In light of the current debate surrounding WordPress and the associated turmoil, it’s a good time to take a closer look at other content management systems (CMS). While WordPress is the dominant player, there are alternatives that, depending on the project, offer much more flexibility. One of these is Drupal, which has been known for years for its stability, scalability, and security. It’s a CMS that might require a bit more technical know-how, but in the right hands, it’s incredibly powerful.
What is Drupal?
Drupal is an open-source CMS that gives developers maximum freedom to build almost anything they can imagine. It was created in 2000 by Dries Buytaert and has been continuously improved ever since. Unlike many other CMS platforms, Drupal is less “out-of-the-box” – meaning it requires more customization and configuration to achieve exactly the desired outcome.
But this is also where its strength lies: While WordPress is often used for simple blogs and sites, Drupal shines in more complex projects. Scalability, security, and performance are at the forefront. This is why many government websites, large companies, and educational institutions rely on Drupal. Some notable examples include:
- The official website of the U.S. government (whitehouse.gov) used Drupal for a long time due to its high security standards and ability to handle large traffic volumes.
- The European Union uses Drupal to provide content in 24 languages and support collaboration between member states.
- UNICEF (unicef.org) uses Drupal to coordinate its international aid projects and campaigns, ensuring global access to critical information.
- Tampa International Airport (tampaairport.com) uses Drupal for its extensive website.
These examples – and many more – show that Drupal is particularly in demand where flexibility, security, and multilingual capabilities are crucial.
Drupal’s Architecture
Drupal is built on a modular system. Instead of a fixed framework that you can only customize to a limited extent, it offers modules (there are more than 19,000 which are actively mainained) that you can combine in any way you like. The core system of Drupal is very lightweight and minimal, but with thousands of available modules, Drupal can be extended almost infinitely. Whether you need e-commerce, community websites, or complex forms – Drupal can handle it all.
The modules range from simple contact forms to SEO tools and complex workflows and user roles. This is where Drupal’s strength becomes evident: It’s built for the big stage. You can define detailed roles and permissions for your users, create workflows for editors, or organize large amounts of content with taxonomies.
A key difference from other CMS platforms is Drupal’s implementation of social software concepts. Drupal enables the creation of communities where users can collaborate on content and exchange ideas. For instance, users can create their own blogs, participate in forum discussions, or publish articles. The detailed role and permission system allows for precise control over who can create, edit, or moderate content. This makes Drupal especially suitable for community-based websites or platforms that rely on collaboration and interaction.
Who Should Use Drupal?
Drupal isn’t necessarily the best CMS for someone looking to quickly launch a website without much effort. It’s more geared toward developers and tech-savvy users familiar with PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. However, if you have a project that requires many custom features or integrations, Drupal is an excellent choice.
Especially for complex requirements like user management, multilingual support, or managing large volumes of content, Drupal has clear advantages. You not only have full control over every aspect of the website, but also the ability to easily implement future expansions.
Why Not Just Use WordPress?
WordPress is well-known for being quick and easy to set up. But if you want to dive deep into customization and expansion, you’ll eventually hit limits with WordPress – at least without relying on a ton of plugins and workarounds. Drupal gives you the tools you need for complex projects right from the start, without having to rely on third-party plugins.
For example, imagine you’re running a website where different user groups need to log in with different permissions. While in WordPress you might need dozens of plugins to implement this, in Drupal, this functionality is essentially built in. You can define roles and permissions down to the smallest detail.
The Community
Another advantage of Drupal is its strong community. Thanks to its open-source nature, there are thousands of developers around the world who are constantly developing new modules and extensions. The developer community is very active, especially when it comes to security updates and new features. So, if you encounter a problem, you’ll usually find help or even a solution quickly.
Testing Drupal Locally with MAMP PRO
A practical feature of MAMP PRO is the ability to easily install Drupal locally. The “Drupal Extra” in MAMP PRO allows you to set up a fully functional Drupal installation with just a few clicks and test it directly on your own computer. This way, you can work with Drupal in a local environment without worrying about configuring a web server or database. It’s a great way to get started with Drupal development and is especially useful when you want to test different modules or customisations before going live.
Final Thoughts
Drupal isn’t a CMS you can just set up quickly and get started with. It’s designed for larger projects that require scalability, flexibility, and security. If you’re willing to invest a bit more time and technical expertise, Drupal will give you an incredibly powerful tool. It’s the choice for developers who want maximum control over their websites – and for websites that focus on communities and collaboration. With MAMP PRO, you can even experiment with Drupal locally to see if this CMS meets your needs.