Drupal CMS Review and Tutorial

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How to Quickly Create a Website Using The Drupal CMS

Drupal is a free open source content management system available from drupal.org. Designed for mid to high usage sites Drupal is a powerful and expandable system. It has become very popular recently for mid size websites, Wordpress of course dominates the low end simpler websites, but Drupal is the right choice if you are looking for more

About Drupal

Drupal Main Features

Drupal is a free software package that allows an individual or a community of users to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content on a website. Tens of thousands of people and organizations are using Drupal to power scores of different web sites, including

  • Community web portals
  • Discussion sites
  • Corporate web sites
  • Intranet applications
  • Personal web sites or blogs
  • Aficionado sites
  • E-commerce applications
  • Resource directories
  • Social Networking sites
    The built-in functionality, combined with dozens of freely available add-on modules, will enable features such as:
  • Electronic commerce
  • Blogs
  • Collaborative authoring environments
  • Forums
  • Peer-to-peer networking
  • Newsletters
  • Podcasting
  • Picture galleries
  • File uploads and downloads

Using Drupal

Number One Book on Drupal

With the recipes in this book, you can take full advantage of the vast collection of community-contributed modules that make the Drupal web framework useful and unique. You'll get the information you need about how to combine modules in interesting ways (with a minimum of code-wrangling) to develop a variety of community-driven websites. Each chapter describes a case study and outlines specific requirements for one of several projects included in the book -- a wiki, publishing workflow site, photo gallery, product review site, online store, user group site, and more. With Using Drupal, you will:

  • Get an overview of Drupal concepts and key modules introduced in each chapter, with a bird's-eye view of each module's specialty and how it works
  • Explore various solutions within Drupal that meet the requirements for the project, with details about which modules are selected and why
  • Learn how to configure modules, with step-by-step recipes for building the precise functionality the project requires
  • Get information on additional modules that will make the project even more powerful
  • Be able to access the modules used in the chapter, along with other resources

Newcomers will find a thorough introduction to the framework, while experienced Drupal developers will learn best practices for building powerful websites. With Using Drupal, you'll find concrete and creative solutions for developing the exact community website you have in mind.

Using Drupal

Amazon Price: $13.99 (as of 05/31/2012)Buy Now

As a Drupal newbie, I found this book the ideal starting point for the somewhat daunting task of learning Drupal. Its hands-on sections walk you step-by-step through the process of creating websites that serve real needs, and take you from the earliest steps (what is this thing called Drupal? How do I get it to do something?) through a wide range of tasks, from creating a photo gallery to an online store.

During the course of this journey, you will learn both Drupal core and a wide variety of contributed modules. The writing and the instructions are easy to follow, neither too technical nor condescending. The sample projects are real enough to give a genuine sense of how to use the tools without being so verbose as to bog you down in details.

I have read other Drupal books, but so far none takes the place of this one as a real-world text in getting the most out of a wonderful tool. Review by Lawrence Baldwin

Drupal for Dummies

Product Description
Learn to set up, manage, and administer a Drupal Web site
Drupal offers unparalleled flexibility for content-managed Web sites, but most Drupal books are written for expert developers. Drupal For Dummies shows you the fast, fun and easy way to get going with Drupal, set up a site, apply templates, use modules, and more, even if you have no programming experience.
Drupal For Dummies shows you how to take advantage of everything in Drupal that is ready to use, demystifying what may appear to be a complex set of tools.

  • Drupal is a free, open source modular framework and content management system designed for content-managed Web sites
  • Learn how to download Drupal, install the LAMP stack, and set up a site; no programming experience required
  • Organize and create your site's content; apply templates, and get your first site up and running
  • Use modules and third-party templates
  • Follow plain-English instructions for site management, including making changes across the site and managing user access and privileges

Drupal For Dummies is designed to help the non-programmer who simply wants to turbocharge a blog or is responsible for administering a content-managed site.

Drupal For Dummies

Amazon Price: $1.85 (as of 05/31/2012)Buy Now

From the Back Cover
Drop in and check out Drupal, the free, flexible framework for building and managing Web sites
Even if you've never built a Web site and the only thing you've programmed is your DVR, you really can set up a site with Drupal. This book shows you how to find and install the right version of Drupal, how to plan your site, and how to manage it. You can even beef it up with data from other sites, a storefront, an image gallery, and much more!



  • Start here - find the free software and get simple solutions on things like setting up a database and installing Drupal on a Web host

  • Who's in charge - manage an administrator account, establish rules, and control site users

  • What's on your site - create, manage, and edit your content, and decide whether to allow comments

  • Where's your region? - work with themes and regions and manage menus

  • Open forum - create a site with a blog and forum and set up appropriate security

  • Stay current - keep Drupal up to date, monitor activity on your site, and locate new modules and themes to use

  • Cover your bases - maintain your database, back it up, and know how to restore it

  • Move up - see how Drupal can build a robust site that interacts with other sites and how to set up an online store
    Open the book and find:

  • What Drupal is and what it's not

  • Tools you need to install Drupal

  • How to decide on rules and settings for your site

  • Tips for telling your story quickly

  • Advice on choosing, changing, and configuring themes

  • All about modules

  • How to use reports

  • Secrets of good site security

Drupal Websites

drupal.org
Official Drupal Site
Planet Drupal
Planet Drupal aggregates Drupal-related blog posts
Theme Garden | Drupal 6 Themes
At Drupal Theme Garden you can see live demo of Drupal Themes.

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