Joomla vs. Drupal – Debating the Virtues

When you look in on the Joomla vs. Drupal debates, you will find a passionate discussion with adamant supporters on both sides. Both are long-standing open source content management systems with many developers and users speaking for each. As such, you probably can’t go wrong with either one, but there are definitely some differences between them which can lead to one being a better choice than the other for certain applications.

Over the years, each CMS has gone through many updates and they have leapfrogged each other in terms of features. Depending on when you compare them, one may appear to be ahead in some area because it has most recently gone through an upgrade cycle. However, it’s likely that it won’t be long before the other is on par and each has a vast library of 3rd party plug-ins that will add almost any feature that is missing out of the box. Here again, the conclusion is that either one is probably sufficient for most projects and the success of a project is more likely to be the proficiency of your web development team with one or the other.

Most reviewers consider Drupal to be an overall more powerful CMS with a greater array of features in the core package. However, there is a decent amount of configuration required to get it running which is why Drupal is typically found to be more difficult to use. These facts make it more of a choice for hardcore programmers. When it comes to content contribution, Drupal has better tools for enabling visitors to contribute content.

Joomla, on the other hand, requires less configuration and installation of modules to get it running in a basic configuration. While the Joomla interface is not always considered intuitive, it’s usually given the nod in usability over Drupal. In the content contribution area, Joomla is better for enabling an organization of users to contribute content.

It’s important to understand that each of these systems has thousands of developers around the world that have contributed features through their modular plug-in interfaces. As a result, any feature that one has in the core system that is not found in the other can usually easily be remedied by turning to a third party add-in. This means that any real argument about Joomla vs Drupal in terms of feature-set is meaningless.