Drupal is an amazing content management system (CMS) and development platform used to build amazing websites and services. While much has been written about the flexibility and security of Drupal, here are a few fun items that you may not have known about the Drupal platform.
- Drupal got its name from a misspelling. As the story goes, Drupal founder Dries Buytaert misspelled the Dutch word for village, “dorp,” while checking for the domain name. The resulting error was the word “drop” which, when translated in to Dutch became “druppel” or Drupal as the name would evolve.
- Drupal is known for its flexibility. This flexibility comes, in part, from the huge community around the project. Drupal is made up of nearly 1 million users creating sites and building beautiful themes, and is arguably the most active community of the big three open-source CMSes.
- Drupal is for everyone. How do we know that Drupal is for everyone? We can start by looking at the number of localizations. Drupal core (the basic set of functionality and modules that come with every installation of Drupal) has been translated into over 90 different languages. Some of those languages include Chinese, Hebrew, and even the comical, internet-based Lolspeak.
- The power of Drupal has been recognized by many major organizations and governments. When President Obama took office, a number of websites run by the United States government were converted to open source software, specifically Drupal. These sites include the official website of the President, the petition site We the People, and a number of sites for United States House of Representatives sub-committees.
- Governments aren’t the only organizations that choose Drupal to run their websites. Many of the largest, most well-know brands in the world choose the Drupal platform. Some of these brands include Tesla Motors, Timex, and the Economist.
Drupal is one of the most popular and well developed open-source platforms in the world, and it is only getting growing larger. Be sure keep some of these fun facts in mind the next time you are selecting a content management system or platform for your product.
