Drupal is extremely flexible and capable of building nearly any type of site. That is one of its greatest strengths, but also the source of the infamous learning curve. An often used, and still very true, expression is that "Drupal is like a box of Legos." These days, with over four thousand contributed modules, it's more like a whole bucket full of them. When you open a bucket of Legos, you have two choices. You can start grabbing blocks and assembling them however your imagination dictates or you can grab (or write) a plan and follow that. With enough time and patience, the first method can get you a community site but the second will get you there a lot quicker and without all the trial and error. That's where this book comes in.
In this book, we will walk through step by step, screen shot by screen shot from downloading Drupal to going live with a fully functional local community site. Along the way, I will show you the modules and configurations I used on Coulee Region ONLINE as well as mentioning alternate methods to give you ideas to go off exploring on your own. This book is a guide and you can follow it closely to end up with a site that functions exactly like mine or you can wander in and out, following where it suits you and making your own path where you choose. There is no one right way to build a site. This is just one way, the way that worked for me.
Let's get started.