[drupal-support] Is Drupal the Right CMS?
Hi, I want to use a CMS for a new project I am working on (tired of managing all HTML by hand). Drupal is one of the Fantastico-equipped scripts that my ISP offers. I see other sites doing neat things with Drupal but I have no idea how to make it do these things. The first thing that bothered me was that every bit of content was very blog-like (displaying user and time posted). This site is going to have static pages that do not necessarily need such information. I figured out how to turn off that header via the theme configuration. Out of story and article, what do I want to use for static content (e.g., an "About" page)? I noticed that the book module has an option to display a printer-friendly display option. How come this is not the case on other types of content? I need to make a navigation menu block. I notice that the "Navigation" module is enabled by default. But I do not see how to do anything with that block. I can make another block for navigation options and populate it with an HTML list of links to the appropriate pages within the site. But that feels like it violates the CMS model. -- -Mike Melanson
On Wed, 6 Apr 2005, Mike Melanson wrote:
The first thing that bothered me was that every bit of content was very blog-like (displaying user and time posted). This site is going to have static pages that do not necessarily need such information. I figured out how to turn off that header via the theme configuration. Out of story and article, what do I want to use for static content (e.g., an "About" page)?
page.module
I noticed that the book module has an option to display a printer-friendly display option. How come this is not the case on other types of content?
This option is not needed if you have a printer friendy CSS file. The book "print" link prints not only the current node, but all the child nodes too.
I need to make a navigation menu block. I notice that the "Navigation" module
There is no such module, but a naviagtion block.
is enabled by default. But I do not see how to do anything with that block. I can make another block for navigation options and populate it with an HTML list of links to the appropriate pages within the site. But that feels like it violates the CMS model.
Enable menu.module and reads its docs. Cheers, Gerhard
Mike, Welcome to Drupal! ;). Good questions all. I highly recommend that you take some time to work with Drupal. It takes a little while to figure out not only what is there, but also the "Drupal Way". In short, there is a fairly steep (but relatively short), learning curve. After which you will really enjoy the views. The nice thing about investing time in Drupal is that the investment pays off. Dan
Hi, I want to use a CMS for a new project I am working on (tired of managing all HTML by hand). Drupal is one of the Fantastico-equipped scripts that my ISP offers. I see other sites doing neat things with Drupal but I have no idea how to make it do these things.
The first thing that bothered me was that every bit of content was very blog-like (displaying user and time posted). This site is going to have static pages that do not necessarily need such information. I figured out how to turn off that header via the theme configuration. Out of story and article, what do I want to use for static content (e.g., an "About" page)?
I noticed that the book module has an option to display a printer-friendly display option. How come this is not the case on other types of content?
I need to make a navigation menu block. I notice that the "Navigation" module is enabled by default. But I do not see how to do anything with that block. I can make another block for navigation options and populate it with an HTML list of links to the appropriate pages within the site. But that feels like it violates the CMS model.
On Apr 6, 2005, at 5:52 PM, Mike Melanson wrote:
Hi, I want to use a CMS for a new project I am working on (tired of managing all HTML by hand). Drupal is one of the Fantastico-equipped scripts that my ISP offers. I see other sites doing neat things with Drupal but I have no idea how to make it do these things.
I need to make a navigation menu block. I notice that the "Navigation" module is enabled by default. But I do not see how to do anything with that block. I can make another block for navigation options and populate it with an HTML list of links to the appropriate pages within the site. But that feels like it violates the CMS model.
Look at the Drupal Downloads page. You may want to look at some of the other taxonomy modules, which give you a lot of choices about organizing and presenting various views of information on the site. Drupal is a terrific platform, but like any CMS, it requires a bit of study. Compared to other CMS platforms, I've found Drupal to be much easier and simpler to use. But there is no free lunch. Any powerful CMS, whether Drupal or something like Zope will require some work. Drupal's extensible module architecture is really wonderful. Andrew ------------------------------------------------- Andrew Michael Cohill, Ph.D. Information architect Design Nine provides technology master planning services, community network planning, technology audits, and telecommunications project management to communities and organizations trying to make wise technology and telecommunications expenditures. Design Nine represents the interests of the organization or community, rather than the interests of vendors. Visit the Design Nine News page for frequently updated news and commentary on technology issues. http://www.designnine.com/news/ Design Nine, Inc. http://www.designnine.com/ Blacksburg, Virginia Voice: 540.951.4400 Cell: 540.320.4406
Hi, I just wanted to say 'thanks' for the responses to my email the other day. I got a good vibe from the project by the way I was treated on the list, which is an important factor (and somewhat of a change from the kinds of lists I usually deal with :) ). I have figured out how to make static pages and add them to the navigation menu. I am starting to warm up to the CMS as a whole. I am sure you can appreciate how important it is to pick a good CMS up front when you will be investing a lot of time and effort into the content. I am still a bit confused about printing. To clarify, I might want to convert my main site to using a CMS at some point (www.multimedia.cx). I have a lot of flat text files suitable for printing if a user so chooses. I am concerned about how those would look in a CMS and whether they would print properly, given the usual set of navigation sidebars. Thanks... -- -Mike Melanson
On Fri, 8 Apr 2005, Mike Melanson wrote:
I am still a bit confused about printing. To clarify, I might want to convert my main site to using a CMS at some point (www.multimedia.cx). I have a lot of flat text files suitable for printing if a user so chooses. I am concerned about how those would look in a CMS and whether they would print properly, given the usual set of navigation sidebars.
Create a suitable style sheet for your theme. This style sheet can for examel hide the sidebars. Cheers, Gerhard
On Apr 8, 2005 7:45 PM, Mike Melanson <mike@multimedia.cx> wrote:
Hi, I just wanted to say 'thanks' for the responses to my email the other day. I got a good vibe from the project by the way I was treated on the list, which is an important factor (and somewhat of a change from the kinds of lists I usually deal with :) ).
Yes, I agree totally, and I was drawn to Drupal for not only its power and customizability, but also for the people that develop it. They're a fine bunch.
I am still a bit confused about printing. To clarify, I might want to convert my main site to using a CMS at some point (www.multimedia.cx). I have a lot of flat text files suitable for printing if a user so chooses. I am concerned about how those would look in a CMS and whether they would print properly, given the usual set of navigation sidebars.
It is fairly simple to make a print.css stylesheet that hides the navigation. Properly linked to the generated pages by your theme, a modern browser will use that stylesheet when printing. See, for example, the conversation at http://drupal.org/node/8321 -- e
participants (5)
-
Andrew Cohill -
Dan Robinson -
eric Farris -
Gerhard Killesreiter -
Mike Melanson