Learn What Is Drupal And Lots More!
Q. What is Drupal?
Drupal is the preferred web development platform to build anything that has got to do with the Internet. Using Drupal will ensure reduced development time and costs for your applications. The biggest advantage Drupal has over a proprietary product is its open source nature, which means that you own the code so you can easily make changes to it. More than a million sites run on Drupal today. Some popular Drupal-based websites include WhiteHouse.org, Amnesty.org, Virgin.com and PrinceOfWales.gov.uk. A lot of government and educational agencies around the world rely on Drupal to power their sites.
Our What Is Drupal section will help you get acquainted with this wonderful platform in the best way possible. You can also check out this link if you need learning resources on Drupal 8.
Here is a look at Drupal architecture and everything involved in it.
Q. Is it expensive to use?
You don't have to pay a single penny to get your hands on Drupal! It's probably the most popular of all open-source softwares! Hundreds of thousands of professionals use Drupal to build sites that are reliable, scalable and high on performance. If you are looking for the perfect open source tool to develop your site, then you should look no further than Drupal!
Q. What kind of sites and applications can I build with Drupal?
The list is endless! Here are some popular uses:
- Corporate sites
- Entertainment sites
- E-commerce sites
- Media sites and blogs
- Forums
- Intranets
- Document management and workflow oriented sites
- Marketing automation sites
- Social networking sites
- and just about every other site under the sun!
Ideally, all complicated websites that require a lot of customization should be run on Drupal. This platform helps developers achieve a great deal of technical capabilities.
Q. How does Drupal fare in comparison with WordPress and Joomla?
Drupal offers a completely different perspective for programmers and front-end developers. It has a learning curve that needs to be mastered. It is all smooth sailing after that!
Refer this link to understand how Drupal holds itself against other CMS software.
The amount of customization offered by Drupal has made it the darling of developers around the world. Have a website with a complex requirement? Drupal has an efficient and quick solution for you!
Q. Why should you use Drupal?
There are several factors that underline Drupal's popularity as a reliable and efficient tool. Some of these reasons are discussed below:
i. Clearly organized URL structure
Drupal provides developers with full freedom to create automated and custom URLs of their own choice. There are several modules available to make URL personalization an easy
ii. High level of SEO-friendliness
It’s important to make sure your website is as SEO-friendly as possible. This can be done by opting for a platform that offers maximum capabilities to work with SEO meta tags. Drupal is that platform.
iii. Capability to work with multiple built-in content types
They say that content is the undisputed King of the Internet. Drupal realizes this very well. You can easily create content types of your choice to create the perfect website. Work with different kinds of content types such as blogs, forums, basic pages, podcasts and so on.
iv. Superior built-in taxonomy capabilities
Drupal’s built-in taxonomy features permit you to associate content with tags rich in keywords. Create unique “vocabularies” for your website so that it stands apart from other sites.
v. Advanced User Management
A site is incomplete without having an efficient system to manage users. Drupal allows you to create a CMS system that easily assigns users specific roles and responsibilities. Give each employee a specific role and access to ensure advanced user management.
vi. Wealth of resources
There are a lot of Drupal resources available to help users develop the most advanced Drupal system. A lot of enthusiasts share articles on blogs, SlideShare and YouTube.
vii. Power of scalability
You should build a website with an eye on the future. Emphasis much be given to scalability of architecture and software a few years down the line. Drupal’s scalability prowess is something you should consider while opting for a CMS platform.
viii. Build any software requirement under the sun!
There is no limit to Drupal’s feature building capabilities. Choose from thousands of efficient modules to build the most complex software requirements!
ix. Enterprise-friendliness
Some of the world’s finest companies and universities are powered by Drupal. You should join their ranks as well!
x. Finally, a salute to the Drupal community!
Drupal is powered by an active community base dedicated to powering Drupal to greater glory. Their commitment towards Drupal is proof enough of the fact that your proposed website is in safe hands.
Q. How is it cheaper to create an application in Drupal than in a custom software?
When you first install Drupal, it automatically comes with the ability for users to register and log in as well as the ability to create articles. You automatically get an administration back-end from where you manage the site. So right off the bat, you save at least 2 days of work.
Q. Now if I want to add more functionality to it, it will be a lot more expensive, right?
Not usually. A lot of developers use Drupal and they contribute Drupal modules back to the community which anyone is free to use. These modules add specific pieces of functionality to Drupal site. As an example, Drupal Commerce set of modules lets you create an e-commerce site on Drupal using very little configuration. Similarly, workflow module lets you create publishing workflows through the UI. In most likelihood, your use case will be covered by a bunch of these modules and there will be very little custom code needed.
Q. In my e-commerce site, the articles that I create and the products that I sell behave very differently. How do I manage them using the same software?
Drupal lets you create different entities and content types. You can add different fields to them. As an example, a product will have a price but an article will not. These configurations can easily be managed via the UI.
Q. My site is very modern. I don’t want it to look like it’s a Drupal site. How do I do that?
Drupal comes with a bunch of themes and there are a lot more of them if you search online. You can install any of them and your site’s appearance will change. It is also possible to create your own theme but it’s definitely a lot more work.
Q. What is Drupal core?
A standard release is known as a Drupal core.It comes with basic features that can be useful to creating basic CMS systems. There are thousands of contributed modules that are capable of extending the core functionality of Drupal.
Q. Where should I head to download the latest version of Drupal?
Visit drupal.org's download page to lay your hands on the latest releases.
Q. Which version of Drupal should I use?
Even though Drupal 6 and 7 are supported at the moment, it is strongly advisable that you deploy version 7 in your technology environment. This is because Drupal 8 is currently under development and will be released soon. Since only two versions are supported at a time, all websites/applications running Drupal 6 will have to be upgraded to 7 very soon.
Liked our What is Drupal section? Do visit the links below and our blog articles for more insights.
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