Complete Guide on Drupal Custom Module Development
Drupal is the most advanced software product that has gained user’s trust. Drupal module development is a content management framework (CMF) that has released almost two decades ago and is still liked by everyone. It is believed that a content management framework (CMF) is better than a content management system (CMS) like WordPress. It is even better, that it can be served as a base for creating a CMS by recycling the software components. In the Drupal vocabulary, it is termed as a Module.
Now many of you must be thinking about what is Drupal. Well, Drupal is CMS that helps businesses to make their website in one go. With due care and maintenance, businesses can convert their simple blog or even website s into an ecommerce website with due safety of data and files.
What is Drupal Module development?
Drupal is providing quality CMF services for a long time. Drupal 7 already consists of the advanced features in its core functionality. Now Drupal 8/9 is the extended version specifically designed for the businesses that are looking for custom features. The Drupal custom module is the one in which you can get the features as per your needs and design the software in the most secure way.
Modules help in making Drupal flexible by making it suitable for both small business websites as well as large business applications. Modules are divided into three types:
- Core
- Contributed
- Custom
Here is the complete guide on the Drupal custom module development. These will 3 factors will give you insights about the Drupal custom module development also.
Three types of Drupal Modules
Core Drupal Modules
These are included with the shipment of each Drupal package. You don’t have to install it manually. It comes along with the package. All you need to do is just enable it and start using it. The biggest difference between the Drupal 7 and Drupal 8/9 module is the kind of core module package includes along with it. There are different numbers and a variety of core modules available in the different Drupal modules in Drupal 7 and Drupal 8/9. For more information, you can check this blog on Drupal 9 Migration.
Fast Fact:
There are more than 1200 websites built with Drupal among top 10k websites worldwide!
The most important thing about Drupal cores is that they are untouchable. The basic rule about the Drupal custom module development is that you should never change the core functionalities. Touching the core functionalities of the Drupal module is that you can create huge mistakes in the software. There are several consequences you can face by touching the Drupal core functionalities like:
- No updates availability
- Security issues
- Huge maintenance need
Need Drupal module developments that have more features than the basic Drupal core requires? Then, hire a professional developer that can offer great services or get your contributed Drupal 8/9 for the best services.
Contributed Drupal modules
Contributed Drupal modules can include many features that are not necessarily required. There may be tons of files that are not required and can slow down the website. This may also affect the core modules of the Drupal core modules. The best way to get rid of all these issues is to get Drupal’s 8/9 custom module development.
Custom module development in Drupal 8/9
The Drupal custom module is the best Drupal development module feature. This is considered the best because you can add features or drop them as per your requirements. You don’t have to get along with all the features that are given to you as like in the core module. This way, your website will not get overburden and you must maintain only things that are necessary for your business. You can have any feature you want while creating a Drupal module and you don’t have to focus on things that are not important to your business.
Steps for Drupal custom module development
1. Naming the Drupal 8 module
Before moving forward, it is important to create a custom folder in the ‘web/modules/custom’ folder as welcome_module. Make sure to never use uppercase letters at the beginning of the name. Also, don’t use spaces between the names. Then your folder is created.
2. Get noticed with info.yml file
Now you must create an info.yml file to make Drupal recognize the module. Create an info.yml file under the welcome file to get recognized b Drupal.
3. Create the routing file with routing.yml
Now to let your users view the files under the page you need to route the URL of the page to the welcome file. Name the first line of the routing file is the route name [welcome_module.my_welcome].
4. Now add a controller
Now is the time to create a controller. Create a file named, “WelcomeController.php”
Check the module
Once you are done creating all these changes, check whether the module has been updated or not. Now if you want to check whether the module is working properly or not, log in to the website again and check all the pages. If there are errors like “page not found”, then go back to the files and clear the cache by navigating towards admin->configuration->performance. Now check again and see if everything is working properly or not.
If the module has started working properly then you have successfully created the first custom module on Drupal. Now for more Drupal module creation, read more information on our articles.
Conclusion
As the Ecommerce world is spreading widely, the need for more advanced and safe features has arisen. Drupal 8/9 is the module for Drupal that is designed in a way to provide limitless freedom to the users. You can add as many features as you want to your business software or can reduce whatever is not required. The Drupal custom module is for businesses that are looking for advanced software to fulfill their business requirements. Here we have mentioned the complete guide on Drupal custom module development. You can now create your first Drupal custom module with the help of the above steps.
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