Gone are the days of having to hand-code HTML and PHP scripts in order to get a dynamic and fully functional website. With the influx of content management systems (CMS) it has become possible for millions of users all over the world to create amazing do-it-yourself websites without ringing the bell of a developer.
There are boatloads of content management systems (CMSs) floating around the web with WordPress vs Drupal being one of the leading names. Both platforms are pretty much alike – both are used to publish and manage content, both are used by major leading organizations and both are based on the same technique, namely PHP and MySQL. So what exactly makes them so different? To answer this question, there are some things to consider: the type of website that you are going to create, your level of expertise and the amount of time that you may devote to get comfortable with the platform.
It’s similar to choosing a vehicle while going on a trip. If you want to have some fun over a sunny weekend in the park, your best choice would be a bicycle or small speed minicar. But if you want to go around the world – you’d probably choose a reliable crossover to overcome obstacles along the way. Besides, a bicycle or minicar won’t take much time to learn and won’t probably require any additional skills to master and operate them properly. But if you want to go round the world trip, you’d probably need to spend a long time gaining experience with crossover. This comparison can also be applied to choosing the right CMS solution to settle a web project on.
Wordpress – The Minicar
WordPress is indisputably the most widely used and talked-about CMS all over the globe. Powering almost 30% of the websites globally, the platform currently rules the web. For those with limited technical knowledge and people looking to build small to medium-sized websites – WordPress might be an ideal choice. Advantages of WordPress that capture the users’ attention most:
- Simplicity – requiring the least amount of time to get up and running, WordPress has become the default choice for most novices and first-time users. Though, if to walk through its comprehensive learning curve, you can become a real pro in creating WordPress websites/blogs, with or without coding knowledge.
- Good SEO – having great native SEO capabilities and + randomness of SEO plugins, the software helps to boost up traffic to a website.
- Plugin Availability – there is a gazillion of plugins (+49k) for everything, and most of them are free or very reasonably priced.
- Flexible – WordPress provides a great foundation for building any type of website with any complexity.
Drupal – The Crossover
Drupal is an ideal destination for big websites with lots of pages and lots of users. This means hundreds of thousands of both – or more. The platform managed to rise above the CMS landscape due to the following benefits:
- Flexibility – it has enough functionality to handle everything from simple blogs up to huge enterprise-size websites with thousands of pages and users.
- Developer-Oriented – it is tailored for high-skilled developers with a stellar background who are capable enough to get full advantage of the platform.
- Good for SEO – even with the basic installation Drupal websites are quite successful in search engine ranks.
- Powerful – dealing with high volumes of traffic, the platform has proven itself a perfect fit for big and expanded web projects.
To cut the long story short, the final choice between the aforementioned CMS options mainly comes down to what your site to do in the end and how much time and effort you are going to put onto it. WordPress is often called a ‘mini CMS’. It isn’t nearly as powerful or capable as Drupal but it is easy enough for any beginner. If you’re trying to manage websites that have gigantic volume (say more than 2000 pages with thousands of articles), Drupal does provide tons of options to make it easier.
Our opinion aside, get to know what do users think of Drupal and WordPress: Best of Features: Comparing Drupal vs WordPress [User Reviews Research].
The final choice is up to you.
Now, the most interesting part. Migration
Being dissatisfied in your CMS choice is OK. It might be a matter of time or reason. You’ve started a website on this or that platform long ago, but now, you see that the current CMS doesn’t suit your needs and makes the managing process more challenging.
What are the signs you need to migrate your CMS? I hope your platform doesn’t have these: 6 Signs You Need to Migrate Your CMS [Quick Facts].
In case you find yourself facing a migration issue from Drupal – why not give a try to more user-oriented WordPress? Have a look at the Drupal to WordPress switch video tutorial provided below for you to realize how simple it is to convert from Drupal to WordPress and breathe new life into your web project.
We hope that this short comparison of both CMSs, Drupal vs WordPress would help you to decide with the assistance of our Free Demo migration which way to drive and platform to choose.