Drupal CMS is a fantastic open source through which you can build modern websites. Whether personal blogs or e-commerce, Drupal can be the right tool for you to make it happen. If you are looking for a tutorial Drupal for beginners how to create a website then you fell on the right page!
Compared with WordPress, Drupal has more power and flexibility which means that there will be a few more options and settings that you have to deal. However, this should not prevent you from ignoring the remarkable benefits that CMS has to offer, here are some examples:
Once you have successfully followed all the steps of our Drupal tutorial, you will be prepared with the knowledge to assemble his first Drupal website. From installation to which are the modules and how to use them, but do not worry, we’ll get through it together.
Note: This tutorial was based on Drupal major version of Drupal 8.xx however, many steps listed in this guide can be applied to the major version of Drupal 7.xx
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The first step to set up your site obviously involves the installation of Drupal CMS in your account Hosting Hostinger . Do not worry, the process is ridiculously easy and similar in all hosting providers. Follow these steps for installation:
Note: You will have to wait a few minutes until the installation is complete.
Do not worry if your hosting provider does not have an automatic installer or want to install drupal on localhost or VPS. Keep reading and you will learn how to install Drupal 8 manually.
To download the files needed to install Drupal, visit their official website . Find the latest version and click Download Zip .
First, you will have to extract the compressed files you downloaded, it is recommended to create a folder to make the process as clean as possible.
Then you need to transfer the extracted files to your hosting account. There are many different tools you can use to upload files. As FTP client or manager of integrated hosting files.
Note: To upload files, use the tool File Manager of Hostinger. However, the whole process of transfer is very similar, regardless of the upload option or client you use, so do not be discouraged to use their own FTP client or other file management software.
Once you access the directory of your hosting account, you need to find the exact path where you want the application to be installed. As an example, we install Drupal on a Hostinger-tutorials.com domain, then the path in this case is / public_html /.
Simply update and extract the .zip file. The process can take several minutes due to the number of contained files. When finished, your directory should look like this:
Now you can follow can move on and create a new database for your installation and assign the user with all the privileges .
With Hostinger, the MySQL database can be created in the MySQL database , you will need them for the next step!
Once all the preparatory steps have been completed, you can proceed with your installation.
Enter the URL in your browser to redirect sent installation files and a window will appear to you:
Choose your preferred language and continue with Save and Continue.
In the next step you have to choose your installation profile preference:
Again, click Save and Continue and the following step will prompt you to check the specifications of your server and also make sure that all requirements have been met.
Step is to seek optimal configuration so do not worry if the display shows that some values recommended were not met, for example:
If this show you a similar warning message, do not worry, because the script itself is functioning normally. However, surely improve their overall performance if you could meet the mentioned requirements.
The next step prompts you to enter the same detail of the database that you created in step 3 . Be sure to insert the name of the database , user and password .
Note : You can find your MySQL Hosting in the Control Panel Hostinger-> section MySQL database.
Make sure that the details you have entered are correct and click Save and Continue . This will begin the process of main facility, then wait patiently until it ‘s over.
In the last step, you will be presented with a configuration dialog where you must enter the preferences of your website such as Site Name and so on.
Take care when entering the details Site Maintenance Account , they will be used as your site’s admin area login credentials:
After sending the values, the installation process will be completed. Now you can log in to your administrator account to your Drupal and start creating your own website!
Now that Drupal installation is finished, let’s talk about building a real Drupal site. You will learn almost everything you need then tighten the belts.
To harness the power of Drupal, you need to log in to the Admin panel. You can access it by adding a user / login at the end of your Drupal URL. For example, in our case, Drupal administration panel can be accessed through http://hostinger-tutorials.com/user/login .
Once logged in, you will be presented to the admin panel. Here you will have all the potential and authority to begin to create and customize your site. The following sections will be displayed:
Before you know what is a taxonomy, you should know the following two words:
Now, a taxonomy in terms drupal uses to display specific content. So basically, a taxonomy are used to classify content in Drupal site.
Create a taxonomy is easy. You can do this by following these steps:
By default in Drupal, there are the following types of content:
Let’s now talk about adding an article in Drupal, follow these steps: In Control Panel, click Content .
We will now see how to create a simple page “About Us”:
Menus are very important, regardless of the type of site you are building, they help to categorize and structure the overall site. With Drupal, you can add, delete and rename menus and also the content that compose it. Follow the steps:
The blocks may be referred to as the container of objects that can be used to organize the content of your Drupal site. As an example, a user login ( block ) can be added to the footer of your site ( region ).
Follow these steps to insert blocks in a region:
Drupal has some very useful modules present in your core, but you can extend the functionality of your site or improve their efficiency by installing modules taxpayers. In this section you will learn how to install modules with Drupal.
First, you have to navigate to the Drupal module search page and find the module. When you find the module to the page you want to install (for example, for the Chaos Tool Suite , the link is https://www.drupal.org/project/ctools ), move to the download section at the bottom.
Note: The first number in the module version is the version of Drupal core. So if you are running Drupal 8, be sure to download the module with the version number beginning with 8.
Now follow these steps to install the module in Drupal:
Note: If the Install new module option is not available to you, you must first enable the Update Manager module. You can find it in the section Core menu Extend .
Now take a look at some of the most useful Drupal modules:
The way your site presents itself, determines the first impression in the minds of your visitors, and you want it to be a positive reaction. By default, the Bartik theme is already installed, but there are also some pre-installed themes available at your disposal for that choice. You can check the current theme that is installed and can switch between the available themes tab Appearance .
If, however, you want to install a new theme, there are many sources on the internet where you can find plenty of themes and made available by third parties for drupal. However, the most reliable source would be the Official Website of Drupal .
It is supply comes with a very useful search tool that can be used to filter the topics you would like to use. The most important option is the Core Compatibility where you must choose the version of your current installation of Drupal.
Note: As the modules, check if the theme is compatible with your main version of Drupal.
The installation process is very similar to installing modules:
By default, installed themes remain disabled. To activate the new theme installed, click install and set as the default which is near the Bootstrap theme section.
If you want to adjust some theme settings, you can click the configuration that is near and continue.
In this part of the tutorial of our Drupal, we will create a fully functional blog with Drupal.
As mentioned before, the blog so not part of the core in the latest version of Drupal 8. So you will have to download and install this module to set up a blog in Drupal.
Once installed, the blog module should now be displayed in the module section. To view it, click Extend panel again. Check the box next to the Blog and save the configuration to enable it.
Now navigate to Contents -> Add Content . You should now see a new type of content chamapo Blog Post. Add a title, body and the publishing options for the blog and tap Save and Publish. Your blog should now be visible in the blogs section on your homepage.
Always important to make regular backups of your Drupal files. By doing so, use your Hostinger account is just too easy, just a few clicks and you’re done. Follow these steps:
It is! Your backup is now ready to be downloaded.
When it comes to Drupal, the update are two different things. Updating means taking the Drupal from a minor version to another, for example, 8.0 to 8.1 or 8.2, while the update would take its core Drupal version 7 to version 8. In this section we’ll go through the steps required to upgrade to Drupal from version 8.3.7 to 8.4.
To see if an update for the core of Drupal is now available, navigate to section Reports -> Updates Available .
There are a few ways to use Drupal, for example, you can use SSH or FTP to update manually or automatic updates with the Composer . The following steps can be used to update the Drupal to a new smaller version within the main series launch.
Before starting the upgrade, it is highly recommended to enable the Maintenance mode :
It can be a little tricky to update, but you need to manually replace all the files from your core, except .htaccess , robots.txt and the folder Sites . The most convenient way would be to use the FTP client such as FileZilla :
Drupal CMS is one of the most powerful and widely updated today due to its latest features and security protection and sophisticated. This tutorial covered all the basics that can be followed by a beginner or an experienced developer to start your website with Drupal. Additional information about the platform can be found on the official Drupal documentation, check here .