This blog is part of a three-part content management system (CMS) series. Check out parts two and three: ‘WordPress Security’ and ‘WordPress vs. Webflow.’ Do you have a project in mind? We’d love to hear about it.
This blog is part of a three-part content management system (CMS) series. Check out parts two and three: ‘WordPress Security’ and ‘WordPress vs. Webflow.’ Do you have a project in mind? We’d love to hear about it.
You’re starting to think about redesigning your organization’s website, and the question comes up: Should we use WordPress or Drupal for our Content Management System?
This question is one that a lot of organizations grapple with because WordPress and Drupal are both open source – meaning anyone can build on and customize them – and both can be suitable for large website design projects that require special functionalities. However, these systems are not created equally.
While we do think Drupal can be the right choice for organizations that need to build a complex data entry or business logic framework, if you are a nonprofit, foundation, government agency, or other social impact-focused organization, 9 out of 10 times, we would advise you to choose WordPress.
Here’s why:
Even if you hire a skilled agency to design and develop your website, you don’t want it to be a mystery to you. WordPress is easy to use, from both an administrative and technical standpoint. The WordPress admin panel offers an intuitive user interface, so your team will be able to easily manage and update your content, and add on new pages as your website grows and evolves.
WordPress is so user-friendly that it’s possible for WP owners – who are not technical experts or developers – to start building their own websites, using tutorials and no-code solutions to structure the site. Although we don’t necessarily recommend this approach (more on that in part two of this series: WordPress Security), it speaks to the system’s approachability: With Drupal, you will always need a professional to get started.
WordPress is estimated to run approximately 37% of all websites and 60% of content management systems. So, when you build a website with WordPress you’ll also get a broad community of support – which means painless trouble-shooting and more developers who are available able to jump in and maintain or update your website in the future, with limited onboarding.
WordPress has a larger ecosystem of plug-ins – software additions that increase your website’s functionality (for example, there are plug-ins to improve your SEO, security, or search) – than Drupal does, which means you’ll have more options for customization. Furthermore, even the most accessible, secure WordPress plug-ins are less expensive and more prevalent than comparable Drupal plug-ins.
WordPress will provide a home for your site that can withstand the test of time. WordPress plug-ins tend to stay relevant and functional for longer, even when WP has upgraded to a new version. Historically however, Drupal tends to redo its core alongside the release of a new version – which means that any changes you want to make to a module or template after a version update need to be created from scratch.
Interested in working with WordPress? Check out the next blog in our content management system (CMS) series for more on WordPress security best practices.