Source: /README.txt - 123 lines - 5376 bytes - Text - Print

   1  
   2  CONTENTS OF THIS FILE
   3  ---------------------
   4  
   5   * About Drupal
   6   * Configuration and features
   7   * Installation profiles
   8   * Appearance
   9   * Developing for Drupal
  10  
  11  ABOUT DRUPAL
  12  ------------
  13  
  14  Drupal is an open source content management platform supporting a variety of
  15  websites ranging from personal weblogs to large community-driven websites. For
  16  more information, see the Drupal website at http://drupal.org/, and join the
  17  Drupal community at http://drupal.org/community.
  18  
  19  Legal information about Drupal:
  20   * Know your rights when using Drupal:
  21     See LICENSE.txt in the same directory as this document.
  22   * Learn about the Drupal trademark and logo policy:
  23     http://drupal.com/trademark
  24  
  25  CONFIGURATION AND FEATURES
  26  --------------------------
  27  
  28  Drupal core (what you get when you download and extract a drupal-x.y.tar.gz or
  29  drupal-x.y.zip file from http://drupal.org/project/drupal) has what you need to
  30  get started with your website. It includes several modules (extensions that add
  31  functionality) for common website features, such as managing content, user
  32  accounts, image uploading, and search. Core comes with many options that allow
  33  site-specific configuration. In addition to the core modules, there are
  34  thousands of contributed modules (for functionality not included with Drupal
  35  core) available for download.
  36  
  37  More about configuration:
  38   * Install, upgrade, and maintain Drupal:
  39     See INSTALL.txt and UPGRADE.txt in the same directory as this document.
  40   * Learn about how to use Drupal to create your site:
  41     http://drupal.org/documentation
  42   * Download contributed modules to sites/all/modules to extend Drupal's
  43     functionality:
  44     http://drupal.org/project/modules
  45   * See also: "Developing for Drupal" for writing your own modules, below.
  46  
  47  INSTALLATION PROFILES
  48  ---------------------
  49  
  50  Installation profiles define additional steps (such as enabling modules,
  51  defining content types, etc.) that run after the base installation provided
  52  by core when Drupal is first installed. There are two basic installation
  53  profiles provided with Drupal core.
  54  
  55  Installation profiles from the Drupal community modify the installation process
  56  to provide a website for a specific use case, such as a CMS for media
  57  publishers, a web-based project tracking tool, or a full-fledged CRM for
  58  non-profit organizations raising money and accepting donations. They can be
  59  distributed as bare installation profiles or as "distributions". Distributions
  60  include Drupal core, the installation profile, and all other required
  61  extensions, such as contributed and custom modules, themes, and third-party
  62  libraries. Bare installation profiles require you to download Drupal Core and
  63  the required extensions separately; place the downloaded profile in the
  64  /profiles directory before you start the installation process. Note that the
  65  contents of this directory may be overwritten during updates of Drupal core;
  66  it is advised to keep code backups or use a version control system.
  67  
  68  Additionally, modules and themes may be placed inside subdirectories in a
  69  specific installation profile such as profiles/your_site_profile/modules and
  70  profiles/your_site_profile/themes respectively to restrict their usage to only
  71  sites that were installed with that specific profile.
  72  
  73  More about installation profiles and distributions:
  74  * Read about the difference between installation profiles and distributions:
  75    http://drupal.org/node/1089736
  76  * Download contributed installation profiles and distributions:
  77    http://drupal.org/project/distributions
  78  * Develop your own installation profile or distribution:
  79    http://drupal.org/developing/distributions
  80  
  81  APPEARANCE
  82  ----------
  83  
  84  In Drupal, the appearance of your site is set by the theme (themes are
  85  extensions that set fonts, colors, and layout). Drupal core comes with several
  86  themes. More themes are available for download, and you can also create your own
  87  custom theme.
  88  
  89  More about themes:
  90   * Download contributed themes to sites/all/themes to modify Drupal's
  91     appearance:
  92     http://drupal.org/project/themes
  93   * Develop your own theme:
  94     http://drupal.org/documentation/theme
  95  
  96  DEVELOPING FOR DRUPAL
  97  ---------------------
  98  
  99  Drupal contains an extensive API that allows you to add to and modify the
 100  functionality of your site. The API consists of "hooks", which allow modules to
 101  react to system events and customize Drupal's behavior, and functions that
 102  standardize common operations such as database queries and form generation. The
 103  flexible hook architecture means that you should never need to directly modify
 104  the files that come with Drupal core to achieve the functionality you want;
 105  instead, functionality modifications take the form of modules.
 106  
 107  When you need new functionality for your Drupal site, search for existing
 108  contributed modules. If you find a module that matches except for a bug or an
 109  additional needed feature, change the module and contribute your improvements
 110  back to the project in the form of a "patch". Create new custom modules only
 111  when nothing existing comes close to what you need.
 112  
 113  More about developing:
 114   * Search for existing contributed modules:
 115     http://drupal.org/project/modules
 116   * Contribute a patch:
 117     http://drupal.org/patch/submit
 118   * Develop your own module:
 119     http://drupal.org/developing/modules
 120   * Follow best practices:
 121     http://drupal.org/best-practices
 122   * Refer to the API documentation:
 123     http://api.drupal.org/api/drupal/7