We've often discussed the value of podcasting, blogging and other web 2.0 media as a core ingredient of effective communications programs. For some, however, the implementation of these things on the IT side can be difficult.

So I thought I'd take the occasion of today's new release of Drupal (Drupal 6) to talk a bit about this.

Drupal is a content management system, or CMS, that powers websites. Our farrell kramer communications site, in fact, is powered by Drupal.

Drupal allows you to integrate standard web pages, audio, video, RSS feeds, blogging, podcasting, discussion forums, etc. All of it on one site, with the ability to search any of the content. Importantly, entering content simply requires filling out a form -- no programming needed. So it makes site updates a snap.

CMS systems like Drupal can be designed so your site looks any way you want. It's the underlying engine that's the key -- and Drupal is one of the best.

Oh, yeah. And speaking of money, Drupal's FREE. You just download the software and any modules you want, upload it to your server, and you're in business. It's part of the open source movement, in which developers work collaboratively to program and test software like Drupal.

Importantly, free doesn't mean poor quality. Drupal is one of the very best and is used by some very large organizations. Some great smaller ones too...

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