Drupal vs. Mambo

[Ian]

For anyone here who has used both, which one do you prefer?

Ian

[uca]

So far...Drupal! (by far)

[jared]

Overal I would say Drupal is a bit more powerful and the PHPtemplate engine it can use is great. But Mambo seems to be a bit more user friendly and is 'easier on the eyes'.

Both of them are really powerful. Drupal's website is much easier to navigate (for themes/modules) compared to mambo's.

I have tried them both, but neither seems to be what I needed :(

[uca]

I have tried them both, but neither seems to be what I needed


Well that's the problem with CMSs. It takes a lot of time to get used to a system for a good judgement.
One of thte things I value better is the ease of use. I think it's one of the most important factors as the main point of using a CMS is saving time so if it's hard to learn you are going to risk wasting so much time and then maybe realizing that it doesn't suit your needs enough and have to move on...
Well Drupal looks easy, Mambo looks fairly complicated, that's my impression.

Anyway I find Drupal better than Mambo for your eyes too!:)

[Shoemoney]

drupal is great.

[subseo]

Prefer for what? I guess mambo is better for some websites, drupal for others. I have only used Drupal so far, but IMHO Drupal is more used for community websites and Mambo for content websites, which is of course just general difference and doesn't prevent you to use it vice versa.
First you need to know what you want, than decide on which CMS will fit best.

[Shoemoney]

Prefer for what? I guess mambo is better for some websites, drupal for others. I have only used Drupal so far, but IMHO Drupal is more used for community websites and Mambo for content websites, which is of course just general difference and doesn't prevent you to use it vice versa.
First you need to know what you want, than decide on which CMS will fit best.


I think that is a great mini review... well said

[Abilnet]

Hello :)

Sorry for this quite similar post of an other post of mine, but I feel this is relevant here as well.

So, during the years, I've personally tested several CMS-systems and decided to use Mambo for many of my sites ( onlineloantoday.com for example)... why? ...a lot of free templates and components available, easy to set up, configure etc. Mambo is actually quite a good choise, if you're on shared hosting and want to do most things just by a couple of mouse clicks. However, Mambo has its limitations (no multi-site features or "real" user permissions, for example) and it's quite hungry for server resources. It's also a sort of nightmare to maintain tens of different installations with Mambo.

After about two active years with Mambo our team decided to change from Mambo to Drupal ( drupal.org )... it's far more professional and flexible... and most important, from our developers point of view, it's superior with clear and well documented API's, quality code etc... (it means, you have a great platform and codebase to build some professional extensions, special features etc.)

With Drupal, you can set up several sites with only one installation ...think about that, when you have tens of sites and security holes are found almost daily! ...what about then, when you quickly need to uppdate some additional components / modules / themes... you actually face a lot of work in Mambo - in Drupal you do it only once.

With Drupal, you can (if you want to) use the same log-in-details for different sites... in some cases it opens quite interesting possibilities.

Drupal has also SEO-friendly URL's out of the box... for Mambo, you need to buy a commercial component from a core developer or use labor-intensive free ones.

Someone mentioned, that Drupal is focused on communities... you're right... however, it does not mean, you can't use Drupal for content sites. Actually, Drupal is a great choise also for content sites. I can't imagine Mambo as a natural community building system, though.

When talking about user profiles and permissions to different parts of the site, Mambo is actually a joke... on the other hand, Drupal is the opposite... it's so easy to set up and fine tune different user-roles and give them some permisssions etc... what a power.

However, Drupal is not the easiest one to set up and learn and realize all the possibilities... and to get the most out of it, it's a good idea to have a dedicated server.

Hope this helps :)

[RectangleMan]

First time looking at Drupal for me. It's excellent looking. I can't stand Mambo. I tried to use it and the interface is just impossible.

[aboyd]

I used Drupal and found it too dull to bother with. I used Mambo and found it to be too sexy with not enough substance.

In the end, I settled on 3 things.


On one site, I use phpBB as a CMS -- posts are automagically turned into content pages.
I use Movable Type for a corporate site (agitar.com).
I use Textpattern for most new deployments. It's sorta halfway between being just a blog system and a CMS, and it works just fine for me.


Although I'm very green with Textpattern, I've started using it because I dislike the other systems I've tried. Anyway, that's probably not too helpful, since you've asked for Drupal vs. Mambo. But "none of the above" might be an answer worth noticing.

-Tony

[TwisterMc]

Good topic. I've always wondered which is better and it looks as if Drupal is winning so far.

[RectangleMan]

I used Drupal and found it too dull to bother with. I used Mambo and found it to be too sexy with not enough substance.

In the end, I settled on 3 things.


On one site, I use phpBB as a CMS -- posts are automagically turned into content pages.
I use Movable Type for a corporate site (agitar.com).
I use Textpattern for most new deployments. It's sorta halfway between being just a blog system and a CMS, and it works just fine for me.


Although I'm very green with Textpattern, I've started using it because I dislike the other systems I've tried. Anyway, that's probably not too helpful, since you've asked for Drupal vs. Mambo. But "none of the above" might be an answer worth noticing.

-Tony

Funny cuz I sort of do the same thing. I can pretty much explode phpbb into a full cms. I think MT is pretty decent but screw perl. Do they have a php version yet? I actually bought my own CMS called Cigmas that I am upgrading...it's a video game CMS but it has potential for a lot more. I have clients using it to and so the CMS will eventually not only pay for itself, but I can use it as often as I want for my own sites.

I stopped really using CMS's about 2 years ago. My core programs are OSC, PHPBB, and Cigmas now. I can throw in others too like coppermine for a gallery and I would rather put together custom parts than run an open source CMS that I have to upgrade all the time. It's bad enough upgrading phpbb monthly (those bastards).

[aboyd]

Yeah, MT works, but it's inelegant. I consider Textpattern to be a more modern, PHP version of MT.

You know, you can use EasyMod to push those phpBB upgrades through real quick. Or use the patch files -- those are great for sites which have been heavily modded, because the patch tool can use what it calls "fuzz" to figure out what code to change.

(Oh, uh, sorry, we're veering OT.)

-Tony

[TwisterMc]

Don't mean to get off topic, but does anyone now a good site that compares CMS systems?

[aboyd]

http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

-Tony

[TwisterMc]

Thanks for the link. ;)

[greentwinkie]

http://opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
Hey, they're using Mambo! :) . I have to say it's my favorite too.

As for comparing CMS I prefer http://cmsmatrix.org/ ; much more detailed.

[aboyd]

Yeah, that's good, but they have a glaring hole. They do not list TextPattern, which is one of the best CMS engines out there right now. Still, it's interesting to pit Mambo against Movable Type and WordPress, just to see old-school versus sorta-new-school.

http://textpattern.com/

-Tony

[Abilnet]

Some additional ideas when comparing Drupal vs. Mambo... these quick opinions are based on years with Mambo, Drupal and other CMS - these are also some of the reasons why our team (some of them High End developers) changed from Mambo to Drupal as development platform.

Use Mambo when:
* you don't know about the tech stuff at all
* you want easy install & setup with your mouse
* you don't want to learn the tool you're using
* you don't need to integrate other scripts etc. to your site
* you want a candy site and don't mind several other sites using the same template(s)
* you don't need SEO out of the box
* you don't care about server resources
* you're running (or planning to to run) only one or max a couple of sites
* you don't need one log-in to several sites
* you don't need user groups & permissions
* you don't run membership site(s)

Use Drupal when:
* you want a rock solid & high quality platform for your sites
* you want or need a real multi-site-feature (only one installation for several sites)
* you need any kind of user groups & user permissions
* you need to run also membership- and community sites, not only CMS etc
* you want a Powerful templating system
* you're ready to invest a bit of your time in order to realize all the huge possibilities of Drupal
* you understand the meaning of clear, high quality code and API (easy to integrate with other solutions etc)
* you want flexibility and don't like limitations

Well.. there are a lot more reasons, but these for starters.. hope you got the idea :D

PS. I'm not saying Mambo has no use... actually, I'm still using it for several old sites of mine, why change if it works. All the new sites go to Drupal, though ;)

[elavenil]

i installed mambo on some site it is very easy and i like it, i never used drupal

[Old Welsh Guy]

Ok So without taking it off topic, what are the thoughts on xoops?

[aboyd]

In a topic about Drupal and Mambo, isn't xoops off-topic by definition?

(Talk all about xoops, no problem. It just seems like you have to file that under OT.)

-Tony

[webwright]

Drupal for Community and Mambo for Content seems to be oversimplifying a bit.

I have a Drupal stravel ite that has zero community aspect, but has relatively complex taxonomy-- i.e. there is a multi-level heirarchy of content and pages can have multiple parents/categories...

Mambo definately seems a little more pretty (out of the box) but if you have a web designer with some artistic skills handy, you can make a Drupal site awful pretty.

My site is http://www.craftytraveler.com , by the way.

[longroad]

Ok So without taking it off topic, what are the thoughts on xoops?

Maybe the original poster hasn't heard of xoops, so its not really off topic.
I was going to mention it too, I use it and although a little confusing at first, its powerful and full of features. I dont like mambo, but really like xoops.

[Jiraiya]

I want to add my opinion about the support you get from the community since no one often talks about this. Both are open source CMS and much of the support are dependent on the community who uses it.

When just comparing Drupal and Mambo, Drupal has a much weaker community of helpers than Mambo. Almost half the questions on the Drupal forum topics relating to operating Drupal does not even get a reply. Even more do not get solved.

[a3196]

I agree with Jiraiya...

I use mambo for several sites and I like them.....

If you want to make contents driven site, Mambo works great.. and Their forum is also great.. I got reply within a minute....just like DP...

And they also have many 3rd party developers and making template is also easy....

[programmer]

i have used both - Mambo is an advance CMS which needs lots of efforts to use it whereas durpal has less options but easy to use - now the choice is urs

[revenow]

One nice thing about Drupal is it's code is clean and lightweight. Between the two, I prefer Drupal

[802networks]

I've tried a ton of different CMS systems and i've stuck with Mambo. I think what got me was once I actually figured out how to use it. I had installed it in the past, and gave up quickly as I didn't really know how to setup the sections and cateogories and content etc. But after playing with a few others CMS systems, I decided to go back and try it again. After about 3 days of fooling around (and 2 re-installations), I was amazed at how easy it was to configure, customize, and design.

The ability to add new components and modules by simply submitting a zipfile from an admin page was great.

Now that I've added 404 SEF it looks like I have everything the way I want it.

[SirNot]

Drupal by far. I've tried both out and found Mambo like a maze; there's just so many things on it it took me something like three whole minute to figure out where on earth one would blog, let alone changing content around. I also dislike sites which overdo on the 3D graphics, something which Mambo and its admin panel is really big on.

[802networks]

Does Drupal have decent SEO options? When I was searching around most people said to stay away for that reason. Similar to PHPNuke.

[swd]

Well, if I were to choose between thouse two I would go with Mambo

[programmer]

One nice thing about Drupal is it's code is clean and lightweight. Between the two, I prefer Drupal

yeah i ^agree^ with you - durpal has much neat and clean code when one can understand simply.

[Abilnet]

Does Drupal have decent SEO options? When I was searching around most people said to stay away for that reason. Similar to PHPNuke.

Actually, Drupal is superior in SEO (our Development Team recently changed our future development(s) from Mambo to Drupal - and SEO was just one of the reasons for that)

For those who're interested, there's some fresh "Drupal vs. Mambo" -information available at Xaneon Development:
http://xaneon.com/

[Imran]

I have used many different types of CMS, Recently strted using Mambo as well as drupal, I like mambo for its simplsity where as drupal wins by alrge margin just becuase of its eas of use and good urls!
It has forum/blog/story/static pages.... and so onnnnnnnnnnnnn
My vote is for Drupal for time being...

[aeiouy]

My only complaint with drupal is its forums and because of that no real integration with other forums. I had a project I was going to use Drupal for, but had to scrap it because the forums just didn't give me what I needed.

I am going to be using it on another project soon, and I really like a lot of things about it.. I just wish it had a more robust forum system or integration for other packages.. I would use it for everything.

[mark1]

DRUPAL is so easy to pick up!

Like others in previous posts, I installed mambo first, as when I tested and saw the power behind the system I just loved it...

But once installed, I tried to figure it out... it was taking too long so gave up on that attempt.

Drupal was not as easy to install as mambo - slightly technical... but once I figured it out and after ironing out the errors (about 2-3 hours of work), the modules, the themes and the overall simplicity of the whole CMS is it's strength. I see mambo as a bloated giant - it think mambo is a drain on system resources.

[subseo]

I have found Drupal very easy to install manually, no errors at all, and I'm not any php nor server guru, just followed the procedure. Of course, installing it over CPanel is much easier, but they deliver important security updates weeks late, so after CPanel install, you have to settle on manual updates anyway. What takes some time, though, is to setup all options to change Drupal from the community/news/blog site preset into seo friendly content site (if you don't want to have community or news site of course).

I wish there was an automatic update feature, like Simple Machines forum script for example has. Complete agreement with aeiouy, Drupal forums are rather useless for something serious.

[Zapita]

On one site, I use phpBB as a CMS -- posts are automagically turned into content pages.

what phpbb mod are you using for that?? i want to do this for a game board, basically the board community is more important but still want to have some news and add games stats and stuff (or if someone can recommends something better))

[danzarrella]

I've used drupal on a few sites and found it is simpler and it feels a bit more flexible, Mambo on the other hand I'm using on one site right now and it feels more robust and high end, but of course therefore a bit more tricky to modify.

Drupal's SEO seems fair, clean urls and such, nothing super-fantastic-great

I'll post more about mambo as I work with it more.

[aboyd]

what phpbb mod are you using for that?? i want to do this for a game board, basically the board community is more important but still want to have some news and add games stats and stuff (or if someone can recommends something better))
http://www.outshine.com/phpbbblog/

Since it's my own mod, I've heavily modded my mod for use on various sites. :) In some cases, it doesn't look very bloggy at all.

-Tony

[*Michael*]

I've used MAMBO a lot and I really liked it.

But I could never get javascript to work within MAMBO content so this is a downside to it.

Besides I think it's a very easy CMS to learn.

[freshprince]

I have used both and i like Mombo / Joomla best..
I have it integrated with my VBulletin 3.5 forum to share the same database.
http://www.secfanatics.com/index/

[bluemamba]

Mambo for now, next Joomla then Drupal!

Abilnet has written an excellent review on this topic at this address: http://xaneon.com/content-management-systems/drupal-vs-mambo.html

It’s a perfect easy to understand explication on Drupal vs Mambo.
I’m using Mambo for now but I’m keeping an eye on Drupal. Mambo was recommended by a friend of mine as a perfect & fast out of the box CMS website and so it is!
Still, there are some things about Mambo I really hate. The departure of all the Mambo development members after the big money fuzz… the new “Real Open Source” Joomla project. This is the wind of change and the real question is in which side we’ll stand.
I like Mambo, is “wife friendly”, even my girlfriend runs a nice website on Mambo. The only problem with Mambo is the mess in the code area. Maybe the future versions will be “cleaned” a little bit, if not, I’ll go Joomla.
Joomla will not be for long a “copy” of Mambo, the development team is making critical changes in the future release. So, I hope “the new and improved Mambo” will be Joomla!
But for sure, in the far away future I’ll be Drupal! Give it a little time; at the end of 2006 all this aspects will be cleared up for me. (I hope so).

[wonderful2008]

Drupal is the best one