Making The Case For Drupal

I recently read a post about Wordpress vs. Expression Engine that prompted me to rethink where Drupal sits in the mix of website platforms/content management systems. In the WP vs. EE post the author compares the two platforms and decides that EE is his choice mainly because, "WordPress is designed as a single content channel system." In other words WP is great for creating blogs but presents a lot of challenges when you want to expand into a site with more complicated relationships between authors, users, information and data. I'm not saying that the author's knocks on WP were valid, but I did think that the author's requirements sounded like they were perfectly suited to using Drupal as a platform. In fact, I said so in the comments.

As long as there are people who are new to the idea of using a web-based content management system there will be people who wonder how Drupal compares to other available systems. In my Beginners Guide To Drupal I list a few types of websites that you can build with Drupal.

Website with static contentWebsite with dynamic contentSingle or multi-author blogCommunity website

Since I made that list I've come to realize that there are additional applications for Drupal that are worth exploring. Drupal can be utilized as a platform for exposing data. I wrote about that recently in a post titled Moving Beyond Nodes where I stated, "But what about another type of site that focuses not on nodes but on data contained in the Drupal database? Can you do it? Yes. Should you do it? Only if that sort of thing excites you or perhaps if a client requests it." I've continued to work with data since then and have to say that I'm very happy with the capabilities offered by the platform.

Drupal can also be utilized as the basis for an intranet or project management portal. Open Atrium looks like a great distribution for just that purpose. Acquia has also created a distribution they call Drupal Commons which they say, "takes the guesswork out of building a Drupal-based community site". These distributions are relatively new additions to the Drupal universe and assist site builders with the age old question of, "which contributed modules do I want or need?" Other notable distributions that make things easier for site builders are Pressflow and OpenPublish which I first discovered via Dries' post on Business Models for Drupal Distributions. With Drupal distributions site builders don't have to start at zero anymore if they have certain types of applications in mind. The existence of these distributions expands the market for Drupal and strengthens the business case.

Another aspect of the Drupal ecosystem that helps to make the case for Drupal is the ever expanding list of modules that not only add functionality but also allow for deeper integration with other social services. See modules such as Connector, Post It Everywhere, Twitter and Facebook Social. Drupal is not an island! What's more important is the fact that almost every time I think about the need to connect a Drupal site to a popular service I can find a contributed module that helps me to get at least part of the way there. The cost of implementing these social features is usually just time time I take to search for, implement and test the appropriate contributed module. 

Many of the features of Drupal that I've mentioned in this post are issues that either come to mind either at the outset of a site development project or at some point after the project has been launched. If you're concerned about issues related to connecting users, exposing data and integrating with other networks then I think that Drupal is a good choice for your system. If you're looking at a basic website with a blog from the beginning another system might be a good choice. But what if you want to expand later? If there's a possibility that you might want to expand the features of the site later then consider Drupal. Because while setting up a blog on Drupal is more of a pain to some people, expanding upon WordPress in the ways mentioned in this post can be a pain later on. What are the chances that you might have to introduce a second platform to achieve your goals? I think that if you use Drupal from the start there is less of a chance that you will need to utilize a second platform in order to expand your site in the way that meets your needs.

Finally, there's the issue of up front cost. I really like the zero dollars up front cost of WordPress and Drupal. Systems like Expression Engine require an up front financial investment. If you're running a commercial site it looks like you must commit to spending about $300 or more to get started. If you want a forum module you have to kick in another $100. Three to four-hundred dollars may not seem like a lot of money for a web system but people who are starting really small and have big dreams know that every dollar counts. What if you start building after having paid the license fee and realize that the system really won't work for you? With Drupal and WordPress you don't have those worries. The bottom line is that you can start working with Drupal and if you really don't like the system you can walk away having only made an investment of time and perhaps the cost of hosting which you would incur with just about any system.

The case I would make for Drupal is not as much as WordPress vs. Drupal scenario because WordPress offers all the great benefits that you get from free, open source software with a significant developer base. Rather, it's a case of proprietary, fee required software vs. Drupal. Expression Engine is certainly not the only one either. In fact, their solution is attractive and cost effective when compared to expensive systems such as Microsoft SharePoint. Yes, I think that Drupal is in that league now. So if you're in a position to make a recommendation (or even the final decision) about a web-based content platform I suggest that you give Drupal a try. The price is right and you might be surprised at just how far you can go with it.

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