Intro to Drupal Slides - DrupalCampSC 2014

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Disclaimer:
This is my first speaking/presenting
gig. I’m pretty sure I’m going to do
fine, but if I talk really fast and
there’s a lot of time left then we’ll
talk amongst ourselves.
Luckily, if I talk too slowly & run out
of time, the slides are set up to be
totally self-explanatory. So you can
peruse them later.

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So let’s talk about Drupal.
It’s a thing, and it does stuff.

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But first, let’s talk about me for a
second
 My name is Sarah Shealy
 I’m the Front End Web Developer at
Richland Library here in Columbia,
SC
 www.richlandlibrary.com
 I have a background in Art History
and Library Science
 These are my cats.
 All Drupal presentations
should have at least one cat
picture – I learned this at my
first DrupalCamp and now I
pass it on to you.

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My Drupal Story & the seed of this
presentation
 0 web development skills (ZERO- I barely knew what HTML
and CSS were)
 Only volunteered with the team because I wanted a librarian
job at Richland Library & it would look good
 Really frustrated that as I got into Drupal, people would talk
way over my head when I just wanted the basics.
 I remember wishing that this presentation existed when I went
to my first DrupalCamp. So if it’s too simplistic or doesn’t cover
enough higher level stuff, I’m sorry.

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You can find me in random places
online
 I really only use Twitter,
Instagram, & Pinterest
 @Sarah_Shealy (Twit)
 SarahHShealy (Insta)
 Shealysh (Pint)
 Sarahsassandsurcees.com
 This is my real-life, personal
blog. Not tech, and updated
about once a week. Don’t go
here for advice, go here to
waste some time.
 But somehow I have 3 email
addresses:
 Sarah.Shealy@gmail.com
 Sarah.Shealy@outlook.com
 Sshealy@richlandlibrary.com
 Shealysh.me
 Literally nothing there at the
moment except working
social media links, but will be
up and running in the next
few weeks. It will be fabulous.

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Now, let’s talk about you for a
second
 For a lot of you, this is going to be a “duh” sort of presentation,
but I’m really speaking to the person who sort of stumbled onto
Drupal and knows what it does but doesn’t know things like
“node” or “content type”. Those are my people.
 If this is not you, feel free to doodle, answer email, take a nap
(but please not if you snore), and generally keep yourself
entertained.

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So Drupal is a thing, right?
 Open Source
 Basically, you can use Drupal for free.
 There isn’t an enterprise behind Drupal – even though people are
paid to develop for Drupal, there isn’t a conglomerate dictating that
development.
 Community Based
 Drupal is all about community.
 Even if Bob develops a module that his site uses, he’ll probably
contribute that module back to the community.
 I’ve never had a problem reaching out to a Drupal person for help –
if they can’t help me, they’ll refer me to someone who can.

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Function vs. Beauty
 Function
 More important than beauty
 Honestly.
 As long as it works for you,
keep it simple.
 Remember that you can
always add beauty based
skills as you master
functional ones
 You can also change how
things function as you learn –
you don’t have to be perfect
right away
 Beauty
 Totally important
 But not the end all be all
 If someone says “Your site is
gorgeous, but I have no idea
what I’m supposed to
do/what you’re selling/what
you do” you should rethink
your strategy.
 Shiny things are fun, but
concrete will keep your house
standing.

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A few terms you should have a
handle on
 Node - A single piece of content on your site. Every node also
belongs to a particular content type.
 Content Type – A content type basically tells Drupal how to render
your content. It defines the fields used, the layout created, and the
input form the creator uses.
 Page - One of the two basic content types that are packaged with
Drupal core. Generally, pages are used for static content that is to
be linked into the main navigation bar. Not all nodes are pages,
but all pages are nodes.
 Article – The other content type that comes with Core. Usually
used for content that changes or isn’t permanent. Like blog posts
or marketing releases.

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Yay terms!
 Theme – Basically the files that define how your site looks. A
theme can override all the looks of modules, etc. They can be
as simple as defining colors or can be drastically customized to
control every element of the design. Themes regulate what
goes where.
 Region - Areas of a node where content can be placed.
Sidebars, headers, footers, etc are all placed in regions.
 Term – This is basically the Drupal term for keyword. You
attach keywords to content in order to link content with other
content.
 Vocabulary – A collection of terms.

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Last slide o’ terms
 Core - The files and modules included with the basic Drupal
install.
 Clean URL - A URL that does not contain code. Drupal puts
snippets of code in URLs, and clean ones remove that code.
Makes them much easier to remember.
 Ninja/guru/rock star/super hero/etc – ridiculous ways to say
you’re good at your job.
 Druplicon - The Drupal mascot. It’s basically a raindrop with a
face on it.

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Modules: a disclaimer
Please, for the love of all things, do not go back to work and insist
everyone on the team uses all of the modules that I’m about to go
over. Unless you are the whole team, in which case go for it.
If you see something that may solve a problem better than you’re
currently solving it, suggest the team looks into it.
Don’t be that guy (or girl).

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Views!
*everyone’s 1st recommendation*
 You need Views if
 You like the default front page view, but you find you want to sort it
differently.
 You like the default taxonomy/term view, but you find you want to
sort it differently; for example, alphabetically.
 You want a way to display a block with the 5 most recent posts of
some particular type.
 Views basically gives you an alternative way to display content,
and restrict that display to specific content types or taxonomy
terms. It’s even possible to restrict to a certain user’s content.
Steep learning curve, though.
**This is from the Views module page with some modification**

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Panels!
 Lets you create customized layouts for your site.
 It’s a drag and drop content manager that lets you design your
layout and place content in it. It’s a way to control the layout
without using theme files.
 Learning curve is pretty steep. Much like views.
 While Panels integrates with Views, people are generally in
either the Views camp or the Panels camp. But there are plenty
of sites that use both.
**Basic ideas came from the Panels module page – much modified**

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Pathauto!
 The Pathauto module automatically creates URLs and path
aliases for content without the user having to make one up
themselves. This keeps the sites’ URLs consistent.
 You can specify how each content type is given an alias. For
example all events on your site can be given a pattern with
“events” so each event is mysite.com/events/event-title
** Pathauto is a pretty excellent module, and you should check it
out.**

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Git
 Git is a version control system
 Github keeps your code on the interwebs, you copy that code
base onto your computer, and then you can muck about in the
copy while not injuring your current production-level code.
 There are TONS of tutorials out there, and the best place to start is
GitHub
 But there are a lot of Git users out there and they have really
excellent advice about how to use Git in the best way.
 Try not to wing it when using Git, you can break some stuff.
Like your corner of the internet.

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Drush
 An awesome program for managing Drupal from the command line.
It allows a site admin to do things by typing in a few commands
instead of clicking through multiple steps to accomplish the same
goal.
 My favorite commands:
 Drush en | Drush dis
 Enables and disables modules
 Drush cc all
 This clears the cache of all the styles and applies new ones that
I’ve created.

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Where to get help
 Google. It’s legit, you guys. Got a weird error message?
Google.
 Drupal.org is always a good place to go – the search is
unwieldy, though.
 Stack Exchange
 Stack Overflow
 But really, Google will get you blog posts from people who have
had your exact problem as well as every other site’s answers.

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Awesome Places for Training (free)
 YouTube
 Just search for whatever you need help with.
 There are videos of presentations, tutorials, etc.
 Google.
 There are several million tutorials out there that really want to help
you out.
 DrupalCamp 24x7

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Awesome Places for Training ($)
 Udemy has a course for an Intro to Drupal.
 Drupal.org has a listing of a bunch of places that provide
training.
 I can vouch for
 Acquia
 Build a Module
 Isovera
 Lullabot (drupalize.me)
 Lynda

Intro to Drupal Slides - DrupalCampSC 2014

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