Wordpress vs Drupal - My Impressions
June 10th, 2008The title of this post is deceiving as Wordpress and Drupal do not supply identical functionality and therefore cannot truly be compared. Before I had experience working with either of these web frameworks, I assumed they held a doppelgänger-like relationship; both serving the same purpose. My assumption was wrong and the differences between Wordpress and Drupal must be addressed before any comparison is to be had.
Wordpress is a blogging platform. It is relatively simple, easy to modify, and shines in instances where the website owner only needs to communicate with users. If you are new to web development and are looking for a place to start, I would recommend downloading the latest release of Wordpress and giving it a shot.
Drupal is an entire content management system (CMS) and is directed towards building full websites. A Drupal site may contain a blog within it, as well as many other features. It is hefty, extremely configurable, and should be considered if you are going to want more out of your website than just a communication tool.
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- Installation: Both Wordpress and Drupal “install” by you downloading the core files, unzipping them, then placing them on a web server. You must set up a database for each installation and upon activating the install script, supply some simple options (site name, admin login). Both platforms installed very easily on my server and never gave any problems.
- Creating/Maintaining Content: As both Drupal and Wordpress manage content, this category is important to address. Wordpress allows for the creation of a “post” or a “page” where Drupal allows for those as well as an unlimited amount of other types via the Content Construction Kit (CCK). Lets say I wanted the ability for users to create a personal calendar. Since a calendar is neither a post or a page, you would have to do some serious tweaking with Wordpress to implement it. With CCK however, you can create a “calendar” content type and allow users of your site to start using their own calendars. Although CCK isn’t perfect (trust me) and also takes some tweaking, it will be a lot easier to work with than a plugin for Wordpress.
- Ease Of Administration: Hands down, I found Wordpress easier to work with. The glistening admin panel welcomes you by presenting options that you are looking for. In Drupal, I would find myself turning to google just to find out where a configurable option is located in the pages upon pages of settings.
- Theming: Drupal and Wordpress offer the ability for you to customize the general look and feel of your site, aka: themed. I found the theming for Drupal to be a tad daunting with “what variables are available” and “how do I just do this” type of issues. Wordpress uses a system called “The Loop” that retrieves content to be displayed on a page, then allows you to have your way with each piece of it. It’s simple, it’s easy, and it allows for customization.
- Modules and Plugins: Modules (for Drupal) and plugins (for Wordpress) allow you to expand and customize your site beyond what is included in the core installation files. Both Wordpress and Drupal offer tons of free modules and plugins to choose from that are easy to install and activate, but the big difference between the two systems comes when you are creating your own. Drupal proved to beat out Wordpress in this regard with the sheer number of hooks available. In Wordpress, it’s difficult to create a plugin without having to modify another feature (page or theme) of your site. Drupal alleviates this by giving module-writers a lot more control as well as a form system that is hard to beat.
- Support: I realize that it’s better to read documentation and figure problems out yourself, but sometimes the need for advice is unavoidable. Being that both Drupal and Wordpress are open source, the community is what supports any issues you might come across. I found help for Wordpress hard to find compared to Drupal’s forums which are monitored continuously. The couple of posts I made on the Drupal site were answered within minutes where some of my Wordpress questions still have zero responses.
- Upgrading: Updating is an important part of any open source software, but it can also lead to a lot of headaches. Add-ons will stop working, mysterious things will happen, and you will be left to clean it all up. Drupal implements an “update script” which is to be run every time a newer version of a module, theme, or database is installed. Often times, this script would error or timeout without any explanation. Wordpress’s update process is as direct as copy/pasting files and served no real problems to me.
Overall, both platforms are great tools. Wordpress is easier to use but offers less. Drupal is completely open, but the learning curve is a tad steeper. Decide what you want out of your site and then discover which is right for you.
