For a few years, I used to research open source Content Management Systems [1] annually. Two years ago I stopped because I finally settled upon Drupal [2]. It's gone from strength to strength ever since and I now use it for most of my sites.

What makes it good? Well, there are plenty of other people writing reviews [3] and telling you how great it is. Here, I'm going to tell you about how you can avoid some of the mistakes I made. In other words, I may sound critical and mention some problem areas, but don't take this the wrong way. I like Drupal. It does what it says on the box and it has served my needs admirably.

Summary

Before digging into the details, here's a summary:

• You don't need a PhD - You do need to be computer literate.
• There's ample documentation - It could be better organised.
• Choose your first version wisely - Or spend more time upgrading.
• Multi-language capabilities are very good - But wait for version 6.
• Many attractive themes are available - But quality varies enormously.
• There are a huge number of modules available - Choose your modules wisely.
• Performance is OK with the core system - Take care as you scale.
• Take a look at a few other CMSs [4] just to make sure.

I'll fill out more details on each of the above points in my next bulletin.