Drupal or Wordpress: Which is Right for You?

Drupal or WordPress Which is Right for You?What is WordPress?

Originally designed as a blogging platform, WordPress has evolved into a highly useful content management system throughout the past several years. One of the biggest advantages of WordPress is the large number of plug-ins to the CMS that improve the functionality of every aspect regarding the creation, organization and search engine optimization of a site. As far as popularity, WordPress is without a doubt way above its competitors. This popularity produces a large community of users and developers that help continuously improve the software and plug-ins. With numerous WordPress plug-ins available and many other being released daily, it is understandable why WordPress is evidently the favorite of the public. With all the choices available, some find it rather difficult to identify the proper plug in to simplify a particular task. Loft Productions has the experience to guide you to the best plug-ins to use for your project.

What is Drupal?

Drupal is another popular advanced content management system providing the user with full control over the development of a website. Different from other CMS using WYSIWYG editors and basic interfaces, Drupal is specially designed for web developers. Actually, Drupal is considered more of a development platform rather than a simple CMS. Despite the fact that Drupal requires a bit more of a learning curve, it is great for web sites requiring complete control over scripting and features. Among the main advantages of Drupal is the huge user community filled with professional web developers sharing tips and advice on how to efficiently use Drupal. Properly used, Drupal is able to create the best possible websites online and because of its superior capabilities there are extremely few limitations.

Which is better, WordPress or Drupal?

Although both content management systems have their own advantages and disadvantages, WordPress is generally considered the perfect choice for beginners and small websites. If you have advanced needs, you should consider Drupal because it offers superior freedom and control as compared with other CMS. Loft Productions uses both CMS, based on the needs of a certain website. Using proper plug-ins, WordPress can beat any current CMS. On the other hand, Drupal has the flexibility and scalability that can create such a superior website that WordPress cannot possibly manage. In the end, the final decision relies on your specific needs and what you want your web site to do now and in the future.

A simple rule of thumb is if you are going to have more than one or two people login and/or post content to the web site, you probably want to go with Drupal. Wordpress is a great product for smaller sites, that do not require the users to have different permissions, and do not have "unusual" requirements. Drupal sites are best for larger more complex sites, that have multiple users each having different roles, and will have a "community of users"  logging in to view and/or post content. 

Type of sites that WordPress typically works best for:

  • Simple "Brochure Ware" sites
  • Blogs
  • Family Web sites
  • Small E-Commerce

Type of Sites that Drupal typically works best for:

  • Online Communities
  • Social Networking
  • Online Publications with multiple contributors
  • Advanced Needs