WordPress and Drupal Performance

To be able to start using either WordPress or Drupal in creating a website, you need to understand how they operate so that you may choose what is suitable for you. There are several aspects to look at in order to see which one is good for what.

So for you to know the creation of websites using  the two named platforms there is need to know what makes them different so that you steer in the right direction with your site.

WordPress/Photo/betakit.com

Security

When it comes to security it seems Drupal reigns. It has both site scale and enterprise level security. It is no wonder most of the government owned websites are built on it. A good example is the Whitehouse site.

Hackers always look for the weak link and in WordPress they find a loophole in the plugins which they can hack into and wipe out thousands of sites. But still WordPress is being enhanced and they are doing all they can to be ahead of the hackers.

There are hosting programs coming up and they aid in security risk management. Drupal has Pantheon and Acquia. While WordPress has Media Temple. Most of the vulnerabilities posing a security threat occur at the server thus hosting with any of these companies helps reduce the chances of that happening.

Response features

If you will need responsive design and development then you will need to know how images will be managed on your site. This is because with a responsive design the images will not just automatically scale themselves. With WordPress the functions php file is responsible for the image sizes per break point however do note that there are themes that scale images using CSS and this results in problems with performance.

Drupal allows you to set the image sizes as an admin of the site by using the image style module. This means you end up spending less time as you would have with the php files.

Mobile features

If you want a mobile theme then both Drupal and WordPress have good starter themes to enable you market your site quickly. WPTouch has worked wonders for WordPress users while those who use Drupal simply get the mobile themes from Drupal.org.

Drupal allows you to have additional space for content on every page and this will be displayed on mobile devices. Another thing to keep in mind is that majority of the mobile themes on Drupal operate well on sub domains and this can bring about challenges in terms of indexation of mobiles in search engines. With WordPress the sub domain is mainly WW thus it does not bring about any issues with SEO.

When it comes to editing mobile content WordPress has a mobile app that allows you to update everything in real time. Drupal does not have real time but it has a responsive admin who execute a solid mobile strategy.

Search Engine Optimization

Each of the CMS platforms has an SEO advantage. You can also say that WordPress sites are ranked higher than Drupal sites and Drupal sites can really perform badly if the developer was not sure of what they were actually doing. WordPress have an advantage since there margin of error is quite small.

Factors to consider when perfecting optimization

Content Delivery Networks can be used together with either content to serve assets to the closest local distribution point.

Times the page loads and Schema. Org implementation plus content delivery networks. The default caching areas for Drupal are gigantic and get out of the box but the caching plugins of WordPress should be fully utilized.

Schemas can be added to both platforms and even hard coded to their template files. The delivery networks are integrated with the content and serve as assets to the nearby distribution point locally.

Future Proofing

Before tackling the issue of future proofing there is need to understand some important concepts. With WordPress,  the code can be upgraded but the database is supposed to be upgraded in the background. The release schedule for this platform is in every three to four months.

With Drupal you cannot upgrade the code but you can do so to the database.

User interface

If we’re in a scenario where a new client is debating WordPress or Drupal, there is the argument that the latter is too hard to learn or is impossible to update. If the person has used WordPress previously, they will favor WordPress.

There is always the argument that Drupal is difficult to learn and cannot be updated as stated above thus you will opt for WordPress.

However much more should be considered when trying to make a choice on which CMS platform to use.

You will therefore have to ask the following questions

·          Do you have user permissions that are different? User permission refers to things such as content editor, site admin or accessing private content.

·         What level of security do you need, enterprise or site? This one depends on your budget.

·         How many different page templates or types of content do you require?

The other factors that you will also need to consider are

Theme markets

If you are a person who likes to do things for yourself then the WordPress theme market is just for you. Drupal also has starter themes but this is not a theme that you can easily handle since it is custom development.

Market share

WordPress has a large number of plugins that are suitable for small websites.

Deployment

With WordPress you can easily develop your site from scratch to having a complete site. It is suitable if your content types are minimal.

Admin experience

For content editors, Drupal has a clean admin experience while with WordPress you simply have to use advanced custom fields to experience something similar.

Content types

Drupal permits having many stakeholders namely editors, admin, logged users and private groups.

Multi lingual

If you are running a multilingual site or sites then you can easily have them deployed with Drupal’s out of the box features.

At the end of the day, most web designers will recommend what they are well acquainted with and they will do so without considering what you need and your objectives. That is why before knowing how to use both CMS platforms to make your site, you need to know their features and weigh that against your needs and see which one is preferable.