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By Takashi949 on
I have successfully installed on my localhost server. I am now looking for a basic tutorial that shows how I can create a website (i.e. web pages) - and I am coming up with nothing.
So I have installed drupal, and I am now looking at a blank screen - I have no idea (because I can't find any information that tells me) how to do the following:
1). Set up a homepage (i.e. create navigational menus and their associated links)
2). Add additional pages
3). Apply one of the many available themes for use to my website
I have an existing website which is written in HTML/PHP and layout is provided by CSS. I would like to use these pages in my new drupal website - again, after several hours searching the internat, I can't find any info that shows how I can use/import/transform my existing pages into drupal.
Last but not the least, I have a customized user registration wizard that has several steps (HTML+PHP), which I would like to replicate in drupal - again no information to be found....
Also, I have a PHP script that needs to be run once every day (as a chron job) - does anyone know how I can get drupal to run the php script as a chron job?
Apart from the (apparent?) lack of information that shows me how to do this - I am very pleased with what drupal can do (from what I've read so far) - it seems to have come a long way from when I first investigated it back in 2004.
Any gurus out there (or anyone who knows the answers to my questions), please let me know, so I can start using drupal fully (as a developer, I am also looking to be able to contribute to the modules, once I have familiarized my self with the platform).
You may contact me directly at this email address:
takashi_949REMOVE_FOOT_FROM_MOUTH_TOREPLY@hotmail.com
Thanks
Comments
You should start with -
You should start with - tataa! ;-) - looking at Drupal's "Getting started" guide. As you have successfully installed Drupal already, you can probably skip to the "Basic Content Management" section of the guide which will tell you how to add content:
http://drupal.org/getting-started/5/basic
For getting your custom functionality into Drupal, you should have a look around at http://drupal.org/project/Modules to see if somebody hasn't encountered a similar problem before and already written a module for it.
If you still need to write your own custom modules, you'll have to work through the "Module developer's guide": http://drupal.org/node/508
I have successfully
Not sure where you searched, but I have no problem finding info with the words "drupal tutorials" typed into a google search (here's a couple from the first few links on the page that i clicked on):
Typing the word "tutorials" into the d.o. search box yields the "Tutorials" page listed above as the 4th link as well as other very useful links.
Not to mention that the INSTALL.txt file has a section called "MORE INFORMATION" that specifically points you to the drupal documentation where clicking on "Getting Started" or "Beyond the Basics" yields a ton of valuable information.
Again, I'm not sure where the confusion is-- the page displayed upon completion of a drupal install has 4 bullet items with hyperlinks to the appropriate drupal pages:
Aren't those exactly the things you're looking to do? Or did the links not work? How could this screen be improved?
Again, I'm not trying to sound like a broken record, but typing the words "import html" into the d.o. search box yielded "Import HTML" as the second link with "Facility to import an existing, static HTML site structure into the Drupal CMS as structured nodes. Allows an ... of an existing traditional static HTML website, and import (as much as possible) the content and structure into a drupal site." as the teaser text. Exactly what is unclear about that?
Also more searching, typing "drupal custom user registration" into google yielded:
Typing the same words into the d.o. searchbox also yields fruitful results, but in this case the google search was more efficient-- which is why I usually start with a google search for something.
This actually has nothing to do with drupal. Drupal doesn't run cron jobs, cron does (on *nix boxes anyway, Task Scheduler is usually what windows users use). Drupal has a mechanism for modules to register what tasks they need called on a scheduled basis, but that actually has nothing to do with cron itself. Any app scheduler can run the "cron.php" drupal file. If you need a php script, or any app for that matter, run on a regular basis and you're on a *nix box, simply setup a cron job to do it (likewise, on a windows box, setup a Task Scheduler task). There's TONS of info on how to do this on the internet.
Typing "cron php" into google yielded a bazillion links, the very first one entitled "Running PHP Scripts with Cron".
Wow, that's actually the first time I've seen complaints about a "lack" of info-- usually it's complaints about finding specific things in the over abundance of info.
For contributing, found by typing the word "contribute" into the d.o. searchbox, see:
I'm sorry if this sounds cranky-- but I am. And I'm not picking on you specifically Takashi949, this applies to many many posts I've read lately, but you're the (un)lucky winner. 8(
I try to spend about an hour or so a day helping out in the forums, and lately, all I seem to be doing is typing very obvious terms (ie "import html") into a google and/or d.o. search box and copying and pasting links into forum threads.
Frankly, this is a waste of my time, the poster's time (waiting for an answer to a forum thread when a 5 minute search could have yielded the exact same results instantly), and d.o. forum resources. It also clouds the forums with useless threads while true problems requiring drupal expertise get buried.
If I can type obvious search terms into search boxes, so can the posters. It's not like I'm using some secret drupal vocabulary with secret drupal search resources (that only advanced users know) to find these things. I'm typing the most obvious terms, based on the post, into the 2 single most obvious places: d.o. and google.
So what is it? What makes posting a forum thread and sitting around waiting/hoping for an answer, possibly wasting time on a time sensitive issue, more palatable then searching?
And more importantly, since it benefits neither the posters nor the responders, what can we do to avoid this useless time sink? Do we really have to start submitting posts to a search before allowing people to submit to certain forums (like I've seen some systems do)??
I'm being dead serious-- honestly, I'm not trying to be snippy, flaming, or condescending. I know that can be hard to discern in online communication, but honestly I'm not. I WANT to understand.
"Then don't bother responding", you say? Well, it's not that easy. Besides the fact that simply not responding 1) gives new users a bad impression of the community and 2) doesn't help them by pointing to the correct places to look (and in turn possibly prevent future unproductive posts) which I hope my responses do-- It's starting to take me a SIGNIFICANT amount of time just to FIND legit posts to help people troubleshoot. And the more time I spend searching for posts, the less time I have to help troubleshoot and post a possible solution. It's excruciatingly frustrating and simply not responding is not a productive solution.
Sorry, I didn't mean for this to get so long and whiny, but it needed to be said. Now what we need are ideas on what to do about it....
Not quite so simple ...
It appears that the documentation is written in such a way that it is most useful if you already know what to look for/know what you are looking for. Although the search text you entered were "obvious" (with the benefit of hindsight), the links produced by the search were still, not *that* helpful. BTW, what does "d.o. searchbox" mean?. I know its a searchbox of some kind - but where is it located in drupal.org?
I'm using the latest release of drupal (v6.2), and the menu items (e.g. after installation), are different from the ones you mention - however, it is relatively simple to map the new menus to the old ones. But still, it is not clear how to create a homepage. For example, if I wanted to recreate a web page comprising of the following:
1). Html generated by PHP (i.e. PHP embedded in the html file)
2). pictures
3). CSS link
There is nothing (AFAICT) in the doc that shows me either how to migrate such an existing page or how to replicate it in drupal (v6.2) - that is what I'm tearing my hair out over.
The importing functionality you mentioned, is at best, a half baked solution (still, its better than nothing I guess), but what is probably worse is, the info on the import page deals with v 4.x/5.x (IIRC), where the screens look different - so all/most of the instructions items are named differently from the ones I encounter in my v6.2 installation.
Hope I'm not being grumpy/cranky now (after all, I don't want to appear ungrateful, since you are offering advice for free, in your own spare time). However, the information you sent me about cron jobs was tangential to what I was asking (i.e. not relevant). I am well aware of how to run cron jobs or scheduled tasks (*nix and windoze respectively). I encountered the 'cron' keyword in the drupla doc and assumed that it performed the same functionality as its name suggested - i.e. allow user to run cron jobs from within drupal - apparently not - bad name choice if you ask me, but I'll have to read more about what *exactly* the cron functionality in DP does, in order to comment more fully.
In short, what would ease the learning curve for many noobs like myself (who are having to find themselves wading through tons of largely outdated material), is to have a simple "hello world" type video (or static document) that shows how to set up a simple website - clearly showing how a useful page with the following (standard) components :
Title
Meta tag info
Header section
Navigation menus
Footer section
Pictures
Single external style sheet link
Can be put together, using drupal. An additional nice to have would be further info would be to show how to create a simple theme to 'skin' the sample website described above. Such a resource, if and when made available, would answer the vast majority of asinine (i.e. *dumb*) questions (such as mine), as it will clearly show DP in action - in practical use. Such a resource will simultaneously, drastically reduce the learning curve associated with DP - as it will be a case of "here is one we made earlier". It could also be a showcase for what can be done with DP - a bit like the sample websites that (*ahem) Micro$oft provides for its ASP.Net platform.
The DP offering is good (of this I have no doubt), but (IMHO) it needs to refine its "message" so that more people can see what a great product it is - and not be phased by the learning curve associated with simply getting started with a simple website.
(Heres to wishful thinking) If there are any experienced DP users out there who would like to produce such a video (or hard document) tutorial, feel free to contact me personally at takashi_949REMOVE_FOOT_FROM_MOUTH_to_reply@hotmail.com, for suggestions tips etc as to what information would be most helpful to include in such a tutorial. Alternatively (maybe better), we can discuss it out here in the open, so that other people can put in their ideas as to what they think would be most useful in a "sample Drupal website" tutorial.
Fingers crossed and waiting .....
Alternatively, if such a video (or document) already exists (I find it hard to believe no one ever thought of this before), then please, someone mail me the link, so I can learn from it.
And another thing ...
It would be useful if the sample tutorial showed a page that shows how to create a form. IIRC, there is a module that allows DP users to create a form - but there is nothing quite like a "hand crafted" form made from HTML, maybe some PHP, and CSS for formatting.
It would be fantastic if the tutorial could show how to use such a "hand crafted" form in a drupal web page.
More complicated for some than others
I have been researching and reading and studying Drupal for two weeks now, trying to get started and suffering through frustrations of trying to learn so many new things at once.
I've found several tutorials, videos, help forums, and when I think I've finally found 'the one' that will finally set my path, the technical jargon starts and I'm lost all over again.
When a tutorial or forum is set up for beginners or 'newbies' it should absolutely be geared for the novice. You have to put yourself in that person's shoes. They may have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever about building websites, much less working on a platform like Drupal.
It's one thing to say, 'start at point A to get to point B,' but what if your audience doesn't even know how to get to point A in the first place?? That's the frustration of it all. The experts take way too much for granted when they talk about following certain steps or using specific search terms.
It's like saying, 'Today we're going to learn how to read.' then putting a book in front of the student's face without paying any attention to letters or sounds. It's all foreign. So when someone posts saying, 'I'm newbie' they are warning you that they need a lot of simple language and handholding.
This can get boring and extremely frustrating for experienced users who get tired of repeating themselves, so what is the solution?
Being a Drupal expert is NOT equal to being a teacher. Find some teachers who know Drupal and get them to write some quality tutorials or create a true learning forum.
Joe
...
What you describe is probably the best solution, but there's limited money for hiring people and unlimited things to use them on (like hardware for running drupal.org, and right now a big redesign of the site is being planned). In other words, we have to wait for those teachers to appear and decide to contribute. And, of course, even a teacher may find it hard to remember what (s)he did and didn't understand when first starting to learn Drupal.
Another solution is if people who are new and care, like you, can point to what needs improvement. The easiest way is probably if you add a comment on a handbook page wherever you come across something that's too obscure. Or, if you prefer, you can go to the issue queue for documentation at http://drupal.org/project/issues/documentation (an "issue" in drupal-speech is a description of something that needs to be done -- a bug report, a feature request, or a task) and point to pages which need improvement. The more concrete you can be, the better. In other words, don't say
" http://drupal.org/getting-started/6/install/download is too obscure",
say
"On http://drupal.org/getting-started/6/install/download, you should explain what "extract" is and how to do it"
(This is an example I noticed today, and am planning to fix the next time I have some time and feel like working on docs).
even better-- just request
even better-- just request to be to join the documentation team (anyone can join) and edit the pages directly. For adding pages it's even easier-- all authenticated users can add new pages.
===
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." -- Lao Tzu
"God helps those who help themselves." -- Benjamin Franklin
"Search is your best friend." -- Worldfallz
Dear jljcorona,
Dear jljcorona,
Surely , and absolutely you are not alone in what you state.
If you mind you can take a look at many of my appeals to the Community, but you will take your time to understand that Drupal.org is pure Anarchy (a state of lawlessness and disorder) and sure nobody or just few wiil be impressed slightly about your comment. I have even started a Site (an example page: Vistitors and Beginners that have an honest interest in Drupal ) that intentionally want to collect comments and critics on how Drupal.org infrastructure can be made better.
So finally, as I am a Begginner in the eyes of the over 200 to 500 insider of Drupal.org, many of them you may see posting on http://drupal.org/webchick-wins-best-contributor-open-source-awards , or on http://drupal.org/node/287203 I give my support to your statement but I'm sorry more then that I'm not entitled to do.
Cheers
P.S. for Drupal Jarcon ---> T. Glossary
for Drupal Terminology -----> Terminology
for RDF glossary --------> RDF Glossary
Here a very small list of similar statements like yours:
Drupal Glossary needed
sample glossary page for newcomers
This is really strange ------> Search issues for Glossary I do really do not know what it should be used for? Any one can explain?
So that's is the prove that on Drupal.org it's almost all existent, you have only to search your way throughout!
Bye
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