This document compares the popular open source content management systems Joomla, Drupal, and WordPress. It discusses their histories, download numbers, extensions available, and high profile sites using each platform. Popularity trends from Google and Alexa are presented. Joomla, Drupal, and WordPress were compared based on development time, validation, page weight, and custom code required. While each CMS has its strengths, the document concludes there is no single best choice and it depends on individual tastes and needs.

1. How to Choose Between Joomla, Drupal and
Wordpress - Is There a Best Choice ?
/MarcoBarbosa

3. ●
Joomla! ( jumla ) means “all together” or “as a whole”' (Swahili)
●
Since 2005 (2000 for mambo)
[1]
●
189,429 weekly downloads
●
4.641+ extensions

4. ●
MTV Networks Quizilla (Social networking) - (link)
●
TNA Wrestling (link)
●
Citibank (Financial institution intranet) - Not publicly accessible
●
Linux.com (link)

5. ●
English rendering of the Dutch word “druppel”, which means “drop”
(as in “a water droplet”).
●
Since 2001
[1]
●
62,500 weekly downloads
●
7.274+ extensions

6. ●
The White House (link)
●
Ubuntu (link)
●
Le Figaro (link)
●
OpenSource.com (link)

7. ●
Official successor of b2/cafelog
●
Since 2003
[1]
●
433,767 weekly downloads
●
9,157+ plugins

8. ●
TechCrunch (link)
●
IcanHasCheezBurger (link)
●
PlayStation Official Blog (link)
●
NASA’s Ames Research Center (link)

10. Popularity

11. Google trends

12. Joomla
Sweden – All Years
Wordpress
Drupal

13. Joomla
Worldwide – Past 12 months
Wordpress
Drupal

14. Alexa (site ranks)

15. Traffic Rank

16. [2]
Open Source CMS Awards

17. Best Open Source PHP CMS
2009
1. Drupal
2. WordPress
3. Joomla!
2008
1. Drupal
2. Joomla, CMS Made Simple
2007
1. Joomla
2. Drupal
3. e107

18. The Differences

19. User

20. Frontend Backend
Admin
Login
Password
LOGIN
●
Template System ●
Manage Content
●
Displays Content ●
Install Extensions
Drupal supports multisites installation out of the box.
Wordpress from 3.0+ or with MU
Joomla must extend.

21. Joomla Drupal Wordpress
Content Articles Pages & Stories Pages & Posts
Sections &
Categorization Categories
Taxonomy Categories & Tags
Components,
Extensions Modules & Plugins
Modules & Blocks Plugins & Widgets
Design Positions Regions Widget areas

22. Design

23. css
images
html
templateDetails.xml
Template
index.php
component.php
favicon.ico

25. [3]

26. Developing

27. Joomla Drupal Wordpress
Model-View-Controller Presentation-Abstraction- Plugin Application
(MVC) Control (PAC) Program Interface (API)
Fair Documentation Good Documentation Great Documentation
MySQL MySQL/PostgreSQL MySQL
PHP 4.3+ PHP 4.4.0+ PHP 4.3+

28. Strengths

29. Joomla Drupal Wordpress
Blogging
Social Network
E-commerce
Templates
Framework
SEO
Flexibility
Resources
Community
Learning Curve

30. Wordpress
S F
I L
M E
P X
L
I
C
Joomla! I
B
I
I L
T I
Y T
Y
Drupal

31. The CMS Showdown
[4]
http://www.cmsshowdown.com
March 2009

33. Results

34. Joomla Drupal Wordpress
Total Hours 57.25 79.25 90.5
Hours spent on
15 21.75 36.5
front end
Html validation Yes No (8 errors) No (8 errors)
CSS Validation No (1 error) No (7 errors) No (21 errors)
Page weight 140K 180K 154K
Lines of custom
30 220 1,808
JS/PHP code

35. Joomla Drupal Wordpress
Total Hours 57.25 79.25 90.5
Hours spent on
15 21.75 36.5
front end
Html validation Yes No (8 errors) No (8 errors)
CSS Validation No (1 error) No (7 errors) No (21 errors)
Page weight 140K 180K 154K
Lines of custom
30 220 1,808
JS/PHP code

36. So..Is there a best choice?

37. Or, it's just a matter of taste

38. If a CMS would be a celebrity..

39. Wordpress
●
Very Popular.
●
Suitable for anyone.
●
Stylish.

41. Joomla
●
Easy to create attractive sites.
●
“ It just works ”.
●
Large market.

43. Drupal
●
Drupal knows best.
●
Deeper learning curve.
●
No problems it can't solve.

45. Thank you!
iam@marcobarbosa.com
marcobarbosa.com
/MarcoBarbosa

46. References
[1] Open Source CMS Market Share Report 2009
[2] Open CMS Awards
[3] Wordpress Template Hierarchy Diagram
[4] The CMS Showdown
Idealware - Comparing Open Source Content Management Systems
Survey Analysis Part 1: Developers and Documentation
Custom Post Types in Wordpress 3
Wordpress vs Joomla vs Drupal
Joomla and Drupal - Which One is Right for You? Version 2
What everybody ought to know about Joomla
Why running the White House Web site on Drupal is a political disaster waiting to happen