Site Building
Topic

Drupal Documentation and Learning Resources for Drupal 7, 8, 9, and 10

The Drupal project’s documentation is created and maintained by the same volunteer community that creates the Drupal software. The documentation includes information to help orient newcomers, guides for using Drupal, creating themes, writing modules, and using contributed modules. It also contains information about the community, its code of conduct, standards for contribution, and guides for getting involved. It’s extensive, but can also be somewhat overwhelming given the sheer volume of content.

There are tons of resources for learning more about Drupal, and we can’t easily list them all. These are some of our favorites, and are generally accepted as “official” by the community. All of these resources are maintained by the community, and in almost all cases you can help improve the resources by adding/editing content, or asking/answering questions.

Example tasks

  • Get information about contributing to the Drupal project
  • Learn how to override elements of a theme
  • Locate information about a Drupal API so that you can implement it in your module
  • Read about the Drupal projects governance model

Confidence

How reliable documentation resources are depends on when they where last updated relative to how frequently the thing they are documenting changes. Drupal underwent a major API change in the transition between Drupal 7 and Drupal 8. Documentation labeled for Drupal 7 will most likely only apply to Drupal 7. Documentation labeled for Drupal 8 may also apply to Drupal 9, 10, and beyond, but it will depend on the specific feature or API being documented. Change records are published at https://drupal.org/list-changes.

Drupalize.Me resources

Written by the Drupal community, with videos added by Drupalize.Me, the Drupal User Guide is the best way to get started with Drupal concepts and site building skills.

Site Building

Drupal User Guide

Guide
Basics, Site Building, Site Administration, Community
Drupal 8, 9, and 10
  • Drupalize.Me Guides
    • Drupalize.Me dedicated to empowering people to build sites with Drupal, write Drupal modules, and create Drupal themes. Our guide listing breaks the content up into specific pathways for different skill sets and by topic. You can also search our library and filter the results.

Guides

Not sure where to start? Our guides provide useful learning tracks for all skill levels.

Navigate guides

External resources

  • Drupal User Guide (Drupal.org)

    • A curated, and copy edited, guide to understanding and using the features of Drupal. Intended to teach people how to install, administer, build, and maintain the content of a Drupal site. Use this if you’re new to Drupal and want to get an overview of the kinds of things you can do with Drupal, as well as whenever you have questions about basic Drupal maintenance, or how to use a feature of the Drupal core UI.

  • Drupal.org community documentation (Drupal.org)

    • The Drupal.org online Community Documentation is written and maintained by the Drupal community. It’s a wiki-like system with pages documenting everything from how to use a specific module, to how to get involved contributing to Drupal.

  • API Reference (api.drupal.org)

    • Drupal API documentation generated from inline comments in the Drupal core source code. Use this if you’re writing a Drupal module or theme and you want to know how to use a specific API or feature. Also use it as a reference to look up the names of things like hooks, services, or events. For information about why/when to use a particular API and examples visit https://www.drupal.org/docs/develop/drupal-apis.

  • Drupal Groups (groups.drupal.org)

    • A place to connect with other Drupal users in your area, or around specific topics. Use this to find regional Drupal User Groups and meet others in your local community who are also working with Drupal. User groups can be an exceptional source for mentorship and asking questions.

  • Drupal Planet (Drupal.org)

    • Aggregated list of articles from various Drupal related blogs and other sources. This a great place to keep up-to-date with quality content posted outside of Drupal.org. Expect to see a combination of news, tutorials, and upcoming event notices.

  • Examples for Developers (Drupal.org)

    • A collection of modules that demonstrate how to use various core APIs. Most have extensive inline comments. Use this if you learn by example, learn from reading the code, or want to install a module that implements a specific feature and see it in action.

  • Recorded DrupalCon Sessions (youtube.com)

    • The Drupal Association maintains a collection of sessions recorded at every DrupalCon. They cover a huge variety of topics. Use this to get an overview of many different topics, learn about what are considered current best practices, and see ideas about where Drupal is headed in the future. These almost all assume that you already have some familiarity with Drupal, and are probably not a great place to go for someone who is just getting started.

  • Slack (Drupal.org)

    • Connect with others in the Drupal community in real time via Slack. The Drupal Slack has dedicated channels for asking support related questions. Asking other people is a great way to get started when you have general questions and aren’t sure where to get them answered, or if you’re curious about the best way of approaching a particular task. Help out by answering other people’s questions, and boost your karma in the community.

  • Drupal Answers (drupal.stackexchange.com)

    • Ask and answer questions about all things Drupal. There is a very active community on Stack Exchange.

  • The Weekly Drop (theweeklydrop.com)

    • A weekly email newsletter with curated links to current news, new tutorials, and other goings on in the community.