WordPress, Joomla and Drupal: Which CMS is Best?

WordPress, Joomla and Drupal are three of the most popular free content management systems on the Internet, but they also generate numerous debates about which one is better.

Let’s take a brief look at each one and offer positives and negatives from the experience of a webmaster who has built sites on all three systems.

WordPress

Positives:WordPress was created with blogging in mind and is ideally suited for small Web sites that require limited features and capabilities. It is easy to install and set up, there are many free templates available for people who don’t have strong design skills, and plugins are readily available at the core site of WordPress.org.

Negatives: The software is designed mainly for blogging, which leads to limited functionality. A site that grows beyond something small in nature will soon find that the limitations may make using it easy and simple, but those same limitations inhibit the ability to add extensive functionality.

WordPress is recommended for anyone with light technical skills who is launching a site on their first CMS.

Joomla

Positives: Joomla is justifiably popular because of its simple and visual interface — one of the same favorite traits of WordPress. The core site at Joomla.org has an extensive list of plugins, and the forums are populated with users who seem quite willing to help out newcomers. One template can be used to display every page on the site, which makes templating a simple task.

Negatives:The plugins don’t always install correctly, and security concerns seem common. Like the limited functionality of WordPress, the limited templating system of Joomla is a challenge as well.

Joomla is recommended for anyone with moderate technical skills and some experience in managing Web sites.

Drupal

Positives:Of the three major systems, Drupal is the most technically advanced and well-regarded for its efficient design. Plugins integrate efficiently with a high success rate. The core site has an extensive list of available plugins.

Negatives: The Drupal interface is not intuitive and requires extensive usage to understand the complete set of site features and functions. Although free templates are available, any changes require a more advanced knowledge of PHP than WordPress or Joomla. In addition, the user forums at Drupal.org are not as responsive as the forums for WordPress or Joomla.

Drupal is recommended for anyone with advanced technical skills.