#  Compare Platforms 

 



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##  Which Platform is Right for Me? 

We offer two platforms (Drupal or WordPress). The platform chosen will depend on which platform best meets the needs for your site, or based on School requirements. All sites must comply with [Terms of Use](https://hwp.harvard.edu/terms-use).

 

 



##  HarvardSites Drupal 

 



Our Drupal platform is meant for Schools, departments, centers, initiatives, and academic profile (faculty) websites. It is our Enterprise-class offering and can serve virtually any type of site.



 

 

##  HarvardSites WordPress 

 



Best suited for smaller sites, such as Academic Profiles (individual faculty sites), event landing pages, blogs.



 

 

 

 

##  Feature Comparison 

SortFeaturesHarvardSites DrupalHarvardSites WordPressSupport

Online documentation, training, service desk support (provided by HUIT)

Online documentation, training, service desk support (provided by CampusPress)

Platform Updates – Regular security and platform updates

Yes

Yes

Site Visibility Options

Public, Anyone with the Link, Site Members, HarvardKey protected, or specific Harvard groups (Grouper integration)

Public, Site Members Only

Site Login with HarvardKey

Yes

Yes

User Roles

Please refer to the [HarvardSites Drupal User Guide](https://drupal.harvardsites.harvard.edu/)

Please refer to the [HarvardSites WordPress User Guide](https://wordpress.harvardsites.harvard.edu/)

Data Security for up to Level 2 Data

Yes

Yes

URL Structure

facultyname.scholars.harvard.edu, sitename.hsites.harvard.edu

sites.harvard.edu/sitename

Custom harvard.edu Domains

Yes

Yes

Accessibility

Themes are vetted for accessibility.However, site owners are responsible for accessibility compliance of their content

Themes are vetted for accessibility.However, site owners are responsible for accessibility compliance of their content

Design Interface

Drupal Layout paragraphs

WordPress block editor (a.k.a, Gutenberg)

Flexible layout options

Yes

Yes

Design system-managed Harvard theme variations

Yes

Yes

Design Customizations

Design modifications are managed by schools/units and HWP’s Design System

Design modifications will be managed by schools/units and HWP’s Design System

Taxonomy (Tagging)

Supports custom and faceted taxonomy (tagging of content)

Supports simple categories to tag posts

Duplicating and Cloning

Clone websites, pages, and components

Clone websites, pages, and blocks

Import and Export

Future release

Yes

Supports Google Analytics (GA4) and Google Tag Manager (GTM)

Yes

Yes







 

##  Additional Features 

Sort Additional Platform FeaturesHarvardSites DrupalHarvardSites WordPressPeople Profiles (Directory)

Yes

Yes

Blog/Announcements/News

News/Announcements functionality

Blog functionality

Calendar/Events

Yes

Yes

Classes/Courses

Yes

No

Publications

Yes. Dynamically add, tag, and display publications

No. Publications can be displayed as a static list on a page

Resources

Yes. Files, hyperlinks, and documents can be tagged and filtered

No. Lists of resources can be displayed as a static list on a page

FAQs

Yes

Yes

Post scheduling

Future Release

Yes

Online forms – Allows embedding forms created in Qualtrics, Microsoft Forms, and Google forms

Yes

Yes

Site Portfolio Management

Yes. Supports governance across groups of sites

No