What is Drupal?
Most of the websites we build use the Drupal platform. For many (though not all) websites, we find that Drupal offers the best value, giving the client all of the control they need without requiring the technical skills they don’t have.
What is Drupal?
Drupal is a free software package that takes care of all of the technical, code-intensive parts of your website, leaving you free to create, edit, and manage your content without having to know any programming languages. In short, Drupal is a powerful Content Management System (CMS).
Drupal is Open Source, meaning it is free to download, install, and use - no license fees! It also means that Drupal is constantly being upgraded by a community of volunteer engineers. No waiting for major upgrades that you have to buy, install, and re-integrate.
Drupal is also endlessly customizable. You aren’t locked into a specific way of doing anything. Your website is truly yours.
What does a Content Management System (CMS) do for me?
A Content Management System lets you focus on the content of your site, not the code. If you want to let your site’s visitors know about an upcoming event, you simply click a link to create a new “event” on the site, fill out a form with the date, time, location, and details, and the new event will appear on your site where you designate it to appear - the home page, a calendar page, an RSS feed, etc. No need to write HTML, move files to a server, etc.
Same goes for basic web pages, photos, videos, etc.
A CMS like Drupal also enables an a customized online community of users through commenting and other social interaction, engaging your users on your terms.
Why Drupal?
Many organizations evaluate Drupal and Sharepoint for the same project. Below is a comparison of Drupal and Sharepoint with respect to features commonly requested by clients.
| Features | Drupal | Sharepoint |
| Licensing Fees (annual) | $0 | $20,000-50,000 |
| Maintenance (monthly) | $0 | $250-$1000 |
| Fast Implementation and Rollout | • | |
| Infinitely Customizable | • | |
| Social Media Features | • | • |
| Document Management | • | • |
| E-Commerce Ready | • | |
| Secure | • | • |
| Designed for Intranets | • | • |
| Designed for Public Websites | • | |
| Easily Extendable | • | • |
| Open Source | • | |
| Content Versioning | • | • |
| Roles and Permissions | • | • |
| Content Staging (Publish When Ready) | • | • |
| Large Support Community | • | • |
| Good for Workgroups | • | • |
| Good for Open Communities | • | |
| Thousands of Free Add-ons | • | |
| Search | • | • |
Who's Using Drupal
The Economist
The White House
Popular Science
MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Harvard
MTV UK
Sony Music
CVS
Warner Brothers Records
Community Portal Sites
Fast Company
Team Sugar
Ubuntu
Brainstorm
Client
Indigo Digital
