WordPress vs Drupal: which CMS should you choose?

A CMS for your website, yes, but which one? Let's compare the WordPress vs Drupal CMS. There are several ways of approaching the creation of a website to present your company or your activity.

As well as calling in a professional to design, create and put your website online, it's a good idea to be able to modify, delete or simply add to your content once it's online. This is why most publishers choose to use a CMS.

See all software Content Management System

What is a CMS?

The now-famous acronym for Content Management System, CMSs have an administration interface that makes it easy to structure, format and publish dynamic content. In other words, they allow users to manage the content of their website independently, via back-office access.

Who is a CMS for?

From the blogger to the entrepreneur, not forgetting the person responsible for publishing a corporate site, a well-designed CMS can meet most of your web communication needs via a website, freeing you from the technical barriers associated with development. Whatever the level of customisation required, you'll find a range of proposals on the web that can be adapted to your needs.

Defining your needs before choosing a CMS:

Upstream of the project:

• budget,
• design
• design,
• choice of functionalities,
• mock-up,
• installation,
• implementation...

Day-to-day operations:

• updating content,
• optimisation for search engine optimisation,
• preventive, corrective and upgrade maintenance.

You can call on a service provider for each of these stages, but choosing a CMS can give you easier access to most of them, with a learning curve that will vary according to your level of comfort with online tools and services.

Criteria to take into account:

Popularity

The more popular a CMS is, the more contributors and community leaders you will have at your disposal to ask for advice or help. It's easier to choose an open source system if you want to benefit from this advantage.

Ease of installation

Many web hosts now offer pre-installed versions of the most common CMS software when you sign up for hosting. Although one-click installation is not always offered, it will help you get to grips with your tool without asking yourself any technical questions, but if that's not the case, there are plenty of tutorials available on the web.

Quick to learn

The simpler a back-office is, the easier it is to get to grips with. Even if the functions offered are complex, make sure you have access to the clearest possible administration panel. Here again, a learning phase is necessary to master the tool.

Versatility

A content management system generally has a more or less extensive catalogue of themes and extensions that will enable you to find the design - which is why themes exist - or the functionalities - which you will find offered in the form of extensions - best suited to your project.

Ease of updating

It's crucial, not to say strategic, to be able to update your content at any time and as quickly as possible. By using a CMS, you are not tied to the time it takes your service provider or specialist in-house department to contribute your content.

Reliability

Constantly evolving security, mobile access and SEO performance requirements mean that the tool needs to be updated regularly. While adding an apparent constraint, these updates guarantee the longevity of your publications.

The budget

Every web project is unique and depends on the budget allocated to its implementation. The greater the need for customisation and functionality, the more your budget will have to be adapted. Using a CMS avoids having to set aside a budget for developing the basic platform.

2 CMS that deserve your attention: WordPress and Drupal

Among the most popular content management systems, WordPress and Drupal offer 2 different approaches for the same purpose: to facilitate the implementation of your website project.

Both are :

• are open source
• are free to use
• have a large library of themes and extensions,
• are maintained and developed by a large global community,
• are the subject of numerous events and meetups that actively contribute to their development.

So what is the difference between the two?

The two tools are often contrasted, even though each has more or less similar natural predispositions. However, it is when it comes to specific needs that they can stand out.

A developer will be more likely to steer you towards Drupal for complex projects, such as building an intranet, whereas he will suggest WordPress for a magazine or e-commerce site. For community, institutional, social networking and marketing sites, either is a good choice.

WordPress for blogs?

A simple blogging tool when it was created in the early 2000s, the WordPress environment has quickly adapted to the growing need for versatile systems, with new features appearing in each of its different versions.

Renowned for its famous "5-minute installation", in the nearly 15 years of its existence it has won over a growing community that is actively involved in its development and its many evolutions.
Coded in PHP and linked to a database, it is open to specific developments, as long as you respect its writing conventions and template system.

With thousands of themes and extensions to choose from, WordPress is a constantly evolving, open-ended tool that can be used for magazine, community, institutional or e-commerce sites.

From individuals to large companies, it meets a wide range of needs and budgets.

Drupal for professionals?

Drupal is a little more complex and difficult to understand than WordPress, but it is because of or thanks to this complexity that it offers more advanced features. It all depends on your needs and your knowledge of web development.

Drupal contains taxonomies, content types, blocks, views and more, which can sometimes be difficult to understand but which guarantee Drupal and its users greater power and flexibility.
Designed by developers for developers, this is both its strength and its weakness.

If you don't have a minimum of technical experience, you'll miss out on most of the features of this powerful CMS. Despite this, Drupal 8 makes the platform easier to use for non-developers, including integrators and content creators.

In itself, Drupal is not difficult to use, but it is difficult to learn how to use.

What about security?

By its very nature, open source code is open and therefore susceptible to hackers. In any case, the fact that a detected flaw is made public inevitably leads to a surge in hacking attempts and the rapid availability of a corrective patch, because of the size of the community.

WordPress is reputed to be non-secure, but it is above all a victim of its popularity, with hackers favouring widespread targets over confidential ones. Drupal, on the other hand, has security as one of its main strengths. It is even this level of security that encourages governments to use this CMS.

Which is more expensive?

Although the software is provided free of charge, the cost of running it depends on your needs in terms of functionality, design, maintenance and hosting.

Although a wide range of themes and extensions are available, some specific needs may require the use of paid plugins, themes or development, plus the time spent on maintenance and updating content.

What resources are available for training?

A wide range of tutorials(videos, computer graphics, articles, forums, etc.) are readily available. In both cases, you'll need to build in time to learn how to use and operate your site on a day-to-day basis.

Which tool for my project?

There is no hard and fast rule for choosing between the two solutions, as each has its own advantages and disadvantages. The comparison table below can help you choose, but the choice will be all the more relevant if you have identified your needs in the short, long and medium term.

See all software Content Management System

To conclude :

Why choose WordPress?

• for its accessibility to beginners,
• for the number of resources available,
• for its support community and self-help network.

One of its main limitations remains the excessive frequency of its updates (minor updates, version updates, extensions, themes, etc.) which, if not carried out, can lead to risks of piracy and incompatibility of modules.

Why choose Drupal?

• For its flexibility and versatility,
• for its wide choice of predefined modules and extensions,
• for its community of developers.

The main obstacle to using Drupal is that it is difficult to get to grips with and implement for those who do not have sufficient technical knowledge, and for whom a learning phase is required to get to grips with an interface that is not very intuitive.