What is Drupal?

What is Drupal?

Samantha Dewitt
Author
Samantha Dewitt

Drupal is a completely free web content management system. Not only that, but it’s an open-source system, which means that it provides you with the ability to make changes and to benefit from the changes that others are making within the system.

Written in PHP, Drupal is actually relatively popular as well, being used for approximately 13% of the 10,000 top websites around the world. And those websites range from personal blogs all the way to corporate and even government sites.

All of this means that Drupal is definitely a platform to be reckoned with and something that you should be taking a closer look at for yourself.

What is Drupal For?

Basically, Drupal is meant to create websites and applications. And it does this quite well because it has a number of great features that come standard. These include a high level of security, as well as reliability. After all, when you create a website you want to make sure that it’s working right and that it’s going to continue working well for as long as you want.

With Drupal, you’ll also have plenty of flexibility and what they consider ‘modularity'. These are important to the integrity of the system and they’re part of what the company actually prides itself on. But they’re also part of what makes it such a great option for you when you’re looking to create a platform.

The idea behind this system is that you can create the content and experience that you want for your visitors. This includes versatility and structure among other things. Plus, there are plenty of add-ons and modules that can be used to expand the opportunities and make Drupal even more dynamic for you.

Customizing Drupal for Yourself

As we mentioned, Drupal is open source, which means you can make changes and so can anyone else. And you can do all of that quite easily. Plus, you can use the add-ons and modules to take advantage of some of those additional features that others have created.

Add in the fact that there are plenty of different themes and distributions, and you’ve now got a range of different features and options that will allow you to make a lot of big differences in your way of functioning. You’ll be able to customize the process to get an end result that works for you.

When you mix and match different services you’ll be able to create something that’s more unique, which means that your website and your applications are never going to be exactly the same as anyone else. You get to create something new that your customers or viewers are definitely going to notice.

Where it’s Used

Drupal is actually used in a range of different countries. For example, the United States, London, and France actually use this platform for government communications. BBC, NBC, MTV UK, and more use it for their media services. Even universities like Amnesty International and the University of Oxford are using Drupal.

And of course, individuals and small business owners or entrepreneurs are also using Drupal. That’s why it’s one of the most popular options around and why so many of the top companies and websites around the world are using it compared to other platforms.

What You Can Do

If you’re the type of person who enjoys playing around with open source code yourself then you can feel free to do so with Drupal. Take a look at the system, download it, and see what you can do. You can customize whatever you like and then use it for yourself, upload it for others to use, or both.

If you’re not interested in customizing it yourself you can still make the most out of this service. Instead, you just download it and then look for the add-ons, modules, themes, and more that will help you create exactly what you’re looking for. You might even be surprised at all of the different ways that you can use what’s already out there to create the application you want.

Putting out suggestions and even asking for assistance could help you find or create the added features that you’re looking for as well. So don’t be afraid to reach out to some experts and see just what you can do or what you can find within the platform.

Where it Stands

Today, Drupal has been around for 20 years and continues to be one of the favorites. It has a great digital experience and offers some of the best content management tools as well as APIs and innovation. In general, all of this means that you have a lot to gain from Drupal and definitely nothing to lose from trying it out.

They even separate out different versions for you based on just what you’re looking to do. For example, developers, marketers, and agencies are all able to download the version of Drupal that works best for their specific needs, and then you can still tweak and adjust whatever you need as you go along.

There are even industry-specific ways to get started, with information and downloads provided for retail, fintech, sports & entertainment, decoupled, travel & tourism, high tech, eCommerce, nonprofit & NGO, healthcare, higher education, media & publishing, and government.

Or, choose to download based on different features, like security, performance & scaling, multilingual, accessibility, marketing automation, content authoring, personalization, or content as a service. Each of these options will help you get what you’re looking for and get started right.

Conclusion

There’s a whole lot that you can do with Drupal, and it all starts with taking a look at the system itself and trying out the different opportunities that are available for you. You might be surprised what is out there and just how the platform continues to grow and change even as you’re using it.

Take a look at the different features, options, and ways that you can use Drupal, and see if it’s the right option for your application and your business.



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