Drupal Software

Drupal has Evolved into a Great CMS

Peace of mind, in regard to security. With a bit of customization, it makes managing web development projects much simpler and more productive. Releases like Thunder and Lightning hold the potential to become ever-better 'jump starts' toward the ideal CMS for publishing collaboratively.

Pros

Open Source GPL v2.0 or later = no license fees, ever. That's hard to beat, but the fact is that it's the better solution (even if it wasn't free). I've used it before, constantly revisiting; hoping it could be what 8.4.x is now.

Know that "Enterprise Level Security" doesn't make it bulletproof, but that there are scores of highly skilled folks constantly pouring over every aspect of this software, with each component required to complete stringent testing before it gets a pass -- using experimental modules 'n such can reduce these benefits, soOo... do your homework.

Biggest Pro? It isn't Wordpress.

If properly installed and maintained, it's one of the best possible solutions. That's why so many government agencies, or even governments themselves, have built upon Drupal.

I have 500+ active domains, and have used Drupal 100+ times or more. It's been our best choice, in most cases.

Cons

Documentation is sorta thin, which is often the case with major releases of open source software solutions, but it isn't that difficult to find answers: People often answer others that have encountered similar problems.

The 'steep learning curve' isn't such a hard climb, since there are countless videos and tutorials out there... it's easily worth the trouble, even if you have no background in programming of web development.

Installation could be made far simpler (e.g. the 'trusted host configuration' should be set up by the installer itself). But, it is hard to complain when -- sorta ashamed that I haven't put in the hours it takes to affect these changes I'd like to see.

Manual (and frequent) updates are a bit of a pain, but it sure beats software that isn't being so actively developed as to require updates. Or, worse still, have nobody watching what the others offer as plug-in.

Again: It's hard to complain without having put in nearly the time that countless others have (we all oughta give back, when/where we can ~;-)

One of the most robust and secure Web CMS in the market

The security of having a tool that allows me to deal with almost any web project that requires content management, scalability and security.

Pros

If you have to face the development of an intranet or a medium or complex web project, Drupal is definitely one of the options that you have to consider. It is open source backed by a large community that has been committed for years to a project that is characterized by its flexibility and security. Drupal provides a robust content authoring platform and is capable of handling large numbers of users with clear rules and permits.

One of the bases of Drupal is its system of modules. Eventually, almost any functionality you may need can be added to the system through modules (built based on PHP, JavaScript, HTML and CSS). And yet, I bet you will not even have to develop it, because surely it will already be available among the immense amount of modules that the community has contributed during these years (especially for version 7).

The theme system is another of the important element. If you do not need to develop your own interface from scratch, you can choose one of the large number of free themes available and adapt it to your needs, being able to even configure many features without modifying the source code. Certainly, it does not seem like a very intuitive method, but once you understand it you can implement almost everything you need.

In its latest version, Drupal has been almost completely modernized; it has discarded many failures that hindered its performance and have included in its core many important functionalities that were contributed by modules.

Cons

Drupal can be difficult to deal with for non-developer or technical profile users. Depending on your objectives, the learning curve can be considerable.

The fact of being an almost module-dependent system for most of the functionalities can force you to deal with many configurations, compatibility issues and workflows when you want to implement complex functionalities that may even need several modules working together. As I see it, this is not necessarily a negative thing, but rather the cost of the flexibility and power it gives you.

If the design and the appearance are important in your project, you will have to put a little more effort into the work; unfortunately, many of Drupal's graphic themes do not look as fashionable or in trend as those of WordPress, which is still the leader in this section. It is possible to achieve it, but you will have to dedicate time or pay for it.

As the number of modules and the database grows, the performance of Drupal may be affected, so it is important to learn to keep it in shape and updated, activate the cache and continuously evaluate the relevance and usefulness of each of the added modules. Although it has been greatly optimized with the arrival of Drupal 8, it is not something that should be neglected in medium and large projects.

Phenomenal software

Pros

Drupal has seven main Pros:

1) It's uses a very flexible system of modules.

You can use Drupal modules to add new features to your site.

For example, the Membership module lets you add member based services, the Video modules lets you host video clips, while the Commerce module lets you add shopping features.

Each modules is made up of smaller modules, which ensures you only activate the bits you need for your project.

Best of all, you can mix and match the modules to create things the original module designers might have never considered. For example, combine the Commerce, Membership and Video modules to create a paid for membership site of training videos.

2) It's very layered.

In Drupal, system code lives in one layer, code to do with appearance (e.g. CSS, HTML) lives in another separate layer and custom modifications live in another separate layer.

This makes it very easy to change things. For example, you can change the entire layout of your site without having to modify the original content to adapt to it.

3) It's free

Remarkably, the core technology and all these modules are available for free. There are some themes that you have to pay for if you want to change the look of your site, but you can make your own themes and there are number of free themes as well.

4) Great user support

Drupal has a good support network of dedicated and helpful users who are willing to provide plenty of free help. There's also free training videos on YouTube.

5) Plenty of updates

Drupal releases minor updates on a monthly basis which address any of bugs or security concerns that crop up. There are also major updates every 2-3 years, which radically change the functionality of the core system.

6) Portable code

Most code can easily be transferred between sites. Hence, if you create a function on one site, you can move it to another without having to re-do it all from scratch.

7) Don’t need strong coding skills

Drupal's module system means you can easily achieve a lot without needing to know how to code. It might not look and function exactly as you want, but it will be a decent effort.

Cons

Drupal has 2 main set backs:

1) It can get very complicated

The down side of all the flexibility, is that there are often 10 ways to do one thing in Drupal and it's not always clear which method is best. Often the only way you can find out is through experience. Which means your early Drupal projects might not be as good as they could be, as you cut your teeth on learning which methods are best for you.

2) Your code won’t last forever.

Every 2-3 years, Drupal releases a new major update which radically changes the functionality of the site. The plus side of this is that it makes Drupal better. The downside is that you will often have to completely re-write your custom code. Because these major updates change everything, you will often need to install new modules to replace old ones. Essentially you have to rebuild your site (thankfully all the content can be transferred over).

Upgrading isn't a requirement. But after a couple of years, the older versions of Drupal are no longer supported. So if building a Drupal site, expect to redo it from scratch it in 3-5 years. Hence, it's not really good for projects which only have a budget for minor changes each year.

Drupal is a CMS that can do it all.

Pros

The best part about Drupal is that you can do anything and the best functionality is either in Drupal core or a free module at Drupal.org. There is a misconception that the learning curve is difficult. In comparison, achieving the basic needs of a brochure website are the same in all of the top CMS solutions. Aside from comparisons, the best tool within Drupal is Views. You can create lists and grids of data that can then be sorted, filtered, and altered in so many ways without adding any additional modules. Of course you can extend views and provide even better data lists or different view types but the ability to display and work with items that reside in the system is unlike any other system.

Cons

With so many options available to you, the learning curve comes with learning how to best use the best module for the job. There may be 5-10 modules that achieve a result, but in the end, there may only be one module that does it exactly how you want it. So the complexity is in the trial and error of having multiple options. So you may waste time working through the complexities of a module and realize that was not the main intent of the module or it doesn't quite do everything you wanted. This is worth it to me though as I will then be able to understand how different modules can be used in different ways to perform different functions.

Ideal for collaborative work in corporate media

My overall experience with Drupal has been good, I prefer it as a manager and portal design before others, the only thing that happened is that the platform fell when a news had many entries at a time. We manage a news page and its content search engine is very effective and reliable. And the roles of the users, to execute changes in the page are very useful, in addition the trace is faithful.

Pros

It is an ideal software to edit a corporate communication medium among several collaborators, the allocation of roles to each user, allows the levels of publication and approval to be faithful and thus errors are avoided, as well as assigning or changing roles in the users.

It is very easy to use, and the variety of features it brings allows you to alternate with designs and templates, which are very easy to edit and move, without the need to make new purchases or downloads.

The drupal community is very knowledgeable and willing to help solve problems. In addition, security levels are higher than other content managers.

Cons

For those who are starting a web page and do not have programming knowledge, it can be difficult to find a lot of modules, but once you take the rhythm you can have a different page in both look and feel and functionalities.

It also tends to hang when there are many entries at once to its database; or the server goes down.

Powerful CMS with enormous flexibility but an uncertain future

I've been using Drupal since version 5, in 2007, and I rely on it for approximately half the sites I manage. It's enormously powerful, can be customized in any conceivable manner, and offers a vast array of modules and themes, most free. This power and flexibility comes at the price of a complex codebase, however, which can be slow to render and subject to database corruption. Drupal also suffers from a fixed release structure with dramatic architectural changes between releases, meaning that updating heavily customized Drupal sites to new major versions is not much less involved than adopting a new CMS framework altogether.

Pros

You can do anything with Drupal. Some things are even easy: setting up a basic blog is trivial, plenty of options are available for turnkey themes, and many third-party modules exist to rapidly turn Drupal into a solid framework for everything from e-commerce to social media aggregation to academic collaboration.

When it works, it works well, and caching modules exist for every version to defray some of the CPU overhead generated by its large codebase.

Cons

Drupal's development community has opted for a fixed rather than a rolling release structure, which means admins performing major version updates incur a steep upgrade penalty in terms of changes to add-on options, basic code, and theme engines.

From version 6 to the new version 8, Drupal has changed virtually everything, and as a result, many deployed users linger on increasingly insecure older versions, while many module developers and third-party integration teams have abandoned Drupal altogether as a result of the ongoing investment necessary to stay abreast of codebase changes.

Finally, Drupal's own documentation is fragmentary and often self-contradictory, which can make educating oneself extremely time-consuming.

Working with Drupal is a balance of unbridled freedom and future-proofing frustration.

Pros

Druapl is a CMS that allows the developer to do anything they could want, provided they have the know-how and the time to build it. Plugins are often open-ended enough to allow for developers to plugin into them and continue building until the feature they are looking for is completed. There is incredible value here - while it is free, more premium plugins cost money. The user-base also serves as technical support - plugins are built by users and so they are also maintained and supported by those users. This means that there is a wide range of plugins and people to provide support if you run into an issue.

Despite any shortcomings, I do love the product a lot. It's optimistic in the way its' built - very few software let you just have the ability to do anything with it these days. This is still one of those products, and so it should be commended for it.

Cons

This is NOT for somebody who wants to build their first website. This is a developer's platform, and some of the ways things are done in Drupal makes it very difficult to just get off the group and build out a website. I mention above the word "Developer" a lot, and that's who this product is really for. If I am aiming this review towards the general public, I would take the ease of use down to 2 or even 1 star for them - it's just not something you should do if you don't have experience building in it. Hire somebody.

The other side of the coin in having a wide range of plugins means that there are a lot that are not very good, or are not maintained. They become a security liability. The fact that these plugins are maintained by users also means that there is nobody making sure that the maintainer keeps the plugin working, which can really wreck how a site functions.

Drupal is the most secure and feature-rich CMS on the market. We love Drupal!

I always recommend those that are serious about creating websites that scale build on Drupal.

Pros

With a world-wide collective of active developers, Drupal is the developer's dream. There are a variety of installation profiles to give you a head start. Unlike Wordpress 99% of amazing modules are FREE. Companies like Sony and the White House use Drupal. If you can dream it you can do it in Drupal. The open-source community is helpful and always contributing new models. Because it is database driven you can create complex data sets that can connect with your current tools. When we build sites that need to scale we use Drupal. Great CDN module that works with Amazon AWS for super fast load time.
Drupal allows you to build Enterprise level sites without custom code.

Cons

The only con to Drupal is the steep learning curve. It takes some time to become an expert. It is also helpful to find a host that understands Drupal or get some help. A server tweaked for Drupal is the best way to go and not always easy to find. If you know what you are doing you will have no issues.

More than a CMS--An incredibly powerful site building and management tool!

Pros

It's open source! You can build just about anything with it, and you can do most things right within the user interface. Many things you can do in the UI such as building complex views are quite simple once you know the process, and would require writing complex code or database queries in most other systems. The community is excellent and there are thousands of free contributions. Drupal is great about security releases and about reviewing the security of Drupal core as well as the contributed space. Powerful theming layer using Twig templates in Drupal 8+. Drupal Commerce allows for a powerful e-commerce system.

Cons

The admin interface is not always intuitive for non-technical users. There's a learning curve involved with Drupal and many of its major contributed modules. Requires contributed modules for, or just entirely lacks, some features which users unfamiliar with the technical aspects of Drupal might expect. Drupal can be slow compared to some other systems, but its great caching layer mitigates this.

very capable, extensible web framework, sort of beastly under the hood

Pros

Can format/present/lay-out a website in almost any imaginable way. Perms and auths allow for easily varied professional/enterprise workflow (versus something like Wordpress that seems intended for SoHo sites). Lots of good features for optimizing complex pages. Scales up well for high-volume. Large community, lots of support options. A whole ton of contrib code offers multiple ways to do most things you might want to do within the context of Drupal.

Cons

Very steep learning curve. relatively heavy system requirements. Abtruse jargon/mechanisms. Out of the box, it's not even vaguely ready to use. Newer releases have emphasized gee-whiz features and change-for-change's sake, making internal APIs increasingly complex without adding a lot of value. Drupal8 is a lot more top heavy than Drupal7, and abandoned much of the contrib code base for little practical gain. The common PHP name space combined with many contrib authors can make for code instability, though the community is better at that than it used to be.

Drupal Rocks. for the serious user

We have created multimillion-dollar Enterprise level sites on a platform is Rock Solid reliable fast I'm downright amazing. You can build something as a simple blog can International multi-level site with Drupal.

Pros

Drupal fully open-source and will run on just about any server operating system. It has a massive worldwide community community that collaborates on security fixes, module creation. What this means is If You Can Dream It Drupal can do it Loggins & themes won't cost you a penny. This is in stark contrast 2 enterprise-level modules that are pay only when working on the WordPress platform. Some of the biggest Enterprises in the world use Drupal including Conde Nast, Sony and even the White House.

Cons

The one drawback to Drupal is the learning curve is extremely high is not for the faint of heart but for those that are willing to put in the time you can build anything stable fast and secure with Drupal.

Complex but amazingly powerful content management system

We rely on drupal to run our websites.

Pros

Drupal is not the solution you go to if you want to quickly put out a simple website. It IS the solution you want if you need a website that will scale, if you need robust features, if you care about security, and if you don't really mind getting your hands a little dirty. A lot of things are really more complicated than they need to be compared to Wordpress, but unlike Wordpress, you can accomplish so much more with Drupal with the right modules and a little customization know-how.

Cons

Complexity. If you're just starting out with Drupal, you can easily find yourself using 5 modules to do something one module can do, which leads to a more bloated install as you add more features to your site. Knowing how to keep the site lean has performance and security advantages because you don't have to have so many modules to keep in line and updated.

I wanted to love Drupal, but it wasn't a good fit for my nonprofit's needs

Pros

Drupal is a powerful web developing platform with a large, global community of people and companies using it, developing for it and improving it. It's used to build websites that you probably consult every day. It's flexible and scalable.

Cons

The negative flipside of Drupal's power and flexibility is that it is still many steps behind Wordpress in terms of ease of use and value for money. My nonprofit sunk thousands of dollars into a Drupal site that didn't do everything we wanted it to do and which we ultimately could no longer afford to maintain given the high fees charged by Drupal developers who are in great demand. That's not to say that Drupal won't meet your needs. My advice is simply that you do your homework before going the Drupal route including an assessment of the staff and financial resources you have to maintain/upgrade the site once it has been built.

Drupal is a Beast!

Drupal gets us up to speed on projects quickly. Even though it can be a pain to learn, the effort is well worth it. It's flexibility is remarkable, and the API/de-coupled movement is well represented in Drupal 8. With this framework in place, it allows us to grow and build custom apps without having to upgrade for the foreseeable future.

Pros

Comprehensive CMS.
Powerful, can handle a lot of requests quickly and efficiently.
Great user management.
Consistent upgrade life cycle with clear goals.
Easily create and manage multiple content types.
Crazy customization options for content types and users.
Huge community with a lot of active support and plugins.

Cons

Minor features, like calendar functionality, found in other CMS's simply don't work. Drupal 7 and 8 both have this issue.
Drupal's reliance on nodes can be difficult for a newcomer.
Not the best solution for small sites.

Easy to Use, Hard to master CMS

I've used a few CMS such as Joomla before, but Drupal is the one that my team and I consistently go back to. For some of our key sites, this is a great tool to use. I have members on the team that are well versed in PHP and CSS so this is relatively easy for them to work with. We've used Drupal for a few in house websites ranging from relatively simple blogs to enterprise level business sites. The team has been using Drupal since Drupal6 and we're now at Drupal8. Drupal's best selling point over many CMS is in its flexibility and the multitude of options available for the users.

Pros

I really like the options that are available with Drupal; themes, modules,etc. I particularly enjoy having the ability to use themes and having options to create and use custom themes. It's a bit challenging to install and deploy the first time, but the themes themselves are incredibly easy to write if you have knowledge of CSS.

I also feel that Drupal is well supported with forums, an established community documentation, and a decent slack channel.

Cons

I think that the old adage, "Easy to learn, hard to master" applies really well to Drupal. The layout and feel of Drupal is not really naturally intuitive. Furthermore, while it's not necessarily a con, but it feels like there really are almost too many modules and features available. Some of them share very similar functionalities and novice users may choose a less fleshed out/established option. However, I feel that this is typical of many open-source CMS software and it's something that can be easily overcome with experience.

Are you looking for an efficient, safe and easy to use CMS?

The installation of this CMS in the company for which work has been very useful. In our case, we use it to move content oriented to the internal public and the results are remarkable. Both in the ease it offers to work day by day and in the scope of our audiences. In particular I think it is a means with excellent features that are worth trying.

Pros

What I liked the most about Drupal is its performance, its safety standards and versatility. These are features that offer a truly pleasurable user experience.

Cons

As administrator of websites, I consider that although its characteristics and usability are extraordinary, its installation may need knowledge oriented to the technical area. I refer to this point, because at present there are other CMS that can be used without having that kind of knowledge.

Drupal - An easy to use "anything you need" publishing software

It can be anything you need, from a intranet project to keep a log of what it´s done and need to be done, to complete websites with integrated galleries and so on. We run it for many purposes and recommend it to everyone.

Pros

The main advantage of Drupal is it´s flexibility and easy integration with other platforms. It can be used just as a blogger platform, as it can also scale to a full blown website, integrated with customer support, or it can be a Hotspot page where your clients can sign up to gain access to the internet.

Cons

Not so easy to configure. I don´t mean installation, as it´s easy to install, but you need to configure it well after so you don´t run risks (just as any other platform would be).

Powerful but difficult for the user, it can be improved

In my work I managed to complete the development of a project with this software, our team was congratulated by our bosses and the board of directors is very happy with the results, we are currently in the quality testing phase, I hope that soon Drupal can be launched in the production environment On a personal level, I see it as an option to do independent work, so I can obtain many benefits.

Pros

What I like most about Drupal is that it is free, you can make a complete implementation without investing money in software, we have chosen to implement only free software, so we have done it without cost, I like the possibility of being beyond the simple The content of the administrator has options for future developments, it is easy to install and its use is quite practical, I liked the fact that it has a nice and worked administration interface that makes it easier to explain to users how they perform their tasks. Daily within the application, the English-speaking community is numerous, which helps with some problems that may arise along the way. I think the system of blocks that has at the moment of structure the content within the page makes it relatively pleasant, we have taken a project to its final phase with Drupal I can say that we have done well.

Cons

The first thing that comes to my mind about what I do not like about Drupal is the cache system that has sometimes driven me crazy, it serves obsolete content and there are many conflicts when different users need to edit the same article, another problem is that there is failures in some buttons of the administration, sometimes the buttons do not perform any action, I had problems because sometimes the functionality of uploading an image or a pdf file fails when they are large, I think Drupal is designed for programmers and not for people without experience In the area of information technology, this could improve, the Spanish-speaking community has fallen short, it is difficult to find documentation and quality help in my mother tongue, I feel that Drupal is staying a bit behind in terms of extensions If there were more, it would be more attractive for more people.

Probably my favourite CMS

Pros

It's both easy to use, secure and customizable.
I find it very intuitive for basic users, which is great when you need to grant editing access to several people (a bit less so for more advanced needs).
It gives you the potential to do pretty much everything you need without affecting the security, and there's a big, helpful network of forums that can help you every time to get stuck.

Cons

Some of the most advanced features are not very intuitive, hence you struggle every time you need them -because you forgot where they were on the menus!
Also, sometimes you need to find workarounds to get Drupal to do what you need to.

I wants to marry Drupal

Pros

Being a developer its hard not to love Drupal -- with their recent update to Drupal 8 and moving to a Symfony2 backend and Twig templating system, its become bulletproof.

Also, Composer is now built in to manage dependencies.

The developer community is incredible and all modules are peer-reviewed by the community. This way you know the code you are getting is safe and sound unlike competitors...*cough*wordpress*cough*

Cons

The migration from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8 may be hard for some developers to swallow. A lot has changed, but almost all for the better.

Drupal 8 modules are still a bit slow to be ported from Drupal 7.