DC web design news

When it comes to content management systems (CMS) solutions, we prefer to use the right tool for the task.  We are not  a Drupal shop or a WordPress shop.  We are a use the right tool for the job shop.  We are CMS agnostic as long as it’s open source.  In general, we avoid using proprietary content management systems.

Top 3 open source content management systems

So, when you look at open source CMS solutions, the big three would arguably be WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.  WordPress, far and away, is the most popular CMS in the world.  More websites are powered by WordPress than any other CMS solution.  The reason is that it was built for communicators, not developers.  And, since there are more communicators in the world than developers, it is the obvious solution for people who want something up quickly, simply, and cost-effectively.  Moreover, if you simply want to publish content and make it look halfway decent, then WordPress is probably one of the easiest tools to use.  But, I have to say that WhiteHouse.gov, Data.gov, and USAspending.gov are powered by Drupal.

Managing multiple domains

Having said that, WordPress, like any other tool, has its limitations.  It was built for a specific purpose and then evolved.  For example, if you manage multiple domains and want a single CMS that will allow you to manage those multiple domains, Drupal is better equipped to handle that than WordPress.  Big news organizations and publishers of large content from various domains such as; The World Bank, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, would be better advised to use Drupal over WordPress if given the choice.  But, having said that, both TechCrunch.com and All Things Digital (of the Wall Street Journal) are powered by WordPress.

CMS Security holes and vulnerabilities

If your site is controversial or polarizing and you have folks out there who would love to hack in and take your site down, or take it over, then Drupal is inherently more secure than WordPress.  Not that WordPress can’t be secured, it’s just that Drupal is better equipped for security out-of-the-box.

Role-based permissions

If you have several departments and several web content managers who control or manage distinct verticals of content, then Drupal has a better system for managing roles and permissions within separate content domains where as WordPress has more horizontal permission levels.  With WordPress, for example, you can specify that a user has Subscriber, Contributor, Author, Editor, or Administrative privileges and permissions.  You cannot, however, without the use of a custom plug-in specify exactly which content a user can or cannot edit.  With Drupal, that role-based, content-based set of permissions is built-in.

Right tool for the job

The bottom line is that all database driven, open source, content management systems work the same basic way.  As open source experts, as PHP experts, we can implement any website on Joomla, Drupal, or WordPress.  Joomla and Drupal tend to take a bit longer than WordPress and Drupal tends to be more expensive to maintain in the long run because it requires a higher set of technical skills.  But, we can implement any functionality that is possible on the web across any of these three CMS solutions.  There is nothing that my team cannot do.  If it’s possible via the web, we can make it happen.

Normally, if you ask a Drupal shop what solution they recommend, inevitably, they will recommend Drupal.  If you ask a WordPress shop what they recommend, guess what … they’ll recommend Drupal.  For us, we just want to use the best tool for the solution.