When you want to build a website, one of the trickiest decisions is: which Content Management System should I choose? Tools like Drupal, WordPress, Joomla … are among the most popular open source systems. All three have been developed using PHP and MySQL and are supported by a large community. And yet, each one has its distinctive features. So, which CMS is best suited to your project?
Drupal: the largest number of options, but requires technical knowledge
Drupal is best for those who want a robust professional CMS or those who need to work with huge amounts of data and who are looking for maximum security and stability. So, this solution is clearly for large websites – for small websites and beginners, Drupal is just too much.
Drupal is the most powerful of the three CMSs. It uses fewer resources and is the most advanced at a technical level.
Pages load faster, and there is a quicker response.
You can add extra features via modules that you can combine endlessly. However, an excessive number of modules may make the site slower.
Drupal is the most flexible CMS; you can even change Drupal’s root files.
It is the most secure of all three systems and is therefore used by different government agencies.
It can handle anything from single-page sites to large sites, and is perfectly scalable.
Caching will improve the site’s speed and performance even more. For this, you can use APC, Varnish, etc. These caching tools are also available as options with our Drupal hosting packages.
Pressflow is a special Drupal fork, which combines popular extensions, including tools for better performance and scalability.
Drupal is perfectly suited for creating users and assigning roles and permissions to them.
Drupal is extremely stable, even when traffic peaks.
Drupal’s architecture is entirely SEO-friendly.
With the Drupal module Panels, you can change a web page’s interface using the drag and drop feature – something that WordPress and Joomla deeply envy!
Disadvantages
Drupal requires some basic knowledge of HTML and PHP and a steeper learning curve than WordPress or Joomla.
It is a little more difficult to find support. If you want to have something programmed, you will probably have to spend a larger amount of money, as skilled Drupal developers are fairly scarce.
WordPress: perfect for blogs and online news and magazines
WordPress is not as powerful and versatile as Drupal or Joomla, but everyone is able to use it. WordPress is particularly suited for multi-author sites.
Since WordPress was originally developed as a blogging platform, it has many blog features, like quick article posting. Text can be just copied from a Word document, which is impossible to do with Joomla or Drupal.
Due to their great popularity, plug-ins are frequent targets for hackers.
Updates may break some plug-ins.
An excessive amount of content makes the site slower when traffic peaks (>100,000 daily visitors). However, you can solve this problem using special caching tools such as Varnish or Redis.
Joomla: a fair compromise
Joomla is suited for developers who want to build a site with structural stability and content, but that comes with an intuitive interface. If you want an ordinary website with standard features, like a blog, a forum, a static or dynamic front-end, you should definitely go for Joomla. Joomla is also ideal for small to medium sized web stores.
Ideal for: corporate websites and magazine websites.
Advantages
Joomla is perfectly suited for e-commerce sites.
Joomla’s core features can be improved using various extensions: components (mini apps that deeply alter the Joomla installation), plug-ins, templates, modules (to add smaller features like dynamic content, RSS feeds, a search feature...) and languages.
Special extensions for e-commerce applications allow you to manage your products and content from one place.
Joomla is very social media-friendly.
The CMS is not too technical and has (out of the box) a user-friendly admin control panel.
Frequently asked questions about Drupal vs WordPress vs Joomla
Which CMS is best for beginners?
If you compare the different features of, say, WordPess or Joomla, you will find that WordPress is made for beginners. WordPress, for example, is quite easy to install and is simple to use and maintain.
Drupal vs WordPress: where are the biggest differences?
The biggest difference between Drupal and WordPress is in the entry level. Drupal requires some basic knowledge of HTML and PHP and therefore has a steeper learning curve than WordPress or Joomla.
Which CMS offers the most themes and plug-ins?
WordPress is without a doubt the leader in terms of themes and plug-ins. Suppose you make the comparison Joomla vs WordPress, you will immediately notice that WordPress has the largest number of plug-ins for all kinds of features, as well as countless layout themes. Many of those themes, by the way, are optimized for mobile use.
Which CMS is the safest?
Drupal, Joomla, WordPress … Each of these CMS systems has high standards in terms of security. But just to be fair: Drupal is the most secure of them and is therefore used by several government departments.
Which CMS is best suited for e-commerce websites?
To find out, you can make the comparison Drupal vs Joomla. You immediately discover that Joomla is ideally suited for e-commerce websites such as web shops. Nevertheless, you can also get started with Drupal and WordPress.
