Preface

Drupal is an open-source content management system software package that is free to download, modify, and use. It has been implemented by thousands of people around the world and is used by millions of people daily as the basis for discussion Web sites, community portals, corporate intranets, e-commerce Web sites, vanity Web sites, resource directories, image galleries, podcasts, and more! By choosing to use Drupal, you are accessing not only an award-winning Web platform, but also its vibrant community.

This book will teach you how to customize how Drupal looks. Applying new designs is very easy—the code that controls how Drupal works is separated from the code that controls how Drupal looks. The design part of Drupal is referred to as the theme layer—and that’s what this book is all about. Individual designs are referred to as “themes” and the people who create and implement them are referred to as “themers.” By the time you reach the end of this book, you will have the tools to customize the experience for your content managers, Web site visitors, and Drupal administrators.

The book assumes you are familiar with how Drupal works and that you have been an administrator of a Drupal Web site. It would help if you are comfortable with Web site design and development, but these concepts will be explained for those who have only a limited experience with them. More specifically, this book will use code snippets written in HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript.