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10 Drupal Pros and Cons

If you’re a developer, then you have several platforms from which to choose when you’re designing and creating websites. Drupal is one of the more popular options. Sometimes a project is deemed to be “perfect” for this platform. Other times a solution that is more customized might be the better option. How can you tell if Drupal could be right for you? Here are the pros and cons to consider.

What Are the Pros of Drupal?

1. It can rapidly build a complex site.
If you’ve got some experience in developing a website, then it isn’t unreasonable to have an entire site up and running in 48 hours or less. This means you’re spending less time on the actual implementation work of the site, allowing you to spend more time being creative with your designs. This helps you stand out from the rest of the competition.

2. There is a very large support community for Drupal.
People don’t just like using Drupal. People are passionately in love with this platform. If you begin having trouble with your site when using it, just reach out to this community. Add in the external support being given to Drupal from sources like Pinterest and Twitter and you’ll undoubtedly find whatever help you need, no matter how advanced your development skills happen to be.

3. The scalability of Drupal is very good.
No matter how large your site may need to be, Drupal has the ability to meet your needs. Even in terms of traffic being received, this platform can make sure that your site is able to meet the changing demands of your visitors. If the White House official site can benefit from using this platform, then there’s a good chance your next project will be able to benefit from it as well.

4. It can serve as its own API.
As the internet continues to evolve, numerous third-party tools, apps, and interfaces have developed to help make design and development chores much easier. For Drupal, it will either work with an API you prefer or it can serve as its own API if you wish. This allows you to have a solution that is as portable as you need it to be and it’s available from the minute you install Drupal.

5. You can start with a blank slate.
Unlike other platforms, Drupal really does let users start at the very beginning. Yet in just a few moments, developers can create complex data structures and put up a prototype to begin working around. You get to use Drupal as you want to use it and that’s a tremendous advantage.

What Are the Cons of Drupal?

1. For the inexperienced, Drupal can be very difficult to learn.
The learning curve for Drupal for beginners is pretty extensive. There are mentorship programs available to make the learning process easier, but someone coming in and expecting that their knowledge of PHP is going to help them access what Drupal can do is going to be in for a rude awakening. Don’t take learning the “Drupalisms” for granted. It takes time to get to now this platform.

2. Updating Drupal can be a real headache.
Every platform has minor updates come out from time to time to fix bugs, improve navigation, and resolve minor issues. This isn’t a problem when using Drupal. It’s when there is a major upgrade, such as going from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8, where the problems begin to form. Legacy installations are not supported by Drupal, so there is no backwards compatibility. You’ve always got to upgrade and that takes time.

3. It can consume many of your resources.
One of the most common complaints about Drupal is its speed. It is a rather slow platform, especially if you’re using third-party modules that don’t have their coding optimized. If you’re willing to spend some time to improve your configurations, then the issue doesn’t make itself as apparent. If not, then expect to have Drupal running slowly for you and your visitors, making for a potentially unpleasant experience.

4. Module compatibility can be as bad as it is good.
When you’re trying to scale upward with your site, then the module compatibility of Drupal can help you quickly upgrade your site. This compatibility also means that you may have multiple modules which have their own code that is running and this all happens simultaneously. The wrong combination of modules has been known to even crash your Drupal core.

5. It isn’t a good platform for a custom install.
If you need a complex site to meet your needs, then Drupal may not be the best solution. For a fast install, it works well thanks to the contributed modules and the ability to go live with no refactoring. A specific focus is not something that Drupal can generally provide.

These Drupal pros and cons show that it can be a dream experience to use this platform. Under the right circumstances, it can also turn into a nightmare. Consider each key point carefully and you’ll be able to come up with the answers you need.

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