuilt, or they are not secure. That may be fine for enterprise, but it sucks for someone who makes lots of small sites for small businesses. Platforms should be supported for at least ten years IMO, the web has been stable for a while now and there's no good reason to force complete rebuilds. WordPress does this better and manages to continually keep sites upgradeable without a rebuild.

Kommentare: The security of having a tool that allows me to deal with almost any web project that requires content management, scalability and security.

Vorteile: If you have to face the development of an intranet or a medium or complex web project, Drupal is definitely one of the options that you have to consider. It is open source backed by a large community that has been committed for years to a project that is characterized by its flexibility and security. Drupal provides a robust content authoring platform and is capable of handling large numbers of users with clear rules and permits. One of the bases of Drupal is its system of modules. Eventually, almost any functionality you may need can be added to the system through modules (built based on PHP, JavaScript, HTML and CSS). And yet, I bet you will not even have to develop it, because surely it will already be available among the immense amount of modules that the community has contributed during these years (especially for version 7). The theme system is another of the important element. If you do not need to develop your own interface from scratch, you can choose one of the large number of free themes available and adapt it to your needs, being able to even configure many features without modifying the source code. Certainly, it does not seem like a very intuitive method, but once you understand it you can implement almost everything you need. In its latest version, Drupal has been almost completely modernized; it has discarded many failures that hindered its performance and have included in its core many important functionalities that were contributed by modules.

Nachteile: Drupal can be difficult to deal with for non-developer or technical profile users. Depending on your objectives, the learning curve can be considerable.

The fact of being an almost module-dependent system for most of the functionalities can force you to deal with many configurations, compatibility issues and workflows when you want to implement complex functionalities that may even need several modules working together. As I see it, this is not necessarily a negative thing, but rather the cost of the flexibility and power it gives you.

If the design and the appearance are important in your project, you will have to put a little more effort into the work; unfortunately, many of Drupal's graphic themes do not look as fashionable or in trend as those of WordPress, which is still the leader in this section. It is possible to achieve it, but you will have to dedicate time or pay for it.

As the number of modules and the database grows, the performance of Drupal may be affected, so it is important to learn to keep it in shape and updated, activate the cache and continuously evaluate the relevance and usefulness of each of the added modules. Although it has been greatly optimized with the arrival of Drupal 8, it is not something that should be neglected in medium and large projects.

Kommentare: Peace of mind, in regard to security. With a bit of customization, it makes managing web development projects much simpler and more productive. Releases like Thunder and Lightning hold the potential to become ever-better 'jump starts' toward the ideal CMS for publishing collaboratively.

Vorteile: Open Source GPL v2.0 or later = no license fees, ever. That's hard to beat, but the fact is that it's the better solution (even if it wasn't free). I've used it before, constantly revisiting; hoping it could be what 8.4.x is now. Know that "Enterprise Level Security" doesn't make it bulletproof, but that there are scores of highly skilled folks constantly pouring over every aspect of this software, with each component required to complete stringent testing before it gets a pass -- using experimental modules 'n such can reduce these benefits, soOo... do your homework. Biggest Pro? It isn't Wordpress. If properly installed and maintained, it's one of the best possible solutions. That's why so many government agencies, or even governments themselves, have built upon Drupal. I have 500+ active domains, and have used Drupal 100+ times or more. It's been our best choice, in most cases.

Nachteile: Documentation is sorta thin, which is often the case with major releases of open source software solutions, but it isn't that difficult to find answers: People often answer others that have encountered similar problems. The 'steep learning curve' isn't such a hard climb, since there are countless videos and tutorials out there... it's easily worth the trouble, even if you have no background in programming of web development. Installation could be made far simpler (e.g. the 'trusted host configuration' should be set up by the installer itself). But, it is hard to complain when -- sorta ashamed that I haven't put in the hours it takes to affect these changes I'd like to see. Manual (and frequent) updates are a bit of a pain, but it sure beats software that isn't being so actively developed as to require updates. Or, worse still, have nobody watching what the others offer as plug-in. Again: It's hard to complain without having put in nearly the time that countless others have (we all oughta give back, when/where we can ~;-)

Vorteile: Drupal has seven main Pros: 1) It's uses a very flexible system of modules. You can use Drupal modules to add new features to your site. For example, the Membership module lets you add member based services, the Video modules lets you host video clips, while the Commerce module lets you add shopping features. Each modules is made up of smaller modules, which ensures you only activate the bits you need for your project. Best of all, you can mix and match the modules to create things the original module designers might have never considered. For example, combine the Commerce, Membership and Video modules to create a paid for membership site of training videos. 2) It's very layered. In Drupal, system code lives in one layer, code to do with appearance (e.g. CSS, HTML) lives in another separate layer and custom modifications live in another separate layer. This makes it very easy to change things. For example, you can change the entire layout of your site without having to modify the original content to adapt to it. 3) It's free Remarkably, the core technology and all these modules are available for free. There are some themes that you have to pay for if you want to change the look of your site, but you can make your own themes and there are number of free themes as well. 4) Great user support Drupal has a good support network of dedicated and helpful users who are willing to provide plenty of free help. There's also free training videos on YouTube. 5) Plenty of updates Drupal releases minor updates on a monthly basis which address any of bugs or security concerns that crop up. There are also major updates every 2-3 years, which radically change the functionality of the core system. 6) Portable code Most code can easily be transferred between sites. Hence, if you create a function on one site, you can move it to another without having to re-do it all from scratch. 7) Don’t need strong coding skills Drupal's module system means you can easily achieve a lot without needing to know how to code. It might not look and function exactly as you want, but it will be a decent effort.

Nachteile: Drupal has 2 main set backs: 1) It can get very complicated The down side of all the flexibility, is that there are often 10 ways to do one thing in Drupal and it's not always clear which method is best. Often the only way you can find out is through experience. Which means your early Drupal projects might not be as good as they could be, as you cut your teeth on learning which methods are best for you. 2) Your code won’t last forever. Every 2-3 years, Drupal releases a new major update which radically changes the functionality of the site. The plus side of this is that it makes Drupal better. The downside is that you will often have to completely re-write your custom code. Because these major updates change everything, you will often need to install new modules to replace old ones. Essentially you have to rebuild your site (thankfully all the content can be transferred over). Upgrading isn't a requirement. But after a couple of years, the older versions of Drupal are no longer supported. So if building a Drupal site, expect to redo it from scratch it in 3-5 years. Hence, it's not really good for projects which only have a budget for minor changes each year.

Vorteile: The best part about Drupal is that you can do anything and the best functionality is either in Drupal core or a free module at Drupal.org. There is a misconception that the learning curve is difficult. In comparison, achieving the basic needs of a brochure website are the same in all of the top CMS solutions. Aside from comparisons, the best tool within Drupal is Views. You can create lists and grids of data that can then be sorted, filtered, and altered in so many ways without adding any additional modules. Of course you can extend views and provide even better data lists or different view types but the ability to display and work with items that reside in the system is unlike any other system.

Nachteile: With so many options available to you, the learning curve comes with learning how to best use the best module for the job. There may be 5-10 modules that achieve a result, but in the end, there may only be one module that does it exactly how you want it. So the complexity is in the trial and error of having multiple options. So you may waste time working through the complexities of a module and realize that was not the main intent of the module or it doesn't quite do everything you wanted. This is worth it to me though as I will then be able to understand how different modules can be used in different ways to perform different functions.