Drupal is a content management system (CMS) built on the PHP and MySQL combination (detailed requirements here). I've been working with the latest version since its release at the beginning of this month. Drupal 4.7 is a significant upgrade that brings major short- and long-term benefits to users and distributors of the system. It brings Drupal back to the cutting edge of CMS development.

Content management systems (CMSs) are everywhere, and whether you notice or not, most every site is powered by one. But there is one PHP script that has begun to lead the CMS pack in features, customizability and power; in fact, FreeSoftwareMagazine.com runs on it, it’s called Drupal.

You may recall that I've been working on revamping one of my Web sites with the open-source Drupal content management system (CMS). I'm finally done with the implementation and the design work and I'm well on my way into deployment, so I wanted to let you know that Drupal has ended up working extremely well for me.

Today, five years ago, Drupal 1.0.0 was released! The following snippet is taken directly from the original announcement:

There's a certain class of programs that I refer to as the "cranky" ones. They may work great when all is said and done, but getting to that point can be really hard. For me, these include sendmail, QuarkXPress, and now Drupal.

I may be good at some things, but I'm lousy at making Web sites.

Oh, I know my way around HTML, and I'm decent at Macromedia's Dreamweaver, but just because I know how to paint, doesn't make me Van Gogh.

So it is that when I looked at my sad little Practical Technology Web site, I decided it was time to try something different.

But what?

After six months of development, the Drupal team is proud to announce the Drupal 4.6.0 release! Thanks to those who contributed to this release, either by contributing code, testing the release candidate, providing support or writing documentation.
The key changes since Drupal 4.5 include:

• PHP5 support.

• Better search usability, improved results and relevancy.