By ckleiman on

What's going on here? I just want to make a small downloads section where visitors can download software files etc. I've been searching the forums and here's what I've found...WebFM doesn't work unless you give admin permissions (not) to visitors. Filebrowser worked on my local, but, gives a php error after uploaded to my site. What's left? Someone suggested making my own module using views, file field and cck (lolz!!!) I find it rather incredible that a CMS as powerful as Drupal and with a list of modules that seems to be infinite doesn't have a simple downloads module with categories. Do you realize how incredible this is people? Mambo has Doc Man and Repository and Joomla the same. With either, I'm up and running in a matter of minutes. With Drupal, I've spent 6 hours browsing the forums and modules and guess what? NOTHING!!! I admit I'm a newbie to Drupal, however, I've been using CMS for the past seven years beginning with phpwebthings and moving on to Mambo and now Drupal. Please somebody give me a solution that doesn't require using 3 modules or patching or anything equally ridiculous. Do you really expect me to just make a page and put some links on it? Come on, lets get real. Come on support. I know there's an answer out there. Lets here it and make this post a stickey!

⋅ Categories: Drupal 6.x

Comments

cog.rusty’s picture

cog.rusty commented

People with simple needs just attach uploaded files to nodes, tag the nodes, and list them in taxonomy pages.

For more demanding cases they use what you described (cck, filefield, views).

If you need a solution with custom tabular listings, permissions etc. out of the box, you are probably right that you should choose something else.

Usually developers around here won't write code for the sake of Drupal's completeness or for advocacy but only because they need it for their projects. And for better or worse, developers are generally very comfortable with using cck, filefield and views.

styro’s picture

styro commented

Someone suggested making my own module using views, file field and cck (lolz!!!)

Terminology aside (eg you won't be making a module), but why is that so outrageous?

I don't know what other solutions are available though - I've never needed any. There may well be a module that does what you want.

I find it rather incredible that a CMS as powerful as Drupal and with a list of modules that seems to be infinite doesn't have a simple downloads module with categories.

Generally it is a 'cultural' difference between Drupal and systems like Joomla. Joomla tends towards monolithic drop-in modules that handle everything in one package. While Drupal modules are more general tools that can be creatively combined in near infinite ways to make custom solutions. Or said another way Joomla modules tend towards vertical integration, while Drupal modules tend towards horizontal integration.

It's a bit like the difference between Windows system utilities and Unix utilities. If you want to do 'xyz' on a Windows machine, you tend to look for a utility that can do 'xyz'. On a Unix machine you might combine a tool for 'x' with another couple that can do 'yz' when combined a certain way etc.

Neither is necessary better than the other, just different styles with different goals. If you prefer the Joomla way that's ok - choices are good and there's plenty of room for everyone.

alan d.’s picture

alan d. commented

The simplest approach is to enable the core module Upload and enable this on a content type. Give users permissions and you have got a simple downloads section.

A quick step by step:

  1. Enable Upload module in Core - Other (http://www.example.com/?q=admin/build/modules/list)
  2. Update the permissions: 'upload files' and 'view uploaded files' (http://www.example.com/?q=admin/user/permissions)
  3. Create a new content type, "Downloads" and enable Attachments (http://www.example.com/?q=admin/build/modules/add). Go back to the permissions page to assign 'create downloads content' if required.
  4. From memory, attachments are enabled by default, so disable the attachments option on other content types (http://www.example.com/?q=admin/content/types/list)
  5. Create a new "Downloads" content item. (http://www.example.com/?q=node/add)

If you have problems, make sure that the files directory is writable. Under CPanel, we set files directory to belong to the Unix group to be the one that Apache runs under and chmod this to 775.

Alan Davison
marquardt’s picture

marquardt commented

Yeah, but to be fair, Docman does it bit more - when I last used it (at Joomla 1.0.x times - before I understood why Drupal make so much more sense for me;-)) you get lists of downloadable files, filtered by a hierarchical sequence of categories. You optionally also get a description, information on file size, a license, and a workflow can be configured that you have to accepts licenses etc. before you can actually download things. So you do need Views and Taxonomy in order to do the presentation, probably some theming to make it look the way you want. That part isn't very hard, but you obviously need to know about Views and CCK. I haven't though about the workflow stuff, BTW.

I do believe that CCK and Views make Drupal so much more powerful than most other CMS solutions. But if you are coming from a, say, pure Joomla background, you just don't understand what these modules are all about - the idea that they solve a really generic problem just never occurred to you before (because you're just so used to download another component and shell out another 25$ for getting some functionality).

marquardt’s picture

marquardt commented

As I was the one suggesting

using views, file field and cck

in this discussion, I'd like to re-iterate that setting up a functionality you described took me about half an hour - I did that before I answered you question because I wanted to know how difficult using Views really is. And I hadn't put together a single views myself before, actually - so I was a complete newbie when it comes to Views.

I do understand you impatience and frustration - on one hand. But on the other - trying out new things does require some minimal effort. I'd guess that by now "support" has spent more time on answering your posts than you would have needed to just try my recipe yourself...

Finally: have you thought about the possibility that for someone with a very, very basic understanding of what CCK and Views are doing (like me), the solution to a the problem described by you is actually so obvious that it hardly needs more discussion than just "use CCK and Views"? And that big projects like Docman for Joomla are simply not required in Drupal because you can implement the same functionality with basically a few mouse clicks?

I do agree though that a HOWTO describing download section set up with CCK and Views would be a good addition to the Drupal documentation. If I find the time, I might add one, if nobody else is quicker...

mcfilms’s picture

mcfilms commented

Way to go "support" team. Effective immediately your salaries have all been doubled.

A list of some of the Drupal sites I have designed and/or developed can be viewed at motioncity.com

ckleiman’s picture

ckleiman commented

I'll give both a try. Thanks for your help. Will let you know and look forward to seeing your documentation

ckleiman’s picture

ckleiman commented

I'd been doing things the Mambo way for so long I just had difficulty thinking outside the box. I wound up making a taxonomy and pages with attached files. Its working great and I'm very pleased. Thanks for your help. With Mambo these kinds of things were called components and packaged in zip files. They installed through the admin back end and that was pretty much it. I guess I never knew it was possible to create some of these things on my own without having to use something developed by a third party. That's pretty powerful.