Is Drupal Still the Best CMS?

Overview

In this the article we explore the pros and cons of Drupal with a particular focus on medium to enterprise content delivery. Hopefully this will be an insightful guide for Business Analysts and Developers looking to see if Drupal is the right choice. But first, let's start by getting something out of the way is not helpful at all. that being the prevalence of lazy evaluations based on irrelevant information.

In particular I am referring to the many unqualified posts that use a single set of useless data points claiming to show the "market share" use this to evaluate which are the "most popular" CMSs. The problem is that a comparison of the number of domains being served is meaningless. If one were looking for data to use in market share it would be the number of pages being viewed and an even better metric would a combination of different measurements like the number of new pages being published and viewed over time.

In the aforementioned misinformed context, WordPress is claimed to have "65% of the CMS market share" and this has supposedly been increasing steadily. What does this actually mean though? Wordpress is and always has been an entry level product that works for the simplest blog sites but tends to fail at scale. It is not a choice that anyone with experience would make for critical content given the long history of cybersecurity failures. So, is there any relevance in knowing that it continues to gain in total number of domains that contain a page or two but get almost no views and also retains similar legacy sites?

A far more pertinent factor for evaluation would come from knowing the trends for systems with significant traffic. This would provide some insight into what the most experienced and educated decision makers are choosing. Some of the projects I have worked on went through a lengthy process involving numerous powerful stakeholders who spent years and millions of dollars with the biggest auditing firms to choose a CMS because their whole billion dollar business relied on it.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find the information that would have given us this insight so we will have to rely on experience and not data. Which brings me too....

A Personal Introduction (or "Why should I listen to you?")

For those of us that remember the very first iterations of the internet and built sites in the 90's it is almost impossible to believe how far we have come. When I built my first sites for myself, friends and family there was only html. Then javascript made its debut and things started to move. Then came the emergence of php, ASP, ColdFusion, Java applets, MS Frontpage and the Macromedia suite including Flash, Shockwave, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks, and many more apps.

Three decades later, I've worked as an independent Software Engineer and Architect implementing, integrating and customizing a huge variety of web based systems across numerous industries. I feel confident in saying that when it comes to building systems, the evaluation process is the most important part and it never stops being the most important part. To choose wisely we need to know requirements and understand the businesses direction and the software industry because inevitably the future will require new solutions to new problems.

When it comes to building websites that are flexible enough to handle anything from small businesses to large-scale enterprises there are very few platforms that have held up over the last couple decades. Content Management Systems (CMSs) have evolved immensely and among these, Drupal has consistently emerged as a powerful contender, owing to its robust features, flexibility, and wide-scale usage. Plus, it's free and open source.

Now, I have designed and built all kinds of websites in every conceivable size including several base systems that hosted very large sites. Among these were Drupal based platforms that had dozens of domains built on top. In one case this was for 100 year old publisher that hosted over 60 websites for some of the worlds best known magazines. In another it was for one of the largest FinTech corporations that had all kinds of shared content across many websites each run by different businesses. Of course I've also built many dozens of other sites for small and large companies from eCommerce to simple brochures.

Although I have moved into mostly Web3 systems over the last several years I still consider Drupal my favorite for all projects that are looking to serve centralized content. However, there is no resting on the past, only the use of experience for current decisions and with the knowledge that the exponentiation of change in tech is ever present. Let's reevaluate the landscape to see how Drupal stacks up against the competition with an eye toward the future.

What makes Drupal great?

Drupal's versatility is a significant advantage for businesses. It operates smoothly on an array of web server platforms and databases, reducing compatibility issues and offering businesses the flexibility to choose based on their specific requirements. Its ability to work with Apache, Nginx, or Microsoft IIS servers and various databases, including MySQL, SQLite, and PostgreSQL, makes it an adaptable choice for different business environments.

In terms of business size, Drupal has proven its worth across the spectrum, catering to the needs of both small businesses and large enterprises. This widespread usage can be attributed to Drupal's scalability, security, and extensive customization possibilities that fit unique business requirements.

Drupal also benefits from its maturity, which has resulted in a comprehensive set of development tooling, hosting options, and DevOps practices that many newer platforms lack. Its mature ecosystem aids developers in streamlining the development process, enhancing productivity and efficiency. The extensive community of contributors continually enhances the platform, reinforcing its position as a top CMS choice.?

Drupal's API-first design approach enables a rich variety of themes and front-end frameworks. Whether you prefer Angular, React, or Vue.js, Drupal can accommodate your preferred front-end technology. This interoperability facilitates seamless integration with a myriad of systems, often supported by pre-built modules.

Customization is arguably one of Drupal's strongest suits. From content types and views to user roles and permissions, the customization possibilities are immense, enabling businesses to tailor the platform according to their needs.?

The Drupal community, with each new version release, integrates improvements from the Symfony framework and PHP, along with contributions from the vast community. The recent releases of Drupal 8, 9, and 10 are proof of this progress, incorporating innovative features, enhancing security, and boosting performance.

Drupal's use in government websites highlights its focus on cybersecurity. These high-profile users often contribute back to the community, enriching the platform's security features. This strong focus on security positions Drupal as a trusted choice for enterprises dealing with sensitive data.

What are the challenges facing Drupal?

No CMS is perfect, and Drupal has its share of challenges. While PHP, Drupal's foundational language, has plateaued in popularity, it still drives a vast proportion of the web, predominantly through WordPress and Drupal. This leveling off of adoption and use for php is also a shift in developer focus towards JavaScript, Python, Go and now Rust which will impact the availability of PHP talent in the future.

Performance is another concern, particularly for heavy traffic sites. While PHP's interpreted nature has its benefits, it can't compete with the performance offered by compiled languages. It's worth noting that numerous performance enhancements, including various caching mechanisms, can significantly boost Drupal's performance.

Relational databases, while robust and flexible, can pose performance bottlenecks under certain conditions and can be a nightmare for distributed systems where data might need to be synchronized across continents, especially when real time atomicity and consistency are requirements. Drupal's well developed support for advanced caching systems and edge computing can mitigate many challenges, ensuring smooth performance even under high load it doesn't solve the bottleneck for big queries against complete table structures.

The complexity of Drupal can also result in a steep learning curve for newcomers. Given its widespread usage, finding developers with Drupal experience is generally more straightforward than sourcing experts for a custom-built systems who then have only in-house resources that are often no more than tribal knowledge. There are also professional and community resources galore for Drupal. But it is a complex system that takes time to learn.

Lastly, replicating the production environment for local development can be a complex task, partially due to the system's flexible nature. This, however, is a common challenge across many platforms, and solutions like Docker and Vagrant have made this process considerably easier. Having lead DevOps on several projects I can say that this continues to be a challenge but one that is also getting easier and easier.

Conclusion

Despite the challenges, Drupal has proven its value as a reliable, secure, and highly customizable CMS. With a large community backing it, Drupal continues to evolve, catering to emerging business requirements. The continued growth of template-based SaaS solutions such as Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify may have reshaped the CMS landscape for smaller businesses, but for medium to large enterprises needing tailored solutions, Drupal remains a compelling choice.?

While no single system can offer a perfect solution for every scenario, Drupal's strengths make it a formidable option for many. Its flexibility, scalability, security, and immense customization capabilities position it as an ideal CMS choice for medium to large enterprises. In many cases today the CMS is only a piece of a much larger pie and in this Drupal can shine in what it does well, whether that is integrations or customization. As with any technology decision, it's essential to weigh the pros and cons relative to your specific needs. For Drupal, the future is promising, backed by its continual evolution and wide-scale adoption.