Is Drupal Dead? Evaluating the State of the CMS

Drupal and WordPress have been staples in the world of content management systems (CMS) for years, but their paths have diverged significantly since their inception. While WordPress has soared in popularity and boasts millions of users, Drupal has seen a decline in interest. The question that arises is whether Drupal is still a viable choice for website development. In this article, we will delve into the reasons behind Drupal’s perceived decline and explore the factors that are keeping it alive.

Reasons for Concern: Is Drupal Dying?

1. Difficulty of Use

• Drupal can be challenging to install and configure manually.
• Learning the Drupal interface involves mastering technical concepts like views, nodes, content types, and fields.

Quote from Redditor dborsatto: “Drupal is too complex for the simple website and just too poorly designed for complex use scenarios.”

2. Shortage of Developers

• Drupal lost developers to popular JavaScript frameworks like React and Angular.
• The complexity of Drupal’s architecture required specialized knowledge, limiting developer interest.
• High demand and low supply of Drupal developers result in higher development costs.

3. Decreasing Community Activity

• The Drupal community forums show declining activity in various categories.
• A lack of diverse user participation indicates a dwindling user base.

Reasons for Hope: Why Drupal Still Thrives

1. Prominent Websites Still Use Drupal

• Drupal remains in use on numerous well-known websites, including The Economist, Royal Mail, and UNESCO.
• These organizations’ choices endorse Drupal’s continued relevance.

2. Out-of-the-Box Functionality

• Drupal offers several features like page caching, multisite support, and multilingual capabilities right after installation.
• Users don’t need to rely on third-party plugins for these functionalities.

3. Ongoing Development

• Drupal continues to release new versions and feature updates.
• Drupal 9, the latest version, focuses on backward compatibility, performance improvements, and user experience enhancements.

4. Shift Towards Content Management Framework (CMF)

• Drupal’s flexibility makes it suitable for use as a content management framework (CMF).
• Developers can customize Drupal to build bespoke websites and applications, harnessing its full potential.

Conclusion: Drupal’s Pulse Still Beats

In conclusion, while Drupal has experienced a decline in popularity as a traditional CMS, it is far from dead. Drupal remains a viable choice for web development, especially for those with the expertise to utilize it as a CMF. Organizations with specific content management needs and the resources to leverage Drupal’s capabilities continue to find value in this CMS. As long as Drupal continues to evolve and cater to the changing demands of the web development landscape, it will maintain its place in the ecosystem.

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