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Drupal is a PHP-based content management framework, content management system and blogging engine which was originally written by Dries Buytaert and is the software used to power Debian Planet [1] (http://www.debianplanet.org/), Terminus1525 [2] (http://www.terminus1525.ca/), SpreadFirefox [3] (http://www.spreadfirefox.com/) and Kernel Trap [4] (http://www.kerneltrap.org).
Drupal is the English spelling for the Dutch word 'druppel' which means 'drop'.
Though it started as a SlashClone, Drupal has become much more than just a news portal, thanks to its flexible architecture. Drupal has a basic layer which supports the modules (plug-ins) to provide actual features. There are modules for Drupal which do everything from a web shop and photo galleries to mailing list and CVS integration.
Some of the more special roles that Drupal has filled include company intranets, online classrooms, art communities and project management. Many feel that Drupal's focus on user communities is what makes it stand out from its competition.
Drupal was also the basis for DeanSpace, a content management system used to power websites supporting the 2004 presidential campaign of Howard Dean. After the Dean campaign ended, that project grew into CivicSpace, also Drupal-based, a "grassroots organizing platform that empowers collective action inside communities and cohesively connects remote groups of supporters."
There are several customized Drupal distributions out there. Most of these are just prepackaged with extra third party modules, but some contain modifications to the core too:
- DrupalEd (http://cyberdash.com/node/311): aimed at using Drupal as an online classroom.
- [Drupal For Bloggers (http://james.seng.cc/wiki/wiki.cgi?Drupal_For_Bloggers)]: aimed at bloggers, in particular ex-[MovableType] users.
External links
Communities around Drupal development
Companies around Drupal
Service sites
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