Best bet is to use WordPress it can be customized very easily

Hi Julia,

Im not sure about all the techie stuff as I usually outsource that kind of work. What I will say is that I use wordpress a lot and I think its very good.

There will be plenty of guys that can help you out on here, so just sit tight and people will reply soon.

You could also head to an outsourcing site and there will be some real experts that will take a look and give you very good rates before you commit to anything.

Checked out your site too! It looks good!

yes, i've had nothing but headaches with drupal and wp just 'seems' to be more accepted main stream.

I would switch to WP and find another developer here on the forum. You should not have to pay someone to learn how to get Twitter or Facebook up and running on your dime.

Some one on this forum could do this without being paid to learn it. Never worked with Drupal but I know you could learn how to make small changes on your WP site with no problems. It is also easy to update. If you run into problems people here will help. Also you can find alot of free videos on how to make changes to your WP site Online.

Hey Julia,

You are asking a good question. It's important as a business person to reflect on the platform from time to time to ensure it can take you to where you want to go.

Both Drupal and Wordpress have their devotees and different strengths. One thing to keep in mind is how each started. Drupal was originally conceived as a Content Management System (CMS) while Wordpress was originally conceived as a blogging tool. Both have developed significantly but understanding their core helps you see where they have had to develop.

Part of the question relates to what you want to do. For example if you want a site that allows you to set many different kinds of users with various levels of control who are administering the website then Drupal handles that well. WP has typically assumed a single user - in basic terms.

To be fair WP is evolving and moving into the CMS space. Another point is the huge number of WP themes and Plugins available - many specific for marketing.

There are numerous video available around the internet and from fellow warriors that could get you up to speed about how to use WP - if you install using Fantastico it's pretty easy.

Hope that helps some.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" I wouldn't waste time moving a large site from one platform to another just for the sake of using a different technology.

For future sites, I'd definitely go with Wordpress - it's just more mainstream and easier to use.

Hi Julia:

You ask a very good question. During the day, I work for a web development firm that owns and operates several high-trafficked sites in different, but highly competitive niches. We have different strategies and CMS systems that we use for different sites (depending if the sites are our "money sites", sites used for creating blogs or link wheels, and sites that are for community portals).

WordPress is a great platform that is very user-friendly. But because it is "easy-to-use" that also means that it is "too easy" for anyone to create. This "devalues" the whole platform in my opinion because for every good valuable site that is built on WordPress (because of original content, manual link-building, daily quality control/management from a real "live" person that helps contribute to building the brand of the site, etc.) there are tens of thousands of other WordPress sites that are just "pure junk" because they are automated/spinned crap that marketers create to try to game the search engines.

Drupal sites require the assistance of programmers that are familiar with it. Unfortunately, it's not as module "plug-n-play" friendly as Joomla and not as user-friendly as WordPress. But Drupal is supposed to be best open-source CMS for building a community portal because of its scalability for large numbers of users and advanced customization capabilities.

We have internal link builders that our hourly + commission-based. We will pay them less commission if they are placing a link on a WordPress-based site than if it is a custom-designed html site or more advanced CMS like Drupal.

Because of this, we've either used Drupal to build our "money" sites or custom sites built on the WordPress framework. Yes, we do have resources that many other people don't (in-house and outsourced writers, link builders, programmers, marketers, etc.) that help in managing our Drupal or custom WordPress sites.

As for my own personal Internet marketing sites/properties, I use WordPress at first because it's cheap, easy-to-use and once I get a site setup exactly the way I want it, I can easily "clone" it using one of several WP plugins out there like Backup Creator.

However, for domains that I want to build a unique brand for that look and feel like a Website owned and operated by a real "brick-and-mortar" company, I've been looking VERY strongly at Expression Engine. Visit the site and look at the Fortune 500 businesses that use the platform. It offers that advantages of using a "paid" software platform (which means I get dedicated customer support during normal business hours) with the flexibility and customization options of using an open-source platform like WordPress or Drupal. The company that owns and operates Expression Engine also owns Code Igniter, which is one of the most-used and highly-regarded programming tools/systems used by coders worldwide.

I'm not a programmer so I can't really break things down any further for you. But hopefully the information I've given helps...

keep movin'...

buzz

Your site is nice-looking. That said, Wordpress has become the standard and is very user-friendly. Moreover, the search engines love blogs. With all the social aspects to them and what not, they are more like little communities now. I'm not a "techie," and before I started my blog, I had never used it at all. I do everything myself. I don't know anything about the platform you're using now, but the only thing I would worry about is losing page rank and what not.

Good luck,
Joey

I have tried Drupal as well as WordPress. I have found Drupal more flexible than WordPress when it comes to web content development and setting up theme or layout of websites. Moreover, Drupal provides scalable, powerful, cost effective and high value solution to manage and grow Internet presence of a website.

Try joomla Joomla!

The only people who say 'Google loves Wordpress' are those people selling Wordpress based products or don't know any different.

Joomla is well worth a look and has plugins for social media:
Social Web - Joomla! Extensions Directory

There is even a Wordpress plugin to add wordpress to joomla!
WordPress Blog for Joomla! - Joomla! Extensions Directory

I am a huge WordPress fan. It's easy to use, even for people who aren't particularly tech savvy, and there is a ton of help available online in the way of tutorials on youtube and ehow pages. I usually recommend using a reasonably priced designer because for me it isn't worth the headache but since the whole point is that you want to learn the ins and outs of designing your site I say go or it.

Now would be the best time since you aren't making big bucks on the site yet. Once you start making cash you will be less inclined to change the status quo since you'll have much more to lose.

Definitely WordPress!

A couple things to add to the above -
Drupal is a content management system and the whole point is that you should be able to administer your site easily without paying a developer. So things like adding new articles, adding images, changing texts, adding navigation buttons etc should all be something you can do without involving your developer.
They need to give you admin access to the site then you can use one of the many 'getting started' guides for Drupal, it's easy when you get into the swing of it. (this assumes of course that you do want to make your own changes/updates and not have to pay someone, which you seemed to be implying).

Next, you shouldn't have to pay someone to teach themselves how to use Drupal. If the guy isn't sure how to do something then he should learn in his own time then charge you only when he's competent to complete the task efficiently. Adding a Facebook login module shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to complete so he shouldn't really be charging more than $15-$25 for that task.

Lastly, if you want to develop a Blog on your website I personally wouldn't scratch the work already done. I'd leave the Drupal installation then just add Wordpress into a sub-directory on the site. Add a hyperlink from the Drupal navigation to the Blog and you're all set. You can get someone to match the template on your Drupal site on the Blog, very easily. It's a simple layout/design, so for the template creation, installation of Wordpress and configuration, you shouldn't be paying more than around $100. Truth is it's going to take someone who knows what they're doing maybe an hour at the most, so even $100 is a little steep.

Now obviously I don't know your technical capability, so it should be mentioned that the downside of adding Wordpress separately is that you'll need to learn how to administer it and you'll need to learn basic tasks in Drupal too. Wordpress is VERY easy to learn, literally, if you can send an HTML formatted email you can make a nice looking post in Wordpress.
Drupal has a slightly steeper learning curve but if you stick to the basic tasks of adding new content and updating existing content you ought to be able to learn it in half a day.
Before deciding on the right path, you might want to have a detailed plan of what you want to do with the site in terms of its expansion and development. There will be situations where adding WordPress as I've described above is not the best option. For example, if you require people to subscribe to read articles and you want people to subscribe to read blog posts, then having two core software systems isn't the best approach.

You seem to have quite a large site that you want to move but if you are considering your options long term then I would suggest you make the move sooner rather than later. Wordpress is certainly my first choice for a variety of different websites - just easy to use, flexible and looks great.

It might take some time to move everything but it will probably be worth it.

Hope that helps

Eleanor

OK, there are WP fans and there are WP experts... the latter group is telling you: do NOT jump into WP if you already have this site!

I am able to build very customized WP sites and I used to do it for years but I am telling you, it would be a huge PITA to try to re-create with a WP site all that functionality that you already have . And yes, I challenge everyone saying it is easy to do it with WP, to re-do the OP's site with WP without asking for help

On the other hand, as it was already said: kick out that 'apprentice' designer and get an expert; he shouldn't learn the trade on your expense! You shouldn't pay him for "trying" - only for accomplished tasks.

For me... my choice will always be Wordpress.

It has so, so, so much Plugin... so it's very easy to customize. User can develop the site very easily.

Wordpress ROCKS ! As long as you do a good job with backups, and security, this is definitely the way to go.

My Few Suggestion:

1. If you're happy with current look and all arrangements then you shouldn't transfer to WordPress.

2. For Small tweaks you have to try by yourself and get familiar with the system. Its not much hard, and you can ask Google if had any trouble. (If you have time and interest to handle it by your own)

3. You are having trouble with Social Media adjustment, If you keep paying small amount for experiments why not pay once a good amount to a expert and get it done. (Remember if you pay nuts, you'll get monkey)

4. WordPress is very good and handy tools, you can deal every type of work you want. SEO, Blogs, Forums, Membership, eCart, Advertisement, etc. You just name and WordPress will say YES to it.

I hope it helps, wish you best of luck.

[DELETED]

If you need a developer to do something for you in Drupal, it's unlikely that you will be able to do similar thing in WP yourself, and probably will still need a developer. WP is "easier" than Drupal, but not that much. There are tons of plugins for WP, but there are tons of modules for Drupal as well. So if your only reason for moving to WP is to get rid of your developer, i doubt it will work ... Maybe you just need another developer?

Most of what you have going on on your site can be duplicated pretty easily using a few plugins:
Forum - WordPress › Forums « WordPress Plugins
Individual blogs - WordPress › Author Category « WordPress Plugins
Individual blog archives - WordPress › WordPress Category Archive « WordPress Plugins
Category themes - WordPress › GYS Themed Categories « WordPress Plugins
Online Store - WordPress › WP Online Store « WordPress Plugins

The forum plugin allows you to use WordPress as a forum. You could use the category function to assign the individual bloggers their own blog, and you can assign them writing privileges for just one category using the author category plugin.

You could use the category archive plugin to show their individual blog posts only. Using the gys themed categories, each individual blog could have its own theme.

If you want an online store for future use, you can use the online store plugin.

You can set a static front page for the main page of the site, so it doesn't look like just a blog.

I believe that covers most of the functionality of your existing site without much loss. If you want to switch to WordPress, it is possible without too much impact on you or your users. There are also membership plugins to allow you to have different levels of membership if you choose to do a membership section on your site. Using those plugins, you keep only one admin area, so you don't need to log in to multiple back offices for the individual blogs. Of course, you could do separate installs in a sub directory if you don't mind having multiple back offices.

While the WordPress vs. Drupal debate is similar to the PC vs. Mac debate, it is possible to do what you want with either system. It's your choice.

I hope this helps,

Jim Waller

I am in the same dellima with my fresh site (under development) Home | Gynaika ...

Many people say Drupal is better on seo, and it is faster and more secure.

Should i switch now, or continue with drupal?

Regarding my situation...

I can play with Wordpress on all levels and settings, but i am interested to learn Drupal also...

It has much harder learning curve though...this is the big truth!

Obviously Content is the King...But what would happen if we had the same content on different cms? (I am not talking for duplicate content, but the ideal case study of wp vs drupal!)

I would say without a doubt move to wordpress. You are missing out on a complete and efficient platform that can create beautiful sites. As an Internet merketer, I couldn't live without some of the plugins available, they take 2 secs to implement.
And the biggest advantage of using wordpress is the ability to use Optimisepress which is the theme of choice for us IMers.

Not sure why your social media buttons would have issues but with wordpress it would be literally a drag of a widget and it's done.

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies everyone, really appreciate all the great advice. Really useful stuff.

JimWaller - Very kind of you to give such detailed and insightful responses, thanks.

I've spent a few hours looking around at different themes today. This has been quite a useful process in itself - I'd recommend it to anyone looking to set up a content site even if you're not building it yourself because you pick up lots of good ideas just from looking... But anyway, unsurprisingly, I haven't found anything that would exactly fit what I'd need, so some customisation will definitely be in order.

I know that how easy that would be will depend on the theme, but is there a way I can judge which theme might be easiest for me to work with before I install it?

The kind of things I'd be looking to add would be newsletter sign up, social networking feeds, extra panels to promote latest blog posts or reviews, and areas to place ads. If I picked a theme like, for example this one... ThemeSector | Theme: Avenue

...would it just be a case of installing extras bits like that as widgets via the dashboard? Or would it be more complicated than that?

Hi Julia,

Most of the standard setups and things you will be able to add using plugins,
or built-in widgets by the theme.

It depends exactly what you want, it is ongoing journey...
If you ever need to go with custom theme, i recommend you save money
and time by asking your developer to develop CHILD THEME for your site,
using some great FRAMEWORK like GENESIS or THESIS.

This will give you, your own theme which have secure, seo, and best back-bone( framework), and flexibility of having customized, unique look on the front end.

I never recommend customizing the professional themes as it is always hard to keep
up with when new updates come...so always use child theme to keep things updated,
and also your customizations.

Also as you are new to WordPress i recommend to keep plugins to MINIMUM,
as more plugins you add, more security risk you add...

Wishing you best of luck with WordPress!

Regards,
Mohsin

Thanks Mohsin. So, would the Child Theme be a sort of back up point to revert to in order to ensure no conflicts when updating?

When it comes to themes, there are a lot of things to consider, but the main thing is do you like how it looks? One good thing about themes is how easy they are to change if you want to change them.

Some themes have advantages over others, because they have added functionality built in. Some themes really begin to blur the line between theme and plugin. One thing to consider is if you choose to change themes down the road, will you lose a critical functionality with it.

In case you haven't looked at it already, the theme tag filter can be handy for narrowing down the choices at wordpress.org: WordPress › Free WordPress Themes
One very versatile theme that I mostly like is called blogolife It has a very clean appearance, and does something pretty cool with the header tags. The main downside to it is the amount of above the fold real estate taken up by the header picture. (I'd rather have a slider there.) It has social integration built in for sharing your accounts, which I like. It also has a few color options, which gives it a little more flexibility in my book.

I think most of us like some flexibility with our themes.

As for the added functionality, you can achieve most of it with plugins and widgets, so it should be pretty easy.

Newsletter signup - a simple text widget would allow you to paste the form code into the sidebar.
Social networking feeds - There are a number of different plugins that might do what you're looking for : WordPress › Facebook Activity Feed « WordPress Plugins Shows recent facebook activity about your site
WordPress › Mini twitter feed « WordPress Plugins - Show recent tweets from you or other selected twitter accounts (These are just 2 examples)
Latest Blog Posts - WordPress › Latest Posts with Share « WordPress Plugins - Shows latest posts, and has buttons to share on FB or twitter
Areas to Place Ads - WordPress › Wp-Insert « WordPress Plugins - Allows you to place ads in many places.

As usual, there are many options, these are just a few examples of how to do what you're looking to do.

I hope this helps,
Jim

I have limited use in either CMS, however they are very popular. As for switching, I am not aware of a way that will not involve a manual migration of the data.

I would certainly suggest that you use wordpress. Wordpress websites are easy to install, easy to customize and google loves wordpress websites.

You already put quite a bit of work into your Drupal blog. Why not just make a new WP blog and just refer to some of your posts on your Drupal blog? You can even have RSS feeds send to your WP blog. It is good to have more than one blog anyway, just for good measure.

Wordpress is just so much easier and flexible, i know some will argue but wp is far more SEO friendly that drupal. Plus there are so many plugins available.

Not if it is absolutely necessary.

It is really critical for your site to do so? If not, don't.

However, in future using WP for other sites would be a prudent choice.

Also, making yourself a little familiar with the back-end stuff would go a long way. With WP that is incredibly easy.

And also that way you don't have to keep paying people for minor tweaks & stuff.

I always use wordpress...

Wordpress is incredibly easy to use, drupal is infamously difficult. Wordpress has plugins and themes for anything you could want typically(free and payed), google loves it, and it has a huge following. I absolutely recommend you try out wordpress, but self host it, on a web server, don't use wordpress.com that's silly

Wordpress all the way! Updating daily will be much easier if done via wordpress. At first you needed to make the necessary adjustments and might take time out of your hands but don't worry as this will be easier in the long run. Granted that you don't decide to move out again.

Wordpress is a very user-friendly platform and I doubt that you won't like it.

Ryuchi

I have visited your site and I can tell you that wordpress together with the theme Catalyst, you could exactly copy this layout and even enhance it.

Elegant themes can give you much options as well.

I am not really in the position to say that Wordpress is by far the best CMS since I haven't tried using Drupal or Joomla, but just like our fellow Warriors have mentioned, there are lots of wp plugins you can choose from to help you enhance your site. There are SEO plugins too.

Going back to your site, you can use a slider plugin to replace that big image.

What's more, wordpress keeps on uprading.

But of course, the decision is yours.

Cheers,
Louie Tugas

google just loves wordpress

I also want to switch to wordpress from Drupal.
Now I'm clear about this, cause everybody already make it clear to us.
Thanks all, keep it up.

i use to use drupal for all of my sites but after a few years and lots of hassles with updates and a few site crashes I slowly made the move to wordpress.

Wordpress makes everything easy and updates are easy and you can pretty much do anything you like. Even if you need to develop something it cn be done very cheaply.

good luck

Danny

Wordpress for the win!

It's an easy platform to build and configure. You can pretty much automate most tasks via plugins and on-page SEO is a breeze.

Definitely stick to WP for future sites...

[DELETED]

Julia, go learn WordPress. Absolutely vital for your business that you have Full control over your site. The advantages are huge:

No waiting for developers
Change things at will
No expensive developers
Google loves WordPress

Sorry, Julia. I may be bias but to me it's a no-brainer.

I spend a lot of my time showing business people the advantages of knowing how WP works and how to run it.

Just Go For It.

Andy Moore

Personally I really like the ease of use of Wordpress. Drupal is quite a bit more advanced IMHO. I have found lots of awesome Wordpress tutorials out there that helped me get the hang of Wordpress. I also tried out Drupal, but I ended up throwing in the towel after a while.

Hi Julia,

I would highly recommend you to stay with Drupal, don't choose WP.
Even though, it is a little hard to harness all the functions on Drupal.
But, I can guarantee, your time to learn Drupal is worth the effort.
I have no training prior to making my site; no CSS, PHP, HTML, JQuery.
But, I think my effort to learn did pay off a lot. Now, I don't need to pay anyone anymore to host site and/or to change contents. I can even change and/or create my own themes, banners, basically anything. Basically, WP is for blog site. Drupal is for developers and can manipulate anything, so imagine what you can do when you learn Drupal.
The learning process did take 6 mo to a year all together.
Hope you will stay with Drupal...

Taka - my site is lillieanns.com

The way I would approach your situation is to work out how much money you would need to spend on an experienced Dupral admin/developer to do the tasks you need, against the time and money needed to move the site over to Wordpress.

Hey, For a non-technical person, wordpress is the best bet...drupal is great but is technically intensive.

Wordpress is easy to use once setup, you really dont need a developer when you are using wordpress, you can easily setup the facebook buttons with the hundreds of plugins available. And you really can do it yourself.

If you have any questions about wordpress in particular you can PM me about the same.

Not sure if you still need advice on switching, Julia, but there's a good video tutorial on Drupal to WordPress migration, you can give it a try: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im4AfhhfHqc

There is nothing like being able to have full control over your own site.

When I ran an offline biz, I hired a web developer who created an html site for my biz. I had to talk to him and pay him every time I wanted something done ... and the site earned me squat.

I learned WordPress and some SEO and new business poured in within 6 months. Ever since then I've realized the power of being able to operate my own sites and add content on my own.