Make A Module
A Practical Introduction to Module Development

Matt Butcher
Senior Programmer at
Palantir.net, Author
mbutcher on d.o
http://twitter.com/technosophos
http://technosophos.com

2009
2004

Our Goal
Build a Drupal module from
scratch in 40 minutes or less.

Our Module
• One directory and two files.
• Using Drupal’s hook system.
• Add a new block that can be placed in one
of the block regions.
• Add a new “page” (menu callback).

Begin with...
• Module directory:
paris/
• Two files: module_name.info
• paris/paris.info
module_name module_name.*.inc
module_name.install
•
and others.
paris/paris.module (optional)
module_name.module

The Info File
• Contains information • Used by module system
about a module to learn about the
module
• Plain text config file

The Module File
• Contains PHP code
• Hook implementations
live here
• Often, other supporting
code is here, too
• Drupal loads this
automatically

Hooks
Drupal looks for
particular function
patterns in module files.
Functions that conform to
these patterns are called
“hook implementations”.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39321672@N07/3616749186/

hook_block()
• Use it to manage a block.
• List
• Display
• Configure

hook_menu()
• Use it to register a URL pattern.
• “Menu items”, in this case, are names that
Drupal associates with functions.

Learning More
• API.Drupal.org
• Handbooks on
Drupal.org
• Various books