How Do You Know if Drupal is Right for You?

Submitted by Liz Dietrich on 03/24/2017 - 04:01:pm

Have you been feeling frustrated with the lack of control and flexibility your current content management system offers? Does your vision go beyond the tools that are available to you? If so, Drupal may be the answer. Although Drupal can be a bit more complicated than some other content management systems (e.g. Wordpress), it’s easy to become familiar with and offers more scalable website solutions. 

What is Drupal?

Drupal is a free open source software that encourages collaborative efforts between developers in a public environment. The Drupal community has contributed over 39,000 add-ons and modules to Drupal’s core functionality. These modules can be completely customized to fit your evolving needs.

Drupal’s content management is at the top of our list, but some people don’t know that it’s also an advanced developmental framework. Drupal has uniquely been coined a new type of web application interface known as a Content Management Framework or CMF and it does just that. It’s user friendly developmental tools can be used to build something simple, or in the hands of an expert something very complex.

How Drupal can benefit you

Drupal is a terrific tool for structuring and managing content. It’s extensive flexibility allows you to evolve in any direction with virtually no limitations. It’s advanced components provide a strong foundation for scalability without compromising on performance. 

“Because of this, Drupal is the leading platform among global enterprises, governments and higher education institutions.”

The reason why so many enterprises are turning towards Drupal as a web management solution is because it sets them up for scalable and sustainable growth. Drupal is built to handle complex workflows and user types; and it boasts a powerful performance driven platform that is maintained even during sudden bursts and prolonged levels of traffic. It’s customizable content types allow you to create a functionality that is unique to your site, with the flexibility to grow with your business.

Drupal has a longstanding, stable history and is constantly advancing. Drupal truly breaks out of the box and has everything you might expect from a content management framework. Nearly everything you want to do with this system has been created and contributed to the Drupal community, and because it’s open source it doesn't require a monthly subscription or any licensing fees. Rest assured that this all-in-one digital solution will provide you with a robust and convenient way to advance your current web system, while setting you up with a solid platform for future growth.

When is Drupal not the best choice? 

Although Drupal offers many desirable and advanced features, it may not be the best choice for certain one-use-type targeted approaches. If you’re looking for something simple, out-of-the-box with a less technical administration interface there might be a better option out there for you. 

We recommend considering other CMS options for things like personal blogging, creating wikis, hosting discussion forums or creating simple online shop. There are specialized platforms created for these specific purposes such as Wordpress, MediaWiki, Vanilla and Magento. These tools are often better suited for less complex uses that don’t require much customization to the underlying system. 

At the point where you have multiple use cases or need advanced customization of any of these features, a Drupal solution is definitely worth seriously considering.