Monthly Archives: November 2012
Search and Replace for WordPress Databases
So if you ever want to change the name of a WordPress or Drupal site you might be in for some fun. Somewhere along the line it became acceptable to embed serialized data into the database. This seems like a great idea (?) until you do a search and replace on exported database files, and notice that many things stop working.
Using serialized data like this in the Database goes against the grain. I’m sure Dr. Codd is rolling in his grave.
Luckily I have found a very useful script that I have used many times now and it works very well for wordpress, and in theory Drupal too. It is from David Coveney and can be found here. Thanks Dave!
Drupal to WordPress? Use a Service!
I had no idea it would be so painful to convert my site from Drupal (6.x) to WordPress (3.x). A web search returns many solutions to the problem. The post I finally used was this one from Scott Anderson. It worked ok but it did not bring over any of my attached images and I had to assign categories and add some menu and page items.
I was grateful for what it did do (including dates, posts, and tags) and luckily I haven’t written many posts so it was not too bad. But if you had 100’s of posts I think I would choose a service like: gConverter – for $75 it is hard to beat.
WordPress for Blogs
So even though I rarely post on this blog, which I’m hoping to change, I have decided to switch to WordPress. Drupal is still an impressive CMS but if all you want is a blog, I believe WordPress wins hands down.
- It is more robust. Frequently when I update Drupal things break. This very rarely happens with WordPress.
- Writing posts with one or many images is much easier.
- Many more plugins to choose from. In Drupal when you are looking for a feature there might only be one option, that is in beta. In wordpress there could be 10 or 50 and most of them work fine.
- Configuration is easier.
- Upgrading is easier.
- Security is easier, if you don’t have many roles to deal with.
- WordPress appears to be faster and requires much less DB resources.
- WordPress has better Mobile options (one of the reasons I decided to switch).
- …
This is not to say that Drupal is not useful. It surely is. But unless you are in need some of their more complex features, e.g.: Views, CCK, Panels, Workflow, Permissions, Forms, etc, it is not worth the pain. There are certainly areas where Drupal shines, but for this blog I’m pleased tha I’m using WordPress now.
Who knows, maybe in three more years I’ll move back!