README.txt 5.2 KB

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  1. CONTENTS OF THIS FILE
  2. ---------------------
  3. * About Drupal
  4. * Configuration and features
  5. * Installation profiles
  6. * Appearance
  7. * Developing for Drupal
  8. ABOUT DRUPAL
  9. ------------
  10. Drupal is an open source content management platform supporting a variety of
  11. websites ranging from personal weblogs to large community-driven websites. For
  12. more information, see the Drupal website at http://drupal.org/, and join the
  13. Drupal community at http://drupal.org/community.
  14. Legal information about Drupal:
  15. * Know your rights when using Drupal:
  16. See LICENSE.txt in the same directory as this document.
  17. * Learn about the Drupal trademark and logo policy:
  18. http://drupal.com/trademark
  19. CONFIGURATION AND FEATURES
  20. --------------------------
  21. Drupal core (what you get when you download and extract a drupal-x.y.tar.gz or
  22. drupal-x.y.zip file from http://drupal.org/project/drupal) has what you need to
  23. get started with your website. It includes several modules (extensions that add
  24. functionality) for common website features, such as managing content, user
  25. accounts, image uploading, and search. Core comes with many options that allow
  26. site-specific configuration. In addition to the core modules, there are
  27. thousands of contributed modules (for functionality not included with Drupal
  28. core) available for download.
  29. More about configuration:
  30. * Install, upgrade, and maintain Drupal:
  31. See INSTALL.txt and UPGRADE.txt in the same directory as this document.
  32. * Learn about how to use Drupal to create your site:
  33. http://drupal.org/documentation
  34. * Download contributed modules to sites/all/modules to extend Drupal's
  35. functionality:
  36. http://drupal.org/project/modules
  37. * See also: "Developing for Drupal" for writing your own modules, below.
  38. INSTALLATION PROFILES
  39. ---------------------
  40. Installation profiles define additional steps (such as enabling modules,
  41. defining content types, etc.) that run after the base installation provided
  42. by core when Drupal is first installed. There are two basic installation
  43. profiles provided with Drupal core.
  44. Installation profiles from the Drupal community modify the installation process
  45. to provide a website for a specific use case, such as a CMS for media
  46. publishers, a web-based project tracking tool, or a full-fledged CRM for
  47. non-profit organizations raising money and accepting donations. They can be
  48. distributed as bare installation profiles or as "distributions". Distributions
  49. include Drupal core, the installation profile, and all other required
  50. extensions, such as contributed and custom modules, themes, and third-party
  51. libraries. Bare installation profiles require you to download Drupal Core and
  52. the required extensions separately; place the downloaded profile in the
  53. /profiles directory before you start the installation process. Note that the
  54. contents of this directory may be overwritten during updates of Drupal core;
  55. it is advised to keep code backups or use a version control system.
  56. Additionally, modules and themes may be placed inside subdirectories in a
  57. specific installation profile such as profiles/your_site_profile/modules and
  58. profiles/your_site_profile/themes respectively to restrict their usage to only
  59. sites that were installed with that specific profile.
  60. More about installation profiles and distributions:
  61. * Read about the difference between installation profiles and distributions:
  62. http://drupal.org/node/1089736
  63. * Download contributed installation profiles and distributions:
  64. http://drupal.org/project/distributions
  65. * Develop your own installation profile or distribution:
  66. http://drupal.org/developing/distributions
  67. APPEARANCE
  68. ----------
  69. In Drupal, the appearance of your site is set by the theme (themes are
  70. extensions that set fonts, colors, and layout). Drupal core comes with several
  71. themes. More themes are available for download, and you can also create your own
  72. custom theme.
  73. More about themes:
  74. * Download contributed themes to sites/all/themes to modify Drupal's
  75. appearance:
  76. http://drupal.org/project/themes
  77. * Develop your own theme:
  78. http://drupal.org/documentation/theme
  79. DEVELOPING FOR DRUPAL
  80. ---------------------
  81. Drupal contains an extensive API that allows you to add to and modify the
  82. functionality of your site. The API consists of "hooks", which allow modules to
  83. react to system events and customize Drupal's behavior, and functions that
  84. standardize common operations such as database queries and form generation. The
  85. flexible hook architecture means that you should never need to directly modify
  86. the files that come with Drupal core to achieve the functionality you want;
  87. instead, functionality modifications take the form of modules.
  88. When you need new functionality for your Drupal site, search for existing
  89. contributed modules. If you find a module that matches except for a bug or an
  90. additional needed feature, change the module and contribute your improvements
  91. back to the project in the form of a "patch". Create new custom modules only
  92. when nothing existing comes close to what you need.
  93. More about developing:
  94. * Search for existing contributed modules:
  95. http://drupal.org/project/modules
  96. * Contribute a patch:
  97. http://drupal.org/patch/submit
  98. * Develop your own module:
  99. http://drupal.org/developing/modules
  100. * Follow best practices:
  101. http://drupal.org/best-practices
  102. * Refer to the API documentation:
  103. http://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/7