Fascinating Open Source CMS Platforms- Knowing Which One is Right for Your Website

Jul 26,2021 by Manoj Yadav

There are different types of Content Management Systems (CMS) having diverse attributes. However all are designed to empower even non-technical individuals to build websites with speed and proficiency. Users can effortlessly store contents and other relevant information in databases and can easily operate user friendly interfaces.

Following are some of the common benefits of Content Management Systems (CMS):

•   Facilitate manual uploading of files to servers
•   Users are able to use a blogging platform
•   Include dynamic web content
•   Availability of customized design options
•   Offer many useful ecommerce and customer account features

WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal are the most sought after Content Management Systems (CMS) and all of them are open-source software. These are developed by communities and have been consistently upgraded and supported by large array of plugins, extensions, and add-ons. Every CMS is unique in terms of features and facilities. Selection of a particular CMS should be easy if we gain deeper insights into their fascinating attributes.

Most popular WordPress CMS

After its humble beginning as a blogging platform, WordPress has transformed into the most sought after CMS platform for its simplicity and user friendly interface. In terms of the size of developer community and number of users, WordPress Content Management System (CMS) leads the way.

It boasts the largest community support and has the maximum number of plugins as well as themes. Users can also use wordpress.com, its own blogging platform, which is simple and provides freedom from searching for a webhost to build and operate websites. WordPress.org overcomes all limitations of WordPress.com and is a full-fledged option for setting up of websites in the most intuitive and straightforward manner.

Users can have seamless access to backend cores of their website for incorporating customized looks. WordPress Content Management System (CMS) presents, some of its premium add-ons as free downloads. However it can present certain limitations in terms of sustaining some of the vital resources if the website happens to swiftly grow in terms of complexity and traffic.

Making changes to the core framework may pose technical issues and may expose the website to attacks. In spite of these shortcomings, WordPress continues to command its popularity and is the CMS of choice for large websites of global conglomerates.

Following are some noteworthy features of WordPress:

•   Highest popularity
•   Largest community support
•   Suitable for websites of all sizes
•   Open source
•   Limitations for development

Drupal- flexible and powerful CMS

If you are looking for a highly technical Content Management System (CMS), then Drupal can be a perfect choice. It has ability to build highly complex websites. You can develop websites that are used by large community forums, large number of users, corporate clients, and so forth. It demands very high level of technical proficiency in terms of in-depth programming knowledge to use this CMS. It offers thousands of add-ons and is very powerful CMS software. Its features can be summed up as follows:

•   Flexible and robust CMS
•   Availability of multiple add-ons
•   Best suited for complex community sites, multiple content websites
•   Needs basic proficiency of programming
•   Open source

Joomla – Ease of developing complex sites

Joomla is a user friendly Content Management System (CMS) platform that has extensive capabilities, almost similar to Drupal and facilitates development of complex sites. Complexity level of Joomla is in between WordPress and Drupal. The installation process of Joomla is highly user friendly.

One can develop complex sites with a relatively lesser technical knowledge and use of software jargon. Joomla is an ideal Content Management System (CMS) for development of ecommerce sites, social forums, and so forth. Following are some of the compelling features of Joomla CMS:

•   More complex than WordPress
•   Ease of setup and installation
•   Relatively less technical than Drupal
•   Suitable for ecommerce sites
•   Ideal for social community sites

Summarizing overall benefits of open source CMS platforms

We can capture the essence of the discussion by understanding how each of these CMS platforms can be used to achieve specific goals. If you are planning to develop a simplistic site for blogs or brochures, and lack the technical expertise, then you can select WordPress Content Management System (CMS).

However, if your objective is to develop a complex site that expected grow swiftly in terms of site traffic and complexity, then Drupal Content Management System (CMS) has to be considered as an ideal option.

If the website you are going to develop needs a scalable platform and is going to require customization and intricate content organization, then choose Drupal Content Management System (CMS) with confidence.

Beauty of all these open source content management software platforms is availability of passionate and loyal base of developer and user communities. Users can seamlessly bank on unwavering support of these communities and also through vast number of publications and other online forums. It can be safely assumed, by looking at the past history of these open source CMS platforms, that their future is extremely promising.

votes

Article Rating