The 3 most popular CMSes. Which one to choose?

A content management system (CMS) is a convenient tool for filling, running and updating your site.

Each of them has a database that keeps the content needed for display on the site. 

There are many different CMSes, to every taste — from very simple ones that even a beginner will figure out to complex systems that professionals work with. In this article, using the three most popular CMSes — WordPress, Joomla! and Drupal — as an example, we will tell you which of them will be the best solution for different projects and users.

All these systems are free, comparatively simple to install and offer a wide range of powerful functions that are not complicated to use. 

No matter what kind of site you want to create, the many varied templates and plugins will let you set it up completely for your needs. 

The choice depends on the goals, the budget of the project and the functions of the site being created, as well as on how well the creator of the site understands the technical side of the process. Below is a brief description of the most popular CMSes. 

WordPress

This CMS is ideal for beginners. It offers more than 2,500 free design themes that will let even users without the relevant experience create an excellent site or blog.

The built-in assistant makes setting up the recommended themes and plugins easier, and by using paid themes if you wish you will be able to get a more personalised layout. WordPress also offers many interesting functions to more experienced web developers. 

The system is convenient for creating blogs and other formats that require the ability to add content easily and quickly. Of course, WordPress has its drawbacks too: because of its popularity, vulnerabilities are found in it from time to time and the system itself, its themes and plugins have to be updated regularly.

Joomla! 

A very flexible and reliable CMS both for beginners and for advanced users. 

With this system you can create not only simple sites but also large corporate portals or online shops. 

Installing and managing the system itself is quite simple, even for users without experience of working with Joomla!. More than 8,000 free themes offer plenty of options for personalising the site, and writing your own applications based on Joomla! gives experts even more possibilities.

This management system will be of interest to those who develop sites for e-commerce or social platforms. 

The remarks about the security of WordPress are relevant for Joomla! too — it has to be kept up to date by constant updating.

Drupal

This is a very advanced CMS that allows creating sites of any type. It is the most demanding towards the technical awareness of the user, but that pays off with very broad functionality for creating sites. 

Drupal supports more than 30,000 additional modules: e-commerce systems, photo galleries, utilities for managing a mailing list and so on. 

It will be appreciated by developers looking for a very powerful content management system. 

Drupal is good for creating large projects such as platforms for online communities, online shops or large news portals. 

A drawback of Drupal is the small number of design tools, so shaping content on Drupal can become a difficult and sometimes not a cheap process. Also, because of its size and the large number of functions, Drupal can in many cases create a heavy load on the server where it is installed.

Summing the article up, one can say that each CMS is good in its own way for different types of sites, and when choosing a system you have to be guided first of all by what your site is meant for.

WordPress, Drupal and Joomla! are powerful software suites, they all work excellently on our shared hosting, and one of them will become your indispensable helper in working with a project of any complexity.