Drupal is a content management system Open Source used to manage Web resources. It is a multiuser, multiplatform, multilanguage, extensible, modular, and so on. I’m quite surprised with this development and each time I like.
Introduces the concept of node as synonymous with content types, any resources that enter the system becomes a node, which can vary and include articles, stories, posts, surveys, images, collaborative books, reviews, recipes, etc.. This new concept allows us to standardize the information by assigning the same characteristics to different objects and the possibility of having all the information listed.
The node classification is somewhat arbitrary and serves users / administrators can build content that you need.
Taxonomies
The Drupal taxonomy system is robust and powerful, the content is organized into categories that are assembled through the taxonomy module, which can generate controlled vocabularies with terms that can be ordered hierarchically associated with a particular node type if required . You can configure a node can be classified under one or multiple terms of a vocacbulario, flexibility to thank those who manage content systems rigid.
Modularization of growth
While the basic features of Drupal are enough to launch a complete site, the core includes: user management, pages, vocabulary, comments and syndication. Its potential lies in its modular structure that allows it to be extended and customized to taste and pleasure of the administrator for various functions through modules for easy installation. Then this multifaceted CMS allow us to build from a personal blog to a corporate intranet, through digital libraries, wikis, e-commerce sites, photo albums and even recipes ….
These modules are developed by a community working together for the growth of this tool. Some of the most prominent to my liking and they can be found in the Drupal modules section are:
AdSense allows for easy viewing advertising service from Google “Adsense”.
Book Review: used to post reviews of books, like a node, as it provides specific fields for this task
Captcha: Adds the user registration system validation manual (copy the code in a distorted image) to avoid the massive use by robots, unscrupulous purposes.
Daily: offers a new type of node used to display daily cartoons or phrases. The node is associated with a date and this allows for navigation through past editions of a calendar.
E-Commerce: A series of modules to create a tool for e-business.
Folksonomy: a simple API to build non-hierarchical classifications for the nodes, such as del.icio.us.
Font size: providing the user with the functionality to change the font size used by CSS and javascript
Highlight: Highlight keywords in the search results.
Live Discussion: Lets you display a block on a page with a list of recent comments.
Organic groups: allows users to create and manage groups of people.
Photo album: to maintain multiple albums.
Project: project tracking tool with notifications via e-mail.
Recipe: module that enables the exchange of recipes.
Scheduler: Allows publishing capabilities include automatic or despublicación between nodes.
Site map: can automatically build a site map that can display custom information.
Spam: tools for managing automated spam.
Subscriptions: allows users to subscribe to receive notifications about new content or updates to the site.
Syndication: to centralize on a page all Drupal generated RSS.
Video: allows you to include videos in QuickTime format on the site.
And many other things ….
Other features
Content caching
Content Versions
URL Alias:
allows the assignment of addresses readable by search engines (which translates into better ranking) and by humans to greater usability to be easier to remember ..
Easily translatable into other languages and multilingual support
Centralized installation for multiple sites (even different formats)
Complies with XHTML standards of the W3C
It has a tool forum
Blogger API support for remote publishing
Referrer statistics, content popularity, and so on.
Surveys by one of its modules can generate online surveys.
Collaborative book as a wiki, allows the creation of a project where many users contribute to its construction.
News aggregator content to include links to other sites. With caching and time settings.
Customization of Themes: provides the basis to expand and customize site templates.
Criticism
On issues of accessibility,
Drupal seems to be all palms because of their flexibility to develop templates and his heavy use of CSS and XHTML, the responsibility falls on the side of the administrator.
If we talk about usability, people can say that Drupal has great awareness and are gradually improving the tool. Developers have a list where they discuss such topics, Jeffrey Veen recently wrote an article about usability of open source CMS, the Drupal development community acknowledged receipt, put the cards on the table with a bold proposal. and Veen said, in a sense you are right Jeffrey, but it would have been nice to see his name working for the open source community.
Regarding the bad, and I have read this criticism elsewhere who have migrated, and after my experience, I can not do anything but affirm it. While not a fully complex input is hard to understand, especially those who are accustomed to more rigid systems like MovableType, pMachine or WordPress. You have to take the job seriously and begin to explore how that taxonomy, nodes, modules, themes, permissions, etc, etc. But as we overcome the pitfalls of the road is opening up before us a horizon of possibilities too vast.
Until next time.
