By goldy736 on

hi,

I am new to Drupal , i have no idea about drupal, i want to create a static simple website in it. I tried various documents but i could not even install drupal. i have drupal 6.X downloaded , but there is no setup file to install it. Am nut in drupal please guide me with any link or pdf for installing drupal.

i tried to follow the following link

http://drupal.org/node/115379

but it was vain. please guide me .

⋅ Categories: Drupal 6.x

Comments

lionheart8’s picture

lionheart8 commented

You could have a look at http://drupal.org/handbooks under Getting started where there's a lot of documentation.
http://drupal.org/handbook/customization/tutorials/beginners-cookbook
http://drupal.org/node/307956

I assume you want to install Drupal on your PC.
The simplest way to do it is to download Xampp from http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html
After installation, you have the php environment & Mysql Database which Drupal & other similar systems need.
I personally do it as explained here: http://drupal.org/node/279604

A basic installation is very simple & you can have a basic Drupal site up within 15 min.
Install Xampp & when prompted towards the end of the installation to install Apache & Mysql as services, agree. This makes the 2 get started when you start Windows.

The first time you set Xampp, you may need to start Apache & MySQL via the Xampp control panel.
Type http://localhost in your browser location bar.
If both Apache & MySQL are running, you will be led to the Xampp start page. If you get an error, it means they are not running. In that case, start them via the Xampp control pane.
If you missed the step during installation to install them as services, you can do so via the control panel.

Next, unzip your Drupal 6.12 & for simplicity, rename the folder to drupal or something else simple.
Locate the directory on your PC where Xampp was installed.
Navigate to the folder called "htdocs".
That is where to place php files, including your "drupal" folder.

Next. Create a database by going to to htpp://localhost/phpmyadmin.
If you have never used phpmyadmin, take some few moments to look around & you will note it is easy to follow the instructions below.
"Create" a database, e.g. called "drupal".
It should appear in the left column, but will be having "no tables".

Go back to the phpmyadmin index page and look for the "Privileges" link. Go there,
Create a user, who you could call "drupal"
Select "localhost" as you host
Create a password

Select ALL privileges for your user.

Note all the info above, i.e. Database name, database username, database password & database host (it should be localhost). as you will need it to install your Drupal.

Go to the drupal folder /sites/default/default/ & open the file default.settings.php using an html editor and save a copy of it in that folder as "settings.php".
This file is important and necessary right from the next step as that is where the database configuration is written.

Go to http://localhost/drupal.
# The moment you go to http://localhost/drupal ...... FOR THE FIRST time, Drupal will redirect you to the installation page, asking u to select the install. language.
# Next page, you will be prompted to feed in the above DB info.

....

Look here http://drupal.org/node/279604 and the other given links for more guidance.

On configuring your site I think you might find a fitting "recipe" here: http://drupal.org/handbook/site-recipes

Regards

Jeff Burnz’s picture

Jeff Burnz commented

I think an easy option is the Acquia Windows Stack http://acquia.com/downloads

Personally I use Wampserver, which blows away Xampp's lame feature set.

Pimp your Drupal 8 Toolbar - make it badass.
Adaptivetheme - theming system for people who don't code.
goldy736’s picture

goldy736 commented

hi ,
i thank jm for reply, i tried Acquia drupal but during installing of it i get 2 errors , first is in ..Prog files/Aquia drupal/setup/cmd.php ....which is also akipped when i landed at last phase of installing and clicked the finished button a Error msg pops up saying

"Cannot load ..apache/bin/libmysql.dll"

Am so much fed up , trying to insatal Drupal from yesterday but i could not make it .....Where is the problem.

Jeff Burnz’s picture

Jeff Burnz commented

Well to be fair the problem is not Drupal, but the installation of of the stack. These all in one LAMP stacks are great but not foolproof, sometimes they don't work as expected. This is something you will have to persist at, as once you have it running you wont look back - you can install whatever you want WP, Joomla or whatever.

Are you using Vista? See this thread and see if this fixes your issue: http://threebit.net/mail-archive/php-users/msg18254.html

Pimp your Drupal 8 Toolbar - make it badass.
Adaptivetheme - theming system for people who don't code.
lionheart8’s picture

lionheart8 commented

Sorry about your troubles.

I am yet to try out that suggested new installation method using Drupal Acquire, which looks quite interesting.
I have tried WAMP, but quite never liked it, but that is a personal preference.
I have never failed to install Drupal on an XP machine using XAMPP.
The only 2 issues I had were when Drupal changed the policy of including a settings.php file and one having to make one by renaming a copy of default.settings.php to settings.php.
It took a while to find what was causing the installation failure, but it turned out not to be a Xampp problem.
Another issue was with some links of the installed Drupal not working, but a solution was editing some file in Xampp as explained in http://drupal.org/node/279604. I am not sure whether that was related to some version of Xampp, because this (the error + need to edit) was not always the case before.

Other than that after downloading & installing Xampp which takes about 10 minutes, I have many many times been able to get Drupal & other scripts like Joomla installed within a few minutes, one needs to create a database, then run the installation.

By the way are you making the installation on your PC or online?

goldy736’s picture

goldy736 commented

hi lionheart,

i have installed Drupal finally usind Xampp in my PC. thanks for your post . i logged in and checked the status report with only 2 errors CRON MAINTAINENCE TASK - Never run and FILE SYSTEM .........
I dono which will affect my primary task now " I need to create a static Website as usual with buttons below header " .... but i dono how to start , this is my first website creation task,am already crossed my deadline of finishing this website creation , i hope you will guide me lionheart.

Thank you !

lionheart8’s picture

lionheart8 commented

For Cron never having run is normal, since u have just installed the site. Click on a button "Run manually" or something like that.

About the file system, I think here u can set it by going to admin => settings => File System.
If you dont have at File Sytem Path: sites/default/files try filing it in
And below that at Temporary directory: /temp

That should do, unless for some reason those files dont exist, in which case you can create them by going to the Drupal folder => "sites".

For creating a site with "buttons below the header", if you mean the menu, you will then have to "create content", probably as pages (http://drupal.org/node/302312)
You then need to create a menu & link your new pages to it. (You will see the Menu creation page link in your control panel).

Depending on the theme you are using, you may need to choose the "primary links" option to have the link buttons below the header.

profjk’s picture

profjk commented

Hi goldy736,

I looked at your profile and found that you are less that two days old on Drupal Forums. There is nothing wrong with that!

You need to please understand that Drupal is not a Drag and drop web creation software.

There is nothing that can't be done with Drupal, when it comes to website creation.

You need a lot of patience and spending time on this.

Please note that I am saying anything to discourage you.

Spend time on Drupal Forums. This is a great community with people dedicating a lot of their time to help newbees of Drupal.

To tell you something, I have embaced Drupal after spending time on WordPress and Joomla.

No hard feelings folks. Even today, for a Bells & Whistles Corporate site I would use Joomla!

There is a learning curve with with Drupal, let's accept it.

I have been using computers from 2007. But, I have never dared to touch Photoshop, because I know that there is a steep learning curve.

Any new software needs getting used to!!!!!!!!

Thanks
JK

profjk’s picture

profjk commented

The point haunting me is,
why Drupal for a static website?

Pardon me if I am harsh.

Thanks,
JK

Jeff Burnz’s picture

Jeff Burnz commented

Well no one is forcing you to use it, you choose to use it. I don't understand your point.

Pimp your Drupal 8 Toolbar - make it badass.
Adaptivetheme - theming system for people who don't code.
goldy736’s picture

goldy736 commented

hi jk,

i have to submit the overview of website in my first phase of my project for client approval, so at present i need to do it , in second phase i will make it dynamic ,

profjk’s picture

profjk commented

Hi goldy736,
It's nice to hear that you are working on a Drupal project for educational purpose.

All the best!

JK

profjk’s picture

profjk commented

goldy736:
You can even send me PM, through my profile.
I would be happy to help you.

I am sorry, if I was harsh anytime earlier.

JK
Bangalore
India

goldy736’s picture

goldy736 commented

profjk,

its ok . i dont think you are harsh , Thanks for help.

goldy,

chennai.

profjk’s picture

profjk commented

Hi, Goldie,
I appreciate lionheart8, for all the initial support and patient long posts.
Though I am not a Drupal Guru, I will try to help you within the limits of my knolwdge.

You said, it's an educational project.
Can you tell me step by step, what you are expected to do in this project?

What are your Objectives in this Project, as you understand?

JK

goldy736’s picture

goldy736 commented

jk,
my Drupal currupts and i installed again followed same as before.....when i Go to http://localhost/drupal. after db creation i get the following 

"Unable to select database

We were able to connect to the MySQL database server (which means your username and password are okay) but not able to select the database.

The MySQL error was: Unknown database 'drupal1'.

Currently, the database is drupal1. The username is drupal and the database server is localhost.

Are you sure you have the correct database name?
Are you sure the database exists?
Are you sure the username has permission to access the database?
For more help, see the Installation and upgrading handbook. If you are unsure what these terms mean you should probably contact your hosting provider. "

am totally fed up now yar...

lionheart8’s picture

lionheart8 commented

Well if we go back a bit to the point you talked about cron never having run + the file system issue, it seems you had successfully installed Drupal.
I sent you some suggestions explaining the cron issue, and so on.
Did it help or not? If not what error messages did you get?
Why did you decide on a new installation you mention above?

The database errors you mention above may be because of some small mix up of the database information in the process of these multiple installations.
If you go to http://localhost/phpmyadmin are you sure you can see the database which Drupal claims is missing???? Is it really there?

Do you have access to an online hosting account? If you do, you could directly try to install online. In that way, someone you trust can be able to help you.

If not, it is important for you to create sometime to do learn some basics about how Drupal functions. To make a basic installation there is not much to learn - but that little requires some little time.
It's just like driving - you somehow have to learn it & that requires one way or another finding time to do so or indeed installing any PC software. There are some few basics that one MUST know.

In your case, the good thing is there does not seem to be something missing on your PC to prevent installation.

So let's try again.
Stop "getting fed up". ;) It will not help you at all.
Take a cup of coffee & relax before continuing.

Forget the drupal database you created [or if you know how to go to http://localhost/phpmyadmin & "drop" it, thus retaining the name, username, & password].

Go to http://localhost/phpmyadmin and create another database using the same steps.
Got to the Xampp folder => htdocs => drupal => sites =>default =>
Delete settings.php. This has the settings from the former installation.
In that same folder is default.settings.php
Open it in an html editor & save a copy of it as settings.php

go back to http://localhost/drupal and restart the installation.

Fill in the NEW DATABASE information you just created and create a new site.
Remember with the cron issue, do a "manual" cron update by clicking the available link where you found it.
For the file system, set it like I suggested.

I do not see what would stop the installation from completing since you do not state any other errors.

After that, "create content", which for your static site should be "page" content, I guess.
Take/create time to look at the documentation pages above for starters e.g. on creating content & other relevant topics. There's lots of information on all sorts of topics of interst even to beginners.
If you come up to the step above it'd be easier to get further support.

Good luck

profjk’s picture

profjk commented

Hi lionheart,

You are a damn good teacher!
I appreciate the attitude.
Keep it up.

-- JK

goldy736’s picture

goldy736 commented

lionheart,

hats off to you man.......grt ......i followed your instruction with patience in my work, i found the error which is my ip address which changed since its dynamic, because of this i not able to connect to Mysql.

lionheart8’s picture

lionheart8 commented

:d
Good you found a way forward.
I think you saw how persistence pays, also on the Drupal side of life.

@profjk :d Thanks for the compliment, however I'm one of the main recepients of help here in the forums, so ...

Regards

Jeff Burnz’s picture

Jeff Burnz commented

Legendary effort mate, probably saved another one from drifting to the "other side"... great stuff.

Pimp your Drupal 8 Toolbar - make it badass.
Adaptivetheme - theming system for people who don't code.
goldy736’s picture

goldy736 commented

jm,

Well said ya

goldy736’s picture

goldy736 commented

lionheart,
You deserve the compliment man.....

goldy736’s picture

goldy736 commented

lionheeart,
As per your guidance i made my opening page of website with header and menu tabs.....i tried to find how to import the image in my content area, but i cant make it...can u tel me how to place a image in the page.

Thank you!