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]]>Over the years, there has been something that stood the test of time and continued to be one of the most popular platforms on the internet regarding content management: Drupal.
In this article, we’re going to discuss the use cases of Drupal and how it helped many different websites to manage content and customize their designs. Then, we will talk about some of the basic mechanisms behind the technology and a few resources where people can learn how to use the platform.
Drupal is essentially a content management system (CMS). What it does is that it allows users to publish, structure, and manage content on the website. There are many tools and features within Drupal, such as when a user uses it as a central component of their digital experience platform where it can be integrated into other platforms like social media and analytics tools.
Below are some common features found in Drupal, most of which are easy to learn and apply to design and create a website.
One of Drupal’s most popular features is the layout building tool that doesn’t require the user to learn how to code. It offers a bunch of templated layouts and drag-and-drop UI for organizing and placing content on the page.
Drupal supports a wide range of media formats, be it from local files or embedded videos and images from outside sources like YouTube and Imgur.
As a content manager, scheduling the content for publishing is one of the most important things to consider when using a CMS tool since you don’t have to worry about forgetting if you published the right content at the right time. With a scheduler feature, you can simply upload the content, and it will be published to your preferred date and time.
Drupal’s theme system tool lets users customize how the website will look to visitors to create a more personalized and creative look for the page. Some brands establish specific guidelines on the website, so having a customizable theme system is a huge plus.
Unlike other complicated content management systems that require users to rely on HTML and manual coding heavily, Drupal has a feature that allows users and creatives to customize their content and preview their progress along the way.
Advanced search interfaces are now one of the most popular customizable user experience features, especially among companies with product listings that also need a tool that allows them to integrate third-party content.
While mainly used to publish and manage content for the public to see, CMSs like Drupal can also be used for private content that allows multiple users to access content in one place. This is pretty useful for collaborative projects and teams.
Many websites are employing features that allow visitors to interact with the website. For instance, content personalization can be made possible for users who log into their website. A great example of this is when a feature in the website integrates Google maps to perform GPS tracking for services like deliveries and directions.
For companies looking to rank their websites on Google for specific keywords and pages, Drupal is flexible enough for content managers to organize necessary SEO tools and metadata management. This is great for marketers who are on a mission to raise brand awareness.
As mentioned before, Drupal’s flexibility makes it an appropriate CMS for large projects that are commonly built by corporations and institutions. Some necessary features that these types of websites need are distributed publishing workflows and corporate branding. With Drupal’s fully customizable theme system and a plethora of templated content, a corporate or institution-specific style of branding can be achieved.
Many people use Drupal for its flexibility and tools that allow for customizable content. One of the many reasons for people to also build their content using this platform is the fact that it’s open-source, meaning the public can modify the changes in the platform because the design can be accessed without restrictions and not under any specific entity.
At its core, Drupal is a community-based platform. The programming language that Drupal is built on top of is PHP, which is the programming language that about 80% of all known websites are made of. This is pretty convenient since the integration of third-party content is an important feature of Drupal.
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]]>Drupal has acquired several sites and services throughout its development to support its growing functionality plug-ins and documentation process, such as Dreditor and Drupal Ladder.
In this article, we’ll list some of the tools that make up the entirety of the Drupal ecosystem and how they work to serve the overall function of Drupal as a platform.
The Drupal platform is tied to Symfony, PHP-programmed reusable components and framework. Essentially, this platform is where Drupal is built upon. Because of this interconnectedness of the two platforms, major changes in Symfony will affect Drupal. For instance, back in November 2021, Drupal had to end the support for Drupal 8 because Symfony was also moving to Symfony 4.
It’s important to know the basic things you can do within Drupal as a user, so it’s best to start with a resource page that gives you the information you need to understand the Drupal ecosystem.
Drupalcode.org is a digital repository site where anything following the development of Drupal-related content is documented. It is built on GitLab. This repository is also where all the changes of Drupal are stored, including the previous iterations of the platform and how the usage of each tool is documented to work on third-party platforms.
The security advisory page of this repository also includes the RSS page that allows users to subscribe and start receiving announcement emails.
Drupal employs a modular approach to its services, which means the users only need to integrate and activate the modules they need for their project, essentially eliminating all the unnecessary features that are not needed. This approach is convenient since adding unnecessary buttons and features to your website will likely overload the administration interfaces. Subsequently, avoiding unnecessary features speeds up creating and managing of content.
The modules referred to here are the basic features, such as adding a comment section below an article entry. These features are fairly common in most CMS, but some modules are more specific and complex that you can add to your website via Drupal, such as page rendering.
While modules are there for users to add new individual features to their websites, such as a comment section for a blog entry or basic contact information of the company or author of the article, distributions are bundles that tie together modules in a templated manner to serve specific types of websites.
For instance, when a user wants to grasp what an eCommerce website should look like, they can look up different distributions to see which of the following has the modules they need for the type of business. An example is Commerce Kickstart, which features all the needed modules to create a basic eCommerce store. There is also Open Social, which offers modules needed to create a social community and intranets.
Instead of manually adding the modules yourself and copying other websites built on Drupal, you can rapidly start your project with distributions. With that said, users like eCommerce will have to carefully evaluate what distribution they decide to use for their project as early as the pre-sales stage of the business. This is because while distributions offer the developer or content manager an opportunity to jumpstart the content publishing process, changing specific modules within the distribution can prove difficult since it’s built on the traditional Drupal framework.
As mentioned earlier, Drupal is an open-source platform, so its support is entirely up to the community that contributes to its development. This means that no single entity oversees the development and decides which should be added as features and all the other major and minor changes.
Drupal Ladder, for instance, contains the step-by-step process on how to contribute to Drupals’ development yourself. SimplyTest.me, on the other hand, gives you the opportunity to find and preview the modules that you need for your page. This opportunity not only gives you an insight into how the final project will look to your visitors based on the preview, but it will also give you a chance to test if the module is working properly or if there is something to change to the website.
More importantly, DrupalCamps are currently active, with people from different regions all over the world coming together to share their ideas about the innovation of the core functionalities of Drupal. For instance, Bay Area Drupal Camp (BADCamp) is one of the biggest camps in San Francisco.
Content management systems are a growing industry that supports digital marketers and developers. The evolution of Drupal is largely thanks to the support of hundreds and thousands of people from all over the world who contribute to the platform.
While many CMSs are just as robust and complete as Drupal, Drupal’s flexibility is the main thing that makes it unique. The modular approach to its core functionality remains one of its biggest strengths; however, it needs more work than other CMSs with a set of functional features. The modular approach means that larger projects such as sites created to store a lot of information and designed to last and be maintained for a long time are more apt to use Drupal as their CMS.
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]]>Over the years, people have shared ideas through Drupal camps that greatly helped the development of their own projects and the Drupal ecosystem itself. Recently, most Drupal-related events have turned to online events, since it’s becoming hard for people to come together in one place because of necessary health protocols due to COVID-19.
What’s absolutely needed in a Drupal Camp is simple. While there are events now that have added features such as sponsors, birds-of-a-feather sessions, and other things related to their agenda, the only things that people actually need for a Drupal camp are as follows:
Under Drupal camps, there are many different types of events that can be categorized.
Conference style is typically marked with a pre-planned session of events and tracks (beginner, intermediate, advanced, etc.). While each Drupal camp is typically attended by the local community, a conference-style Drupal camp is usually joined by a well-known Drupal presenter from outside of the area to provide more value to the attendees. In a conference style, sponsors are usually present, and they shoulder most of the expenses associated with the event.
Sessions in an unconference style are typically unplanned. Some examples of this are Drupal Design Camp LA, DrupalCampNYC, and Charlotte Drupal Drive-in. It can be done physically or online, with the attendees being presented with a whiteboard to claim a session block for them to decide to work on a presentation of a Drupal-related topic they wish to discuss and share lessons to.
This type of camp is often easier to organize, but they are more appealing to experienced attendees, as they already have some ideas from their previous attendance to Drupal camps that are more formal. Beginners, on the other hand, are more likely to join a conference style, since it is where they can be guided and be shown the basics of Drupal and other related topics. In a hybrid Drupal camp setting like this, there are booths with different session tracks, while the rest of the programs in the events are pre-planned by the organizers.
Pioneered by Pacific Northwest Drupal Summit, this type of Drupal-related event is relatively new to the scene, and it’s geared to cater more to experienced Drupal users. The whole point of summits is to get more advanced Drupal users to learn more about advanced topics, as they are often too busy teaching the basics in beginner sessions of most conferences. In a summit, Drupal users are encouraged to present intermediate to advanced level topics.
In contrast to Summit, clinics are specifically designed to cater to new users of Drupal. It’s a way to introduce new people to Drupal as developers, themes, and decision-makers.
Hackfests are one of the most common types of events that are also implemented in other topics, not only Drupal. During a hackfest, people come together to work on projects that are commonly community-driven and maintained. There are no tracks and sessions during this event, as people focus on joining forces to work on the core functionality of Drupal, module development, etc.
This is a way for Drupal users to “give back” to the community. Those who benefit from these events are usually local government organizations at no cost. While that is the main purpose of these events, it can also be a way for Drupal users to introduce Drupal to others and invite them to other camps and conferences in the future.
Almost all Drupal camps prior to the pandemic are hosted in person, and people gather for one or more days to participate together in the event. However, when the pandemic hits, camps are forced to move online to avoid health hazards. Each of these formats has different advantages to utilize.
One of the best ways for people to take full advantage of a Drupal camp is to find new people to discuss with and exchange information with. This can be easily done with in-person Drupal camps, as people are more likely to bump into each other in the events such as when they are working together on a project as part of the pre-planned tracks.
Since most people who attend in-person camps are away from work, there are typically no distractions, and they can focus on learning about the topics and meeting other people in the process.
People don’t have to travel to their local hosting facilities to attend a Drupal camp now that there are online camps available. If in-person Drupal camps are focused on introducing Drupal to the local community, online camps can reach more audiences from different places at once.
Most in-person camps have a registration fee, and it can be the same as online Drupal camps. The main difference is that people don’t have to pay for travel and lodging expenses.
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]]>You might be wondering if you are on the right site. Are you:
This website is perfect for you if you fit in one or more of these personas.
We provide our site visitors with blogs about an exciting content management software, Drupal. Why do we say exciting? We’ll give you three reasons.
First, Drupal is an innovative content management software that is flexible and simple —characteristics that don’t usually go together in software or technology platform. Its application programming interface (API) architecture is flexible enough to support various digital platforms. It features built-in modules that allow you to expand the range of your website’s functionality. Drupal performs regular security tests, reducing its vulnerability to security threats.
With the growing need for digital marketing, Drupal has become popular among marketers. Aside from its automated translation feature supporting more than a hundred languages, it can also create automated marketing campaigns. Moreover, Drupal enables the provision of more relevant content to site visitors.
Because of these features, you might think Drupal is expensive. But did we say that Drupal is an open source?
Yes, that’s the second reason why Drupal is awesome. Open source software has become essential in many fields because of its numerous advantages.
Let’s get one thing straight. Open source is not free but can significantly reduce your software and hardware expenses. You get to save on licensing and maintenance fees. Unlike proprietary software, you can install your open-source software several times and use it anywhere without tracking your license compliance.
You avoid vendor lock-ins, which can be a hassle because of expensive license fees and the lack of portability. Since you can’t customize a proprietary software, you have to wait until the lock-in period ends before upgrading or expanding your software’s functionality—something you won’t have to experience with open source software.
There’s no need to rely on software vendors, either. Buying proprietary software requires you to reach out to them for maintenance and support. Or perhaps, you are forced into accepting upgrades you don’t need.
Open-source software programs are well-designed and of high quality. Typically, open-source software uses high-end technologies that allow you to integrate or level up your systems. Additionally, users of open-source solutions enjoy plenty of free support from various online communities or the producer of the software itself.
That said, Drupal has one of the more vibrant communities among open-source solutions providers. It has evolved from a hobby project of an individual that produced innovative software to a bigger, continuing project that has attracted the attention of many players in the technological world. It has bred a community of volunteers empowered to share new web technologies, build webs, and promote Drupal to the world.
These volunteers are ready to collaborate and put their skills together to help improve Drupal’s products and services, so it’s no wonder that Drupal continues to be among the best open-source content management software. Some join to learn from the experts and contribute to the community’s growth in any way possible.
With over 100,000 members, the Drupal community has formed smaller groups depending on their location and skill sets. For instance, its Community Working Group (CWG) is responsible for maintaining an engaging and friendly community, upholding the Drupal community’s Code of Ethics to ensure that members treat each other respectfully. It also takes care of community health and development as it facilitates the productive exchange of knowledge and supports initiatives that help its members avoid the ills of burnout and conflict.
Local Drupal Associations organize local camps (e.g., BADcamp) and other regional initiatives. They also help market the local business and assist in coordinating with the global Drupal Association. Several other groups exist, such as the Promoters, whose main role is to push for the use of Drupal, and the Mentoring Team, which ensures that mentors are given adequate support to facilitate mentoring within the community.
Join the Drupal community for a fun and engaging way to develop your skills. Connect with people who share your passion for web development, marketing, content development, and more. Regardless of your knowledge of Drupal and its community, our blog articles will help you understand what Drupal and its community are all about.
Help us push for the adoption of open-source technology.
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