What Is Drupal? An Essential Guide for Beginners

If you’re searching for a powerful tool to build websites, you’ve likely encountered Drupal web hosting. But what is Drupal exactly? It’s widely recognized as one of the top platforms for website creation.

Whether you want to build a website from scratch or manage existing content, Drupal is a tool you’ll want to know about. It makes it easy to organize and publish content online. Its flexibility and strong security features make it a great choice for many large companies and organizations.

You may ask “what is Drupal and why a beginner should learn it?” The answer is simple: Drupal gives you control. Whether you’re building a personal blog, an online store, or a large business website, Drupal can handle it all. Plus, a large community of developers is there to help if you need it.

Here we discuss Drupal, what to use it for, and how it differs from other CMSs. We’ll also explore Drupal’s key features and benefits. Lastly, we’ll show you how to start using it and what possible challenges you may face. By the end, you’ll see why Drupal is an excellent choice for building your website, even if you’re just at the beginning.

What is Drupal?

Drupal is a powerful tool that helps you create websites. At its core, Drupal is a Content Management System (CMS), so it organizes and publishes content online. It allows you to create pages, blogs, images, and more, without knowing how to code.

However, Drupal is more than just a simple CMS. It’s also seen as a Digital Experience Platform (DXP), meaning it can offer advanced tools to create richer, more interactive online experiences. Whether you want a basic website or something more complex, Drupal can do it.

One of the most common questions is, “Is Drupal open source?” The answer is yes! Drupal is open source, so the software, built by a community of global developers, is free to use.

Since it’s open source, anyone can use, modify, and improve Drupal, making it a tool that grows stronger every day with the help of its community. It’s also highly customizable, so you can modify it to fit your needs, whether creating a small personal blog or a large company website.

Drupal has been around for a long time. It was first released in 2001 by Belgian developer Dries Buytaert who wanted to build a platform that anyone could use to publish content online. Over the years, Drupal has grown and changed, becoming one of the most trusted platforms for building websites.

According to W3Techs, Drupal is used by 1.3% of all the websites whose content management system we know. That is 0.9% of all websites. Many large organizations, including universities, government agencies, and businesses, use Drupal because of its reliability, security, and flexibility.

So, Drupal started as a CMS but has grown into much more. Whether you need a simple website or a complex digital platform, Drupal’s open-source nature and strong community support make it an excellent choice.

What is Drupal Used for?

Drupal is a flexible and powerful CMS platform that can be used to build many different types of websites. Let’s explore the many ways Drupal can be helpful for various industries and projects.

Corporate & Institutional Websites

Large companies use Drupal to manage distributed publishing workflows. So, different people can work on various parts of the website simultaneously. It also helps companies manage their corporate branding by ensuring all content looks consistent across the site.

Intranets

An intranet is like a private website used within a company. Drupal allows businesses to create private content that only their employees can see. It also supports custom workflows, so companies can set up singular ways to organize and share information. Features like single sign-on (SSO) make it easy for employees to log in to the site using their company credentials.

Online Directories

Drupal is great for building online directories where users can search for specific information. It allows for advanced search interfaces and lets businesses list related content so that users can find what they need easily, which ultimately improves user experience. Drupal can also be integrated with third-party content, pulling information from other sources to create a complete directory.

Interactive Websites

If you need a website that offers interactive features, Drupal is ideal. It can create sites where logged-in users get personalized content and fill out multi-step forms. Drupal is also great for building dynamic interfaces like interactive maps or data visualizations.

Some projects even use decoupled front ends, which separate the design from the content management system, allowing for faster and more flexible websites.

Marketing Portals

For businesses focused on marketing, Drupal helps create SEO-optimized landing pages designed to attract visitors from search engines.

Drupal can also integrate with marketing automation tools, which help businesses track and engage with their customers. Drupal’s strong taxonomy and metadata management features allow for better organization of marketing content, making it easier to target specific audiences.

Overall, Drupal is a versatile tool that can handle many different types of websites and projects. From corporate websites to government portals and interactive web apps, Drupal’s flexibility and power make it a popular choice for industries and businesses that need reliable, secure, and feature-rich platforms.

Key Features of Drupal

Drupal is a powerful platform with a wide range of features to help you build and manage websites of all sizes. Here are some of its important features:

Flexibility

First, Drupal is a flexible content management system (CMS). This means it allows you to easily create, organize, and publish different types of content like blog posts, images, and videos. You can structure your content to fit your needs, whether for a simple blog or a complex business website.

Customizable Themes & Modules

One of Drupal’s standout features is its highly customizable themes and modules. You can choose from thousands of themes to change how your website looks or build a custom theme if you want a unique design. Modules are like add-ons that give your site extra functions, such as adding a contact form, a shopping cart, or even social media integration.

Multilingual Support

Drupal offers multilingual support for websites that reach a global audience. This feature lets you create content in multiple languages so visitors from different countries can access your website in their preferred language.

Advanced User Management

Drupal also excels in advanced user management. You can create various roles with specific permissions for each user on your website. For example, some users can be given the ability to write blog posts, while others can manage the entire site. This is particularly useful for large websites with multiple contributors.

Security

Drupal has strong security features. Government websites and large organizations trust it because of its special built-in tools that protect against hacks and security threats. Drupal also regularly releases security updates to keep your site safe.

Scalability

Another major feature of Drupal is its scalability. Whether you’re running a small personal blog or a massive e-commerce website, Drupal can grow with you. It’s designed to handle high traffic and large amounts of content without slowing down.

Performance

In terms of performance, Drupal is built to be fast and efficient. It has performance-boosting features like caching and database optimization, which help your website load quickly even with plenty of visitors.

SEO Optimization

Finally, SEO optimization is built into Drupal, making it easy for search engines to find and rank your site. Drupal helps ensure your site is visible to the right audience with modules like Pathauto and tools that help with keyword placement and metadata.

Overall, Drupal’s combination of flexibility, customization, multilingual support, advanced user management, security, scalability, performance, and SEO optimization makes it a top choice for building websites that are not only powerful but also user-friendly.

Benefits of Using Drupal

There are many reasons why Drupal stands out among other platforms, especially when building larger or more complex websites.

One huge benefit is scalability. Drupal can handle sites of all sizes, from small blogs to large government or enterprise websites. As your site grows, Drupal can grow with it without slowing down or becoming difficult to manage.

What is Drupal when it comes to built-in security features? Drupal is designed to keep your website safe from potential threats. This is one reason why large organizations that need top-notch security choose it.

After figuring out what is Drupal, and how to use it, you get access to a vast community of developers. This means you’re never alone if you run into problems. Drupal has regular updates and a community that constantly improves the platform, ensuring it stays updated with the latest web technologies.

Finally, Drupal is ideal for complex websites. If you’re building a website for a government agency, a large company, or any organization that needs advanced features, Drupal is the perfect choice. It can handle complex content, large databases, and custom workflows easily.

Drupal vs Other CMS Platforms

There are many content management systems (CMS) to help you create a website. Three of the most popular are Drupal, WordPress, and Joomla. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, so let’s compare them to see which may be the best fit.

Comparison with WordPress & Joomla

WordPress is the most widely used CMS in the world. It’s known for being user-friendly, especially for beginners. With WordPress CMS, you can easily create a blog or a basic website with just a few clicks. Thousands of plugins and themes are available to help you customize your site. However, if you need to build a more complex site, you may run into limitations with WordPress.

Joomla is another popular CMS that sits somewhere between WordPress and Drupal. It offers more flexibility than WordPress but isn’t as complex as Drupal. Joomla is good for building sites that need both ease of use and advanced features. However, it doesn’t have the same level of customization that Drupal offers for highly complex websites.

Drupal CMS is designed for people who need a powerful, flexible CMS. It’s often used by developers, businesses, and government websites because it can handle a lot of content and traffic without slowing down. Drupal offers much more customization than WordPress or Joomla, but it has a steeper learning curve, which means it might take longer to master.

Key Differences in Flexibility, Learning Curve, & Customization

When comparing these platforms, one of the biggest differences is flexibility. WordPress is the easiest to use but is limited to creating highly customized websites. Joomla offers more flexibility than WordPress, but Drupal is the most flexible. With Drupal, you can build any website, from small blogs to large, complex enterprise sites.

The learning curve is another key difference. WordPress is the easiest to learn, which is why it’s so popular with beginners. Joomla requires more knowledge, but it’s still user-friendly. Drupal, however, is more challenging to learn because it offers so much power and flexibility. While this makes Drupal great for building advanced websites, it can take time to understand how to use it properly.

Finally, when it comes to customization, Drupal is the clear winner. With thousands of modules and themes, you can customize every part of your website to fit your exact needs. WordPress has a lot of customization options too, but it’s not as powerful as Drupal when it comes to building complex, large-scale websites. Joomla falls in the middle, offering more customization than WordPress but less than Drupal.

So, WordPress is great for beginners who want an easy-to-use platform. Joomla is ideal for users who want a balance between ease and customization. But if you need a highly customizable, scalable, and powerful platform, Drupal is the best option—especially if you learn how to use it.

How to Get Started with Drupal

Getting started with Drupal may seem tricky until you understand the steps. Here’s a simple guide to help you set up your Drupal website from scratch.

Choose a Hosting Provider

Before you begin, you need to pick a hosting provider. A web hosting provider is a company that stores your website’s files and makes them available on the Internet. Choose a hosting provider that works well with Drupal, as not all providers are optimized for this platform.

Install Drupal

Once you’ve chosen your hosting provider, the next step is to install Drupal. Most hosting providers provide a one-click installation option, which makes the process super simple. With just one click, the hosting service sets up Drupal for you.

If you prefer to install it manually, download the Drupal core files from the official Drupal website, upload them to your hosting server, and then run the installation script. While this method gives you more control, the one-click option is much faster and easier for beginners.

Pick a Theme

Now that Drupal is installed, it’s time to make your website look good. You do this by choosing a theme, which controls the web design and layout, including colors, fonts, and where your content appears on the page. Drupal has many free and paid themes to choose from. Popular themes include Bartik and Omega. You can install a theme by navigating to the Appearance section in your Drupal admin panel, selecting a theme, and clicking Install.

Add Modules

Drupal is known for its modules, like WordPress plugins that add additional useful features to your website. For instance, you can add a module to create contact forms, improve your site’s SEO, or add social media buttons.

To install a module, go to the Extend section of your Drupal admin panel, search for the module you want, and click Install. Some popular modules include Pathauto (for clean URLs), Views (for displaying content), and Webform (for creating forms). Modules enable you to customize your site exactly how you want.

Create & Manage Content

Now that your site is running, create and manage your content. Drupal makes it easy to create different content types, such as articles, blogs, or products for an online store. You can create a content type by heading to the Structure section and selecting Content types. Once you’ve created the content you need, you can start adding articles, images, or videos.

To organize everything, Drupal lets you categorize content using tags and taxonomies. This facilitates managing large amounts of content as your site grows. You can also set different permissions for different users so they can create, edit, or manage content according to their role, which is helpful if you’re working with a team.

Common Challenges for Beginners

When starting with what is Drupal, beginners might face a few challenges. While Drupal is powerful, it can be a little tricky to learn at first compared to other website-building tools.

One of the most common challenges for beginners in learning what is Drupal is the platform’s steeper learning curve. This means that Drupal can be harder to understand when you get started.

Another challenge for beginners is that customizing Drupal often requires some technical knowledge. While you can build a basic site without coding, making more complex changes usually means working with PHP, HTML, and CSS.

So, you can say that the learning curve and the need for some technical skills can be challenging for beginners, but they’re not impossible to overcome. With patience and practice, you can master what is Drupal and explore its powerful features to build an amazing website.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. What is Drupal? It’s a powerful content management system (CMS) used to build and manage websites of different sizes.
2. This is an open-source platform.
3. Drupal is known for its flexibility, making it perfect for complex websites.
4. It offers robust security features, allows you to customize your site’s design, and adds features like contact forms, SEO tools, and more.
5. As Drupal is scalable, it’s ideal for websites that handle a lot of content and users.
6. The platform provides more control and advanced customization options.
7. Because it supports multilingual websites, Drupal allows you to create content in multiple languages for a global audience.

FAQs

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– Creating an Effective Website Maintenance Plan

– How to Launch a WordPress Site: A Comprehensive Guide

– How To Create A Personal Website: A Beginner’s Guide

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