Drupal
The modular Content Management System (CMS) called Drupal was originally developed as a student community solution, but is now available as a full- fledge open source CMS. The software comes with an extremely lean basic installation, which can be extended quite a bit by modules. Today, the project’s strength lies in its community. Already, the basic module has numerous Web 2.0 and community functions like weblogs, forums, and tag clouds.
Facts
- Very flexible, modular layout
- Slim basic installation with more than 36,000 extension modules
- Focus on social publishing and community projects
- More than 1,100 distributions as a complete solution for typical applications
Drupal offers extensive opportunities for customization with its modular layout. Users who know exactly what they need can spare themselves the manual compilation of software components. For many scenarios, pre-configured distributions based on the Drupal framework are available.
With its focus on social publishing, Drupal is particularly suited for small and medium-sized community projects. The large spectrum of extensions makes it possible to implement company portals with complex multi-domain structures. The administration of a CMS core with comprehensive extensions requires expertise and instinct. If the basic functions of the software are not sufficient, additional modules will have to be installed manually via FTP. This can be a complex process. Updating extensions is sometimes difficult, as these are not always compatible with the backend.
The central application of Drupal is the layout of social publishing and community platforms. The CMS boasts a flexible, modular system for highly-dynamic platforms based on user-generated content.
Pros
- ✔ Compact software core
- ✔ Large selection of extensions and predefined distributions
- ✔ Supports multi-domain management
Cons
- ✘ Complex configuration due to poor backend compatibility
- ✘ Slim basic installation requires lots of extra installations
- ✘ Module installation only possible via FTP
Note
Particularly, when Drupal is used as a community platform for users, data security takes the highest priority. Some Drupal hosting companies help to increase this and also provide independent access to the CMS. Oftentimes this can be done with a 1-click installation.
Visit the Drupal website for more information.