{ "id": "drupal-vs-joomla", "ids": [ "drupal", "joomla" ], "title": "Drupal vs Joomla: content structure and site ownership", "heading": "Drupal vs Joomla", "kicker": "CMS buying comparison", "deck": "Compare Drupal and Joomla by publishing scope, licensing, migration work and the operating responsibilities of a live site.", "description": "Compare Drupal and Joomla by publishing scope, licensing, migration work and the operating responsibilities of a live site.", "answerHeading": "Which CMS model fits the publishing team?", "answer": "Compare the content model and editorial tasks before choosing Drupal or Joomla. Both provide free open-source CMS software and need a hosting and maintenance arrangement. Drupal warrants a close look for structured relationships and modular application requirements; Joomla warrants a practical evaluation of article, menu, multilingual and access-control workflows. Validate the proposed implementation rather than inferring ease from the product name.", "checkedAt": "2026-10-15", "researchTag": "CMS buying comparison", "researchLimit": "Product capabilities and access terms are compared. The evaluation briefs are hypothetical; they do not imply a hands-on benchmark or measured vendor result.", "datasetDescription": "Seven CMS differences, four hypothetical buying briefs and a four-row migration acceptance checklist.", "type": "workflow-buying", "rows": [ [ "Software model", "Open-source modular CMS", "Open-source website CMS" ], [ "Content approach", "Structured types and fields", "Articles, categories and menus" ], [ "Extension model", "Modules and themes", "Extensions and templates" ], [ "Editorial review", "Model the proposed workflow and permissions", "Model user groups, access controls and publishing permissions" ], [ "Languages", "Validate language configuration against the content model", "Core multilingual content associations" ], [ "Free access", "Free GPL software; hosting separate", "Free GPL software; hosting separate" ], [ "Ownership decision", "Core, contributed modules and custom implementation", "Core, extensions and template implementation" ] ], "scenarios": [ { "name": "Related content catalogue", "question": "How will one record connect to several pages?", "left": "Model the record, fields and relationships before page templates.", "right": "Demonstrate the article, field and extension design for the same records.", "note": "Count duplicate authoring tasks rather than judging the demo homepage." }, { "name": "Multilingual organisation", "question": "Can translators update a page without changing other languages?", "left": "Test the proposed translation and moderation workflow.", "right": "Test language associations and group permissions.", "note": "A translated interface does not establish a complete translation approval process." }, { "name": "Small editorial team", "question": "Can an occasional editor complete the weekly update?", "left": "Prepare the intended editing form and required permissions.", "right": "Prepare the intended article, menu and media workflow.", "note": "Use the same update task and record where training or customisation is required." }, { "name": "Long-lived website", "question": "Who maintains extensions over the project lifetime?", "left": "Identify module support and custom code responsibilities.", "right": "Identify extension and template support responsibilities.", "note": "Require an upgrade and recovery plan independent of the original developer." } ], "exampleTable": { "caption": "Proposed CMS acceptance checklist; these are evaluation requirements, not measured product scores.", "headers": [ "Requirement", "Evidence to collect", "Acceptance condition" ], "rows": [ [ "Content migration", "A sample export and import covering references, media and languages", "The approved sample preserves meaning and editable structure" ], [ "Publishing control", "A demonstration using the intended editor and reviewer permissions", "Unauthorised changes cannot reach the live site" ], [ "Delivery ownership", "An architecture naming CMS, frontend, hosting and integration owners", "Every production dependency has a support and recovery owner" ], [ "Commercial scope", "A quote for the required licence, capacity and operating services", "The estimate includes renewal and implementation responsibilities" ] ] }, "sections": [ { "id": "content-map", "title": "Model the content before choosing templates", "navLabel": "Model the content before choosing templates", "paragraphs": [ "Select several real content examples: a service page, a staff profile, a policy document and a translated update. Record which fields are shared, which pages reference the same record and who may approve publication. The result is a content model that a supplier can implement and demonstrate.", "A visually attractive template can hide duplicated content or awkward editing. Ask an editor to change a shared address once and inspect every page that uses it. If the proposal needs a third-party extension, put that dependency and its maintenance owner in the estimate." ] }, { "id": "upgrade-owner", "title": "Price the operating arrangement alongside the build", "navLabel": "Price the operating arrangement alongside the build", "paragraphs": [ "The absence of a core software licence does not decide the cheaper project. Migration, theme work, access configuration, extension support and operational monitoring all depend on the implementation. Compare a documented scope rather than two headline development quotes.", "Request an upgrade rehearsal on a copy of the proposed site. The team should explain how it checks content, forms, permissions and integrations and how it reverses a failed update. Include that continuing work in the agreement with the host or maintenance partner." ] } ], "faqs": [ { "question": "Are Drupal and Joomla free hosted services?", "answer": "Their core software is free and open source. Production hosting and maintenance are separate from the download." }, { "question": "Which is better for multilingual publishing?", "answer": "Both deserve a task-based evaluation. Joomla documents multilingual associations in core; test each proposed language and approval workflow with actual content." }, { "question": "Should extension counts determine the choice?", "answer": "No. Check whether the specific required extensions are compatible, maintained and supported for the proposed implementation." } ], "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.drupal.org/about", "facts": "Current Drupal product, access or operating scope used in this comparison." }, { "url": "https://www.drupal.org/about/licensing", "facts": "Current Drupal product, access or operating scope used in this comparison." }, { "url": "https://www.joomla.org/about-joomla.html", "facts": "Current Joomla product, access or operating scope used in this comparison." }, { "url": "https://www.joomla.org/core-features.html", "facts": "Current Joomla product, access or operating scope used in this comparison." } ], "relatedLinks": [ { "path": "/guides/cms-migration-checklist/", "title": "Plan a CMS migration without losing key content" }, { "path": "/guides/software-total-cost/", "title": "Build the complete software cost estimate" }, { "path": "/categories/content-management/", "title": "Browse content management software" } ] }