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This article is addressed to amateur webmasters with limited experience on administering and managing websites.

Drupal has been around for some time now, with tens of thousands of websites currently using it, including some NASA ones. There are a lot of "powertoys" which even amateur webmasters can install and configure.

The system is the produce of several core developers a very strong community which provides several add-ons (modules) which can be used for any type of website. You can use Drupal to produce static HTML websites, Ecommerce websites, community websites, blogs, discussion forums and much more.

It is highly suggested that you give it a try. It is not just any of the usual CMS systems, it is an entire platform which can be used to deliver possibly any type of website. The only real requirement is that you know HTML and CSS, so that you can modify the default template, but even this is not necessary, as you can find tens of themes (templates)

Now the only drawback for amateur users is the installation, which involves installing the core of the system and getting the database setup correctly. Those who have no previous experience of interacting with databases find the steps involved during installation too complex, when in fact it only takes 2 minutes to configure once all the system files have been uploaded to the server.

You need to consult with the company managing your domain's hosting and ask for assistance or directions on how to perform the installation steps. Installation and initial configuration of Drupal will be covered in detail on another article on this site.

Once installed, Drupal can automate the common webmaster tasks immensely, as it can be fully customised. No need to FTP into your domain in order to upload a new page. It is just a matter of filling out a form. The same applies to the navigational elements. Fill in a very simple form and add links to any navigation menu in seconds.

Additionally, all those nice features that you see on those big sites require only a couple of minutes configuring them to suit your site. For example it is very easy to have a voting poll, to incorporate RSS newsfeeds from other sites, have a personal blog, monitor your important statistics and much more.

Apart from the issues with amateur webmasters installing and configuring Drupal, the other issue those webmasters have is how to maintain the site and do the day-to-day tasks required. Depending on the modules you choose to install in addition to the default ones, the configuration process becomes a bit more complex, as each module needs to be configured individually.

Concluding, it is only a matter of getting to know the processes involved into configuring your Drupal installation and more importantly understand the concepts involved in the process. It is not as difficult as it seems to be. After the first 2 weeks of using it you will be astonished by the capabilities available.