Chapter 1. Drupal and Social Networking

Welcome to Drupal 7 Social Networking! During the course of this book we are going to learn how to develop a flexible, powerful, and interesting social networking site using the Content Management System, Drupal 7. We will start by looking at the concepts of social networking, Content Management Systems, and Drupal. Once we are more familiar with the concepts we will install Drupal, look at its features, and see how it works. By using a combination of existing features, modules, themes, and some simple custom development, we will enable user interaction, user contributions, and the ability for our users to communicate with each other.

In this chapter you will learn:

• What social networking is

• About social networking concepts

• What a Content Management System is

• What Drupal is

• Why Drupal is an excellent platform for Social Networking sites

• How to install and configure Drupal

Throughout the book we will use Drupal, and our increasing knowledge of it to develop a site for a fictional project, DinoSpace!—a Social Networking site for keepers of pet dinosaurs.