Drupal is used by a little more than 7 percent of the total number of sites. This is less than free WordPress and Joomla, and in the overall rating of all Drupal systems, it is between the 10th line. However, it is still considered to be a popular solution.
Drupal is a CMS that is distributed free of charge. Out of the box, this engine comes with a minimal set of modules that allow you to make some changes. However, to deploy full-scale development of a Drupal eCommerce platform, additional modules are needed.
Drupal Benefits
The main advantages of this site management system are as follows:
- It is available free of charge.
- It has open-source code, which makes Drupal a flexible system.
- It offers a huge selection of themes and design templates.
- It has a convenient control panel.
- It has built-in caching to speed up page loading.
- You can find a wide user community: it is easy to find answers to any question.
Let’s consider some of the features of the system from the point of view of user experience.
The Convenience of Use
In the early stages of use, Drupal is an uncomplicated system. For example, installation on hosting and assignment of a domain name is performed through the hosting admin panel. However, this is typical for all popular systems.
What’s next? Further, difficulties begin to peek out from around the corners. Yes, the engine comes with a ready-made package of modules, but they are enough for basic actions: change the color, display content on the page, process images. To deploy a full-fledged site, you will have to look for additional modules. The main difficulty in the search is that all modules are interconnected, and you will need to select modules with a focus on compatibility with the general assembly.
Working With Design
It is specified by the template. There are several thousand templates in the system catalog — most of them have an adaptive layout and can be customized for user requests. There are paid and free options as well.
Templates are edited with two tools:
- Block Layout is a code-free editor that offers the same features as website builders.
- Theme Settings — offers basic settings: setting the logo, favicon, color scheme, displaying pictures.
It is also possible to edit template files through the code editor, but this is a high level of development.
Adjustment for SEO Promotion
Search engines are friendly with sites on Drupal. However, to achieve high positions in the search, you will have to work hard. Here, too, you cannot do without modules. The following tools are used for optimization:
- A bunch of modules, such as Pathauto, CTool, and Token, to generate CNC addresses
- Metatag and Real-time SEO — for filling in metadata
- XML Setup — for a sitemap
You can work with Drupal without any special experience, but in this case, you will have to constantly search for podcasts from experienced users. This way will take a lot of time, but it is definitely worth it.