Information AboutDrupal |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT DRUPAL | |
| open source content management systems | |
| web application frameworks | |
| php programming language | |
| blog software | |
Drupal ( and Open Source modular Content Management System (CMS) written in the programming language PHP . A CMS is a tool used by Web administrators to automatically track online visitors and prepare customized content for consumption, usually as HTML -based Web pages. Many modern CMSs, including Drupal, provide a "back end" interface by which the system administrator may customize the content and display of their Web site without any programming skill being required. Drupal runs in many environments including Windows , Mac OS X , Linux , or any platform that supports either the Apache (version 1.3+), or IIS (version IIS5+) Web server as well as the PHP language (version 4.3.3+). As Drupal requires a database to store content and settings, access to a database package such as MySQL or PostgreSQL is also necessary. Detailed requirements are available at Drupal's Web Site . As of July 26 , 2007 , the current version of Drupal is 5.2.1 Version 6.0 has reached a "feature freeze" and is currently in active development. History Originally written by ,” which means “drop” (as in “a water droplet”). The name was taken from the now defunct Drop.org website, whose code slowly evolved into Drupal. Buytaert wanted to call the site “dorp” (Dutch for “village”, referring to its community aspects), but made a typo when checking the domain name and thought it sounded better.http://drupal.org/node/769 Over the years, Drupal has gained popularity. From May 2006 to April 2007, Drupal was downloaded from the Drupal.org website more than 600,000 times."Drupal Download Statistics," http://buytaert.net/tag/statistics A large community now takes part in Drupal's ongoing development."Growth Graphs," http://groups.drupal.org/node/1980 DRUPAL'S DESIGN Drupal has received praise from Web administrators, designers, and programmers due in part to its modular design, which allows its basic layer, or "core", to provide essential features in its default configuration. Additional functionality and presentation can then be extended to the core via the addition of pluggable Modules and themes.(The features of Drupal's core are described in the online "Drupal Handbook" beginning at http://drupal.org/handbook/modules.. Drupal modules can be used to "override" the core's built-in features, thus extending or even replacing Drupal's default behavior without directly manipulating the programmed code in Drupal's core files. This ability to modify core functionality has major consequences for Drupal's flexibility as well as its security, particularly against security problems like SQL Injection . Similarly, Drupal uses a modular theming system that allows custom-written themes to be added without disturbing Drupal's core. These custom themes use standardized formats that provide compatibility with third-party theme design engines. MODULES Core Drupal provides its own modules. However, community-written modules can be downloaded and installed into a non-core area of Drupal's installation. The Drupal core has been designed with a system of hooks, or Callbacks , that allow community-contributed modules to insert functions into Drupal's path of execution. Modules included in Drupal's core enable users to:
Additionally, the Drupal website provides many hundreds of free modules written by the Drupal community. Among the functionality user-contributed modules provides or enhances:
System Version Tracking update_status, a relatively new module available for 5.x (and being introduced as part of core in 6.0) automatically notifies the administrator of any new releases to installed modules and themes. Themes Most themes for Drupal are written in the engine" XTemplate theme engine ", Drupal.org.. Earlier templates used hard-coded PHP. Earlier versions of Drupal's theming system were criticized " How does Drupal compare to Mambo? " discussion thread, Drupal.org. as being less design-oriented and more complicated than the systems for Mambo and Plone . The inclusion of the PHPTemplate and XTemplate engines in Drupal has addressed some of these criticisms. Translations As of August 2007, translations for Drupal's interface were available in 37 languages other than English (the default)."Translations," Drupal.org http://drupal.org/project/Translations (retrieved 12 August 2007) Supported languages include some that read right to left, such as Arabic and Hebrew. CRITICISM The installation of Drupal (and its modules) requires access to a database as well as certain high-level privileges, including the ability to use SQL commands such as SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, CREATE, DROP, INDEX, ALTER, and LOCK TABLES. Some Web hosting providers, however, do not offer these features. Anyone who wishes to use Drupal should ensure that their host offers these features before they begin installation. As with other content management systems, one can set up the initial database by using the command line {Link without Title} or with PhpMyAdmin / PhpPgAdmin . But since version 5.0, one can install Drupal and set up the database almost entirely from a Web-based interface. SomeAlister Lewis-Bowen et al., " Using open source software to design, develop, and deploy a collaborative Web site ," IBM, July 11, 2006. have considered Drupal more difficult to learn and slightly more difficult to install than some simple CMS programs or basic blogging tools such as WordPress . Drupal 5.0, released January 15 , 2007 , is packaged with a Web-based installer to partly answer these criticisms, and Drupal 6.0, which may be released in September of 2007, goes even further in making installation simpler. Drupal 5.0 Feature List January 15, 2007. Accessed January 15, 2007. Some programmers criticize Drupal because they perceive it as not being principles apply to Drupal. DISTRIBUTIONS To simplify the installation process for those who would like to use Drupal for a specific purpose (an online store, a music review site, a blogging site, etc.), there has been discussion in the Drupal community to distribute "pre-made" Drupal installations that are pre-customized with third party modules and configured towards a particular type of Web site. There are several customized Drupal distributions already. Most are simply Drupal repackaged with third-party modules, but some also include modifications to the core. An example of such a distribution is vbDrupal , which is Drupal integrated with VBulletin . Drupal 4.2 http://drupal.org/node/4877#comment-7552 was used for DeanSpace , which hosted many independent Web sites supporting the 2004 presidential campaign of Howard Dean . After the Dean campaign ended, the DeanSpace project grew into CivicSpace , a Drupal-based "grassroots organizing platform that empowers collective action inside communities and cohesively connects remote groups of supporters." Thus CivicSpace is a spinoff distribution based on Drupal 4.2. Many innovations in CivicSpace have been incorporated back into the Drupal project itself CivicSpace . Features particularly useful for nonprofit organizations and political campaigns are provided in the CiviCRM module for Drupal 5.0 and higher. BOOKS Drupal has been discussed in several books:
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