You probably didn't notice, but Caleb Delnay in digital is now a Drupal 7 site. I worked on the upgrade on and off over the course of a couple weeks and launched the new version last Wednesday. The site doesn't look any different on the surface, as I ported my custom theme forward to Drupal 7, but under the hood it is definitely running Drupal 7.
Take a look at my previous technical explanation for the Drupal 6 version of this site for some background on why I chose Drupal. That post also contains some background on the custom theme that is still being used for the new version of the site. For more specifics on the upgrade to Drupal 7, continue reading!
Being a web developer, I figure it makes some sense to explain this site.
The Basics
A keen observer will notice an image that reads "Drupal" in the footer. What is Drupal? Drupal is a content management system and framework for building websites of many different shapes and sizes. It is written in the PHP programming language and primarily uses (but doesn't have to) MySQL for data storage. You can learn more about Drupal on the project's about page.
Considering my familiarity with Drupal, it was an obvious choice as the software that would power my site. One of the wonderful aspects of Drupal is its modularity and extendability. Not only can the core software be extended, but it is normal for modules to extend other modules or for modules to serve as building blocks. Pull together some of the building block modules and sprinkle some configuration on them and the result is a powerful dynamic site feature. With enough knowledge of key modules, it is possible to create comprehensive sites without ever writing a line of code.
Caleb Delnay in digital can be broken down in a few important "components", for lack of a better word. At the heart is Drupal 6. Layered upon Drupal are several third party user contributed ("contrib") modules. They're all configured in ways to create specific site functionality. Finally, there is the custom Caleb Delnay in digital theme.
