wordpress or drupal?

There are many types of content management systems for companies and agencies to use for their websites. Lately, Drupal and WordPress have been the top contenders in the field. I’ve had a lot of experience over the past year and a half working with WordPress in both responsive and static formats. I believe content management systems are a great tool for companies to use for their photos, media, and other content to be managed more efficiently than editing plain html/css code. A lot of sites are moving forward with these two CMS’s in getting a working site that people can quickly access their content. With the addition of plug ins and widgets, which are more integral for users who are now able to add social media links to direct users to those sites to keep them more in touch of what is happening in their company.

With my experience with WordPress there are definitely a lot of positive and negatives that I have thoughts about its functions. I think WordPress has come a long way from just being a blogging centric site with limitations to now a place where a lot of companies use their site to have a blog as an addendum. In the past eight months WordPress has heavily advanced in integrating theme options for newer themes that have responsive capabilities. Incorporating more of a customizable look which tumblr offers is something WordPress is definitely moving towards.

I just recently went to a FredDev meet up about Drupal which resident speaker, Mike Woodcock, explained the bare basics of how to set up a Drupal site and how it works. I was very intrigued to hear of the capabilities of Drupal including complete customization, the ability to use Drupal as a framework for applications for the iPhone, and the options you have to choose for a basis on a theme. I had heard about the content management system from other agencies and companies and heard a good word of mouth about Drupal. There have been several comparisons to WordPress which is something I felt that I would be able to learn easily.

Drupal is definitely a CMS/CMF that I would like to explore using it in the future when making a website. As a designer, I feel its important to be aware of multiple content management systems & frameworks in order to be able to give clients options in how you design for the web. Each option that can be used for making a website really does regulate how you think in design terms. Granted, developers have a better capability of making designed websites to fit into most CMS’s. There is definitely a time and a place for either CMS, but it really depends on personal preference. If you’re mainly wanting a site to focus around a blog WordPress would be more suited. If you wanted a simple site but have a decent to medium sized amount of content but don’t need to rely on a blog, perhaps Drupal might be right for you.