Years ago, I quickly discovered there was great public interest in comparisons of open source content management systems such as Drupal and Joomla. When you throw WordPress into the mix and you can attract an even greater audience. Despite how much traffic such headlines draw people in, CMS Report has been pretty selective when we provide or point to such articles. There is some uncertainty whether there is genuine value being provided in feature comparison articles which is why I've shied away from them in recent years.
Mike Assad, former CEO of Agility Inc., once told me that in his experience feature lists are rarely used to select your CMS but instead such lists are mostly used to justify the choice you've already made. There is some truth to that, because when selecting a CMS it is more a question of whether a CMS meets your needs and less about the quantity of features it provides.
The most difficult comparison articles for reviewers to write are those that don't pick winners or losers but instead helps readers to pick a CMS for themselves. I believe Robert Mening, WebSiteSetup.org, shared this goal in his own comparison of WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. Robert provides both an article and the following infographic in his comparison of the big three CMSs. In the article, he acknowledges that selecting the right CMS takes some thought and consideration. He concludes with the following advice:
The fact is, each situation will require something different, and taking the time to look at all your options is the best way to go. For those looking to set up a small, personal blog, or a website for their small business, WordPress is likely the way to go.
If you’re setting up a site which you believe will grow rapidly, and require extensive features for the users, Drupal may be more in line with what you need. Joomla is great for those somewhere in the middle, or anyone looking to add social networking to their pages.
It isn't an easy choice to make, but if you take the time to look at your specific needs, and have an honest look at your own technical abilities (or your willingness to pay for technical support), you can make the right choice.
Below is a copy of the infographic Robert Mening provides at his site. If you wish to embed this infographic in your own site, checkout the embedding code from the original article at WebsiteSetup.org.
