I will probably stop cross posting my entries to the Drupal blog. I will however continue to test it for making web pages since that is the original purpose. I am however seeing that it is very inadequate as a blog when there are superior products like Wordpress out there.
Other quirks (issues) when using Drupal's blog.
1. Viewing posts.
I don't know why I didn't notice it earlier, but the titles of my posts in Drupal are not capitalized even though I typed them that way. Yes, I'm sure there is a configuration setting somewhere to fix that buy please tell my why would they program it to do that? It seems idiotic.
In Wordpress, the post titles and their corresponding categories appear as you entered them or as you edit them.
2. Posts are not automatically organized in Drupal so the URLs look messy.
In Drupal, I enter a name of how a post should appear in the URL. You'd think I'd like it. Well, I don't.
It isn't elegant and it makes my posts look like an advertisement.
In Wordpress I can choose to view my posts' URL in different ways using the administrative options and then they will automatically appear using that method.
I currently have it set to file posts by date and name which I consider to be elegant. Better yet, it is automatic once set.
3. What happens
Ok so I filed my last post in Drupal as 'drupalwordpress2' and I logged out to see how it would look to a visitor. So far so good except my Google ads in the content were weighted to be one above and one below the posts and well they are both below. *pulls on hair in frustration*
I saw a summary of the posts I've made and I think well it isn't so bad is it?
And just think the people in the Drupal forum when I searched for Wordpress said that a plug in 'wasn't needed since Drupal did it all, well I disagree. Dupal seems to be a nice and flexible system but Wordpress has beaten it so far on every round!
Anyway, I digress. I clicked on the post and first I notice that the sidebars disappeared! That's right, one moment I see my recent blog entries with the sidebars and the next they are gone by a single click to view the post. Yes, I know that there is probably a setting I need to check to have the sidebars NOT disappear but again I ask WHY 'on God's green (and blue) Earth' would it be by default set up to do that?
It isn't as if the post takes up the entire space because it doesn't I have the post in the content area and a big empty space where the sidebars should be. It isn't logical.
Let's say that someone visits the Drupal version of the log and reads this post but wants to read another or see other related posts (still not categories but Drupal with modules does have a recent post option for sidebars).
Since the sidebars are no longer visible, the visitor can't see the other posts and will most likely leave the site completely.
That is a blogger's nightmare!
Configuring the sidebars in Drupal vs. Wordpress
1. Adding items to the sidebar in Wordpress
Ok, almost everything in Wordpress can be added to a sidebar using a widget or through the option menu.
Widgets are great because you can drag and drop them in the Presentation menu so that they appear in the order that you want them to. It is fast and easy.
2. Adding items to the sidebar in Drupal
It really feels like pulling teeth when compared to Wordpress, but it is still easier than coding a 'sidebar' on a normal HTML page.
I had to go to the 'sitebuilding menu' and then choose 'blocks'. This is where you go in Drupal to configure the positioning of Google ads and all the other stuff. As I mentioned before, you don't have direct control over the order in which the items appear except through their 'weight'. You can set the weight of an item and in which section it should appear then cross your fingers and hope it puts everything in the correct order.
In the 'blocks' section I have to select an item from the list, choose a section to put it in through a menu and then save it. Then I can choose some settings and save again.
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