In handling your website’s content, you can either hard code it in using plain HTML or you can access one of the top three content management systems software that you can install on your website. A content management system (CMS) is powerful enough to organize your content effectively in the way you want it, especially if you’re running a large network of websites. Three of the most popular CMS software available are WordPress, Drupal and Joomla. All three are open source software, which means that you can freely download them and modify them to your needs. In fact, many web hosting accounts even provide a one-click install access to conveniently incorporate the CMS of your preference. Moreover, these CMS’s have support and extensions that won’t leave you behind in confusion, especially if you are new to them. WordPress, Drupal and Joomla have very responsive communities where you can find extensions that fit your website’s need or ask help on configuring your CMS.
If you’re wondering which CMS works for you, you can compare between the pros and cons available for WordPress, Drupal and Joomla. All these are powerful enough and convenient to integrate in your website, so here are further details to help you decide which one you really need.
WordPress
WordPress holds its position as the most popular platform in the blogosphere. It’s very user friendly with straightforward installation instructions that are very useful for any beginner. WordPress also has a powerfully built CMS which integrates the blogging functionality. You can even integrate a static homepage to allow your website to fully use WordPress in its navigation and content management backbone. Also, it contains functions such as comments, trackbacks, blogger profiles and pinging services. This is very helpful for traffic analysis so you can check out the progress of your website, especially if you want to monitor its visitors.
The downside of WordPress, however, is that it isn’t really developer-friendly and its community is considerably smaller compared to that of Drupal or Joomla. In addition, instances have shown that certain WordPress software and plugin upgrades tend to produce more glitches than fixes which can compromise your website. Therefore, always make sure to check for any bugs and issues, and read reviews when upgrading your WordPress or installing plugins. But overall, WordPress is effective for any beginner or seasoned user, making it a very versatile CMS.
Drupal
Drupal is notable for being called the “Developer’s CMS.” With flexible code and more advanced features for a complex website, any expert designer will enjoy the convenience of modifying the code without any issues. This CMS is recommended for those who wish to code in the specifics as opposed to using WYSIWYG editors (What You See Is What You Get). Drupal has a very bustling community of developers that can help you out if you wish to create a website that focuses on streamlined code and advanced management.
The downside of Drupal is that it lacks in terms of design factors. It is not a designer or user-friendly CMS because of its more advanced features. As a result, if you wish to publish content on Drupal, it can be time consuming and even expensive for the beginner developer. But, if you’re a web developer that wishes to use advanced features and hard coding skills for your website’s functionality, then Drupal will work out just right for you.
Joomla
Popularly used as a backbone for web development, Joomla is regarded to be a favorable open source CMS for web developers and designers, especially with its easily customizable interface. Developers have a sense of freedom in developing their websites because of the features that you can personalize that allows even beginner developers to modify the system without editing the original code, retaining its core functionality. Moreover, many free plugins are accessible, which allows you to build websites rich in many features. Joomla is also designer friendly, making it a strong CMS for any web designer or developer. The downside of Joomla is that coding can be inflexible, especially with the retention of the core backbone present. It can also be quite difficult for someone with little website building experience to integrate the software.
Yet, if you want a strong CMS and you have some web building experience, then you should definitely give Joomla a try.
Conclusion
Using a content management system for your website can greatly enhance its organizational structure and allow you to better optimize it for search engines. With powerful CMS software available to use, such as WordPress, Drupal and Joomla, you can rest assure that you’ll find the right fit for your website’s backbone whether you’re a beginner or an expert.
Contributed By : Maria Abugan is the Product Marketing Specialist for InMotion Hosting, one of the top dedicated server providers in North America. She is the primary writer for WebHostingHelpGuy, InMotion Hosting’s blog that is filled with a plethora of useful web design/development pointers and tutorials. You can follow her on Twitter @WHHG_InMotion.