One (if not the most) important subject in any CMS is going to be creating content. You want to be able to allow you user to create content quickly and efficiently, while at the same time the developer wants control over how the content is going to be displayed in the front end.

Creating content in Drupal

Creating content in Drupal is very straight forward and I really like how they explain each default section. Immediately you can tell Drupal is not worried about winning the Blog wars since they do not even have a blog option as part of their default system. Although you can use the “story” as a blog post (“and informal blog-like entries may all be created with a story entry. By default, a story entry is automatically featured on the site’s initial home page, and provides the ability to post comments.”) and they also have a Blog module but is not one of their default settings.

Here is the default view for a Page in Drupal, straight forward that allows you to enter the Title and Body of the page. One draw back on this default interface (at least in my point of view) is the simplicity of the page, we do want simplicity but right of the back you cant upload pictures or have a pretty interface that you can use to edit test, which a lot of people have been accustomed to. Again, that is my point of view as if I were to give this application to a client as it is they probably would feel the same way.

On this page you can also allow the page to be part of the main menu or leave as is and you can enter HTML (something that can be changed and more about that in a different post)

You also get to create the revisions for that specific page and view/revert in the future if you desire to do so.

It is important to note that as these settings are optional and you can turn them on or off depending of your specific needs for the content. You also get a preview of the page with all the edit section at the bottom of the preview and then you can save to make your page live.

Creating content in WordPress

WordPress is a content-creation machine, as soon as you login to the dashboard you can do a quick-post which is similar layout to what you find in Drupal but immediately you are able to also upload media such as images, video, sound or media in general. Right away you can tell why WordPress is so “loved” in the blogging community.

But again, I need to create a page and that is one of the options in the main navigation bar. Create pages is 2 clicks away (1. Pages and 2. Add New)

Some of the features in WordPress is that you have the usual interface when creating content even with spell check. Which it was not available by default in Drupal. Also you are able to switch from Visual and HTML for the users who want to take advantage of that functionallity.

Another nice feature is that WordPress will save Drafts as you are editing your Pages, which allows you to keep the content you are working with in case something goes wrong with your computer, lose internet connection or are in the run.

You also are able to upload media in this section and create custom fields. Custom fields are used for more advanced site layouts that need this extra information to make your layout unique. Here is some information about custom fields. Can we create custom fields in Drupal? Absolutely but we are just covering the default behaviors in WordPress at the moment.

One more thing that WordPress does well, is providing feedback and information that to some might be overwhelming but that it is informative for the user such as word count and when the last draft was saved.

You can preview your changes which will be launched in a new page with your theme in a very realistic manner. Drupal does something very similar but all the editing tools live under the items you are reviewing.

Continue to WordPress VS Drupal User Management