View source for The state of open source content management systems

The state of open source content management systems (e.g. Backdrop, Drupal, WordPress)
monthly nonprofit-oriented Drupal (and sometimes Backdrop) conference calls:
* https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jFCgv4by7O0TKiwK6vKMzEhiD7JIpRXMfXZuCRcCw6I/edit
* sponsored by NTEN
* also see list of links at the bottom of that document

ATEN's Drupal distro for libraries and other space-centered groups:
* https://atendesigngroup.com/webinar/intercept-open-source-solution-event-management
* https://www.drupal.org/project/intercept
 
Backdrop 3/6
* Fork of Drupal 7 (now is at Drupal 10(?))
* Tailored for non-profits
* Upgrades to Drupal break backwards compatibility.  Backdrop has more compatibility with Drupal 7
* A lot of overlap with CiviCRM community
* Zulip chat is active
* Drupal 8 and beyond is very different - would be extremely difficult to try to port something from one of those to Backdrop
* Can still bring Drupal 7 modules over to backgrop as support continues beyond end-of-life
* Backdrop needs more developers. A lot of the developers are also interested in CiviCRM
* A lot of the larger Drupal community does not pay attention to Backdrop, but folks who are still supporting their Drupal 7 sites are starting to look toward Backdrop. Will get more attention from the Drupal community that way.
* CiviCRM has an official release on backdrop

Drupal 4/6
* Drupal & Backdrop both have (over WP)
** Publishing flows
** Structured content
** Views module
** (better) CiviCRM integration
** Can be harder to use if you just need to add content to a page

Wagtail 2/6
* Django-based CMS - https://wagtail.io/ 
* Responsive, has built-in A/B testing
* Seems easy to use on the user/content editor side; a simple front-end for that.
* Has Django's advantages built in, e.g. emphasis on security

Wordpress 4/6
* Have been feeling some of the workflow problems on WP
* Wordpress has gotten better in dealing with version control for content
* Vast resources in the WP community!
* Interesting time in WP right now: a lot of effort towards the "page builder mentality," augment core functionality, build designs out one block at a time
* Core software is moving in that direction, though more slowly in order to maintain commitment to backwards compatibility
* If you want to do lots of custom design out of the box without writing much code, WP prioritizes that
* More design controls available in WP without lots of custom code, declared through json instead
* Good for agencies who want to give clients only the options they need to build the kind of design developed for the site
* Using WP more as a platform for developing web application. With the DB behind WP, you can build a fairly sophisticated database app for the web like that. Started as a blogging platform but you can do so much more with it. Web app is not so much the focus as page builder is, but still a worthwhile consideration as a dev platform.
* Backwards compatibility commitment is a double-edged sword
* The plugins available on top of Wordpress - are there some that create more problems than they solve? How much would you recommend that clients stick with the "stock" wordpress
** i.e. having Elementor on top of Wordpress to make custom pages that look good with little to no code
** you're locking yourself into an "extensions" way of doing things, and it may be hard switching it up
** There's always going to be a niche for adding something even easier than what you get "out-of-the-box. Many of the reasons people turn to page builders like Elementor is going away as more is shipped along with Wordpress.
** New folks coming in and learning alongside those who may have not-as-up-to-date knowledge, which will effect the way forward
* Complicated with CMS in general is separating the job of the designers from the people writing the text. The various systems aren't always great at it.

Note: I wasn't able to join this group, but if people are interested in talking about challenges with Drupal 7 to 9 upgrades, I'm always happy to talk about our experience working with a variety of nonprofits on this upgrade. The monthly NTEN Drupal calls are great and I'm a regular participant. - 312-505-7461 tim@congruity.works - Tim Nafziger