Drupal is a flexible open source content management system (CMS) that can be used to build large websites with many features and customizations. It has over 9,000 modules, 1,000 free themes, and strong community support to customize any site. Drupal also offers search engine optimization, multilingual support, security updates, and dynamic content displays through modules. With 15+ years of ongoing development and use by millions of sites including whitehouse.gov, Drupal ensures a future-proof and reliable CMS.

1. 10 Reasons to Use
Drupal
DECEMBER 9, 2011

2. 1. You Want to Build a Large Website
Drupal is very flexible and can be
used to facilitate:
–Blogging
–Forums
–Image Galleries
–E-commerce
–Podcasting
–And many more! There are over 9,000
modules to choose from!
Balance Interactive Inc. www.BalanceInteractive.com

3. 2. You want an Easy-to-Use CMS
• Drupal 7 made notable changes to
the content editing screen to make
content settings easier to view at a
glance and edit.
Balance Interactive Inc. www.BalanceInteractive.com

4. 3. You Want to Customize the Look and Feel of
Your Website
• There are over 1,000 free themes to
choose from, and you can customize
with some basic CSS and PHP
knowledge.
Balance Interactive Inc. www.BalanceInteractive.com

5. Drupal Theming Examples

8. 4. You Want a Search-Engine Friendly Site
• Modules to send your sitemap
to search engines regularly to
help them find new content
• Search Engine friendly URLs,
which are critical to a page's
search ranking
• Control over the Page Title

9. 5. You Want a Strong Support System
• Drupal has a strong community
of passionate developers
constantly working on
improvements, bugs, keeping
Drupal secure, and offering
technical support.
Balance Interactive Inc. www.BalanceInteractive.com

10. 6. You Own the Code & Content
• Open source means no single
entity owns the code
• Entire site is portable from one
host to another
• There is no Software License Cost
to use Drupal
Balance Interactive Inc. www.BalanceInteractive.com

11. 7. You Want a Multilingual Site
• Drupal supports over 100
languages including some right-to-
left languages such as Hebrew and
Arabic

12. 8. You Want a Reliable & Secure Site
• Drupal has a team of security
professionals testing Drupal’s security
and releasing updates whenever
vulnerabilities are found
• Administrators are notified of updates
when they occur and can update pretty
easily.
• Secure enough to use for
whitehouse.gov
Balance Interactive Inc. www.BalanceInteractive.com

13. 9. You Want Dynamic Lists of Content
• Most popular Drupal module is the
Views module which offers a way
to build dynamic lists of content
and RSS feeds.
• Can be used to build calendars, RSS
feeds, slideshows, and custom
content searches pulling content
based on defined filters.

14. 10. You Care About the Future of Your CMS
• Drupal has been around since 2001
• It has won many awards
• It is supported by a very active and
passionate community
• Development for Drupal 8 is
already under way!
Balance Interactive Inc. www.BalanceInteractive.com

15. Other Things Drupal Offers
• W3C standards compliance –
future-proof your code
• Built-in Search
• Support for different types of users
and permissions
• Robust taxonomy tools
• Custom Content Types

16. Alternatives to Drupal
• Joomla (free, plug-ins cheap)
• Plone (built on Python not PHP,
very steep learning curve, good for
intranets)
• Ektron (enterprise-level CMS built
in .NET, not open source, pricey)