Have I bitten off more than I could chew in Drupal?

Just search the forums for your specific task, ask for help if no relevant topics found.

Use 'taxonomy' module to put content in categories :)

Instead of spending hours staring at your screen, spend a few hours reading the handbooks online.

A wiser investment of your time.

Look at my profile and you'll see I've been a member here for over 2 1/2 years. This is because I tried Drupal 2 1/2 years ago, then gave up when faced with it's complexity, and because there were easier 'turn key' type solutions out there. I've tried it several times since then, but never with any dedication. Over the past couple of months I have NOT given up, and I can honestly say that Drupal is by far the most powerful of any of the CMS's I've ever used. The learning curve is steep, however it isn't impossible, and in reality once you get familiar with Drupal it isn't nearly as bad as it initially seems.
From what I've seen here at the forums, you'll get good help if you are very specific with your question, having first searched the site, looked through the handbooks, and looked for existing modules or snippets. Drupal is so modular and things can be done in so many different ways that a very general question sometimes gets ignored.

Stick with it, it'll be worth it in the end!

Ragsman

If you haven't already, have a look through Is Drupal Right For You?. It's a good way to survey the potential of Drupal and see the concepts in action. It'll probably lead you to a path of questions and maybe help you to start developing your own vision for your site.

And yes, the handbooks have really become very helpful over time. And searching the forums with keywords and "phrases". And there are a lot of helping hands, though the amount of response you'll get is typically inversely proportional to how often the same question has been addressed in the past. So be prepared to do some search digs.

Definitely have a read and jump around through the first several sections of "Installation and configuration" in the handbooks.

And look, Drupal 5.0 is currently in the development works. There are some really good improvements in the conceptual groupings of the admin menus that are worth having a look at, even as a beginner using the previous version. I rearranged my menu in 4.7.3 to match the 5.0 one as soon as I saw it because it instantly made more intuitive sense to me. I started using Drupal in late 2003 and I'd still occasionally forget where/how I changed a setting in that default menu.

go slowly if you're having difficulties. just like what they said, try reading the handbook and search for the appropriate topics for your specific problems. besides, if you really love something, would 2 hours be enough?

I think that it’s a mistake for new users to look only to the public forums and handbooks for answers. You might discover that after searching the forums and perusing the handbooks that many of your questions go unanswered. Therefore, keep in mind that there are sources of information outside of this community where one can find instructional text.

Do a GIS for Drupal tutorials and you’ll receive a good list of alternative sources. You may also want to invest in buying one of the few books written about Drupal.

I've been working on my site now for about a month and I'm just starting to figure a few things out - the hard way most of the time.

To me, giving up is not an option. I see the sites in the showcase and I know that I can design a good-looking site, and I know that Drupal can do what I want it to do, so I just have to spend the necessary time and energy to figure it all out.

Here's what I did, and am still working on.

I took the time to really think about what I wanted to use the site for. This is really important. It will determine what modules you select, what template to rework, what blocks you'll want, and what graphics you'll want to use.

After getting the settings just right, I went shopping for a theme. Well that wasn't so easy. I used the burnt theme and converged it with the interlace theme, hacked it up and redesigned it, then used the bluemarine theme to setup the tpl.phps to make my life easier since I don't know anything about php, and then I started to work on the real design and layout.

I installed all the modules that I wanted to use. And just recently I figured out how to create blocks, use the frontpage module and include snippets, and create different looks for nodes. (Oh, I'm getting somewhere now. :)

(Oh, and I forgot to mention that I broke my first site like ten times. Well, now, installing Drupal is a breeze. ;)

I peruse Drupal's forums frequently and read everything that catches my eye. When I see a solution to a potential problem or an answer to a potential question, I either bookmark it or implement the code right then and there. Some days I'm on a mission and other days I'm wondering around. Some days I get something accomplished and others I'm working for up to ten hours just trying to figure something out.

And some of the stuff these php geeks (I mean that in the nicest way) write is like reading Greek - way over my head, making my eyes roll back.

It's taken a lot of time - more than I thought it would. But it feels good when you finally get somewhere. Just hang in there and take it one step at a time, one day at a time.

Well, that's my 2 cents, anyway.

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If somebody's done it before, then it can be done.

I think the best advice in addition to what has been offered above is patience. Sometimes I find the need to take a break for a day or two and mull over what it is I actually want to achieve.

My first site had nearly every module installed at one point and was just a complete mess, the users got so confused they ran away, so really the best thing you can do is sit down, get rid of any distractions and focus on what you want your site to actually do.

Once you have a real goal, then the module options are more obvious, then you can start asking specific questions regarding those modules.

I've noticed that you post about multi-site configuration, don't take this the wrong way but imho I think you should just focus on the one site for now and crystalise your thoughts on what you want that to achieve. Multi-site can be looked at later.