When it comes to building an advanced website, Drupal takes precedence over WordPress and Joomla. Why? Ask any web developer, they’ll say Drupal is flexible, scalable and feature-rich but in the same breath, they say that the platform is a tad complex!
A Brief History of Drupal
Drupal has come a long way from mere ‘drop.org’ in 2000. Drop.org, the predecessor to Drupal, was initially a message board software developed by Dries Buytaert and Hans Snijder during their undergrad days. On account of its popularity, Dries decided to release it as an open-source platform in 2001 renaming it as Drupal, the English pronunciation of the Dutch word, ‘Druppel’ meaning ‘drop’.
Now, 20 years later, with 8 successful versions and the 9th running in beta, Drupal holds sway over the entire web application framework domain, powering a total of 1,074,029 websites (as on April 26, 2020).
Today, Drupal is present in over 200 countries and available in 182 language options. Interestingly, many of the website design and web development companies across the globe use Drupal for producing their best websites.
Who can benefit from Drupal?
The flexibility of Drupal makes it suitable for almost any website project. But since it is aligned to professionals, it proves more beneficial to advanced websites than simple projects. Drupal is, therefore, best for:
- Businesses that need a flexible, scalable system to meet their changing and growing requirements
- Complex and large websites with multiple functionalities and content types
- Users who are willing to dedicate their time to learn a new and powerful CMS
Pros of Drupal CMS
Here’s a rundown of the main advantages of the Drupal Content Management System.
1) Drupal is an open-source platform
Open source means Drupal is free for use. You don’t need to pay anybody to download, use and modify Drupal for your website project. You’re allowed to copy and use the code as is or customise it for your purpose. As a responsible developer, you can even share your customised codes with the community for others to use.
2) Strong community to support your development
Drupal is a community of more than 1,000,000 members that includes developers, designers, and well-wishers, who work in tandem to support each and every Drupal user. They voluntarily contribute to the improvement of the platform by developing new modules and themes for your projects. Also, the community allows you to directly interact with the members, and get your technical doubts cleared in no time.
3) Offers systematic updates
Like most content management systems, Drupal comes up with regular software updates, fixing existing bugs to improve the user experience.
4) Foolproof security
Your website is more secure with Drupal than with any other CMS platform. Drupal does not depend on free third-party plugins which makes Drupal website less vulnerable to security threats. Also, the security team conducts regular security tests to guard your site from hackers.
5) Mobile-friendly themes
Drupal has a bundle of responsive themes in its arsenal that can turn your site mobile-ready instantly.
Cons of Drupal CMS
Some of the disadvantages of Drupal CMS are
1) Not-so-friendly interface
Managing Drupal is a challenge without developer assistance. It is true that a vast range of themes and modules (plug-ins) are available at your disposal but you need to search and find what fits your purpose. Being custom-coded, you will need to modify the themes available to match your website requirement. Also, most of these modules (plug-ins) don’t come free.
2) Steep learning curve
Drupal Web Development is not as easy as it may sound. The developer has to learn a lot to crack the basic functions of the system. He must be proficient in PHP, CSS and HTML codes. Implementation and customization of Drupal framework require years of experience and expertise, which is one of the reasons why the platform has not been able to capture more than 4.6% of the CMS market share. So, before deciding on Drupal, you need to make sure that you have a dedicated Drupal developer on board who knows the framework inside out. If you don’t, hire one immediately before giving a quote to your client.
3) Limited modules
When compared to WordPress, Drupal has a limited number of modules. Third-party modules, if not optimised on time, can hinder your website performance.
Despite these disadvantages, Drupal still powers websites like nasa.gov and websites of a number of Fortune 500 companies.
Famous Drupal Websites
Here are some of the popular websites built on Drupal:
1) The United States Government: http://www.whitehouse.gov/
2) MTV UK: http://www.mtv.co.uk/
3) University of Oxford: http://www.ox.ac.uk/
4) Amnesty International: https://www.amnesty.org/en/
5) The British Government, https://www.gov.uk/
6) British Broadcasting Corporation: https://www.bbc.com/
7) The Economist: http://www.economist.com/
Drupal Web Design & Development
If you are looking for a CMS platform that offers immense possibilities, flexibility and scalability, migrate your website to Drupal. Get help from our dedicated Drupal web development team to get your website up and running. As a leading web development company in Dubai, we’ve been building Drupal websites for over a decade. We offer the following Drupal web development services to our customers:
1) Drupal theme development (UI / UX)
2) Drupal Custom Development
3) Drupal Module Development
4) Drupal Migration
5) Drupal eCommerce Solution
6) Drupal Support & Maintenance
Get in touch with us today for Drupal-related queries, we’ve got the right blend of web developers and designers to take charge of your project at any stage of its development.
Image Credit: Wikipedia
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