Drupal manual patching

A patch changes the code on your site, but only by editing a file rather than providing a complete update. Many of the available instructions for applying patches ask you to use an application called Git and to use command line instructions. These instructions can be intimidating, so we're going to show you how non-coders can safely and effectively apply patches.

Before we start, it's important to note that this is not the ideal solution for applying patches. Also, please make sure that before you do this that you have a backup of your site and that you test the patch on a backup installation of your site. The technique in this blog is strictly for non-coder who are stuck in charge of a Drupal site that they need to fix. Imaginee you have just installed Drupal and you have created your first user account but something goes wrong. You get an error that looks like this:.

I went to Drupal and searched for the error message. This switch sometimes happens when the same issue is present in two versions of Drupal. If this is the first time you have looked at code, let alone a patch, you might feel like you are in over your head but trust me, it isn't that bad. The first thing you want to note is the file that needs to be changed.

In this instance, we need to edit a module in Drupal's core. Please note that we are not hacking core - we are patching it. The difference is that a hack is designed to permanent whereas with a patch, we hope that a future version of Drupal will fix this bug. I recommend keeping track of all the patches you apply to your site code.

You could do something as simple as keeping a text file with a list of all the patches you have applied and their source. After you have found the patch, now you need to find the code that needs to be patched. Let's assume you do not have a copy of your site code on your local computer. This means you need to find it on your server. The arrows indicate the folder where you will find Drupal's core modules.

Open the file in a simple text editor. In the screen shot below, the file was opened in WordPad. Observe the highlighted line of code.

This line matches the line of code with a minus in front of it see bold text in patch below. Notice in the screen shot below that the highlighted line of code is now different and matches the code next to the plus in the patch.

Save the file and upload it to the server, replacing the original file. As a collective of skilled workers, Agaric collaborates with you and open source free software communities to develop tools and build platforms that meet your needs.

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