Drupal vs. Sharepoint

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Drupal vs. Sharepoint

by
Harry Bartlett

Comparing Drupal vs. Sharepoint

What follows is a comparison of using either SharePoint or Drupal to build an online community.

1. Feature Comparison Table

FEATURE DESCRIPTION SHAREPOINT DRUPAL
User Experience The ability to customize the design (look & feel, user interface) and overall user experience. No Yes
Security The ability to make the application secure Yes Yes
Mobile Optimally display the site on various mobile devices No Yes
Categories Poster categories and sub-categories as well as tags Yes Yes
Rating The ability to rate (with stars) Posters No Yes
Commenting The ability to post comments, threaded comments, and view comments at a later date Yes Yes
Most Popular The ability to display a short list of most popular or most viewed posters No Yes


2. Third Party Reviews
Here are comments by developers who have used both SharePoint and Drupal.

Comments from the Blue Coda web agency

  • SharePoint is a closed system, building in desired features and functions requires a workaround in almost every case.
  • Microsoft's own recommendation is that the interface NOT be customized but used as is. Many former colleagues of ours have also found that Sharepoint's approach to templating to be quite inflexible and limiting.
  • While SharePoint does sit on a SQL database, it is not accessible or exposed to users. Instead SharePoint relies on the concept of lists, which are not a good substitute for the power of a relational database.
  • ​SharePoint requires a lot of time, effort and expense to kick it into shape as a website content management system.

Comments from the Media Current agency on using SharePoint vs. Drupal or another content management system.

  • Settingup a local development environment is difficult and expensive.
  • Setting up an efficient development/deployment process is cumbersome.
  • Theming SharePoint is extremely difficult.
  • Many SharePoint modules (aka webparts) are quirky and don't work as expected.
  • Lists and libraries are quirky and also often do not work as expected.
  • ​SharePoint is slow and does not give you real access to the database that powers it.

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About the author

Harry started BI in 1998 and focuses on integrating best practices in branding, user experience design, Internet marketing, and technology to increase the value of an online presence.
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