Why Drupal?

There are just too many content management systems out there for one person to do their own comparisons, but I wanted to do some type of my own personal kick the tires comparisons.

I have personally tested and used phpWebSite, PostNuke, Xoops, WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, as well as a few less popular scripts over the years. This site, SmartTechnology.Info, was first done in the phpWebSite content management system and later XOOPS, before I eventually brought to the Drupal family.

Each has features that I wish the other would have. Some were much easier "out of the box" to customize, some had more intuitive administration.   I got to the point where I had to make a commitment to one, as trying to stay on top of changes on many different apps, and always trying to compare features, was too time consuming.

The decision came down to two factors, 1) continuous growth and development, does this product look like it has been steadily growing and being developed, does it look like it has a clear direction moving forward and 2) a professional and helpful support community, can I find help quickly and easily online, does the community appear helpful and professional.

Drupal Emerged as the Winner

There is a lot of underlying thought behind those two areas, but I am keeping the comments brief for the sake of this post. I was on the fence for awhile between Joomla and Drupal.  When I focused my effort on these two areas, Drupal emerged as the winner.

Drupal has its issues, and to learn it, you need to invest some time, but f it keeps going as it is now it will separate itself from the pack of content management systems.

Word Press will grow and prosper as well. It has a good following, and community as well. But for now, I see it, as do many others, as primarily a blog product, and not a full blown content management system.