Sorry for the multiple questions. As a newbie, I'm trying to get perspective on how to approach several goals.
I want to set up my content so I can select from different categories, that I set up in the taxonomy. BTW, I love that feature. I'd like to get a short list (like the blogs listing) of all sites that fit a particular keyword, and have a way of clicking to read the entire story, blog, or page. I haven't experimented with Views yet, but wonder if that module can give me what I want.
Comment re Drupal and my Newbie experience: I've found that overview material is very hard to get for Drupal. I've got Drupal for Dummies and Pro Drupal Development. They are very good on what they cover. On the Drupal and RocketTheme sites, I find that there is very sketchy "how to" tutorials, with stuff missing that you have to find in the FAQ. Then, there are the very detailed developer oriented explanations. The intermediate level docs, that may say something like: "What this module does is..... take images from xyz folder, puts them into xxxx, and this process is controlled in .... css or php file." That way somebody who knows a bit of code and css can more easily get into the system. I've wasted literally weeks fiddling with every module and it is frustrating.
Thanks for you help, Bill
William A. Prothero http://earthednet.org/
Taxonomy: views is your friend. Create exposed filters on taxonomy terms, etc. You need to learn views before you can be really effective in Drupal.
General comments: we hear you. Drupal always has been more dev oriented, both in its implementations and in its documentation. Sometimes the only documentation for a module is the comments in the code-- which the module dev really does expect you to read. Anyway, we're working on it. Keep asking questions. It's one of the ways we have to bridge this gap for you.
On 11/24/2010 01:47 PM, prothero wrote:
Sorry for the multiple questions. As a newbie, I'm trying to get perspective on how to approach several goals.
I want to set up my content so I can select from different categories, that I set up in the taxonomy. BTW, I love that feature. I'd like to get a short list (like the blogs listing) of all sites that fit a particular keyword, and have a way of clicking to read the entire story, blog, or page. I haven't experimented with Views yet, but wonder if that module can give me what I want.
*Comment re Drupal and my Newbie experience*: I've found that overview material is very hard to get for Drupal. I've got Drupal for Dummies and Pro Drupal Development. They are very good on what they cover. On the Drupal and RocketTheme sites, I find that there is very sketchy "how to" tutorials, with stuff missing that you have to find in the FAQ. Then, there are the very detailed developer oriented explanations. The intermediate level docs, that may say something like: "What this module does is..... take images from xyz folder, puts them into xxxx, and this process is controlled in .... css or php file." That way somebody who knows a bit of code and css can more easily get into the system. I've wasted literally weeks fiddling with every module and it is frustrating.
Thanks for you help, Bill
William A. Prothero
Views should be able to help you with your taxonomy listing question.
Regarding your second comment, it is no secret that Drupal has a steep learning curve. Drupal's community has historically been strongly developer-oriented and as a result, much of the documentation caters to this audience. By their nature, books exhibit better editorial review, structure, and foundational concepts than many of the handbook pages which have come to be from many authors over many years without much oversight or linearity -- such is the nature of online communities. As Drupal's audience base expands downmarket, the shortcomings of Drupal's reach and learning curve are apparent.
In addition to your existing books, you might also check out the Using Drupal book, which, IMO, is one of the better books for beginners http://www.amazon.com/Using-Drupal-Angela-Byron/dp/0596515804
On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 11:47 AM, prothero prothero@geol.ucsb.edu wrote:
Sorry for the multiple questions. As a newbie, I'm trying to get perspective on how to approach several goals.
I want to set up my content so I can select from different categories, that I set up in the taxonomy. BTW, I love that feature. I'd like to get a short list (like the blogs listing) of all sites that fit a particular keyword, and have a way of clicking to read the entire story, blog, or page. I haven't experimented with Views yet, but wonder if that module can give me what I want.
*Comment re Drupal and my Newbie experience*: I've found that overview material is very hard to get for Drupal. I've got Drupal for Dummies and Pro Drupal Development. They are very good on what they cover. On the Drupal and RocketTheme sites, I find that there is very sketchy "how to" tutorials, with stuff missing that you have to find in the FAQ. Then, there are the very detailed developer oriented explanations. The intermediate level docs, that may say something like: "What this module does is..... take images from xyz folder, puts them into xxxx, and this process is controlled in .... css or php file." That way somebody who knows a bit of code and css can more easily get into the system. I've wasted literally weeks fiddling with every module and it is frustrating.
Thanks for you help, Bill
William A. Prothero
-- [ Drupal support list | http://lists.drupal.org/ ]
Thanks, Carl and Christopher: Funny, I just now ordered Angela Byron's book: Using Drupal. My comments reflect a bit of frustration, but only with the intent of providing input for potential future improvement. I actually and totally in love with Drupal. I have programmed in Director for years, and have a bit of PHP, mySQL, and html experience (just enough to get into trouble and not be afraid of looking at code). What has me sold, tho, is the availability of so much working code (modules and themes) that I had wanted, but felt I had to program myself. No longer.
Best regards and thanks for the direction. Bill
William A. Prothero http://earthednet.org/
On Nov 24, 2010, at 11:12 AM, Carl Wiedemann wrote:
Views should be able to help you with your taxonomy listing question.
Regarding your second comment, it is no secret that Drupal has a steep learning curve. Drupal's community has historically been strongly developer-oriented and as a result, much of the documentation caters to this audience. By their nature, books exhibit better editorial review, structure, and foundational concepts than many of the handbook pages which have come to be from many authors over many years without much oversight or linearity -- such is the nature of online communities. As Drupal's audience base expands downmarket, the shortcomings of Drupal's reach and learning curve are apparent.
In addition to your existing books, you might also check out the Using Drupal book, which, IMO, is one of the better books for beginners http://www.amazon.com/Using-Drupal-Angela-Byron/dp/0596515804
On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 11:47 AM, prothero prothero@geol.ucsb.edu wrote: Sorry for the multiple questions. As a newbie, I'm trying to get perspective on how to approach several goals.
I want to set up my content so I can select from different categories, that I set up in the taxonomy. BTW, I love that feature. I'd like to get a short list (like the blogs listing) of all sites that fit a particular keyword, and have a way of clicking to read the entire story, blog, or page. I haven't experimented with Views yet, but wonder if that module can give me what I want.
Comment re Drupal and my Newbie experience: I've found that overview material is very hard to get for Drupal. I've got Drupal for Dummies and Pro Drupal Development. They are very good on what they cover. On the Drupal and RocketTheme sites, I find that there is very sketchy "how to" tutorials, with stuff missing that you have to find in the FAQ. Then, there are the very detailed developer oriented explanations. The intermediate level docs, that may say something like: "What this module does is..... take images from xyz folder, puts them into xxxx, and this process is controlled in .... css or php file." That way somebody who knows a bit of code and css can more easily get into the system. I've wasted literally weeks fiddling with every module and it is frustrating.
Thanks for you help, Bill
William A. Prothero http://earthednet.org/
-- [ Drupal support list | http://lists.drupal.org/ ]
-- [ Drupal support list | http://lists.drupal.org/ ]
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Christopher M. Jones -
prothero