Prior to updating anything on your Drupal site, make sure that you have a current backup. This will enable you to easily roll back if there is an issue with the update and restore your site to its previous state.

Now that you’ve backed up your site, the first thing you want to update is the core Drupal platform. When you are logged in as an admin, you will notice an alert when there is a new update available for Drupal. There will be a message informing you that there’s a new release available and you’ll want to proceed with updating Drupal core. Next you will want to look at updating contributed modules that you have installed as well as the installed theme.

By updating Drupal core, modules and themes, you will make sure that your website runs on the most current and secure software and has having the newest features available.

Check out the previous post in his Drupal series where Brant talks backing up both the database and file system of your Drupal website. Find out more about hosting your Drupal site at Rackspace.

Since Drupal is a Content Management System (CMS), the application stores all of your content, configuration files and user data within a database. It is very important to keep the database for your Drupal site safe. The best practice is to back up your database frequently and regularly so that you can restore it in the event of failure.

The file system is the second item that you should back up. With Drupal, you are often inserting images and adding modules, so it is imperative to backup these files. This, in combination with your database backup, can enable you to restore you Drupal site to working order if something goes awry.

Fortunately, there are some Drupal modules that can help you back up your site. One of those modules is the Backup and Migrating to Rackspace Cloud Files module. This incorporates the Drupal Cloud Files API, and allows you to quickly backup your file system to our Content Delivery Network. This is advantageous because the backup resides off of your server, which allows it to be a more secure and offset from your environment or your datacenter.

Check out the previous post in his Drupal series whereBranttalks about modules to help you prevent spam. In his next post, Brant discusses how to update the modules, theme and Drupal core. Find out more abouthosting your Drupal site at Rackspace.

There are some Drupal modules that can help you automatically moderate the spam without having to manually delete hundreds or even thousands of comments daily.

Two modules in particular are AntiSpam and Mollom. Both of these modules help with the prevention and automatic deletion of spam in your Drupal site, however, they go about doing so in different ways. AntiSpam uses multiple services such as Akismet.

Mollom is a module that’s developed specifically for Mollom’s service. In addition to blocking spammy looking content, Mollom may block a known spammer based on information in their system. Mollom is free and also offers several different paid services for business and larger enterprise customers.

Those are two modules that I have used to control spam, which services do you use to prevent spam in Drupal? Be sure to let me know in the comments.

Check out the previous post in his Drupal series whereBrant talks about essential modules for developers. In his next post, Brant discusses the different pieces that you need to backup so you can restore Drupal. Find out more abouthosting your Drupal site at Rackspace.

One module that every Drupal developer uses is views. This module enables you to quickly and easily generate lists and pages where you replicate a lot of content. The views module is one of the most used modules for Drupal, and one that you will want to install right away.

The features module is extremely useful when you are working in multiple environments, such as dev and production. For example, let’s say that you are making all of your development changes and creating your content types in a dev environment. The features module writes all this into code, which makes it deployable to your production environment, allowing you to keep a subversion repository or a GIT repository. You can then easily deploy those changes out to your Drupal website in the production environment.

Another very important module is the Devel module. This module allows you to see what functions and hooks are firing as you develop your website. The Devel module also allows you to quickly generate generic Lorem Ipsum content and generic images for testing. This sample content is a great help for you to get a good idea of the look and feel of what you are building and how the user can interact with the content on the site.

Finally, there is the Drush module, which is a great module that allows you to use command line code to make changes and install/uninstall modules for your Drupal site. This allows you to update your Drupal site without going through a cumbersome GUI so you can make changes rapidly. The Drush module also has some basic functionality to help clear all of Drupal’s cache quickly.

Before I start any Drupal project, I make sure that I have these essential modules to aid in development with Drupal. What are some of your essential Drupal modules? Let me know in the comments below!

Check out the previous post in this Drupal series where Brant gives an introduction to Drupal. In his next post, Brant discusses how to prevent spam in Drupal. Find out more about hosting your Drupal site at Rackspace.

With Drupal, you get several types of functionality. First, there is the ability to build a blog that can be spun up quickly, serving the basic needs of any site. This functionality is baked into the core Drupal platform. Drupal also has the functionality to build a small, very basic forum on your website. This is helpful if you are looking to create a community space on your site for people to discuss your product, report and issue and provide feedback.

The beauty of Drupal is how easily you can customize it make your website stand out and be unique. You can install themes to control the overall look and feel of your Drupal site. Modules are like mini applications that you can install to present different information (such as the local weather) or add functionality (such as analytics tracking).

Finally, Drupal is open sourced and has a very strong community developing on top of it. These thousands of active contributors are the people who contribute code on a regular basis, enhance the core Drupal platform and develop the themes and modules you can install on your site. However, if you are looking for a particular feature or customization that is not currently available, you can actually make the platform do exactly what you need if you know how to write code or know someone who does.

Be sure to check back next week when Brant discusses some of the basic modules that all developers will need to use.