Extensions
Beyond the defaults, to what degree can you add features easily?
Extensions can be a lifesaver when there’s an additional feature that you need to offer. That said, employing extensions isn’t always ideal because they can add performance and maintenance overheads. If you’re having to massively expand the CMS with extensions, it might be worth considering a system that’s closer to your needs by default.
WordPress has a massive number of extensions available. This means it can turn its hand to any kind of content management role you can think of. WordPress extensions are browsed and installed from within the admin panel, and the listings include reviews and ratings. Extensions that exist outside the official ecosystem can also be added to WordPress, but this has to be done manually.
Drupal and Joomla! take a similar tack to each other when it comes to the extension system. Both systems rely on the official website to organise and make available extensions (which Joomla! terms ‘modules’). In both cases some of the internal functionality is implemented using extensions and they both ship with a number of smaller extensions that are disabled by default. However, we felt that Joomla! had the edge in this area in terms of how well organised the site is and the sheer number of commercial and free extensions.
Ghost doesn’t rely heavily on the extensions concept because it’s already well-featured in the type of role it’s optimised for: magazine and news type sites. However, it can be extended with both commercial and free add ons, and there is a marketplace area of the official site. Most of these extensions are focused on integrations with social media and the like rather than adding new functions as such. It’s possible you could run into a brick wall if you have a niche requirement because Ghost may not have the extension to do it.
We were pleasantly surprised that the ProcessWire extension ecosystem is a healthy one with a few hundred extensions, but it’s worth remembering that WordPress, Joomla! and Drupal have thousands of plugins. They tend to be well-documented, but there are no reviews or ratings, and they need to be manually installed.