Glossary

Last updated February 2, 2012. Created by Dries on December 23, 2002.
Edited by Sahin, nicoz, Devin Carlson, zzolo. Log in to edit this page.

This glossary describes terminology and acronyms used in the Drupal project and by the Drupal community.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

anonymous #: A visitor to a Drupal website who is not currently logged in. Drupal considers any such visitor as being the anonymous user, with the user ID 0, and belonging to the anonymous user role.
API #: An application programming interface (API) is a particular set of rules ('code') and specifications that software programs can follow to communicate with each other. Within Drupal there is the API Reference which contains documentation for developers. There is also a Form API and Field API
argument #: A section of the path for a page on a Drupal website. In the path /node/937 the first argument is "node", and the second is "937". Some modules, most notably Views, allow the use of "wildcard" arguments that allow a particular page to vary depending on context.

B

basic page #: A content type that is enabled in Drupal in the default installation profile. Typically basic pages are used for static content that can (but are not required to) be linked into the main navigation bar.
BLOB #: Binary Large Object. A collection of binary data stored as a single entity in a database management system.
block #: The boxes visible in the regions of a Drupal website. Most blocks (e.g., recent forum topics) are generated on-the-fly by various Drupal modules, but they can be created in the administer blocks area of a Drupal site. See the documentation for more information on blocks.
BoF #: Birds of a feather. An informal discussion group. Unlike special interest groups or working groups, BoFs are informal and often formed in an ad-hoc manner.
book #: A set of pages tied together in a hierarchical sequence, perhaps with chapters, sections, subsections, and so on. You can use books for manuals, site resource guides, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), or whatever you'd like. To use books, enable the core Book module.
breadcrumbs #: The section, usually near the top of the page, that shows the path you followed to locate the current page. For example, it might show Home > Macadamia Nuts > Current Events > News Articles, meaning that you started at the home page, clicked on "Macadamia Nuts" in the menu, then selected "Current Events" in the sub-menu, and finally selected, "News Articles." The term breadcrumbs is borrowed from Hansel and Gretel, who left crumbs of bread along their path so they could find their way back out of the forest.
bundle #: A specific implementation of an entity type. For example, the node entity type has bundles called content types. Default node bundles are "page", and "article".

C

cache #: The core Drupal cache stores assembled pages and blocks for anonymous visitors in the cache tables in the database. Other popular Drupal caching options include boost, memcache, and authcache.
callback #: The mechanism for registering a path so that the correct function is fired when the URL is accessed. They are not shown in the menu. For understanding callbacks see Drupal's page serving mechanism.
CCK#: Content Construction Kit. A contributed module which permits site developers to define custom fields and content types. A variety of extension modules to CCK exist permitting specialized field definitions such as images, dates, and computed values.
child #: Objects that can have hierarchical relationships, such as menu items, book pages, taxonomy terms and so on. A "child" menu item, for example, is nested under another menu item, which is referred to as the "parent" menu item.
clean URL #: A URL that does not contain code. By default, Drupal uses and generates URLs for your site's pages that look like "http://www.example.com/?q=node/83." By enabling clean URLs this will be rewritten to "http://www.example.com/node/83".
CMS #: Content management system. In the context of a Web site. a collection of tools designed to allow the creation, modification, organization and removal of information.
code freeze #: The date at which no new features can go in the next version of Drupal, unless specific dispensations have been made by the core committers (even then, only when the impact on other systems is minimal). At code freeze, the focus in Drupal core shifts to bug fixing and usability improvements. It is the time when contributed module developers can begin working on updating their code to work with the next version of Drupal.
content #: The text, images, and other information on a web site. Besides nodes there is more content on a typical Drupal site, such as such as comments and file attachments.
content type #: Every node belongs to a single "node type" or "content type", which defines various default settings for nodes of that type, such as whether the node is published automatically and whether comments are permitted. Modules can define their own content types; the core Drupal Book and Poll modules are two examples of modules that define content types.
contrib #: Contributed. Modules or themes that are not part of the core Drupal product. Modules are available for separate download from the modules section of downloads. These do not make part of the core of Drupal, although over time they can become part of it. Similar concepts exist in other software and are sometimes called plugins, addons or extensions.
core #: The files and modules included with the Drupal project download.
core committers #: Drupal developers that review proposed changes to the Drupal core and maintain code. They are the only ones who have write access to the core git repository.
core contributor #: Developers who contribute code patches or documentation for the Drupal core. Contributions are peer reviewed and then evaluated by the core committers.
critical path #: The code that is run when serving a cached page.
cron #: A command scheduler that executes commands or scripts (e.g. scripts to backup a database) automatically at specified time and date intervals. Drupal uses a 'cron job' to perform periodic tasks that help Drupal to run smoothly and efficiently.

D

DA #: Drupal Association. An organization dedicated to helping the open-source Drupal project flourish.
DO, D.O. #: Drupal.org. The website of Drupal "(where you are right now)".
DrupalCon #: The biannual conference dedicated to gathering Drupal practitioners. It alternates between a North American location and a European location.
Druplicon #: The Drupal mascot. It is a neologism formed from joining the words "Drupal" and "icon".
Drush #: A command line shell and scripting interface for Drupal written in PHP. More information is available at the Drush project page.

E

entity #: Any defined chunk of data in Drupal. This includes things like nodes, users, taxonomy terms, files, etc. Contributed modules can define custom entities. Each entity type can have multiple bundles.

F

field #: Elements of data that can be attached to a node or other Drupal entities. Fields commonly contain text, image, or terms.
filter #: A tool for stripping out HTML, PHP, JavaScript, and other undesirable elements from content before pages are displayed. Other filters add formatting and features such as smilies. It is possible to create custom filters that allow or forbid only those tags you wish. More information is available at the Text filters and Input Formats page.
flag #: A way to mark an information item for selection for further processing on Drupal.org this is done for flagging issues.
foobar #: A common placeholder name, e.g. for names of variables ('$foobar') or functions ('foo_bar()').
fork #: A copy of source code from one software package that receives independent development, thus creating a distinct piece of software.

G

GDO #: Groups.drupal.org. The site that serves the Drupal community by providing a place for groups to organize, plan and work on projects. Real world local user groups in particular are encouraged to setup their online presence at GDO.
Git#: A version control system used by Drupal code contributors to coordinate their individual code changes. Git records everyone's changes to a given project in a directory tree called a git repository. For more information, see the Git documentation .
GUI #: Graphical user interface. A program interface that takes advantage of the computer's graphics capabilities to make the program easier to use.

H

HEAD #: The current development version of Drupal.
hook #: A PHP function that is named foo_bar(), where "foo" is the name of the module (whose filename is thus foo.module) and "bar" is the name of the hook. Each hook has a defined set of parameters and a specified result type.
human readable #: Also user-friendly name. The text string used to identify a resource as displayed in the user interface, as opposed to the machine name used for internal purposes of the computer program.

I

input format #: A tool for defining the processing that happens to user-entered text before it is shown in the browser. Usually different user roles are given permission to use different input formats depending on how much they are trusted. For those roles, the input format may often be available as an option that shows up underneath the body of a node edit form. For more information, see the Text Filters and Input Formats documentation.
i18n #: Numeronym for internationalization, replacing the 18 middle letters with "18". Internationalization refers to enabling translations and other-language support (including alternate character sets and right-to-left rendering) in computer systems.
IRC #: Internet Relay Chat. A network protocol that allows people to chat in real time over the Internet. Drupal discussions are often going on in The Drupal IRC Channels
issue #: A unit of work to accomplish an improvement in a data system. An issue could be a bug, a requested feature, task, missing documentation, and so forth. The Drupal community uses the issue queue to work as a team. If you need help with a specific project, whether it is a module or theme, you should go to the issue queue.

L

l10n #: Numeronym for localization, replacing the 10 middle letters with "10".
LAMP #: Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. LAMP is an interoperable group of open-source computer programs that form the most common environment to run Drupal on.
legacy code #: A no-longer supported version of Drupal. The term can also mean code inserted into modern software for the purpose of maintaining an older or previously supported feature.
log #: A list of recorded events. A log may contain usage data, performance data, errors, warnings and operational information. Drupal's events are logged by the modules dblog and syslog.

M

machine name #: Also machine-readable name. The text string used by the computer to identify a resource, as opposed to the human readable name shown in the user interface.
menu #: In Drupal, the term refers both to the clickable navigational elements on a page, and to Drupal's internal system for handling requests. When a request is sent to Drupal, the menu system uses the provided URL to determine what functions to call.
module #: Software (usually PHP and CSS) that extends Drupal features and functionality. Drupal distinguishes between core and contributed modules.

N

NID #: Node ID. The unique identifier for each node. It can be found in the path to the node. For example, a node with path, "http://drupal.org/node/937", has a node ID of "937".
node #: A piece of content in Drupal, typically corresponding to a single page on the site, that has a title, an optional body, and perhaps additional fields. Every node also belongs to a particular content type, and can additionally be classified using the taxonomy system. Examples of nodes are polls, stories, book pages and images.
node type #: See content type.

P

page #: See Basic Page
parent #: See child
patch #: A small piece of software designed to update or fix problems with a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing bugs, replacing graphics and improving the usability or performance. For more information, see the patch documentation.
path #: In Drupal terms, a unique, last part of the URL for a specific function or piece of content. For instance, for a page whose full URL is http://example.com/?q=node/7, the path is "node/7". Drupal can use clean URLs if the Path module is enabled, which would change the full URL in this example to http://example.com/node/7; the path would still be "node/7".
permission #: In Drupal, a tool for controlling access to content creation, modification and site administration at the application level. Administrators assign permissions to roles, then assign roles to users. The first user of a Drupal site (User1) automatically receives all permissions. In operating system like UNIX, permissions are security settings restricting or allowing users to access information or perform certain functions at the operating system level. In the case of files on UNIX systems, there are three types of permissions: read, write and execute.
published #: The state of a node that can be viewed by visitors to the website. To easily hide nodes from the public (i.e. anonymous role), make the node unpublished by unchecking "Published" in the node add/edit form.

Q

queue #: A job management technique. Jobs waiting in a line (queue) are usually processed on a first in, first out basis or by priority, if specified. The Drupal community uses the issue queue to work as a team. If you need help with a specific project, whether it is a module or theme, you should go to the issue queue.

R

region #: Defined areas of a page where content can be placed. Basic regions include: Header, Footer, Content, Left sidebar, Right Sidebar. Different themes can define different regions so the options are often different per-site. Content is assigned to regions via blocks. They can be ordered by weight within regions to define the order in which they display.
roles #: Sets of permissions that can be applied to individual users. Users can belong to more than one role. Two roles, authenticated users (those users that sign up for an account) and anonymous users (those either without an account or not logged in), are supplied by default with Drupal installations. Drupal allows creating additional.
RSS #: Really Simple Syndication. A family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document (which is called a "feed" or "web feed" or "channel") contains either a summary of content ("teaser") from an associated web site or the full text. RSS is one of the many ways of connecting a Drupal website with external sites, systems and data.
RTBC #: Reviewed and tested by the community. RTBC is one of the statuses given to issues in the issue queue.
RTL #: Right-to-left. Languages such as Arabic and Hebrew run from right to left across a written page, and need to do the same on a web browser. RTL support can be problematic in theme design, but is possible, as explained in the Drupal theme guide for RTL.

S

sprint #: A meeting where people meet gather at a specific time to discuss and work on software development tasks. A code sprint is a typical element of a Drupal event.
story #: A content type that is defined in a default Drupal installation, typically used for content that has a date associated with it, such as a news item.

T

tar #: Tape archive. A file format and the name of the program used to handle such files. Drupal projects are distributed in zip and tar files.
taxonomy #: The science of classification. In Drupal, Taxonomy is a powerful core module that gives your sites use of "terms", organizational keywords known in other systems as categories, tags, or metadata. In Drupal, these terms are gathered within "vocabularies." The Taxonomy module allows you to create, manage and apply those vocabularies.
teaser #: A short introductory sentence or paragraph about a piece of content that informs readers about the subject of the content. By default, the first paragraph or two of the content is used (there is a setting for how much), usually with a link to the complete node.
template #: A file that is mostly HTML with some special PHP code to substitute in values provided by an engine.
term #: A term is the actual label that will be applied to the node.They are also known as tags.
theme #: A file or collection of files (PHP, INFO, CSS, JPG, GIF, PNG), which together determine the look and feel of a site. A theme contains elements such as the header, icons, block layout, etc. Drupal modules define themeable functions which can be overridden by the theme file. There are additional themes available in the themes section of downloads.
theme engine #: A set of scripts that interprets code and makes theming a site easier. This takes the dynamically generated content and outputs it to HTML. Drupal has three theme engines in addition to being able to write a theme that bypasses the theme engine. The default theme engine is phpTemplate. There are additional theme engines for downloads.

U

UID #: User ID. The unique identifier for each user. It can be found in the path to the user profile, e.g. "http://drupal.org/user/1"
unpublished #: See published
URL #: uniform resource locator. The address that defines the route to locate an object on an Internet server. Generally, the syntax for a URL contains the scheme, host-name, port, path and filename, e.g. http://www.drupal.org/node/937
user1 #: The first user created on installation and granted additional (all) permissions. This user is referred to as the site maintenance account in Drupal 7.
UX #: user experience. An umbrella term referring to the overall experience and satisfaction a user has when using a website. It is important to note that this "includes only what the user perceives and not all that is presented."

V

Views #: A contributed module which allows site developers a simple graphical interface for modifying the presentation of content. Views permits selection of specific fields to display, filtration against various node attributes, choice of basic layout options (ie. list, full nodes, teasers, etc.), and other more advanced features. Many Drupal sites use Views extensively.
vocabulary #: A vocabulary is a collection of terms.

W

weight #: A term used by Drupal to define the priority or order in which a function is processed or a block / node is displayed. From Drupal 6, the weight field is adjusted dynamically using a drag-and-drop interface. Note: A lower weight value (-10) will float to the top of lists, while heavier (+10) weights will appear lower in lists.
WYSIWYG #: What You See Is What You Get. An acronym used in computing to describe a method in which content is edited and formatted by interacting with an interface that closely resembles the final product.

Z

zebra striping #: Alternating colors behind rows of data. This is often used in tabular data where rows of data alternate background colors between white and a shade of gray.
Zip #: The zip file format is a data compression and archive format. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size. Drupal core and modules are offered both in the zip and tar format.

Other resources

For alternative explanations of Drupal terms or slang and acronyms used in software development, these external sites may be useful:

"Getting started with Drupal" page by the IBM Internet Technology Group
Acronym Finder : dictionary of acronyms, abbreviations, and initial isms.
Jargon file from www.catb.org "Hackers slang"
Slang Site: dictionary of slang, web-speak, made-up words, and colloquialisms.

Report missing Drupal-related terms in this issue: http://drupal.org/node/1114198#comment-4565646

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