By tentronck on

I am preparing to launch a network of 32 websites and need a CMS that will allow me to operate all website with one installation. I e-mailed a friend and asked if I should use Drupal as a CMS. Below is his reply. Is he correct?

His reply:
I have used Drupal - it is a powerful CMS that can produce a nice user experience, but it is a headache to administer. I would recommend using the Wordpress platform as an alternative to Drupal, unless you can afford a salary for someone to maintain the Drupal sites for you.

Comments

rszrama’s picture

rszrama commented

Hmm... honestly, I've found it to be untrue that Drupal is a headache to administer. Especially with the latest release administration is getting easier by the day. (New layouts, form features, update notification module, etc.) Maybe Word Press is ready out of the box to do what you want, but Drupal is certainly capable of doing it. It may be worth it to hire someone to do the initial module configuration if you don't want to spend several hours figuring things out, but I'm confident you'd be satisfied with Drupal.

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Current Drupal project: http://www.ubercart.org

tentronck’s picture

tentronck commented

Thanks for your reply. I have contracted someone else to install Drupla. However, the reason I am looking for a CMS is because I have very limited amount of technical skills. What I was hoping for is that once Drupal is install I would only have to learn how to add content.
Would you still suggest that I not use Drupal after having someone else do the installation?

rszrama’s picture

rszrama commented

Honestly, it depends on whether the person you hired knows what they're doing or not. ; ) In all my jobs, I cater the site to my clients' level of comfortability. If they don't want to do anything at all, they don't have to. If they'd like to add content, I'll make sure they know how to do it. If they want to do everything, I'll walk them through it. A huge part of developing Drupal sites is just knowing what components to use to get the job done... someone setting up the site should know what modules to use and then show you how to go in, create user accounts, post to your blog, etc. You should never have to fool with the technical aspect of the site, though I highly recommend you learn all that you can.

If your current help can't deliver, feel free to contact me through my contact form. ; )

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Current Drupal project: http://www.ubercart.org

Papayoung’s picture

Papayoung commented

Drupal is much more flexible and powerful than WordPress--and your friend was probably familiar with the earlier, less polished 4.x versions of Drupal--but even in the 5.x generation its power and extensibility make it complex enough that I think you need some some Web-development skills to make it work. I would not recommend Drupal for a non-technical user who never wants to touch a database. That said, if you're running 32 Web sites you probably have some skills here, or will be paying someone else who does to support you; in your case I suggest Drupal is worth a closer look.

I have built several Web sites for clients very quickly with Drupal. It is especially strong in its ability to handle multiple sites on the same codebase.

tentronck’s picture

tentronck commented

Thanks for your reply. I have contracted someone else to install Drupla. However, the reason I am looking for a CMS is because I have very limited amount of technical skills. What I was hoping for is that once Drupal is install I would only have to learn how to add content.
Would you still suggest that I not use Drupal after having someone else do the installation?

Bendo’s picture

Bendo commented

The installation of this CMS is quite standard, and you don't need technical skills to put the content inside.
Also with Drupal you can make a multi-site installation with one CMS and more sites over that one!
(I don't think you can do that if you are using wordpress)

Bye

Papayoung’s picture

Papayoung commented

Once Drupal is installed and tested, you should be able to do the lion's share of the site management without technical skills. Adding new sites to your collection will require you to learn how to duplicate and manage the configuration files as well as create new databases; Be sure to pay your installer to teach you that process.

Keep in mind, you will need that person back on a regular basis to manage upgrades, ISP issues, and the other issues that will arise over time. I don't think you can just install and let him/her walk away.