An Overview of Drupal

What Is Drupal?

Drupal is the product of an open source project devoted to the development of a dynamic web site platform. A community of developers works to constantly update and revise the project. This platform allows an individual or community of users to publish, manage, and organize a variety of content and information. This ability to manage information makes Drupal a content management system (CMS). Users utilize Drupal's browser-based interface to communicate openly with one another. This enhances the revision process of documents or projects on the site because of the centralized location.

Using Drupal, users and administrators can design unique websites that promote collective information exchange. This is made possible by configuring and enabling Drupal's individual modules. By editing and configuring the modules, one can create a website that is perfectly fitted to meet one's business or personal needs.

What is "content management"?

Drupal is a “content mangement system,” a software application for managing website content--like articles, photos, or other files. Drupal is a "dynamic" rather than a "static" system. Instead of being in pre-generated (static) files, content like the text on pages is stored in a database. When visitors bring up a page, a script runs on the web server, querying the database and putting the content of the page into a template. (Sometimes, to save time and resources, these scripts are run ahead of time and the resulting pages are "cached" or stored on the server instead of being generated afresh with each visitor.)

So to create or edit pages, you as a user don't have to write web pages. You don't have to know HTML (the language web pages are written in). Instead, all you usually have to do is:

• register with a Drupal site

• log in (type in the user name and password you got by registering), and

• type content (articles, etc.) into forms that you submit.

This user guide explains the steps and gives you other

background info.

Features and Functions

The following are four main features common to many Drupal websites. Within these four features, there are multiple functions and modules that can be configured to each site's individual needs.

• User Management : One of the most vital functions, of any content management system, is its ability to manage its users. Drupal allows individual users to ["register" Drupal user registration and personal account information] and authenticate locally or by using an external authentication source. By requiring users to register, Drupal allows for ["private messaging" Private Messaging & Notification] and other forms of private communication with other registered users.

• Also, registered users can be given specific rights and permissions. This adds an extra layer of security to the system, by allowing the administrator to pick and choose which individuals can view and edit specific information.
• Weblog : One commonly used feature on Drupal is the weblog. A single installation can be configured to create a personal site or a website with multiple individual weblogs. Weblogs allow communication between members of the community. As opposed to e-mail or private notification, weblogs allow the entire community to view and respond with their own thoughts, ["comments" Creating and editing nodes and comments], and ideas. Drupal employs Blogger API support, content syndication, ["a news aggregator" Drupal News Aggregator and RSS Documentation], and permalinks to assist in managing a weblog.

• Discussion Based Community : The primary advantage of Drupal, or any content management system, comes from its ability to allow users and members of the community to reply to weblogs or posts made by other users. This ability can also be expanded to include comments and possible revisions for information stored in the content management system. By allowing users to

utilize the Forums Module to create discussion boards, Drupal empowers individuals and gives them a unique voice.

Online content management systems utilize asynchronous communication. In this way, users from all over the world can have conversations over certain material, while still being able to post at their convenience.

Another advantage, to having an online discussion based community, is that the postings allow for the whole revision process of projects and information to be shown. This means that users can become involved in a project at any given time throughout the revision process. The environment remains controlled by administrator(s) so that comments and updates are constructive and relevant to the task at hand. Administrators also have the ability to let the community moderate the content management system.

Collaboration : Enabling collaboration is a primary feature of Drupal. Many features and functions of the Drupal are focused on user and community interaction towards a common goal. Through the use of the weblogs and the discussion based community, information and thoughts from individual users are focused on single or multiple projects. This input helps to dramatically improve the quality of any collaborative project. By providing a centralized online location, Drupal breaks down geographical barriers between people.

Using Drupal, time restrictions are relaxed because of users' ability to post their thoughts at any time that is convenient for them. Drupal was designed specifically with open source programming and documentation projects in mind, but any collaborative project can benefit from the features Drupal has to offer.

Why Use Drupal?

“Building on and realizing relevant standards and open source technologies, Drupal supports and enhances the potential of the Internet as a medium where diverse and geographically-separated individuals and groups can come together and collectively produce and share

rich bases of information and expression.”

-Drupal Mission Statement

As seen in the mission statement, Drupal is a powerful tool for collaborative projects. Drupal utilizes open source technologies to meet a variety of user needs, both business and personal.

Drupal separates itself from the hundreds of other content management systems by being more than just an open source alternative. The system was designed with the end-user and the community in mind, with increased support for discussion forums. With a strong focus on user interaction, Drupal offers many additional features that other content management systems overlook. For example, offering session management controls empower administrators by allowing them to create more intuitive website designs for their users. Drupal's focus on discussion based communities also targets collaborative projects by offering advanced product management features.

Another thing, that seperates Drupal from other content management systems, is that Drupal users can make use of its online support features. Drupal offers an online public forum so users can post questions for other users and developers to answer. In addition to this, third-parties can contribute in the development of Drupal. These third parties recommend features that need to be improved or added to the product. Through third party involvement, the product can be tailored to one's specific needs. Additional support features include:

• Online Documentation
• Support Mailing List
• Suport Channel on IRC
• Bug Reports
• Professional Services

Finally, Drupal has a strong focus on security. Drupal allows the administrator to control the flow of information into the content management system through the use of content approval. User accountability is also taken into consideration by tracking user login history and creating an audit trail. This results in a moderated public forum that encourages the free exchange of ideas while maintaining user privacy and accountability.