Creating my own Database Driven Dynamic website was a dream for me, yeah I know it is not that difficult, but when you want a Blog, a Powerful CMS, User Registration, Email, Forums, Comments, Access Restriction based on User Roles and bla bla bla other cool things in your website then it get little tough. The very though of making a website with all these features used to Haunt me. I think I am a good Programmer but I am a Lazy person. I do not like do same things again and again.
Not so long ago, in September last year I went to an Open Source Seminar known as OSSCamp. There I learnt about Drupal. I knew about CMS tools but I thought they are not flexible enough. Well I just gave Drupal a try, Installing it is easy. Just setup a MySQL database, Apache, PHP and copy the Drupal folder in your web server Document Root. Thats it, nothing else is required. Rest is just the configuration part. You need to learn how to customize it as per your needs.
Drupal is a very powerful and robust CMS tool. It can be customized to create website with all the features you can't even think of. It's been more than 7 Months and still I am learning how to use it :) May be I am too Dumb, but till this date I have been able to maintain 5 websites, all running on Drupal. Drupal is great for Blogging, Forums, Polls and so much.
The best think about Drupal is that it can customized to any extent. Drupal has a core which gives the power to the website and all the features are installed using additional plugins known as Modules.
Modules can be downloaded from the Drupal website. You will find Modules for each and every possible thing you can think of. Besides Modules which enrich Drupal website with lot of features there is something called as Themes. Themes basically define how your site look and how the content will be organized on the website. These themes can be modified if you know little CSS.
I can go on and on and on talking about the things which makes Drupal so good and powerful.
If you are like me ( a lazy man ) and desire to make a website, a powerful website then you should..you must..you have to give Drupal a try. I know you will love it. At first you may find it difficult to configure, but once you get the hold of it then there is no looking back. On Drupal website you will find beginners guide. Read it. If you are stuck somewhere search on their forums, someone already must have faced that similar problem and in most cases you will find the answer on the Drupal website.
Try Drupal and Have fun!