Elgg Vs. Drupal

Good Day All,

I am having some issues determining whether or not to use Drupal or Elgg for what I want to accomplish.

We are looking at a content management system and my argument is that Elgg can do this and much more.

Here are my goals and from discussions with my team, they are suggesting to use Elgg, please let me know if they are incorrect :)

1) Elgg is set up to be a social networking site, which is not the primary focus of a content management system

2) Drupal allows fo publishing, editing and modification of content, not simple uploads by users within Elgg as it seems to utilize

3) Drupal allows access to this content without requiring logging in

4) Drupal has built in permission levels set both on users and assets

5) Drupal allows for the creation of closed groups and projects with controlled access which does not exist in Elgg

6) Drupal has approx 20K user supplied modules and Elgg has 1.7K (plugins)

 

  • 1. True

    2. Elgg has this

    3. Elgg has this

    4. Elgg was designed without roles if that's what you're refering to, but has permission levels for content

    5. Elgg has this

    6. Yeah

     

    So you either haven't done your research, or this is a troll post.  I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume the former.

    That said, a CMS and a Social Network Framework are different tools for different jobs.  Yes there is some overlap in functionality but the question of which to use really depends on your intended outcome.  Are you looking for a site where one or a few administrators publishes content to be consumed by a large number of viewers?  If so then a CMS is what you're looking for.  Are you looking for a site where anyone can publish content for a variable defined audience and can interact with others independently of a central authority?  Then you're looking for a social network.

  • CMS: Drupal

    Social Networks: ELGG

    If you are focused in content, Drupal is your choice. But if you need a "facebook" clone, ELGG is the right answer. What you need?

  • Matt´s answer is perfect.

  • Thanks guys, definitely not a troll post.  Currently battling it out internally here with our objectives moving forward.  

  • Excellent, well good luck and feel free to ask any followups

  • Full disclosure: I am a long time Drupal developer currently evaluating Elgg.

    That said when searching for "Elgg drupal" this post comes up and allthough it isn't a new one I'd like to share some thoughts. Please don't consider this post as an atempt to start a stupid "my stuff is better than yours" war. I don't know much about Elgg yet so I won't say anything in comparison and only post about Drupal.

    3) Drupal allows access to this content without requiring logging in
    Can be configured how you like.

    4) Drupal has built in permission levels set both on users and assets
    Drupal has fine grained controll over permissions via user defined roles and permissions that allow configurations like "[access/edit/delete/create] content of type [group/X] (if you are [the author of the content/a member of the group/the administrator of the group/...]
    The group specific permissions would come from modules such as Organic groups [1]

    5) Drupal allows for the creation of closed groups and projects ...
    Not Drupal itsself but Drupal with aditional modules. If you like to see a simple example you can download a Drupal distribution with ready to use features of a social network [2].

    6) Drupal has approx 20K user supplied modules and Elgg has 1.7K (plugins)
    Depends how you count [3] currently 24229 modules but only 7576 for the most recent major version. However these numbers don't say much. Drupal modules in comparison to e.g. Wordpress or Joomla Modules are usually smaller and more flexible. Where in Joomla you would get a single image gallery module in Drupal you would combine the functionality of five modules, each doing a very specific task which can be reused in for different features.

    Some general thoughts: As I said I don't know Elgg but since this question is similar to "should I use Wordpress/Magento to build my Blog/Shop" I can share some general thoughts:
    * Drupal is not a CMS and its less one with every new version. Instead CMF (Content Management Framework) or something like that would be more appropriate since it is a very flexible platform to build web based applications and websites.
    * Drupal is used as a social network by many small and big sites [4] and it is traditionally a strong point of Drupal. Drupal core doesn't bring a lot of social features you would have to install custom modules though.
    * Flexibility brings complexibility - If you have requirenments that is perfectly met by Wordpress/Magento/Elgg you should probably use the specific product. If your requirenments only match to some extend consider using Drupal but be aware, that it's somewhat complex and the learning curve will take some time.

    [1] https://drupal.org/project/og
    [2] https://drupal.org/project/openatrium
    https://drupal.org/project/commons
    [3] https://drupal.org/project/modules
    [4] e.g. http://www.zyxware.com/articles/2815/the-top-5-social-networking-sites-powered-by-drupal http://www.webdevtuts.net/inspiration/30-social-networking-websites-that-were-created-using-drupal/

    @dualpixel: It would be nice to know what your conclusion was.

  • Drupal is over complicated like joomla, and have read many reviews on it too, so for me elgg is the best cms not just for social networking etc but for member sites too : ) i have tried all meber style cms's to make member sites elgg kills them all and you are not forced to show the elgg logo too like oxwall etc

  • elgg is not a facebook clone. I would say diaspora is facebook clone.

  • elgg is a software that you could build an app on. I like it, it is pretty awesome!

    Rodolfo Hernandez

    Arvixe/Elgg Community Liaison

  • That said, a CMS and a Social Network Framework are different tools for different jobs.  Yes there is some overlap in functionality but the question of which to use really depends on your intended outcome.  Are you looking for a site where one or a few administrators publishes content to be consumed by a large number of viewers?  If so then a CMS is what you're looking for.  Are you looking for a site where anyone can publish content for a variable defined audience and can interact with others independently of a central authority?  Then you're looking for a social network.

    Thats all! (great matt!)