Joomla and Drupal are easily the two most popular options on the open-source CMS market. Both systems took tremendous leaps in the right direction with the releases of Joomla 1.5 and Drupal 5.0. You could say Drupal went a little further as it is currently on stable version 6.13. This debate always makes for a good discussion but which CMS is really better? It is no secret that Joomla and Drupal both have their respective fan bases. Perhaps the best to analyze this largely contested battle is to judge these platforms by what they are good at.
Larger Projects
Drupal is often said to be one of the best open -source systems for large extensible sites. This is because it offers better overall support for social networking, multimedia, documentation management, SSL and permission capabilities. Though it appears to be lacking features in comparison to Joomla, Drupal’s lean and focused nature gives it a distinct advantage. The software is based purely on necessity opposed to glamor. Its framework is more focused on extensibility, providing developers with a way to easily tap into the core functionality. Drupal does not try to pack in all the small features. Instead, it delivers all the essentials and opens itself up to endless enhancements.
Ease of Use
Drupal is incredibly efficient as a content management tool, but even if its proponents will tell you that it comes with a very steep learning curve. In addition, it takes a lot of work to get the software up and running efficiently. Joomla on the other hand, is renowned throughout the world for being a user-friendly tool that requires virtually no technical experience at all. Even though it is a bit cluttered, the back-end allows you to get around Joomla pretty easily and access all the modules and tools that come along with the package. This CMS is also fairly simple to customize as a wide variety of templates are available to instantly change the look and feel of your site. That is not to say that quality Drupal themes are not out there, but they are much harder to find. When it comes to simplicity and ease of use, Joomla wins hands down.
Add-on Functionality
Like many open-source content management systems, both Joomla and Drupal are highly extensible, able to enjoy add-on functionality provided by modules and plugins. However, add-on functionality with Drupal is far more powerful than Joomla, mainly because of its codebase. Additionally, many of the Joomla modules require a considerable amount of hacking of the core functionality in order to get the full effect. Because every extension is an entirely different animal, these add-ons don’t always integrate seamlessly with one another which often leads to numerous problems. An issue with a single module could result in mass chaos for your whole Joomla site.
Conclusion
After reading this article, it should be clear to see that both Joomla and Drupal have their pros and cons. The best way to decide would be to first determine what you intend to use the software for and then base your choice on those requirements. One thing is for sure – these platforms will continue to be enhanced and the end, the communities of both will come out on top.
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Joomla was working fine intially !!! But it has Severe Vulnerabilities even the Super Admin account gets compromised and your site gets into hackers control within seconds!!!!!!! To add more to this Joomla Forum and other “so called” helpful links are extremely unhelpful!!! The Leadership Team of Joomla consists of Immature, Inexperienced Jerks like Brad Baker and all. All they do is write mean, abusive words, and blame you for Joomla Vulnerability!!!! USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!! They say update has resolved this issue, but who knows what trouble it has in store!!!!
November 13th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
the description given here is in short but excellent.
thanks…..