Hello everyone
I am very new to drupal but not to web design. I have used Joomla and other CMS systems for various projects so I am not new to the concept of how a CMS works. There are some things about drupal however I cannot seem to get my simple brain wrapped around. I hope you can explain some of the terms and methods because all the reading is making my head hurt.
1) Menus
I have created a menu structure and enabled the collapsable bits to expand the menu then added the sub-menu structure. I even managed to create content and assign it to a menu item. But what I cannot figure out is how to make the menu item act like a category and when it is clicked, the user is transported to a page of stories in this category. Presently, each time I create content it adds it to the navigation menu. If I don't assign it to the navigation menu where does it go? How can I add a whole bunch of content grouped under a menu item without showing each individual content item on the menu?
2) Human readable URL's
I did everything in the tutorials about enabling path, switching on clean urls, replacing the .htaccess and my urls still read http://mysite.com/node/4 instead of http://mysite.com/aboutus. Please put me out of my misery and tell me how to get the urls to read better for humans. I have seem websites with www.website.com/community - how do I do this?
3) Categories and Vocabulary
Well to me a category is a topic under which other topics are grouped. So I can have Lifestyle as my category then Gardening for a category topic under the lifestyle category. I seem to have totally missed something with how drupal looks at categories and topics because when I created a category it did not appear on the menu like I expected. Instead it added itself to the page creation process. Very nice I am sure, but how do I get categories on my menu system and what use is the category/taxonomy/vocabulary method to me?
4) Sub-Categories
Oh the pain of it all! I wanted to add a section on property sales and another one with jobs and another as a business directory. But when I added the property module and listed a property it added the actual property item to the menu when I just wanted the user to go to a property section. I am told views and panels will solve this but my head hurts. Please can someone give me a simple explanation of how to use views to achieve what I want to do. My eyes are bleeding with all the reading :)
5) How do I switch of the "added by Jeo Bloggs at 13.49pm on 24/01/2010" every time I add a category item
6) WYSIWYG editor
The page layout is messed up whenever I add content. I have full html enabled but it adds extra spaces and lines resulting in lots of white space which does not appear when |I edit in dreamweaver. Is there a better editor I can use or a simple fix I can apply.
I hope someone can point me in the right direction here. I like the look of drupal but simple things seem to be very complicated and not intuitive, whilst complex things are easier.
Thanks
Jim (drupalfool)
Comments
There is a lot to learn
Hi Jim --
Drupal has a lot to offer and a larger learning curve than Joomla and other CMS's. Much has been already written on this site. I'm sorry that I don't have the time to write down everything but, since no one has replied, I'll offer you some general advice.
1. Buy a book
2. Read the handbook pages
3. Install the backup/migrate module
4. Make backups whenever something is working the way you want it so you can always get back to that point
5. Install the Site Notes module
5. Try out all the modules that you might need and use Site Notes to make notes about what worked and what didn't.
6. Check out Lullabot.com
7. Work on it every day and immerse yourself in it
Most of your issues can be addressed by pouring through the admin menu and making a decision about every single option. Most of your theory questions have already been discussed in the handbook pages.
I hope this is of some help.
Missy.
Certainly is a lot to learn
Certainly is a lot to learn - I sympathise! I often find it pays to use google to search drupal.org if you can't find what you know must exist somewhere.
1. Definitely try the Views module for this. You can easily create a view that displays a list, table view, full nodes etc of any content type you choose. You can filter by created date, author is current user etc very easily. In creating a 'page' view you define a url which you can then link to from the menu.
2. Check out the Pathauto module.
3. Either use a module like Taxonomy Menu or Views to do this.
4. First, are you using CCK? If not, install it now: http://drupal.org/project/cck. This will let you to create your own content type (in this case likely 'property') with your own defined fields which you can then theme in whatever way you want. Once you have created a content type you can use Views to pull various fields from each applicable node and display them (again, more or less however you want).
5. Where are you seeing this message?
6. Try FCKEditor (my personal preference but many use TinyMCE). Neither are very easy to install but I find FCKEditor marginally easier to use and configure. IMO this is one area of drupal that really needs to be addressed in core (and probably will be before long).
I agree that some aspects of drupal aren't very intuitive and certainly take a lot of time to understand. It's a bit of a catch-22, though, since if it was simple you wouldn't have so much control or so many possible features. Honestly, you'll probably need at least a month of solid reading and tinkering before you feel competent enough to construct a live site that contains more than the out-of-the-box features.
Taxonomy resources
Jim, for some general info on what to use taxonomy for, and how to go about basic tasks, here are a couple of resources:
http://drupal.org/node/120624
http://digitalsolutions.ph/couchkamotereviews/power_drupal_categories
Also, I've got some basic how-to info on topics including menus and taxonomy here:
http://www.drupalace.com/organizing_your_content
Best of luck! Taxonomy takes a little work at start, but it can really enable powerful features.
--------
A site by, of, and for the Drupal newbie: http://www.drupalace.com
Great replies - Thanks so much :)
Thanks for the response and excellent tips and advice. I will certainly take some time to read through everything and try out all the tips.
I have taken the bandages off my eyes and they have stopped bleeding. The doc tells me I can read again later tonight but to take things easy in case the bleeding starts again. Doc prescribed bed rest in a darkened room which should help with the headaches. Apparently this is all too common for new people picking up drupal for the first time so Doc was not at all surprised. In fact Doc had a drupal therapeutic regime to help newbies acclimatise to drupal which I think I will try:
1) Read all the handbooks one by one and play with drupal just for fun
2) Plenty of fresh air, bed rest and long walks with the dog to absorb the information
3) Cool bandages for the eyes to combat the common "Drupal Bleeding Eyes" syndrome
4) Once things start to sink in - headaches will become less frequent (see point 5)
5) Your body will miss the headaches so get very drunk every few days and wake up with a hangover to remember what the Drupal Newbie feeling is like
6) Resist the temptation at parties to drone about drupal because this affects social mobility
7) Resist the temptation to buy a t-shirt emblazoned "Do You Drupal" and avoid giving one to your partner on Valentines day because this has been known to cause sudden death.
8) Try not to kick the cat
9) Try not to kick the dog
10) Remember you are not a rock star so don't throw the computer out of any windows
Seems to me like a good strategy - gonna give it a try.
Seriously, thanks for all the tips. If you have any more which would be useful to a newbie please do post them here to help me shortcut the learning process myself and for others who read this in future :)
Jim (drupalfool)