Evaluating Drupal
Hi folks,
I am evaluating Drupal as potential replacement of Net Objects Fusion for http://www.mitov.com.
I am not sure however it will work for my needs however.
1. My first question is does Drupal have a facility to menage the internal and external links across the site similar to the Assets in Net Objets, either trough the core or trough some module.
2. Can I menage the overall arrangement of the site by moving page hierarchies around easily, similar to the Net Objects : http://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/en/b/b7/NetObjects_Fusion_1_site_....
3. Is there easy way to list a single page under multiple menu options (Let say I have a product VideoLab and I want the page both under /VideoLab/Download and /Downloads/VideoLab menu items).
4. Is there an relatively easy way to have page templates that multiple pages belong to. In my case I want all my product pages to look similar, and to be able to menage them by changing the template they belong to.
5. Is there a module that will allow me to have rollover button effects similar to this: http://www.mitov.com/html/products.html and easy way to arrange the images again as in the page.
6. Can I have page specific menus - menu that lists as example only pages bellow the current one in the pages hierarchy.
7. Is there a module that allows kind of visual WYSIWYG design of the page.
I am new in Drupal, and trying to learn it so I can figure out if it is the right tool to replace Net Objects Fusion, so please forgive me if I am asking really stupid questions.
Thank you for the help!
With best regards,
Boian Mitov
Can't compare
Hi,
You could possibly get Drupal to do some of those things, but the bottom line is Drupal is nothing like NetObjects Fusion and requires a completely different way of working.
As you'd know, NetObjects makes web design about as easy as it can be. Everything is done within the application and then exported to html, and as a result it's more like using DTP than a Web design app.
Drupal, on the other hand, is a PHP script which has evolved into a powerful content management system/framework. Consequently, even installing Drupal is more involved than installing a traditional desktop app like NetObjects. It is possible to a build a Drupal site without having to touch the code, if you use an existing theme (or pay for one), and if you don't need features that aren't available in Drupal itself or a contributed module. Even so, it's nowhere near as user-friendly as NetObjects, and requires a steep learning curve.
Don't get me wrong, I believe Drupal is the best, most flexible CMS around, but just don't expect it to be anything like NetObjects. I hope you're willing to give it a go. If so, there's plenty of good documentation on drupal.org but for beginners, I recommend starting with a suitable book, such as Building powerful and robust websites with Drupal 6 or Using Drupal.
I understand
Hi Glennr,
Thank you!
I understand that they are totally different. I have already deployed Drupal and testing with it. My problem is not if I can learn it or not, but if it is the right solution at all. I know that I can design the site with it, but my problem is not to design the site, but to menage it. For me it is extremely important to be able to monitor dead links, and to find which pages contain a certain link, or redirect all the links to a new location etc. I also need to be able to look at the overall site organization and easily to reorganize the pages setup.
The problem with the Drupal books and tutorials, and I have seen many is that they tell you how to create a blog, or newsgroup or some community site. I don't want to build such site, I need an standard old fashion mostly static site that I can menage and online, instead of designing it with Net Objects. I am not asking if Drupal can do it, as I am sure it can. I am asking if it can menage it, because it is a different story. Net Objects can do it for me, but it simply can't menage it any more due to bugs in Net objects, and lack of some features. I need robust and easy solution, that makes it very easy to menage the links, menus, pages and site layout, and allows for page templates (something Net Objects totally lacks).
It does not seem that Drupal has any of those features as far as I can tell, and therefore may not be the right solution for my specific needs. I am just trying to figure out if I am missing something, or this is a correct assessment.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate Drupal for what it is designed for, but I don't need a Web 2.0 social site, I have a more traditional needs.
Cheers,
Boian
Drupal does more than that
Drupal has evolved far beyond its "community plumbing" roots and, with the help of additional modules, can build just about any type of site.
Regarding your specific feature requests, I'd say Drupal could do most of what you want (except maybe #2 in your original post). You will probably need extra modules, such as Links Package and Links Checker for managing links. Drupal's theming system can handle your request for using different templates within your site -- it's very flexible, although you will need to know html and CSS reasonably well and take the time to learn Drupal's theming system, or pay someone to do it for you. For effects like rollovers, that can be done with JQuery, although unless there's a module that has the effect you want, you will need know enough to adapt the JQuery script.
Whether Drupal is right for you, I guess that depends on your perspective of what's an "easy solution". For someone coming from NetObjects, I wouldn't feel confident calling it easy. On the other hand, I doubt whether you're going to find any software program (or, arguably, any other CMS) that matches Drupal's flexibility.