The newest Drupal content management system (CMS) is a powerful tool for web developers and designers but falls short compared to competing programs. For an open source solution, Drupal offers most of the popular features you would expect to find in a robust CMS; yet, it also has major shortcomings. The disadvantages of the Drupal system include a steep learning curve for new users, a strong demand for high resource computing power, and a general lack of several key features that many users require.
Steep Learning Curve
The complexity of the Drupal program is not a problem for experienced web designers, but others will take time to become productive using it. While Drupals’ user interface offers an array of tools that create sophisticate web pages, learning how to efficiently put them to use is a struggle for some. For inexperienced developers, the interface is overwhelming and difficult to navigate. Knowledge of similar programs is practically essential prior to working with Drupal. Drupal is difficult to learn from scratch and, at the same time, less effective compared to more user friendly systems.
Drupal is a Drain on Computing Resources
Drupal requires large amounts of RAM and a hearty CPU to operate effectively. If you are installing Drupal for the first time or upgrading from a less robust CMS, upgrades to your computer’s memory and possibly the processor may be required and can be expensive. Inefficient memory management is a serious problem for high traffic sites and can cause errors and server crashes during peak hours. Obviously, frequent site crashes, at the busiest times, are not going to make your site visitors very happy.
Drupal Lacks WYSIWYG Editing
Users prefer “What you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) functionality since it is easier to use than pure HTML; however, WYSIWYG text editing options are not a default feature of Drupal and inexperienced user will want to avoid Drupal for that reason. Modules are available that add WYSIWYG functionality, but they require your computer to have even more RAM memory (see above). Other CMS applications offer integrated WYSIWYG without requiring more power.
No User Subscriptions
Asking site visitors to subscribe is and effective way to collect email addresses to which you can send future marketing messages. Many sites create a monthly or quarterly newsletter for that exact purpose. Drupal does not offer the ability to register “members.” To accomplish that, it must integrate a third party solution, Ubercart.
Shopping Cart
Like User Subscriptions, Drupal does not off an integrated shopping cart, and again, Ubercart is their preferred solution.
Multimedia
Drupal does not offer full multimedia support out-of-the box. Instead, developers can choose between several video and podcasting modules from Drupal’s partners. Even creating basic photo galleries requires that you combine several different third party modules.
Event Calendars
Many companies want to announce upcoming events to site visitors. The leading solutions feature a robust Event Calendar that allows you to enter an upcoming event and schedule when it will appear on the site. Drupal offers some basic functionality for event calendaring, but nothing that compares to other popular solutions.
Document Management
Making documents available for download, such as white papers, product data sheets, and marketing collateral, in the popular formats including PDFs and Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint) files is considered a “must- have” feature; yet, Drupal is very weak in document management. An effective solution requires, again, that you utilize 3rd party technology.
Commercial Community
Don’t expect a lot of help from Drupal’s commercial business partners, especially smaller companies. The few that are available focus on supporting larger companies. If you are successful in locating a good vendor, be prepared to pay large company rates.