I work on different Open Source Content Management Systems, and I really do like the Systems mentioned here…
But when it comes to the Administration panels there is a lot of difference:
The Joomla CPanel:
The WordPress Administrator Panel:
The Typo3 Administrator Panel:
And The Drupal Administrator Panel:
O, No, that is not the Right one..
So again The Drupal Administrator Panel:
I Guess You see the point I am trying to make…
Drupal is the Only system that standard changes the Administrator Theme to Match you Site Theme.
And yes, I know you can choose a standard Administrator Theme Panel that does not change with the Site Theme.
But what I really like about Joomla, WordPress en Typo3 is the consistency (not always logical) of the Administrator and Publishers website workplace.
Once you get it, you always know where to find the stuff you need to change.
With Drupal I am always searching, trying to find where that function was, how to put content in, how to change the Meta-descriptions etc…
For the True Drupal adapt, this might seem strange, but what I really would like is a standard Control Panel in Drupal!
A Standard Drupal Controle Panel
It doesn’t need to have icons, WordPress doesn’t have icons, but please put the stuff on the same place every time..
Give it a standard panel that doesn’t change with the Website Theme!
Why? Because I think it would be better for managing the site from the back-end.
It would be easier to write manuals for webmasters en that in return will make it easier for newbies to work with Drupal.
Drupal is a great Framework for Building Robust websites, so promote it where ever you can, but please give us a Workplace that always looks the same, no choices, just a plain Website Control Panel
It’s already possible (and quite easy) to choose a specific theme for the administration section, separate from the main UI theme for the site. Some have suggested that it should default to a specific ‘administration’ theme — that hasn’t been done yet, but there’s no technical reason it couldn’t be.
@Jeff
As I mentioned in the article, this is true and what I mostly do.
The point I’m trying to make here, is that it is not the fact that you can set a standard theme, but that the Control panel from Drupal is not user friendly for the people who have to maintain the website after the Site builder has done his job.
The other content management systems have separated controle panels that maken it a lot easier to work on the content of a website.
For me that is what makes a great content management system.
A system to create quality content that makes it easy for the people who have to produce that content.
Drupal is a great system, but the control panel is not the easiest one to learn…
That is my main reason for writing the article.
A consistent control panel that puts content first would bring more people to use the system.
Joomla! is the best!
@Sampa
One of the best… I also like WordPress because of its simplicity and Typo3 for its structure overview.
I’m looking to start a sports commentary blog, we’ll have a blog on the main page, but then side pages will be static…like tributes to certain atheletes or fan pages, what’s a good combo between a blog and static pages. i guess it’s more of a CMS question.
@DWOC
I guess you could choose any of the options of Joomla, Drupal or WordPress!
It all depens on you wishes and how big you want the site to be.
You could check WordPress for Blog and static pages combined which works great.
If you need more functionality, than look at Drupal or Joomla, there are more large components there.
Imo Drupal lacks one solid integrated panel, at least for editors.
There is Administrator Menu module, and it seems most people install it as first add-on. But if you work on few language versions you will find its’ options located in various places – because they are sorted alphabetically. For me – it sucks.
I like Drupal a lot, and it seems its architecture is better than that of Joomla (d6 vs j1.5), but end-user-editors should have a reason to like it too.
I’m not a big fan of Drupal anyway, I think the benefits and support of the other communities are much more fitting for myself. I did find one really great CMS that you didn’t seem to mention- ModX…very flexible.
@Sean: I have looked at Modx several times and it is becoming one of the new systems next to the big three (or four if you include Typo3) PacktPub marked it as an upcoming system as well.
A stable 1.0.x version was planned for spring 2009, but I have not seen that release yet.