Awakened Voice » Open Source

Comparing WordPress And Drupal

Rob Safuto — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 05:15:00 +0000

I use both WordPress and Drupal quite a bit so I thought it might help the community to provide my thoughts on how I use both of these great open source platforms.

What They’re Good For

WordPress is great for creating a single or multi-author blog. There are many single author blogs (like WordPress creator Matt Mullenweg’s Photo Matt)out there so most people get that concept. One good example of a multi-author blog running on WordPress is the All Things Digital site. I think that WordPress is also a great tool for creating a corporate or personal website. The ability to create static pages (and designate one of those pages as the front page) gives you the ability to mix static and dynamic content.

In general WordPress is great for publishing lightweight media. By lightweight I mean text and images. There are some shortcomings in WordPress when it comes to publishing audio or video (like a lack of integrated upload) but you can link to media files and embed video from other sites that provide embed codes. Podpress is a useful plug-in that enhances WordPress media publishing and podcasting abilities.

Drupal is great for building communities on the web. You can use Drupal to create a blog publishing site (single or multi-author) like Dries Buytaert or a more corporate type website with a blog like the folks at Lullabot have done. Where Drupal really shines is in the creation of social networking sites. The two key features that enable social networking are the user profile system and varied content creation capabilities. With Drupal it is a very simple process to start a site and allow others to create a profile with a picture while also allowing them to create their own content. I’ve been able to achieve this with my Amazin Moments Clubhouse without needing to write any extra php code. Another Drupal-based social network worth checking out is the Canadian site called Change Everything.

The real killer feature of Drupal is the ability to create custom content types without needing to resort to programming. In a custom content type you can define each of the types of fields in your new content type. You can then design one or more views to display your new content items on your site. In addition, you can set permissions to restrict creating that content to a certain type of user. I know it may sound a bit complicated. So if you’re interested in this I recommend that you check out my screencast on custom content types in Drupal.

Drupal is a bit better than WordPress when it comes to publishing rich media. The basic Drupal install will allow you to upload and attach media files to posts. And you can add advanced audio or video publishing functionality via add-on modules.

Extending These Systems

Both WordPress and Drupal have large developer communities. As a result there are many add-ons that you can use to extend the out of the box functions of these systems. WordPress add-ons are called plugins while Drupal add-ons are called modules. I have found Drupal modules for just about every function I’ve wanted to add to my Drupal-based sites. Likewise WordPress has a robust like of plugins that cover many of the features you might want to add to your WordPress-based site.

Both WordPress and Drupal have a variety of free options for creating a nice design for your site. Both systems call their design templates themes. You can find Drupal themes here and WordPress themes here.

Syndication And RSS Feeds

Both systems are great when it comes to RSS feeds. In WordPress you have a site level feed, comment feed and category RSS feeds. Drupal will provide a site level feed and a feed for every blog author as well as feeds for every custom content type you create. Both systems allow for subscription to content via email through add-ons.

Ease Of Setup

WordPress has fewer choices and is generally an easier setup experience from my perspective. Another thing that makes WordPress simpler is the fact that some web hosts, like Dreamhost for instance, offer one-click installs and upgrades for WordPress. The setup for Drupal is a bit more involved because there are so many choices under the hood. It is worth it to take some time to read the great Drupal Handbooks before you get started to get an idea of how you want to approach things. Its also a good idea to give yourself some time to play on a test site prior to setting a deadline for completion of your Drupal-based website.

Old School Resources

Even though we’re in a web based world it is very helpful sometimes to sit and read a book to help speed up the learning process. WordPress and Drupal books are available from Packt Publishing. I have not read these books but I have read Pro Drupal Development and continue to refer to it as I work on my Drupa-based sites.

My Final Thoughts

If your main goal is to publish basic content types (think title + body) that other people can view and subscribe to then I would choose WordPress as the system of choice. If you want to create a user generated content site/social network or you want to have the ability to customize one or more content types then I would use Drupal as the basis for the site. Both can work as corporate or personal website building tools but you have more flexibility in future growth (adding forums, social networking, user generated content) under a single login using Drupal.

Hosted Options

If you don’t want to get involved with all the setup for these systems there are hosted service options for both. Wordpress.com offers free blogs with minimal setup required. For $19.95 per month a company called Bryght provides a hosted Drupal installation with many great features and add-ons. You lose a little bit of control with the hosted versions of these systems but you also get a much easier admin experience.

Notable Drupal Sites

www.theonion.com, www.twit.tv, www.kellyclarksonweb.com

Notable WordPress Sites

www.gigaom.com, www.techcrunch.com, center.arc.nasa.gov

How Long Will Drupal Be Around?

Rob Safuto — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 13:51:54 +0000

Not very long if you ask Chris Pirillo. He recently stated that, “…intelligent Drupal developers are in absolute short supply - to the point where I don’t think the platform will be around for too much longer.”

I do believe that the world needs more Drupal developers but that hardly means the platform is going away. In fact I think that the platform is progressing nicely. The next version ofDrupal is slated to support OpenID and localization. There are loads of great modules contributed by developers who are building on the platform.

I recently constructed a new site called New York Is My Kind Of Town using Drupal and between core and contributed modules I achieved every function I wanted to. No custom development needed.

The situation that Chris highlights is more of an opportunity than the tolling of the death bell for Drupal. Drupal is such a great platform that there is a high demand for development skills to deploy it commercially. But the fact is that there are plenty of developers contributing to the platform itself. And you also don’t necessarily need a developer to get a site up and running on Drupal. I’m not a developer and I’ve done it several times.

So I just want to tell Chris, “You are wrong. Drupal is going to be around for a very long time.” I even chuckle a little as I write this because his comment is so absurd.

Learn Some More Drupal

Rob Safuto — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 19:21:04 +0000

What can I say? I can’t help but document processes that I see as important in building sites around Drupal. The result is a video tutorial on creating a custom content type (via CCK) and a corresponding view using Drupal.

You can find the full resolution QuickTime version over in the Awakened Voice Learning Center. Or just watch the video embed below.

Click To Play

Open Source Floodgates

Rob Safuto — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 01:22:32 +0000

One of the things that absolutely blows my mind is how passionate members of the open source community are about the tools that they make and use. When I started doing screencasts last summer I didn’t really have any road map with respect to the tools that I would cover. I decided to focus on what made sense to me.

Nearly a year and twenty-two lessons later I’ve come up with a definite pattern with regards to the overall interest in the content I produce there. The material related to open source projects definitely garners a lot more eyeballs than the one on commercial offerings.

Here are some rough numbers to show you what I’m talking about.

Average downloads for non-open source tutorials: 400

Average download for open source tutorials: 5300

The single largest downloaded tutorial is my Blocks in Drupal 5 video that has attracted over 20,000 downloads. My recent Songbird tutorial is humming along at over 8,000 downloads. The lesson is two weeks old today.

Am I trying to brag by sharing these numbers? Absolutely not. There are plenty of video producers out there who get a lot more downloads than I do. My point is that the people who work with or use open source tools are a passionate bunch who have an incredible appetite for knowledge.

That’s one reason why tools like WordPress and Drupal continue to become more powerful and also more easy to use. Songbird is well on its way too. And they’re still in developer preview.

So for those of you who swear by tools that you have to pay license fees for, consider taking a second look at tools like these. And if you’re a content producer looking for topics that get attention then consider learning these systems and contributing by adding what you know to the mix. Either way I believe you will be better off in the end.

Miro Player Launches

Rob Safuto — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:57:28 +0000

Let’s call Miro the video player formerly known as the Democracy Player. I made a note of this change a few months ago.

Democracy Player has officially been relaunched as Miro. The folks on the team are billing it as, “The only video player you need.” A strong statement indeed.

I tried out Miro in earlier incarnations and it was definitely on the right track as far as easing the process of finding and playing video content from the web.

They are also differentiating themselves by touting their directory’s access to, “More HD than anyone.” And the new release has the ability to download flash videos from YouTube and a few other sites. Sound like an online video lovers dream.

I’ve downloaded the latest release and plan to try out this free, open source player. Once I do a screencast will definitely be in order.

Drupal Tutorials That Rock

Rob Safuto — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 14:16:32 +0000

The Drupal content management platform can be downright scary to newbies trying to create sites using the tool. This is simply due to the fact that you can do so much with the platform.

Thankfully Drupal has a very robust community of contributors adding code and knowledge to the effort. I appreciate all of it. Recently I accessed a pair of tutorials that helped me to get some nice features added to a site I’m working on. So I wanted to pass them on to others who might find them useful.

Advanced User Profiles - was created by Shell Multimedia and allows you to create a very robust user profile that includes links to the submitted content, friends and a photo gallery to name a few things.

Thickbox Image Gallery - and the associated screencast by Elliot Rothman help you to add image submission to the site while creating a nice image gallery where the images pop up in a light box.

These are two very useful tutorials. Thank you to the folks who took the time to make them available.

Sing A New Song

Rob Safuto — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 15:30:12 +0000

Play the web is the trademarked phrase that the makers of Songbird put front and center on their website. You can do a lot more than play the web with Songbird though. You can play the web and manage media on your computer.

I discovered Songbird recently and I’ve been very enamored with their free, open source media player. While iTunes and Windows Media Player seem to be all about selling music, Songbird is about discovering and playing music.

That’s why I took some time to record a video tour in the Awakened Voice Learning Center. Head over there to get the QuickTime version or just watch the player below.

Click To Play

Adding Video To A Drupal Site

Rob Safuto — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:36:58 +0000

I have added a new tutorial to the Learning Center. This one shows you how to add video to a site based on the Drupal content management platform. Check it out here.

[tags]Social Media, Drupal, Video, Screencast, Educational, How To, Open Source[/tags]

Stats For All WordPress Blogs

Rob Safuto — Wed, 30 May 2007 01:22:14 +0000

The new Automattic Stats plugin allows standalone WordPress users to get the same stats users of WordPress.com get for their blog pages.

The stats that you get on WordPress.com are basic but are a good alternative to Google Analytics for those who want to answer very basic questions about how many people are reading their blog posts and who is linking to them.

This plugin works different from most other plugins in that the results of the stats are displayed over on WordPress.com. So you need to have the API key from your WordPress.com account. This is the same API key that is used for the Akismet spam service.

Its an interesting approach by WordPress in hosting the stats on their database. It is definitely a good idea. I ran a WordPress stats plugin previously and the program took up a heck of a lot of space in my database. You need to have at least WordPress version 2.1 on your site to work with this plugin. I’m at 2.0.5 on this site but I am trying it over at the Awakened Voice Learning Center.

I’m going to try it alongside Google Analytics to see which one is more useful to me. You still do not get feed statistics with this plugin. You need to host over on WordPress.com or use a service like FeedBurner to track feed stats.

[tags]Social Media, Statistics, Automattic Stats, WordPress[/tags]

A Sweet Sound

Rob Safuto — Fri, 25 May 2007 15:52:43 +0000

Prepare to be blown away. Everyone knows that the one-two punch of iTunes and (a distant second) Windows Media Player has dominated the desktop media player market for years now.

And since iTunes added podcast subscription and a directory in June 2005 it has been the defacto app for finding and subscribing to podcasts. That could change with Songbird.

Songbird is a cross-platform desktop based media player and manager. Songbird creates playlists on your desktop but it also acts as a browser, allowing you to surf to your favorite media sites on the web. Once you’re on a media rich site (like a podcast home page or a directory) Songbird will automatically create playlists of the media in the podcast feed on the site. You can then stream the media right in the Songbird browser.

This type of functionality is a huge step forward for desktop based media players. I particularly like the integration with the open web and the seamless experience with respect to podcast enabled rss feeds.

So what makes this better than iTunes or Windows Media Player? My biggest beef with iTunes is the fact that the system is closed. You only gets what’s in Apple’s box on a server somewhere. With Songbird you can surf and play the entire web. There’s plenty of support for iTunes included with Songbird though. So you can still subscribe and enjoy paid content through iTunes. But you can play and manage everything with Songbird.

Windows Media Player doesn’t even come close to SongBird. Windows Media files are supported so fans of WMA or WMV are not left out in the cold.

Like any good open source app Songbird has a good variety of add-ons that extend capabilities and meet the most important needs that are not included in the core player.

You might be able to tell that I’m very excited about this app. I’m in the honeymoon period right now so if I find any major issues later I’ll be sure to report them. If Songbird stays on track though I think it can be one of those game changing apps that helps accelerate the growth of podcasting and rich media on the web.

[tags]Social Media, Songbird, Media Player, iTunes, Windows Media Player, Open Source[/tags]

Death Of The Webmaster

Rob Safuto — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:03:32 +0000

Are rumors of the death of the traditional webmaster greatly exaggerated? Maybe not. I’ve stated previously that a new type of webmaster is needed in order to leverage the powerful new tools available to those doing business via the web.

This video features Drupal founder Dries Buytaert speaking at the Open Source CMS Summit at Yahoo! earlier this year. He makes some very important points about how Drupal technology could eventually eliminate the designer, developer and webmaster.

Dries also talks about some important improvements to Drupal, including lightweight media file handling and improved forum functionality.

There’s a lot to love about Drupal but there are also a lot of areas that could be more user friendly. Based on the tone of this speech I can say that I am encouraged that these issues will be addressed and then some in Drupal 6.

[tags]Social Media, Drupal, Video, Dries Buytaert, Open Source, CMS, Webmaster[/tags]