By kkarakochuk on

I have just registered for a drupal account, but have not yet downloaded the drupal program. I tried, but it did not work as I believe I am required to download some other programs first? This is confusing. Are you able to download drupal and create a website full of content before purchasing any hosting? (like Weebly). Or it is required to purchase hosting and use that to create your website? I am completely new to drupal and having a bit of trouble understanding...

Comments

WorldFallz’s picture

WorldFallz commented

Yes-- you can always create any web app locally on a desktop or laptop (provided you have all the requirements) without having to purchase hosting. The easiest way to do this for drupal is probably using acquia's dev desktop (which includes everything you need to create a local drupal site).

kkarakochuk’s picture

kkarakochuk commented

Thanks! I just downloaded that.

nevets’s picture

nevets commented

Note, it is often easier to simply create the new site where it will be hosted (it avoids have to move things over).

kevin p davison’s picture

kevin p davison commented

You may have a better experience if you would try out Drupal for yourself, before working on local installations. But it depends on what your goals are. Do you want to master Drupal installations or learn how to use Drupal? As a "site builder," themer, or a developer?

Some options for trying Drupal as a service include the following:

@Quevin — Sr. Technical PM

David Ipswich’s picture

David Ipswich commented

If you are using Windows on your own PC you can create a Drupal Website on your PC by first installing a WAMP server on it.

1. Download and install the software from http://www.wampserver.com/en/

2. The software will create a wamp folder in your c drive

3. Download Drupal and install the files to C:\wamp

4. Create a database on your server

5. Go to http: //localhost/ and you'll find the installation page for Drupal