When I came into this position I inherited some work the former tech manager had done in installing and experimenting with Drupal as a tool to replace our current CMS-less ColdFusion environment. I also quickly grew unhappy with it. I've been experimenting with MODX, which I like so far. If you're a PHP developer, MODX will be of particular interest (and PHP is a pretty common server-side technology if you worry about the bus factor). I haven't had as much time to mess with it as I'd like, but I've built some wireframes with it and so far I like it.
I second the low quality of most of the commercial, enterprise stuff. We used Cascade Server at UNM and it was absolutely wretched. It's been a long time, but when I last built a WordPress site I remember that as being easy to use and I think it's gotten more flexible/powerful. I've got a fiend who's really sold on it and HAM/TMC uses it for their website. Best regards, *Jason Bengtson, MLIS, MA* Head of Library Computing and Information Systems Assistant Professor, Graduate College Department of Health Sciences Library and Information Management University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center 405-271-2285, opt. 5 405-271-3297 (fax) *jason-bengt...@ouhsc.edu <jason-bengt...@ouhsc.edu>* *http://library.ouhsc.edu <http://library.ouhsc.edu/>* *www.jasonbengtson.com <http://www.jasonbengtson.com/>* NOTICE: This e-mail is intended solely for the use of the individual to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or otherwise exempt from disclosure. If the reader of this e-mail is not the intended recipient or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify us by replying to the original message at the listed email address. Thank You. <j.bengtson...@gmail.com> On Thu, May 15, 2014 at 8:47 AM, Jason Sherman <jsher...@usao.edu> wrote: > Joshua, > > From my perspective, the module ecosystem is the greatest strength that > Drupal has. Modularity is one of the central design goals of the system, > so if you if you want to avoid all third-party modules, you aren't going to > get any real advantage over something like wordpress. Having said that, > I've experienced module dependency hell with Drupal, and it can be > frustrating. > > I tend to take a hybrid approach. I try to limit myself to just a few > modules with any site. Things like Views, cck, chaos tools, and entity > reference are modules I use for almost any site. For functionality that is > specific to the site, I usually create a local module to store code and > configuration. I find that this kind of setup gives me the most of the > advantages of the modules, while limiting the potential for update > problems. > > Another option that a lot of people use is drupal distributions. These come > with quite a bit of customization for specific use cases ready out of the > box. I haven't used a distribution, so I can't speak to their usefulness. > I'm sure that their quality can vary just as much as modules and themes. > > Now for something completely different. Depending on what your requirements > are, you may have better luck using a narrower-purpose tool for the job. > Have you considered something like SubjectPlus? > http://www.subjectsplus.com/ > > > > On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 8:35 PM, Joshua Welker <wel...@ucmo.edu> wrote: > > > Warning: incoming wall of text. > > > > I've been working for the past several months on building a library > website > > with Drupal. This is my second try building a website with Drupal. I > chose > > Drupal for two main reasons: CCK/content types, and its ubiquity in the > > library community. > > > > Theme development was going relatively well, if a little overly > > complicated. But once I started trying to do anything beyond developing > > static pages, I have become more and more frustrated with Drupal. > > > > Drupal supports custom content types out-of-the-box, which is great, but > if > > you want to actually do anything with that custom content other than have > > it function as a plain page, you have to use the Views module. Views is > > great, but views can easily become very complicated, with custom > rewrites, > > grouping, relations, contextual filters, etc. Plus, a lot of > functionality > > in Views requires more modules (for instance, basic data manipulation). > > This is to build rather run-of-the-mill list features like a database > list > > or a list of events. And a lot of the advanced features in Views require > a > > solid understanding of SQL (groups, distinct, joins, etc), which kind of > > defeats the notion that it is easy for non-developers to administer. > > > > Now, at this point, I have modules extending my modules. And those > modules > > have multiple dependencies on other modules. I am getting worried now. It > > feels like my website is a house of cards. I've run into several > instances > > already where one of these plugins is updated and breaks compatibility > with > > the whole stack, and there is nothing to do in this case but open an > issue > > on the project tracker and pray for the best. I have looked into building > > my own modules, but the umpteen APIs and hooks required to do something > > simple as perform some regex on field data completely overwhelmed me > (and I > > am fairly experience with web app development). > > > > It's not just Views, either. Anything more complicated than static pages > > and navigation menus requires relying on the module ecosystem. > > > > Not only is the whole thing quite precarious, but it defeats one of the > two > > main purposes of a CMS: ease of administration. I want to know that if I > > get hit by a bus tomorrow, someone will be able to come in and take over > > without too much difficulty. But when I go back and look at my views, I > can > > sometimes barely understand the work I did a week ago. It is very > difficult > > to keep straight which functions are coming from which modules, and all > > those modules have separate (often poor) documentation. > > > > At this point, I am seriously contemplating dumping Drupal and moving to > a > > full-fledged framework like Django, Flask, or Laravel and adding some > > WYSIWYG CRUD controls for pseudo-CMS functionality. ActiveRecord-like > > systems are much easier to use IMO than fiddling for hours with Views, > and > > I have full control of what is happening. I honestly think it would be > just > > as easy for someone to inherit a custom-built framework app as it would > be > > to inherit my already-convoluted Drupal site. At least the framework is > > well-documented and should allow my app to be understandable to anyone > with > > some programming experience. > > > > Does anyone want to talk me off the ledge here? I know a lot of you are > > using Drupal for your websites. What are the killer features that keep > you > > using Drupal? If any of you have experience building websites using > > frameworks, what are your experiences? I really want to like Drupal, but > it > > seems to be more trouble than it's worth. > > > > -- > > Josh Welker > > Information Technology Librarian > > James C. Kirkpatrick Library > > University of Central Missouri > > Warrensburg, MO 64093 > > JCKL 2260 > > 660.543.8022 > > > > > > -- > Jason Sherman > Systems Librarian > University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma > 405.574.1340 >
