Hi there. Ok, the subject line may sound a little ... overdoing, or what one should say, but let me explain: As i understand it, CCK is a very powerful and flexible module/set of modules. As i understand it, you can create your own content types with your own fields and/or use the provided field modules of which there seem to be a whole lot. What i want to know is if it's possible for a non-programmer like me to use CCK with any success. Another reason why i ask this question is that i'm helping a friend to set up a web site and it's possible she will also want to use CCK and she, just like me is a non-programmer. As always, thankful for any answers. /Krister
Krister,
First, a slight correction. In version 5.x you do not need CCK to create a custom content type.
Here is the URL to add a content type:
/admin/content/types/add
It's true that the custom type created is simply a "story" with a different name. All the fields are the same. However, there is still a lot you can do. The ability to create new content types makes the Views module even more powerful and easy to use. You can also custom name the labels for the new content types. And I'm sure there are still even more uses for new content types that have the stock fields.
Everything I've described above is easy for a complete non-programmer.
As for adding CCK fields to a content-type -- how easy for a non-programmer?
It depends on how fussy you are about the formatting and template integration of the output.
It also depends on which fields you are adding and how you use them.
Check out this site: http://dogsgrowlove.com, the content was added using a custom content type using CCK embed media fields with no custom PHP at all. Setting this up, though no PHP fussing was needed, did require some tweaking of settings. The settings are avilable via a GUI, yes, but it can still be a bit tricky to be able to set the settings correctly.
If you aren't happy with how your CCK fields are outputting -- one solution is to install Contemplate, (http://drupal.org/project/contemplate) which is a really cool module. The more PHP you know and the more you know about how Drupal templates work, the more you'll be able to get out of this module. My skills are that I'm basically a content person who studies php, css, pokes under Drupal's hood etc. "on the side." So, for instance, I'm pretty darn good at cutting and pasting other people's PHP snippets and getting them in the right place and making slight changes to them to fit the situation.
Hope this gives you some sense of it.
Shai
On 10/2/07, Krister Ekstrom krister@kristersplace.ws wrote:
Hi there. Ok, the subject line may sound a little ... overdoing, or what one should say, but let me explain: As i understand it, CCK is a very powerful and flexible module/set of modules. As i understand it, you can create your own content types with your own fields and/or use the provided field modules of which there seem to be a whole lot. What i want to know is if it's possible for a non-programmer like me to use CCK with any success. Another reason why i ask this question is that i'm helping a friend to set up a web site and it's possible she will also want to use CCK and she, just like me is a non-programmer. As always, thankful for any answers. /Krister -- [ Drupal support list | http://lists.drupal.org/ ]
Hi,
As i understand it, CCK is a very powerful and flexible module/set of modules. As i understand it, you can create your own content types with your own fields and/or use the provided field modules of which there seem to be a whole lot. What i want to know is if it's possible for a non-programmer like me to use CCK with any success.
If you don't want to do any CCK development - getting really dirty with PHP - but are happy fiddling a bit with the theme, then you can get a long way with CCK and its bundled data types, and cover much of the rest with contributed types.
Generally, as you move away from the data types included with CCK, it gets less easy to use. If you have fairly basic separate fields (so a standard single HTML form element, or a clutch of checkboxes/radio buttons) then you can generate quite complex content types entirely through the admin interface by combining a lot of those basic fields. Themeing is fairly rudimentary by default, but as all the CCK content gets stuck in the $node object then you can theme it to your heart's content.
Downloaded CCK submodules are (as you'd expect) of variable configurability, functionality and plain usefulness, but generally pretty good. The above paragraph more or less stands, although themeing might be more of a chore depending on what the submodule is doing.
The real hardship is if you've got a very complex or subtle data type, and none of the available submodules will provide you with the structure you want. CCK submodule creation and development is pretty painful at the start: it's not very intuitive and you have to have all hooks present and (more or less) functional from the word go. I've got a sample module - holler if you want it.
But generally if what's required is covered by contributed modules, I've found CCK very easy to use.
Cheers, J-P
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J-P Stacey -
Krister Ekstrom -
Shai Gluskin