Hi Eric, I can't really say I've done a comparison between Drupal and Wordpress MU as a CMS but I do have some thoughts to share.
Fundamentally I've found Wordpress to be quite different from drupal. First off Wordpress is a blogging platform, and MU is for running more than one blog on a single install. Lot's of people use Wordpress as a CMS but it's generally referred to as a hack, to which I tend to agree trying it in the past. Drupal on the other hand is a CMS through and through. It is much better suited for running an institution's website. We use it here, so I am quite biased. In my honest opinion, I would not consider Wordpress for anything besides a dedicated blog. For something like a website (and one with social interaction) Drupal word be my choice. With that in mind, I will focus on Drupal as I touch on your bullet points. As an PHP developer, I find Drupal extremely powerful and flexible. If you don't like something, you can override it yourself, install a module, or do it some other way. There is a huge community for Drupal, each module has an issue queue where you may report bugs and questions. There are active mailing lists, IRC channels, forums etc and best of all Google where you can find all kinds of info and developer blogs. There is a learning curve but if you know html / css and basic PHP eg print, foreach, and working with arrays as well as some linux experience you should be fine. In a few weeks you will know your way around the admin area, have a basic understanding of views, panels, and CCK. Once you are proficient, you can build a moderately complex site within a week easily. Content editing by multiple staffers: We have setup roles for each dept that provides content, and then assigned one person in that dept to manage posting (someone comfortable with posting blogs and pages to the web, and can understand BASIC html.) Once a user has a role you can pair down hundreds of permissions to limit them, and again, if it not there you can code a permission yourself. Social media integration: Hundreds of modules are available for this. Search projects on drupal.org and see what you can find, more than likely something exists. Speed: Drupal's performance is directly related to how many modules you have within your installation. We have our PHP memory limit set to 128mb which is recommended. If your site is slowing down, you just throw more hardware at it. Drupal's performance is much faster than Wordpress which is notorious for succumbing to events like the "Digg Effect". Upgrades: Core upgrades, especially point releases are usually quite simple and do not require anything more than patching. We patch our installs following this site: http://fuerstnet.de/en/drupal-upgrade-easier which makes patching a 10 minute affair. Major releases obviously require reworking of templates and modules, as code is depreciated for better functionality, but the hassle rewards itself with everything else you are now able to do. The core upgrades are fairly easy to do and is directly related to how complex your site actually is. I hope this helps anyone considering Drupal as a platform for their next website or redesign. I would also like to add that Drupal is open enough that we are currently developing direct integration with our collection management system to allow the public to browse it right from Drupal itself. If anyone has any questions, please let me know. I will be following this discussion. -- Ryan Hartman Web Developer Amon Carter Museum 3501 Camp Bowie Blvd., Ft. Worth, TX 76107 t: 817.989.5047 http://www.cartermuseum.org > From: Eric Johnson <ejohnson at monticello.org> > Reply-To: Museum Computer Network Listserv <mcn-l at mcn.edu> > Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:44:50 -0500 > To: "'mcn-l at mcn.edu'" <mcn-l at mcn.edu> > Subject: [MCN-L] Drupal vs. WordPress MU as content management systems > > Hi, all-- > > Last summer was the most recent discussion I've found on MCN-L about Drupal as > a content management system, and I was wondering whether anybody has done any > recent comparison between Drupal and WordPress (especially WordPress MU) as a > website CMS. > > We're planning on using one or the other as part of a complete site redesign: > using the content we currently have as a base, but updating the overall site > design and navigation; permitting content editing by multiple staffers; and > providing a more sophisticated integration of social media (multiple blogs > among other things). > > So we're trying to get a read on the current state of these two platforms. > Along with general opinions about ease of use and the their development > communities, we're interested in: > > * ability to handle heavy traffic > * security > * how well customizations roll from upgrade to upgrade > * social media integration > > Any and all opinions, pro and con, about either Drupal or WordPress MU (or > both) would be most appreciated! > > I'm happy to write up a summary post of anything I hear (and to clarify if > needed). > > Many thanks! > > --Eric > > Eric D. M. Johnson > New Media Specialist > Monticello > P.O. Box 316 > Charlottesville, VA 22902 > Phone: (434) 984-7570 | Fax: (434) 977-6140 > http://www.monticello.org/ > ejohnson at monticello.org<mailto:ejohnson at monticello.org> > > > _______________________________________________ > You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer > Network (http://www.mcn.edu) > > To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > > To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l > > The MCN-L archives can be found at: > http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
