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By nexus74 on
Hi All,
I'm trying to find a good tutorial on getting started with Drupal, but I want a tutorial that focuses on the elementary aspects of creating a simple site. I'd like something that has an image gallery and a contact form:very basic items, this shouldn't be such an issue....sheeesh. If I try to find a tutorial on one or the other, I'm presented with a list of several modules to download just to accomplish something as elementary as a photo gallery...and everyone seems to have such a different approach.
Yes, I now those tutorials exist, but the ones I've tried seem fine until 3/4 of the way through and then the author's setup varies some how..
Maybe I'm putting myself through too much; trying to use Drupal for a simple site. But I really want to learn. I mean, since it can do so much, why not master the biggest fish in the sea?? Wordpress and Joomla seem sooo much easier on the surface, but I don't want to sell myself short.
Just today, I ran through a tutorial for a few hours, only to come to a complete stand still. For example, I went and created a contact form and the contact form's link appeared on the primary menu...great!, then when I logged out, the contact form's link disappeared from the Primary Menu...logged back in,contact form's link THEN re-appears. I went to menus, primary menu and there was no reference to that contact form...huh??!!! Shouldn't the contact form be a "black-box" that I can throw into any page?? Same with a gallery.
I know that very intelligent people have created / contributed to Drupal. I also understand that it was created to handle anything you throw at it...Is that why doing something simple is so cryptic??
...any help would be appreciated.
Thank you,
Nexus
Comments
like anything else it takes
like anything else it takes time. and drupal can accomplish a contact form or image gallery many many ways, its all in how you want to do it.
for just the bare basics, you can start with the Image and Webform modules (soon to be part of Drupal 7, i think?) and they have all the tools necessary for image galleries and contact form creation.
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read my thoughts
Ok, thank you. I'm just gonna
Ok, thank you. I'm just gonna keep at it until I start seeing some light. I just need to learn the "Drupal Way" of doing things...
Yes, I'd like to learn the bare basics, that way, I can be confident that I'm able to add to a very stable foundation.
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the contact form issue is likely incorrectly set permissions for anon user role. Which is why you saw it when you logged in but didn't see it when you logged out. Every time you install a module or a feature you should check the permissions screen to ensure that you issue permissions to the proper roles.
image galleries, while they seem "simple" actually aren't. How would you like images handled? as objects in a node? as a node itself? more than one image on a page?
Drupal and it's contribs aren't built in a one size fits all fashion but in a piece by piece fashion. For every user that wants every available option in say, an image gallery. There are users who don't want those options. Thus the options get broken down in to pieces that you can install if, and only if, you want that specific feature.
I see...
Ahhhhhhh...permissions!! Something I obviously need to pay more attention to.
What you say about items be developed "piece by piece" makes a lot of sense now. You're right; how can you have an abstract platform if you "hardwire" all the features? Very good. I knew there had to be a good reason for this...Thank you.
Resources
Here are some video tutorial resources, I have found all of these to be fantastic resources and its been a great way to learn, by watching someone actually go through the motions of creating things in Drupal.
http://learnbythedrop.com/
http://store.lullabot.com/products/theming-basics-for-drupal
http://www.lullabot.com/videocast
http://www.amazon.com/Drupal-Essential-Training-Tom-Geller/dp/1596714824
http://drupal.org/node/124318
Also check out iTunes store podcasts (video) there are tons of free Drupal videos there as well.
Danny Englander | Twitter | Instagram
Thank you highrock, i'm
Thank you highrock, i'm definitely checking those out.
Good links for beginners
I've collected a lot of links to the good stuff for beginners:
http://www.drupalace.com/drupal-for-beginners
There's lots of good documentation out there, beginning with the documentation on this site. Good luck!