DotNetNuke and WordPress are both recognized content management systems on the market. However, compared to WordPress, DotNetNuke only powers a small percentage of websites and sometimes doesn’t even make it to the list of top 10 CMS platforms available today.
We know that popularity alone will not necessarily tell you all you need to know about the suitability of a platform. There are a couple of things to consider when choosing a content management system that will meet your design criteria and maintain your website with minimal effort or complications.
Join us as we explore what these are and compare DotNetNuke to WordPress in order to establish which one is worth your time and investment.
The Overall Learning Curve
Depending on the type of coding language you are familiar with, DotNetNuke will either be extremely easy to grasp or require you to learn a new language altogether. Despite this, the content management system is very versatile and can be utilized to create any sort of website you need.
However, the program is installed as a blank canvas and to add any type of functionality you will be required to configure added extensions manually.
If you are a .Net developer already, then setting up a new DotNetNuke installation won’t be too hard. Although, some do consider the process to be relatively time consuming, especially if you are going through all the motions for only a small website.
On the other hand, WordPress runs on PHP, a coding language almost all web developers know. This CMS platform is also appreciated for its drag and drop features which makes the need for coding almost non-existent.
Upon installation, you will be greeted by a user-friendly interface that allows you to install extra plugins and extensions with just a click of a button, making this CMS’s learning curve truly minimal.
Ease of Development and Design
WordPress has around 50,000 free plugins which help to further the functionality of the CMS’s core. If you want official plugins you can find them in the official WordPress Plugin Directory. However, feel free to try out the diverse and creative plugins made by the WordPress developer community as well.
To tweak your website’s design, you can install a new theme using the WordPress administrative tool available in the dashboard. However, if you have extra money to spend you can skip the WordPress theme directory and buy a custom made theme from online marketplaces.
Installing and adding new themes and plugins require absolutely no coding knowledge when it comes to this platform. Instead, you will only need to do a bit of research to make sure that the theme you choose will be compatible with the plugins you require.
In comparison, DNN provides customers with modules to tailor their websites for specific tasks. You can also install skins to each page which defines specific regions on it, and tweaks the page’s appearance. Ultimately, you need to either code a new module and skin or buy existing ones to install if you want to elaborate your website’s functionality or design.
SEO
DotNetNuke has credible support put in place when it comes to optimizing your website for SEO. These features include a URL rewriter, editable metadata, a menu system, an XML SiteMap, and a skinning engine.
The skinning engine allows you to use different header tags and Pure CSS designs. However, to modify page titles or descriptions, you will have to make the required edits on each individual page. Older versions of DNN also have some trouble setting up custom descriptions for certain blog pages.
Although DotNetNuke does work well to up your web ranking, managing your SEO can become a bit trickier when you are not using the latest version of this CMS.
On the other hand, WordPress offers one of the most well-known plugins to take care of all your SEO needs. Yoast SEO is extremely easy to use and gives you instant feedback on your SEO score per page posted, resulting in a higher search engine ranking.
Support
Compared to WordPress, DNN does not measure up in market share which means it does not have the large web developer community that WordPress enjoys. For DotNetNuke customers, this translates into relying less on traditional online support and rather investing in a DNN support package available on the DNN website.
In contrast, WordPress has managed to build up its developer community to such an extent that support is always readily available. You can read through countless forums, get connected on social media or get in touch on a Live Chat session. The vast knowledge shared amongst the developer collective makes sorting out any problem relatively easy.
If you want to move your website over to WordPress, WordHerd wranglers are the leading industry experts in migrating content, platforms and systems of any size, for any industry. Give us a call today. After giving you a free evaluation, we can effortlessly migrate your website over.