By newco on

So I haven't used drupal before but am interested in learning. I have a website for work - www.newcobuilders.co.nz originally made in dreamweaver and I would like to re-do it in drupal. I need to be able to have everything I have on the current site but running a bit smoother. The whole concept of what I need to do is a bit lost on me. Where do I start? My current status is that I have it installed and have a local host set up to view it, now what? I don't think I like any of the themes that came with it, so I am interested in creating custom ones. I have been through some tutorials on this subject but get a bit lost.

Thanks for the advice.

⋅ Categories: Drupal 6.x

Comments

steve02476’s picture

steve02476 commented

I'm no Drupal expert but I've used it for a year or so now. Looking at your current website it doesn't look like there's too much there yet. I'd be curious what kind of things you think you'll be adding to the site over the next year or two. If what you're really after is a 10 or 20 page site to serve as a typical construction company's public site it may be that Drupal is way more than you need. Not that Drupal couldn't do it, but it might not be the best way. And that would be true of other similar CMS products also.

Creating a custom theme will not be easy. I think you will need to know CSS and HTML very well, and also maybe some PHP. Even if you already feel quite confident in that stuff, you'll need to learn the basics of using Drupal to set up a site, which isn't trivial, and you'll need to know how to put together a Drupal theme, which also isn't easy when you're starting out. There are plenty of tutorials and books around to help with this stuff, but but think in terms of weeks or months, not days, unless you're a genius.

Maybe it's worth it, if your site will be pretty complex and Drupal is a good match, or if you just want to learn Drupal in general, maybe for use on other sites also. Maybe you could explain a little more what you want your site to be like?

Anyway, good luck and let us know what you end up doing.

newco’s picture

newco commented

Probably not looking to do anything earth shattering. Things I don't like about the current site:
1. Doesn’t run smooth, changing from page to page seems slow, choppy
2. I have had to use outside elements to achieve what I want, ie client login, portfolio items
3. It doesn’t look that great, I want to use my new site as a promotional tool (big surprise) and it is a reflection of me.

I do agree, there is not much content on there, probably the add again, look a bird, I digress. I start something with the greatest intentions, but get bored of it. I do have information to fill it up, but am not happy with how it is coming out, therefore am looking for something better.

The site needs to be easily updatable in the future. I need other people to be able to update it without a huge knowledge of websites or multiple programs to work with.

I guess, I am not sure what course of action to take next. Should I work on learning hor to create custom themes, or work with what comes with Drupal or something completely different?

Appreciate the help.

steve02476’s picture

steve02476 commented

I agree, the current site does seem pretty slow. If that's the fault of your server, and you'll be using the same server, then Drupal might be even worse.

I like using Drupal, and certainly it allows for a lot of interesting features without leaving the Drupal universe. But I suspect something simpler will leave you with a lot more time to add to the content of the site, instead of tinkering with the mechanics of the site. Of course, some of us really like the tinkering, so maybe that's you also.

I really wouldn't bother with writing your own theme for Drupal, at this point in developing your site, unless it is purely as a learning exercise. There are thousands of beautiful free themes available for Drupal, why not just spend an evening browsing and then pick one for starters? You can then customize the colors etc to go along with your company's style, and you can change themes or write your own later on if you really want to.

My two cents. -Steve