EME 6207 – Tech Ed: Drupal Primer

Aug 17th, 2016 at 1:06 am

From Wikipedia:

Drupal is a free and open-source content management framework (CMF) written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. It is used as a back-end system for at least 2.1% of all websites worldwide ranging from personal blogs to corporate, political, and government sites including whitehouse.gov and data.gov.uk. It is also used for knowledge management and business collaboration.

The standard release of Drupal, known as Drupal core, contains basic features common to content management systems. These include user account registration and maintenance, menu management, RSS feeds, page layout customization, and system administration. The Drupal core installation can be used as a brochureware website, a single- or multi-user blog, an Internet forum, or a community website providing for user-generated content.

As of January 2013, there were more than 20,100 free community-contributed add-ons, known as contributed modules (WordPress refers to these as plugins), just as with WordPress these are available to alter and extend Drupal’s core capabilities and add new features or customize Drupal’s behavior and appearance. Because of this plug-in extensibility and modular design, Drupal is described by its developers as a “content management framework”. Drupal is also described as a web application framework, as it meets the generally accepted feature requirements for such frameworks. Although Drupal offers a sophisticated programming interface for developers, no programming skills are required for basic website installation and administration.

Some Tutorial Videos

We would be remiss if we did not give you some video tutorials on how to get started. It is assumed that you already have purchased an ISP license or have installed Xamp on your computer to run it locally. If you have already done the WordPress activity, then Drupal can co-reside on the same remote site.. simply place the app in a different /unique folder underneath the root..

Click for Tutorial: Beginner’s Guide to Drupal


Click for Tutorial: What is Drupal in 57 seconds

Click for Tutorials: Beginner Drupal

Click for Tutorial: Theming with Drupal

As with all of these there are plenty more on You Tube to be found.. no sense me reinventing the world here

If you prefer text based tutorials etc… then maybe this works better

Drupal Tutorials

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Do This!

dothis

You may wish to practice with your site on your local computer prior to uploading it to your server. In order to do that you must make your computer simulate being a remote host. Here is a step by step set of instructions for you to follow to get your site up and running. You need to complete the activity, get the site up and running and then send a link to it in the drop box set up on Canvas. The instructions for setting up WordPress and for Drupal are almost the same. I am not specifying which program you do first. The activity for this cycle has been combined with the last. Create a chart comparing the two CMS’ and reasons why you selected the one you did. See the Assignment Checklist for final details.


Installing Drupal Locally

There is a way to run Drupal and/or WordPress on your own desktop/laptop. But because php and mysql assume a client-server relationship, you must first install on to your computer a ‘server simulation program’ (called Xamp.. Mac’s also have their own simulator called Mamp, but the latest MACs will run either simulator). Both Drupal and Worpdress can then be installed locally. This way, you can do all your design and production work locally and not have to contract with an external ISP just to try the products out. This is especially useful in this course where you will be trying the both out then picking one of them for your final project. Note that you do not HAVE to do it this way, but is being offered as an alternative.

This concept is especially useful if you happen to live in an area with poor Internet service and want do not want all the delays. You would have to download the plugins and themes using the Internet but all the design work can be done without an Internet connection. Then, once you are satisfied, you can easily recreate your final product by uploading it to your IPS of choice. I find this especially useful when I set up at conferences, for example, and want to be able to show my sites but do not have any Internet service.

I have provided you with a tutorial on how to set this server simulation up on your computer. I have also provided a step by step set of instructions on how to upload a duplicate of your final version on to the ISP.


Here are the steps to set up your CMS on your Web Host

  • Contract with a hosting service that is WordPress AND Drupal friendly/compatible. We are not asking you to spend a lot of money here. Most of the free hosting sites are laden with ads… and many do not support php5, mysql, Drupal, or WordPress. One of the better ones (and the most reasonable) is hostgator. They offer a one-click install for Drupal. They claim there is a quick install feature for WordPress but we have never tried it. Dreamhost is a little more expensive and they offer a One Click install for WordPress and Joomla! (but not for Drupal).
  • To do your Drupal install, use this Quick Install for Beginners.. OR if you have selected hostgator for your site server, then go through their one-click installs.
  • Unless you wish to pay for two site hostings (or purchase the ‘hatchling’ plan on hostgator that provides unlimited domains), be sure NOT to set up Drupal in the root directory. Instead, set up a sub directory on your site and load Drupal to that directory. Call the directory anything you wish but make it distinctive. Drupal and WordPress can co-exist on the same site as long as they are in their own directories. Then simply designate that directory when you refer to your site… For example, http://mysite.com/drupal/ (where mysite is the name you give your site).
  • You MAY wish to select the default theme. You can experiment on your own by searching the themes offered on the Drupal site.
  • The ‘extend’ site also provides a link to modules (extensions). Select at least four and install them. If you have already done the WordPress activity, see if you can find modules that replicate (or closely replicate) what you chose on WordPress.
  • Begin working on your site (or blog). The context may be of your choosing. As this is an education/training course, most will probably pick one for that industry. However, some of you come from higher education and or a business and may wish to create one for your own interest. The idea is to make it functional and of good design. If you have to spend some time on this, why not make something tat you can actually use? We will be looking at each product during our final Adobe Connect session at the end of this term.
  • If you chose to start with WordPress, the idea here is to replicate in Drupal the essence of the site you have already created (including trying to identify similar plug ins that do similar things as the add-on modules did for Drupal. This will allow you to see the differences between the two CMS systems and make your choice as to the best one that suit your needs.
  • If you have issues or would like some type of formative review, you can contact your instructor.
  • Be sure to post a link to your site in the drop box set up on Canvas by the deadline. If you have decided to install Drupal on your local computer, then simply upload a few screen shots of your practice site into the dropbox set up in Canvas

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