What Are The Differences Between WordPress, Joomla, And Drupal

CMS stands for the content management system. It is a stand-alone application and uses all types of functionality or processes to develop a multi-angled website.

This system or platform gives the ability to change, edit, deploy, expand or update the website contents - text and images both easily by the user or administrator, or owner of the website on a single back-end interface. Thus CMS helps quick and fast content production without programming or design experience. It gives freedom to developers or designers from writing difficult and complex several versions of codes in the web development procedures. It uses a centralized and comprehensive code process, on the basis of which, one can extend its functionality to set client requirements in a flexible approach. Several CMS are available online as stand-alone or at hosting channels. One can make a website in a minute, only you need to place your contents into selected CMS in a pre-defined layout. WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal are the three most popular and easily available CMS these days in the web or internet world. CMS (Content Management System) based websites are being developed widely on the basis of these three technologies or applications.

WordPress is an Open Source project, first released on May 27, 2003, by founders Matt Mullenweg and Mike Little as a fork of b2/catalog, licensed under the GPLv2.

Joomla was the result of a fork of Mambo. Joomla 1.0 was released on September 22, 2005, as an open-source project under a GNU license.

Drupal was founded by Dries Buytaert(Dutch - Belgian universities) in January 2001 as an open source project to explore new paths for online development.

Each has its own features, capabilities, merits, and demerits on the basis of several aspects like user interface, support, flexible extending ability, etc.

Below are the following basic differences, merits, and demerits which has been observed at the practical level, usability level, and clients requirements and needs level:

WordPress:

• Learning - Easy to learn and use

• Frontend - Uses a user-friendly and productive look

• Backend - Uses a highly interactive and polished backend interface with easy navigation

• Extensions - Uses only plugins for extra features,

• Community -Huge community and extra features-based free plugins are available for almost every aspect of the website.

• Coding Model - Uses semi-developed procedural oop framework in the form of a hook. Core code is neat and clean and understandable.

• Unit Testing(Quality Control Program for writing code in open source) - Uses 'PHP Unit' for code testing

• API Interaction - Backward incompatible

• Database Support - Works with MySQL

• Text Translation - Uses function and PO files based on complex translation procedure

• Multi-Language - Doesn't use inbuilt multi-lingual support

• Users Management - Doesn't use inbuilt membership and community features

• Documentation - Good documentation and updates are not available online

Joomla:

• Learning - Easy to learn and use

• Frontend - Uses a user-friendly and productive look

• Backend - Uses a highly interactive and polished backend interface as WordPress with easy navigations with a little bit of confusion

• Extensions - Uses plugins, modules, components for extra features,

• Community - Huge community, extra features based plugins, modules, and components are available in both paid and free versions

• Coding Model - Uses a fully developed true oop style framework based on the MVC model. Core code is not neat and clean, broken item finding is difficult.

• Unit Testing(Quality Control Program for writing code in open source) - Uses 'PHP Unit' for code testing

• API Interaction - Good API

• Database Support - Works with MySQL

• Text Translation - Uses constant base simple translation procedure

• Multi-Language - Doesn't use inbuilt multi-lingual support

• Users Management - Uses inbuilt membership and community features

• Documentation - Good documentation and updates are not available online

Drupal:

• Learning - Requires advanced skills to learn and use

• Frontend - It doesn't display a user-friendly and professional productive look

• Backend - It doesn't use the interactive and easy navigation

• Extensions- Uses only 'modules' for extra features

• Community - Huge community and extra features based free modules are available free

• Coding Model - Uses semi-developed procedural oop framework in the form of the hook as WordPress, but in a better way. Core code is very neat and clean and easily understandable

• Unit Testing(Quality Control Program for writing code in open source) - Uses 'Simple Test' for code testing

• API Interaction - Backward incompatible

• Database Support - Works with MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite

• Text Translation - Uses function and PO files based on complex translation procedure

• Multi-Language - Uses inbuilt multi-lingual support

• Users Management - Uses inbuilt membership and community features

• Documentation - Good documentation and updates are available online

Conclusions: WordPress is not true CMS. It had been developed as a Blog for blogging activities with a great and polished administration interface. It is still the primary choice for online users or clients to Blog on a website. Actually, we use its 'pages' functionality into website informational content with a professional blog in an easy way. It doesn't demand advanced and sound technical(PHP) skills. It is easy to use, learn and update. So it is recommended for simple, small scale and inexpensive websites or website applications.

Joomla is a true and very extensive CMS. Publishing and maintaining the contents are easy in a highly polished and designed administrative interface. It is easy to use as WordPress but not flexible as Drupal. It demands middle-level technical knowledge and skills and stays between WordPress and Drupal platforms. So it is recommended for midsize websites or website applications.

Drupal is the most powerful, versatile, and highly flexible CMS. You can configure and manage web applications in a gymnastic way in drupal. It demands advanced and sound technical skills like PHP and MySQL query-building ability. You should be a good PHP programmer. It is not as easy as WordPress or Joomla. One can dream of a great and comprehensive website or website application in drupal so it is recommended for complex website applications. You must know that WordPress is the most used Content Management System (CMS) software in the world to build websites, almost half of the Internet, that is why there are more jobs available for WordPress developers in the world.

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Source: sooperarticles