Drupal 6 vs Drupal 7 Part II: What's on the Menu?

Upon looking at both iterations of the Drupal system, one of the first things you are going to notice is the difference in the header menus between 6 and 7. While it might seem like a simple thing, these menus can end up being your whole world when you use Drupal, so you want them to feel natural.

The Look

The very first thing that will strike you about looking at 7 vs 6 is that the welcome page that loads on your first use of 6 gave more information than you really needed. Usually this did nothing more than confuse new users who then had to learn enough about the program to eliminate the page. In 7, there is a clear “Add Content” link on the first page so you really don't need anything but the ability to read to get started with 7, whereas 6 tended to bury the lead, causing confusion right out of the gate.

The Feel

You'll also see increased usefulness in the menu bars at the top. 7 uses a black and gray bar, the black bar holding all the Drupal menu tasks, while the gray bar is a customizable place for you to put the items you use most commonly. Think of it like a bookmark toolbar for your Drupal system. 6 hit you right off the bat with menus that led to submenus such as Site Building, Content Management, User Managment, and Site Configuration. Naturally, if you were a new Drupal user, these menu items all sounded so similar that more often than not you were dragging your mouse around trying to figure out what menu did what.

All in all, the menu themes are more straightforward, changing words like “Users” in 6 to “People” in 7. Appearance and Content have a much more intuitive verbiage.

Not only is 7 easier to use, but as stated in our last blog on the matter, 7 is going to be updated constantly, while 6 will soon be another lost piece of software in the CMS world. This means that your site will soon start to look and feel dated if you choose to use 6. It's functionality will degrade over time, as all technology does. Your site soon will not feel as new as it once did to visitors because they have grown used to the impressive new add-ons that 7 can give your site.

The Choice

Drupal 7 is going to be much more malleable than Drupal 6. This is thanks to a flexible Application Processing Interface (API) that will give Drupal a database system that is easier to operate, which means a website that is easier to build, easier to maintain, and easier to upgrade. In short, just like dating a gymnast, you can do a whole lot more with Drupal 7 than you could with 6. And those things are a whole lot sexier.

So far we've covered some of the broad strokes in choosing between Drupal 6 vs. Drupal 7. Next time, we're going to start breaking down some of the nitty-gritty - specifically for anyone looking to run a business online, rather than just a blog.