Drupal, the ever-growing website management framework, has long been known in the web development industry as a content management system that allows website administrators to log into their site via a web browser– without special software, just as one would do with, say, a Gmail account– and keep their site up-to-date without knowing HTML or other technology.

When you dig deeper, though, it is much more, as we demonstrated with our redesign/redevelopment of Pittsburgh Prep– which included a move to the Drupal platform. Pittsburgh Prep is an educational company focusing on standardized test prep classes and private tutoring, and in early 2009 they made the decision to move towards a web-based solution for the selling and management of classes. In 2010, they plan to add online courses and Blackboard-like functionality that will include forums and quiz-taking.

These are built on features available in Drupal, with some modest configuration:

• Content management, including many different types of content from conventional pages and blog posts to complex class offerings.
• E-Commerce, in the form of the Drupal module Ubercart, allowing students and their parents to sign up and pay for classes online.
• Member accounts, which interface with Ubercart such that when a student signs up and pays for a course, they are granted a username and password that comes with a particular set of site access permissions.
• Content access control, including integration with Ubercart which allows students to pay for access to particular areas on the site, such as class forums or online courses, which are “walled-off” from the general public.