Drupal, Joomla, vs Wordpress

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I'm trying to decide which CMS to learn. My ultimate goal is to market a membership site with instructional videos so I need something powerful enough to do that. I'm not intimidated nor really care about the learning curve for Drupal or Joomla but if Wordpress is easier and powerful enough to do what I need, I'll use it.

I also want to develop a valuable skill that I can market (i.e. freelance design work) if I fail at my first IM endeavors.

So which of the three do you guys think would be best for me to learn. Which one is most powerful?
#website design #drupal #joomla #wordpress
  • Joomla by far. I've built wordpress sites which are great for blogging, but joomla in a whole is much more versatile when it comes to feature packed extensions. Look up Ijoomla Guru, you will won't be disappointed. It's a membership/training extension that i'm sure will fit all of your needs. Joomla over wordpress or drupal anyday.
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    • I just read THIS article about the three. It says that SEO is hard with Joomla but is good for Drupal. What do you think about that? What does it take to SEO Joomla?
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  • Wordpress imo. Huge popularity, uncomparable to any other CMS out there.

    Joomla is bloated, Drupal is somewhere in the middle.
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  • If your just starting out Wordpress is the way to go. Super SEO friendly and easy to learn starting off, and can definitely be used for ANY kind of website not just blogs. It is also by far one of the most popular, and has a huge community should you need any help or documentation. Joomla in my opinion is still bloated, Drupal is great but the learning curve is steep and the community is lax in my opinion.
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  • I used to be a moderator on one of joomla local forums, and have been using it for years. Now, joomla is robust solution, first, it's more complicated then wordpress.

    And none of them are free anymore as I recall?

    Anyway, let me cut to the point why I don't like joomla anymore. With wp, everything is easy, install, remove, AND update. Even though joomla "supports" live updates, it doesn't work. The most recent problem I had with virtuemart - can't be updated through dashboard, maybe I could, but I would need to have that site on a VPS cause shared hosting environment is not appropriate for Mr. virtuemart to update. Joomla itself too. Had to do all things manually every time. I do this for the last 4 years, while in wp I do it with a single click, I'm tired of it! I could go on, trust me

    Anyway, sorry for the long post. Check this out: http://www.woothemes.com/products/sensei/, it's e-learning management system. If you don't need much complexity, I would go with this, or drupal (although I'm not using it).
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    • Can Wordpress be turned into a social networking/membership site? Has anyone done it and if so do you have examples? Talk is cheap, show us.

      It's funny how people are quick to suggest Wordpress without reading the functions the OP needs, a membership site. Get the CMS that provides the features. Don't try to make the CMS into something it was not designed for.
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    • No they are not free, but they also come with tons of great features other than just boosting seo, I use Ijoomla SEO. It's packed with word tracking/phrase tracking for all of your keywords. and lots of other seo tips and tools along with videos that walk you through how SEO works and how you should blog correctly etc. I've been running Joomla since 1.5. I'm up to date with 3.2. No issues updating etc, although I'm sure any CMS has it's breaks in code with extentions/plugins when new updates come out. I mean all power to the wordpress gurus. But just saying for what he's looking for. Joomla is fitting and has an extension built for his needs.
  • The best way is always to use custom solution, but that's not neither cheap, neither easy, nor fast solution. Here's the list of social networking sites built with buddypress:
    BuddyPress Showcase: 12 Unique and Inspirational Sites - WPMU DEV

    They guy in OP asked for a membership site with instructional videos, which is easily done in wp with sensei. So, take a look at the demo video, and you'll see how easy it can be. And especially cause the guy is newbie, he doesn't need complex software.
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  • Drupal is best for big website. other wise Wordpress is best for limited and easy use.
  • I use wordpress . Wordpress is the best CMS for blogging . I think you need to use wordpress because wordpress have a lot of free plugins that make it easy to use. Second option for you is joomla . Joomla have some strong features that help you to make such type of website.
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    • It comes back to this. The OP wants a membership site. CMS platforms have been debated enough times on this forum, let's not get into it again. So instead of saying what is better provide examples. I've done my part.

      Later .
  • WordPress +1.
    There are lots of free wordpress themes and plugins for website design.
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    • "Wordpress, Wordpress..." Please tell him which wordpress extension to use to accomplish his needs... Don't worry we'll wait... good luck finding one. Joomla all the way. Ijoomla GURU extension is gold. Wordpress is being recommended without any weight behind it for what he's trying to do.
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  • @Rollmodl
    Don't get me wrong, I used to build social site with community builder 6 years ago, and everything can be built with both CMS's.

    Here's what's built with buddypress: buddypress showcase | WPMU DEV.

    I don't know what exact type of membership site you want, but there's ton's of plugins for wp that can do that (my site is membership site). If you want to say that something can't be done with wp, you're wrong. Themeforest is membership site, mojo themes is membership site, woothemes is membership site...

    You're annoyed with fact that people scream WordPress on every step, well, get over it. They do, they did, and they always will. Nothing can be changed there. It's pointless discussion.
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    • You're entitled to your opinion. Too many experts just calling out CMS platforms (better this, better that) without providing specific examples of the extensions, plugins and components to use in the CMS they mentioned.

      Just saying something is better does not make it so. So far I haven't seen anyone post an example of their Wordpress membership site or links to the plugins and extensions. Until then I'll assume it does not exist.

      By the way the Buddypress option is a plugin that only offers access to premium content. That may work for the OP if that is all he's trying to do. So on your "pointless argument", you proved my point - provide examples.
  • Since people aren't reading what he's looking for exactly, he mentioned it in the first part of his post lol.

    And here's some extentions. first off here's Ijoomla Guru
    Here's the one for membership and instructional courses/videos http://guru.ijoomla.com/

    or make it a full on community as well with one of the top community extensions. http://demo.stackideas.com/
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    • Great example on how to provide REAL help .
  • I NEVER recommend WordPress for tasks that could be done better with specific scripts... you know, the right tool for the right job.

    But if someone wants to build a membership site based on WP with plugins, they can go with several plugins:
    Memberwing
    Paid Membership Pro
    s2member
    Memberpress
    MemberMouse
    Membership
    Membership Simplified
    WP-members
    DAP
    Wishlist Member
    etc.
    ProfitsTheme - a theme that has built-in membership module.

    For simple, not too heavy sites they may work (some of them are free, others are paid).

    Note: the list above is not an endorsement, just a FYI list
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  • Reading all the posts I just wanted to add my 2 cents here.
    There are many CMS out there, not just the top 3 discussed ones - WP, Joomla and Drupal.

    I have previously used some other good CMS platforms like MODx, Silverstripe, Processwire or Concrete5. Some of them I'd call a mix of CMS + development framework.
    The membership site you intend to built can be achieved with any of those platforms.

    You'll never know which CMS will suit you best unless you try them. You may find out that you'll have more control in certain development areas, especially those you exactly need.
    For instance I like MODx as front-end developers can do any modification to the templates and web site design in almost no time.
    So don't be limited by thinking that WP, Joomla or Drupal are the only way to go.

    However if you really want to use one of them, then do not set up for WP only.
    As many people have mentioned before, WP may by the "easiest" one but no necessarily the "best" one.
    Yes it's perfect for blogs and can be further customized; nowadays WP has grown significantly to be even more versatile. But still there's that previous legacy of a blog platform and any further customization is really tough. I mean you'll soon discover that you won't have much control over all those WP plugins or expanded features. Any additional "tweaking" will often require some knowledge of a hardcore WP programming.

    For your purpose you'd be better off using Joomla or Drupal.
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  • In the WordPress, Joomla or Drupal debate I'll just say I have not used WordPress or Drupal.

    I have developed several sites with Joomla and love the power of the platform.

    I will someday learn WordPress because I want to develop a custom CMS built on their gazillian template choices.

    FREELANCE DESIGNER

    I would rather approach this from a different angle regarding "a freelance designer".

    If you should eventually become a freelance designer what is going to distinguish you apart from your competition?

    Maybe we can all agree there are more WordPress developers than Joomla and Drupal.

    So are you going to be a WordPress developer competing against tons of other WordPress developers?

    Or are you going to be able to deliver different products and features via Joomla or Drupal, allowing you to set yourself apart?

    Selling something your competition does not offer, could be helpful in landing more jobs.

    On the flip side, there are more clients who will want WordPress. If you know your tools, getting your client to want what you have to offer (WordPress, Joomla or Drupal) is much easy.

    The answer you seek has no simple answer.


    I hope this helps a little - To Your Success - Mark

    P.S. Since 1995 I have programmed in ColdFusion and/or RubyOnRails on a daily basis. These tools set me apart from my PHP competitors.

    Whatever you choose, you will be limited one way or the other - as I am limited with php development.
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  • Wordpress is the more easy you can find, that is fore sure...
  • What about a Light CMS? Or do you need something with a lot of functionality?
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  • I think WordPress is the best CMS, there are so many themes and plugins to extend its functionality it is the best.
  • Wordpress is fantastic for SEO - i have built my website on wordpress and Google loves it. Joomla has a lot more features - maybe too much for some.
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    • Google loving it has got absolutely diddly squat to do with the fact it was built in Wordpress. Google likes good, unique, popular content. It doesn't give a rats ass whether it was spat out by WP or Joomla or whatever.
  • Wordpress is the clear leader in terms of a modern, blog orientated CMS. Drupal however for me is an excellent alternative, particularly if you need more of a 'framework' based CMS.

    I'm not sure about non PHP CMS's that use .Net, Django or other languages.
  • Wordpress is more flexable, has more plugins, and if you need to higher someone there is more supply of developers, so you can often find cheaper customizations.
  • WordPress, Joomla and Drupal are the three most popular content management systems (CMS) online. All three are open source and built on PHP + MySQL. All three vary significantly in terms of features, capability, flexibility and ease of use. Below, we’ll take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of each of these CMS solutions: But i must say u should go with Joomla.
  • All three are easy enough to use and solve the common requirements of content management. None of them are perfect or going to magically work exactly how you want them to. If you're starting a new project and trying to choose between the three, I suggest that you focus on the project features that are uncommon and explore how the different CMS's will meet these requirements now and in the future.
  • For me it will rank as :

    1) wordpress
    2) joomla
    3) drupal
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  • dear All CMS are the best if you are beginner then 1st you learn WordPress then then try to learn joomla and durpal
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    Drupal, Joomla, vs Wordpress

    I'm trying to decide which CMS to learn. My ultimate goal is to market a membership site with instructional videos so I need something powerful enough to do that. I'm not intimidated nor really care about the learning curve for Drupal or Joomla but if Wordpress is easier and powerful enough to do what I need, I'll use it. I also want to develop a valuable skill that I can market (i.e. freelance design work) if I fail at my first IM endeavors.