Comments on: MSPs: Is Drupal Right for Your Site? http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/10/13/msps-is-drupal-right-for-your-site/ Managed Services & Cloud Services Blog for VARs & MSPs Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:46:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Chris Chase http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/10/13/msps-is-drupal-right-for-your-site/comment-page-1/#comment-50393 Chris Chase Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:09:39 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=4316#comment-50393 Wonder if it's comething to do with the text I was trying to post. Wonder if it’s comething to do with the text I was trying to post.

]]> By: Chris Chase http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/10/13/msps-is-drupal-right-for-your-site/comment-page-1/#comment-50392 Chris Chase Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:08:06 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=4316#comment-50392 Don't seem to be able to post on this story. Don’t seem to be able to post on this story.

]]> By: Chris Chase http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/10/13/msps-is-drupal-right-for-your-site/comment-page-1/#comment-50391 Chris Chase Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:00:22 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=4316#comment-50391 Joe, that is definitely one of the upsides, all the plug-ins. There is so many of them. What you save on dev time for site features is incredible. Tim, thanks for the plug man! All CMS apps need management, security updates, patches etc. That's the downside. This is why we offer JoomConnect SaaS, to proactively manage the sites as well as coordinating ConnectWise patches with JoomConnect. Joomla is the 800lbs gorilla in the room. Joomla 1.6 is going to be AMAZING. However, we aren't married and like being single. I like almost every CMS I've worked with. With that being said and without going into to much detail, the following CMS apps are installed on the JoomConnect dev servers right now ;) dotnetnuke Wordpress Drupal You never know.. Chris Chase JoomConnect http://www.joomconnect.com Joe, that is definitely one of the upsides, all the plug-ins. There is so many of them. What you save on dev time for site features is incredible.

Tim, thanks for the plug man!

All CMS apps need management, security updates, patches etc. That’s the downside. This is why we offer JoomConnect SaaS, to proactively manage the sites as well as coordinating ConnectWise patches with JoomConnect.

Joomla is the 800lbs gorilla in the room. Joomla 1.6 is going to be AMAZING. However, we aren’t married and like being single. I like almost every CMS I’ve worked with.

With that being said and without going into to much detail, the following CMS apps are installed on the JoomConnect dev servers right now ;)

dotnetnuke
Wordpress
Drupal

You never know..

Chris Chase
JoomConnect
http://www.joomconnect.com

]]> By: Joe Panettieri http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/10/13/msps-is-drupal-right-for-your-site/comment-page-1/#comment-50383 Joe Panettieri Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:27:57 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=4316#comment-50383 Waldo: There's a lot to be said for open source like Drupal and Wordpress, where free lego pieces essentially snap into the system... ... Waldo: There’s a lot to be said for open source like Drupal and WordPress, where free lego pieces essentially snap into the system… …

]]> By: Waldo http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/10/13/msps-is-drupal-right-for-your-site/comment-page-1/#comment-50382 Waldo Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:19:17 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=4316#comment-50382 I know Drupal's gets a lot of criticism for it's "learning curve", but seriously, it's not THAT hard to understand-- and the benefits of taking an hour or two to figure out how it works puts ENORMOUS power in your hands. You can build almost any kind of site out of drupal-- basically it has a built-in interface for any kind of dynamic content-- meaning you can include any kind of information you'd find in a database-- all formatted and displayed nicely for the web in the hands of your users in almost no time. So if you've got a list of products, or movie reviews, photographs, video clips, files, fantasy football players, polls, houses for sale, evites, or whatever the hell you want to have on your site, you can easily build a "content type" for that information, and let your users view, add, or edit (up to you) the info. You can easily modify their attributes and parameters, and how they're displayed to the user. The learning curve is essentially based on the time it takes you to realize "holy crap, I can do THAT too?!" Once it sinks in what CAN be done, it's not difficult to figure HOW to do it. There are some terms like "node" (the most basic "unit", a single instance of your content, be it ONE photograph, ONE fantasy football player, etc.) and scarier terms like "taxonomy" (basically the same thing as categories or tags for your content-- 99% of sites won't even use this), which I think it's totally worth the time to figure out if you want to realize the potential that Drupal offers. The plugin system is good too-- you basically drop in a folder, go to the administration menu and turn "on" the module, and it's automatically incorporated into Drupal's functionality. No programming to Drupal is needed (and in fact is strongly discouraged). And THAT's one to grow on! W I know Drupal’s gets a lot of criticism for it’s “learning curve”, but seriously, it’s not THAT hard to understand– and the benefits of taking an hour or two to figure out how it works puts ENORMOUS power in your hands. You can build almost any kind of site out of drupal– basically it has a built-in interface for any kind of dynamic content– meaning you can include any kind of information you’d find in a database– all formatted and displayed nicely for the web in the hands of your users in almost no time.

So if you’ve got a list of products, or movie reviews, photographs, video clips, files, fantasy football players, polls, houses for sale, evites, or whatever the hell you want to have on your site, you can easily build a “content type” for that information, and let your users view, add, or edit (up to you) the info. You can easily modify their attributes and parameters, and how they’re displayed to the user.

The learning curve is essentially based on the time it takes you to realize “holy crap, I can do THAT too?!” Once it sinks in what CAN be done, it’s not difficult to figure HOW to do it. There are some terms like “node” (the most basic “unit”, a single instance of your content, be it ONE photograph, ONE fantasy football player, etc.) and scarier terms like “taxonomy” (basically the same thing as categories or tags for your content– 99% of sites won’t even use this), which I think it’s totally worth the time to figure out if you want to realize the potential that Drupal offers.

The plugin system is good too– you basically drop in a folder, go to the administration menu and turn “on” the module, and it’s automatically incorporated into Drupal’s functionality. No programming to Drupal is needed (and in fact is strongly discouraged).

And THAT’s one to grow on!

W

]]> By: dismedia http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/10/13/msps-is-drupal-right-for-your-site/comment-page-1/#comment-50376 dismedia Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:50:13 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=4316#comment-50376 Another great alternative to Drupal is Expression Engine. While Expression Engine is not free, the fee in minimal $250, $39 a year for updates. The user interface is very intuitive. Customer support is a REAL plus as well. But like all CMS packages you do need an someone with experience to help you along. I have a MSP client who uses Expression Engine with great success. Another great alternative to Drupal is Expression Engine. While Expression Engine is not free, the fee in minimal $250, $39 a year for updates. The user interface is very intuitive. Customer support is a REAL plus as well.

But like all CMS packages you do need an someone with experience to help you along. I have a MSP client who uses Expression Engine with great success.

]]> By: Tim Beard http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/10/13/msps-is-drupal-right-for-your-site/comment-page-1/#comment-50372 Tim Beard Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:49:49 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=4316#comment-50372 Drupal's nice, and free, but so is Joomla. If you are a Connectwise type and want some serious CRM, then try Joomla and the JOOMConnect plugin, which will interface your Connectwise with your website! I don't work for them, I just got their plugin, and it's awesome! Joe, I know you keep talking about blogging about it, and you should! This is the first serious website to CRM integration for any of the major PSA tools out there! Don't know if they are planning on doing it for Drupal, but I can tell you Joomla works! Drupal’s nice, and free, but so is Joomla. If you are a Connectwise type and want some serious CRM, then try Joomla and the JOOMConnect plugin, which will interface your Connectwise with your website! I don’t work for them, I just got their plugin, and it’s awesome! Joe, I know you keep talking about blogging about it, and you should! This is the first serious website to CRM integration for any of the major PSA tools out there! Don’t know if they are planning on doing it for Drupal, but I can tell you Joomla works!

]]> By: Chris Chase http://www.mspmentor.net/2009/10/13/msps-is-drupal-right-for-your-site/comment-page-1/#comment-50371 Chris Chase Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:35:25 +0000 http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=4316#comment-50371 Drupal is a great CMS. We have some experience with it. However when we went to design our own MSP site, we chose another CMS called Joomla. We haven't launched the site site yet but it's coming soon. It's a breeze to administer and has tons of modules and extensions. Since starting work on our MSP site we have written an add-on for ConnectWise & Joomla called JoomConnect that bridges ConnectWise Contacts to Joomla Users and provides lead capture directly into ConnectWise, integration for Quick Tickets, ConnectWise Marketing Group Management and more. JoomConnect SaaS provides CMS ready, Managed Cloud Hosting, Joomla Patch Management and JoomConnect updates when ConnectWise updates are rolled out. (We use the Rackspace Cloud) Like a moth to a flame, I couldn't resist the urge to post here and say that if you're an MSP, using ConnectWise and looking for CMS. Drupal is the wrong choice. JoomConnect & Joomla is. :) Chris Chase JoomConnect | DTi http://www.joomconnect.com Drupal is a great CMS. We have some experience with it. However when we went to design our own MSP site, we chose another CMS called Joomla. We haven’t launched the site site yet but it’s coming soon. It’s a breeze to administer and has tons of modules and extensions.

Since starting work on our MSP site we have written an add-on for ConnectWise & Joomla called JoomConnect that bridges ConnectWise Contacts to Joomla Users and provides lead capture directly into ConnectWise, integration for Quick Tickets, ConnectWise Marketing Group Management and more.

JoomConnect SaaS provides CMS ready, Managed Cloud Hosting, Joomla Patch Management and JoomConnect updates when ConnectWise updates are rolled out. (We use the Rackspace Cloud)

Like a moth to a flame, I couldn’t resist the urge to post here and say that if you’re an MSP, using ConnectWise and looking for CMS. Drupal is the wrong choice. JoomConnect & Joomla is. :)

Chris Chase
JoomConnect | DTi
http://www.joomconnect.com

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