The verdict
Content management systems
We’ve decided that WordPress is the overall winner of this month’s Roundup. As often happens when comparing different pieces of software, popularity in itself brings many advantages. Any problem that crops up is usually fixable thanks to all of the advice that’s out there for WordPress. WordPress is also the leader when it comes to extensions. Thanks to that, we’d struggle to find any role that WordPress couldn’t be used for when it comes to serving up content over the internet. Whenever one of the alternatives seems to offer an advantage, the answer is usually that WordPress has a plugin that can achieve the same thing.
Ghost struck us as a highly streamlined environment for magazine-style sites that mix news posts with articles. It’s designed for the type of website that draws regular users in by using social networking integration, and unlike most CMS systems, comes with everything ready configured for an efficient workflow for this type of work. In theory, you could adapt one of the other CMSes to make it work in much the same way, but
Ghost will suit many use-cases out of the box. The flip-side is that you may need outside help when you come across something that Ghost doesn’t do by default.
Drupal feels like a more business-like version of WordPress with a great deal of customisation scope. It’s not quite the equal of
WordPress when it comes to ease of use, but we’d bet that the average user could make a few small configuration changes and post some content without having to ask for help.
It’s a shame that Joomla! hit us with a generic installation error from the get-go, because it’s certainly a powerful and extensible system. However, for day-to-day use, whether that be customising the system or posting content to the site, Joomla! gives the impression that it’s aimed at technically minded people when compared to the workflow that WordPress and Ghost offer.
ProcessWire could be used as a general-purpose CMS to selfhost a personal project site, but it’s intended to work as a framework for developers to use as a base. It’s aimed at web developers who want a clean, modern base that isn’t held back by legacy support. That’s not to say it’s unpleasant or difficult to use, but if you don’t have the web development skill-set to extend the system yourself, then one of the other choices would probably be the better bet.