Drupal For Dummies®

Drupal For Dummies®

Released December 2009
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9780470556115

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Learn to set up, manage, and administer a Drupal Web site

Drupal offers unparalleled flexibility for content-managed Web sites, but most Drupal books are written for expert developers. Drupal For Dummies shows you the fast, fun and easy way to get going with Drupal, set up a site, apply templates, use modules, and more, even if you have no programming experience.

Drupal For Dummies shows you how to take advantage of everything in Drupal that is ready to use, demystifying what may appear to be a complex set of tools.

  • Drupal is a free, open source modular framework and content management system designed for content-managed Web sites

  • Learn how to download Drupal, install the LAMP stack, and set up a site; no programming experience required

  • Organize and create your site's content; apply templates, and get your first site up and running

  • Use modules and third-party templates

  • Follow plain-English instructions for site management, including making changes across the site and managing user access and privileges

Drupal For Dummies is designed to help the non-programmer who simply wants to turbocharge a blog or is responsible for administering a content-managed site.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. About the Author
  3. Author's Acknowledgments
  4. Publisher's Acknowledgments
  5. Introduction
    1. About This Book
    2. How to Use This Book
    3. What You Don't Need to Read
    4. Foolish Assumptions
    5. How This Book Is Organized
      1. Part I: Getting Started with Drupal
      2. Part II: Your First Drupal Site
      3. Part III: Bending Drupal to Your Will
      4. Part IV: Taking Drupal to the Next Level
      5. Part V: The Part of Tens
    6. Icons Used in This Book
    7. Where to Go from Here
  6. I. Getting Started with Drupal
    1. 1. The Big Picture
      1. 1.1. What Drupal Is
        1. 1.1.1. Free
        2. 1.1.2. Flexible
        3. 1.1.3. Customizable
        4. 1.1.4. Content Management System
      2. 1.2. What Drupal Isn't
      3. 1.3. What Drupal Can Do for Your Site
        1. 1.3.1. Polls
        2. 1.3.2. Blogs
        3. 1.3.3. Contact forms
        4. 1.3.4. Forums
        5. 1.3.5. Image galleries
        6. 1.3.6. Examples of Drupal sites
          1. 1.3.6.1. Drupal.org
          2. 1.3.6.2. Zappos.com
          3. 1.3.6.3. Drupalmuseum.com and Drupalsites.net
    2. 2. Getting and Installing Drupal
      1. 2.1. Deciding Where Your Site Will Live
        1. 2.1.1. Getting on the Web
          1. 2.1.1.1. Internet connection
          2. 2.1.1.2. Other software
        2. 2.1.2. Internet service providers
          1. 2.1.2.1. Installing on an ISP with Fantastico
      2. 2.2. Obtaining Drupal
        1. 2.2.1. Downloading the package
        2. 2.2.2. Uploading the package
        3. 2.2.3. Extracting Drupal
      3. 2.3. Setting Up a Database
        1. 2.3.1. What a database is and why you need one
        2. 2.3.2. Creating a database for Drupal
      4. 2.4. Installing Drupal on a Web Host
        1. 2.4.1. Browsing to your Drupal site
        2. 2.4.2. Running the installation
          1. 2.4.2.1. Creating the configuration file
          2. 2.4.2.2. Verify requirements
          3. 2.4.2.3. Setup database
          4. 2.4.2.4. Configure site
      5. 2.5. Installing Drupal on a Local Machine
        1. 2.5.1. What you need
        2. 2.5.2. Getting Apache, MySQL, and PHP
        3. 2.5.3. Finishing a local machine install
        4. 2.5.4. Running the installation
          1. 2.5.4.1. Creating the configuration file
          2. 2.5.4.2. Verify requirements
          3. 2.5.4.3. Set up database
          4. 2.5.4.4. Configure site
    3. 3. Essential Administration
      1. 3.1. Setting a Strategy for Your Drupal Site
      2. 3.2. Using Your New Site Sections
        1. 3.2.1. Log out and log in
        2. 3.2.2. Editing your account
        3. 3.2.3. Creating your first content
          1. 3.2.3.1. Understanding pages and stories
          2. 3.2.3.2. Creating a story
      3. 3.3. Administering Options
      4. 3.4. Configuring Your Site
        1. 3.4.1. Setting your site information
    4. 4. Tackling User Management
      1. 4.1. Managing Your Administrator Account
        1. 4.1.1. Editing administrator settings
        2. 4.1.2. Maintaining security
      2. 4.2. Allowing Public Registrations
        1. 4.2.1. Sensible registration guidelines
        2. 4.2.2. User e-mail settings
        3. 4.2.3. Assigning user permissions
      3. 4.3. Adding, Editing, and Deleting Users
        1. 4.3.1. Adding users
        2. 4.3.2. Editing user information
        3. 4.3.3. Deleting users
      4. 4.4. Understanding User Roles
        1. 4.4.1. Creating roles
        2. 4.4.2. Assigning roles to users
  7. II. Your First Drupal Site
    1. 5. Creating Content: Pages and Stories
      1. 5.1. Understanding Drupal Nodes
        1. 5.1.1. Making basic pages
        2. 5.1.2. Accessing content creation
        3. 5.1.3. Adding a page
        4. 5.1.4. Editing a page
        5. 5.1.5. Deleting a page
        6. 5.1.6. Accessing your page
      2. 5.2. Telling a Story
        1. 5.2.1. Editing and deleting stories
        2. 5.2.2. Ordering your content
        3. 5.2.3. Managing story length
      3. 5.3. Setting Menu Options for a Page Node
        1. 5.3.1. Giving your node a menu link title
        2. 5.3.2. Choosing a parent item
        3. 5.3.3. Setting the link weight
    2. 6. Managing Your Content
      1. 6.1. Handling HTML Content
        1. 6.1.1. Choosing an input format
        2. 6.1.2. Using filtered HTML
      2. 6.2. Using full HTML
      3. 6.3. Controlling Revision Information
      4. 6.4. Managing Comment Settings
        1. 6.4.1. Considerations of allowing comments
        2. 6.4.2. Disabling comments
        3. 6.4.3. Allowing Read only comments
        4. 6.4.4. Permitting read/write comments
      5. 6.5. Changing Authoring Information
        1. 6.5.1. Modifying Authored by information
        2. 6.5.2. Modifying Authored on date
      6. 6.6. Publishing Options
        1. 6.6.1. Publishing
        2. 6.6.2. Promoting to front page
        3. 6.6.3. Making content sticky in lists
        4. 6.6.4. Splitting your content
      7. 6.7. Adding Images
    3. 7. Changing Themes
      1. 7.1. Changing Themes
        1. 7.1.1. Enabling a theme
        2. 7.1.2. Changing enabled themes
          1. 7.1.2.1. Changing the theme as administrator
          2. 7.1.2.2. Letting your user set his theme
        3. 7.1.3. Setting an administration theme
      2. 7.2. Configuring Themes
        1. 7.2.1. Global theme settings
        2. 7.2.2. Toggle display settings
        3. 7.2.3. Logo image settings
        4. 7.2.4. Shortcut icon settings
        5. 7.2.5. Reset to defaults
        6. 7.2.6. Specific theme settings
    4. 8. Building Blocks and Managing Menus
      1. 8.1. Understanding Blocks, Regions, and Menus
      2. 8.2. Using Regions
        1. 8.2.1. Understanding how themes work with regions
        2. 8.2.2. Exploring the regions
          1. 8.2.2.1. Header
          2. 8.2.2.2. Content
          3. 8.2.2.3. Footer
          4. 8.2.2.4. Left sidebar
          5. 8.2.2.5. Right sidebar
        3. 8.2.3. Configuring regions
      3. 8.3. Administering Blocks
        1. 8.3.1. Using the built-in blocks
        2. 8.3.2. Creating custom blocks
        3. 8.3.3. Editing and deleting custom blocks
        4. 8.3.4. Changing block visibility settings
        5. 8.3.5. Editing pre-built blocks
      4. 8.4. Managing Menus
        1. 8.4.1. Setting primary and secondary links
        2. 8.4.2. Adding an item to a menu
        3. 8.4.3. Editing and deleting links
        4. 8.4.4. Adding a menu
        5. 8.4.5. Menu settings you shouldn't change
    5. 9. Using Modules: Create a Site with a Blog and Forum
      1. 9.1. Understanding Modules
        1. 9.1.1. Understanding the required modules
          1. 9.1.1.1. Block module
          2. 9.1.1.2. Filter module
          3. 9.1.1.3. Node module
          4. 9.1.1.4. System module
          5. 9.1.1.5. User module
        2. 9.1.2. Looking at the optional modules
      2. 9.2. Installing Your Blog
        1. 9.2.1. Enabling your blog
        2. 9.2.2. Creating your first blog entry
        3. 9.2.3. Changing blog entry settings
        4. 9.2.4. Configuring your blog
          1. 9.2.4.1. Removing blog postings from the home page
          2. 9.2.4.2. Browsing directly to the blog
          3. 9.2.4.3. Creating a link to your blog
        5. 9.2.5. Adding more entries
        6. 9.2.6. Editing and deleting blog entries
        7. 9.2.7. Creating multiple blogs
      3. 9.3. Installing the Forum Module
        1. 9.3.1. Enabling your Forum module
        2. 9.3.2. Organizing the Forum module
        3. 9.3.3. Configuring your Forum module
          1. 9.3.3.1. Creating containers
          2. 9.3.3.2. Creating forums
          3. 9.3.3.3. Changing forum and container organization
        4. 9.3.4. Viewing your forums
        5. 9.3.5. Linking to your Forum module
        6. 9.3.6. Changing forum topics settings
        7. 9.3.7. Managing forum permissions
      4. 9.4. Managing the Comments Module
        1. 9.4.1. Moderating comments
  8. III. Bending Drupal to Your Will
    1. 10. Advanced Administration
      1. 10.1. Adding New Themes and Modules
        1. 10.1.1. Locating hemes and modules
        2. 10.1.2. Downloading modules and themes
        3. 10.1.3. Installing modules and themes
        4. 10.1.4. Extracting module or theme files
        5. 10.1.5. Enabling themes and modules
        6. 10.1.6. Disabling themes and modules
      2. 10.2. Keeping Drupal Up to Date
        1. 10.2.1. Setting up Poormanscron
        2. 10.2.2. Finding available updates
      3. 10.3. Protecting Your Database
        1. 10.3.1. Backing up your database
        2. 10.3.2. Restoring your database
      4. 10.4. Updating Themes and Modules
        1. 10.4.1. Run update.php
        2. 10.4.2. Updating your Drupal software
          1. 10.4.2.1. Installed Drupal with Fantastico, no additional modules or themes
          2. 10.4.2.2. Installed Drupal with Fantastico, added modules or themes
          3. 10.4.2.3. Installed Drupal by yourself
      5. 10.5. Configuring Your Site
        1. 10.5.1. Triggering actions
        2. 10.5.2. Setting an administration theme
        3. 10.5.3. Creating clean URLs
        4. 10.5.4. Using error reporting
    2. 11. Customizing Themes
      1. 11.1. Dissecting a Theme
        1. 11.1.1. Theme file types
        2. 11.1.2. Theme code files
        3. 11.1.3. Theme image files
      2. 11.2. Creating Your First Theme
      3. 11.3. Installing Your Theme
      4. 11.4. Changing Your Theme's Code
        1. 11.4.1. Naming colors
        2. 11.4.2. Changing colors
        3. 11.4.3. Understanding the style.css file
        4. 11.4.4. Changing colors
        5. 11.4.5. Changing fonts
        6. 11.4.6. Using graphics
        7. 11.4.7. Changing the logo image
        8. 11.4.8. Editing templates
        9. 11.4.9. Creating a Screen Shot
  9. IV. Taking Drupal to the Next Level
    1. 12. Creating a Robust Web Site
      1. 12.1. Planning Your Drupal Site
        1. 12.1.1. Getting a clear picture of your site
        2. 12.1.2. Knowing your audience
        3. 12.1.3. Choosing your features
      2. 12.2. Additional Modules to Install
        1. 12.2.1. More preinstalled modules
          1. 12.2.1.1. OpenID module
          2. 12.2.1.2. Poll module
          3. 12.2.1.3. Profile module
          4. 12.2.1.4. Enhancing Profiles with user images
          5. 12.2.1.5. Search module
      3. 12.3. Adding a Contact Form
    2. 13. Developing an Image Gallery
      1. 13.1. Understanding Image Galleries
      2. 13.2. Getting the Image and Image Gallery Modules
        1. 13.2.1. Installing the Image module
        2. 13.2.2. Enabling the Image and Image Gallery modules
        3. 13.2.3. Configuring image galleries
        4. 13.2.4. Adding images to your gallery
        5. 13.2.5. Linking to your gallery
        6. 13.2.6. Controlling gallery options
        7. 13.2.7. Controlling image options
      3. 13.3. Additional Image Modules
        1. 13.3.1. Image Attach
        2. 13.3.2. Using the Image Import module
        3. 13.3.3. Finding images in Drupal
        4. 13.3.4. Modifying or deleting images
      4. 13.4. Allowing Others to Contribute Images
        1. 13.4.1. Create a photo editor role
        2. 13.4.2. Add permissions to photo editor
        3. 13.4.3. Assign photo editors role to user
      5. 13.5. Controlling Image Gallery Access
        1. 13.5.1. Installing the Image Gallery Access module
        2. 13.5.2. Using the Image Gallery Access module
        3. 13.5.3. Adding moderators
        4. 13.5.4. Removing moderators
    3. 14. Interacting with Other Sites
      1. 14.1. Working with Activity Stream
        1. 14.1.1. Installing Activity Stream
        2. 14.1.2. Installing additional modules
        3. 14.1.3. Enabling Activity Stream modules
        4. 14.1.4. Pulling in social media
        5. 14.1.5. Posting your streams in a block
      2. 14.2. Posting YouTube Videos
      3. 14.3. Using Apture to Link and Embed Content
        1. 14.3.1. Installing Apture
        2. 14.3.2. Enabling the Apture module
        3. 14.3.3. Setting up Apture
        4. 14.3.4. Creating Apture links
      4. 14.4. Sharing Content with RSS
        1. 14.4.1. Finding feeds with Google Reader
        2. 14.4.2. Using the Aggregator Module
        3. 14.4.3. Creating a feed for your site
    4. 15. Building a Storefront
      1. 15.1. Understanding Storefronts
      2. 15.2. Getting Started with Ubercart
        1. 15.2.1. Getting Ubercart and additional modules
        2. 15.2.2. Installing Ubercart and additional modules
        3. 15.2.3. Enabling the basic Ubercart installation
      3. 15.3. Creating Your First Storefront
        1. 15.3.1. Creating product listings
        2. 15.3.2. Testing the ordering process
        3. 15.3.3. Managing orders
      4. 15.4. Configuring Your Storefront
        1. 15.4.1. Adding a shopping cart block
        2. 15.4.2. Using the Configuration settings
          1. 15.4.2.1. Cart settings
          2. 15.4.2.2. Checkout settings
          3. 15.4.2.3. Country settings
          4. 15.4.2.4. Order settings
          5. 15.4.2.5. Product settings
          6. 15.4.2.6. Store settings
      5. 15.5. Enhancing Product Listings
        1. 15.5.1. Using images
        2. 15.5.2. Adding a catalog
      6. 15.6. Getting Paid
        1. 15.6.1. Setting up a Google Checkout account
        2. 15.6.2. Turning on payment
      7. 15.7. Enhancing Your Store
        1. 15.7.1. Using the fulfillment modules
        2. 15.7.2. Taxing your customers
  10. V. The Part of Tens
    1. 16. Ten Must-Have Drupal Modules
      1. 16.1. CAPTCHA
      2. 16.2. FAQ
      3. 16.3. FCKeditor – WYSIWYG HTML Editor
      4. 16.4. Mollom
      5. 16.5. Printer, E-mail, and PDF Versions
      6. 16.6. SEO Checklist
      7. 16.7. Simple Ad Block
      8. 16.8. Site Map
      9. 16.9. Spread
      10. 16.10. Webform
    2. 17. Ten Places to Help You Do More with Drupal
      1. 17.1. Getting More Help
        1. 17.1.1. Drupal.org forum
        2. 17.1.2. Twitter
        3. 17.1.3. Facebook
        4. 17.1.4. Learn By The Drop
        5. 17.1.5. GotDrupal.com
        6. 17.1.6. Drupal.org mailing lists
      2. 17.2. Getting New Themes
        1. 17.2.1. Drupal.org themes
        2. 17.2.2. Drupal2U.com
      3. 17.3. Meeting Other Drupal Users
        1. 17.3.1. Drupal.org user groups
        2. 17.3.2. Meetup.com

Product information

  • Title: Drupal For Dummies®
  • Author(s):
  • Release date: December 2009
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9780470556115