This is a brief analysis of Drupal and why it is usually considered not so user friendly. This article aims to highlight the efficiency that Drupal offers. It also brings forth two very important things that can help make Drupal development a better journey for the developers.
Drupal is one of the most popular and widely used open source CMS used for high-end website and application development. Drupal has been regarded as the work field for those who are into the extreme technical analysis. Barely ever, will you come across someone who is not only genuinely interested in it but is also really good at it.
Since it is hard to come across a good Drupal developer, people find it really convenient to turn around and blame the whole technology for it. A huge section of the population swears by Drupal’s sworn competitors like Joomla and WordPress in order to claim how much more user friendly these are compared to good old Drupal.
The most predominant factor here is that Joomla and WordPress can basically be used by anyone and everyone. There is no specific indent requisite in order to create websites from them. I mean, if one entrepreneur knows absolutely nothing about coding, he would still be able to use Joomla or WordPress in order to create a beautiful site which will help him to get what he wishes to achieve without the trouble of going through the excruciating details of the coding.
Better or Not
When it comes to technology, qualifying or disqualifying anything as good or worse or even better than the rest is a very difficult call to make. There are multiple parameters that are involved in gauging the actual potency of a content management system.
If website designing was all about aesthetics, we’d all be sitting on top an art field. However, since it is not, the fact that functionality too is a guiding force makes other aspects of a CMS critical.
The thing about Drupal is that you can practically create any kind of a website with it. There is no limit to the possibilities. You can create a blog, a banking site, a social networking site or just about anything that comes up in the mind. Expert professional website designers and developers worldwide always prefer to use Drupal when it comes to developing sites which go beyond the looks and are more functional and utility centric. The kind of security offered by Drupal is unmatched and superior in all terms.
It really hurts to see that in spite of all its qualities, Drupal, more often than not is treated as an underdog. It is high time that entrepreneurs should understand that developing a good site requires great skills. And if you are a skilled developer, Drupal shall never pose a problem.
Why Turn To Drupal?
It is undeniable that if you are an amateur then Drupal is not for you. It is also another reality that if you want your website to be uber cool and top class in terms of performance and flexibility, nothing can beat it. Following are the two things you should keep in mind while developing with Drupal as it will make your journey a much smoother one.
-Stay away from short cuts
I have seen developers trying to use shortcuts while adding new sections. NEVER do that if you are a Drupal person. Drupal certainly allows for a high scalability, but everything may turn out to be a waste of time effort and money if proper steps aren’t taken to carry out the process in the right way. Develop all the modules with the proper steps without resorting to shortcuts to ensure that the modules can be reused.
-Keep them nodes light!
There is absolutely no point in overloading the nodes. Keep it simple. Follow the basic thumb rule by keeping only one content in one node. Regardless of whether it is an image or a text or even videos. Even comments and postings must be treated in the same way. You may seem to think that this is quite useless, but eventually, as you keep adding more and more content to the nodes, it may lose out on its features, thereby rendering your website inefficient.
Conclusion
We were taught these two basic things as the essence of life as kids. To stay away from short cuts and to take the righteous path, and to take only as much required never over doing anything. Never really thought Drupal would remind of life’s simple yet important lessons. Keeping these in are not only sure to make you a better Drupal developer, but also a better human being!
