Test of Drupal's Blogging Feature

By Rad - Posted on May 8th, 2007

Test of Drupal's blogging feature.

Been learning more about Drupal, Joomla and Content Management Systems in general (CMS).

Also been updating the comparison I documented last week (as I continue to learn more) > Comparing Joomla vs Drupal Content Management Systems (CMS).

In fact, that entry has become big enough (more than 4K words) that I've considered busting it into two sections (e.g. Part I, Part II).

I seem to be coming full circle. Began research with notion Drupal represented best option. During initial research, I came to feel Joomla 1.5 would be a better choice (for me).

Now, after considerable research, and feeling comfortable that I understand the relative strengths & weaknesses of each platform, I'm again leaning toward Drupal. (Dizzy yet?)

The main thing that changed my mind was a subtle theme I kept noticing, which goes something like this:

Joomla provides a good first impression, which wanes the deeper you dig. Drupal, on the other hand, provides a poor first impression, which improves as you dig deeper.

Joomla 1.5 won't be released for a few more months (probably), so that will give me time to play with Drupal. I'd like to get a feel for both (first-hand experience).

From my research, I've found these programs aren't particularly difficult to learn (as in rocket science, or brain surgery), but there is a *lot* of material one needs to digest (which obviously will take some time). So I can see how some might claim the program complicated. But it actually makes sense.

First thing I've learned is > in order to develop either of these CMS's, you first need to install a web server on your local machine.

For that, there's WAMP, which is an acronym for > Windows running Apache (web server), MySQL (database), PHP (server scripting language). I downloaded & installed WAMP5 (v1.7.1 just released today, the first release since February .. so that seems like a good omen).

(Strange how WAMP5 is at version 1.7.1, not 5.7.1, as you might expect.)

WAMP is used on your local machine to test your Drupal/Joomla installation, and any subsequent changes, before making changes to your 'live' installation (located on your public web server). So if there's a problem, you don't break your web site.

Think I heard NightOwl say he did a similar thing with Windows, installing a dummy O/S, where he could install & test new programs before installing them on his 'live' system. Certainly you see the wisdom of such an approach.

I've toyed around with configuring a localhost web server before, so I know a little about how that works.

Now that I have a web server (Apache) installed on my system, along with MySQL & PHP, I'm convinced that, if someone were to master these programs, along with Linux, JavaScript & C++, they could probably rule the world. =)

The main thing is that I now have a good feel for the relative strengths & weaknesses of each platform (Drupal vs Joomla), whereas before I had only a sketchy idea. (If you review my updated CMS comparison, you'll see what I mean.)

So I now feel confident in making decisions concerning each platform (as much as can be expected from someone who has yet to install either one). I will be installing Drupal 5.1 to my local web server (WAMP5) later.

One Drupal-based site I've been enjoyed is called Geeks & God. They have podcasts about toics such as Installing Drupal,.. Basic Drupal Setup, and many more. Podcasts help when my eyes get tired from lotsa reading.

I was originally drawn to the site cuz I liked its design, which you'll notice has a similar color scheme to my new blog (which you're reading now).

For more along these lines, here's a Google search preconfigured for the query > content management system cms drupal wamp web server php

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Test of Drupal's Blogging Feature