[support] Newbie seeking documentation

[Jean Gazis]

I started with Drupal 4.7 and the Mercer book, which is pretty good. Not the
most exciting reading material, but it gave me some ideas about what can be
done. I only started in mid-January, and we upgraded to 5.1 when it came
out, not so long after. I haven't found the differences between versions to
be a problem. (Except that we were using the theme editor module in 4.7 and
we don't have it in 5, and a designer I work with was going crazy about not
having access to edit the theme on a site, and I thought he was upset about
not having the theme editor, but it turned out I had accidentally not given
him access to the admin area *at all*, and that's what he was really
complaining about. Oops!)

I think if you try to use a book for detailed step by step directions, the
version changes could be confusing, but if you just use it to help
understand the framework for how things basically work together, you can
figure out where things are on the menus etc. without difficulty.

I have years of experience using computers for a wide range of apps, but the
closest I've ever come to programming or scripting anything myself is doing
an "If" function in Lotus 1-2-3. I think whether Drupal is easy enough for
end users depends on what you expect them to be doing - making blog entries,
or setting up their own groups, etc.

Hope this helps,

Jean

On 5/28/07, Bruce Whealton <brucewhealton at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Doesn't that first book, about Drupal, just cover up to Drupal 4.x.y,
> since it
> was published April of 2006?  Are there major changes with Drupal 5.x.ythat
> would create problems for a user reading a book covering an older version?
>
> Hi,
> If I'm looking for tutorials/training/handbooks, say from the site, that
> cover, "If
> one were trying to quickly build a Drupal site from start to usable for
> site visitors,"
> where might I look on the site(s) for that kind of documentation?
>
> Also, while it might be good for me to learn a book that draws upon such
> advanced skills as PHP, I would also want to give some documentation to
> the
> end-user, specifically a totally non-technical end-user... users that may
> not know
> HTML, much less CSS, much less PHP... where I am indicating that PHP, as a
> programming language is far more complex and advanced a topic then CSS
> which is more advanced then just plain old HTML.
>
> Assuming that the first book is ok for use with the latest versions of
> Drupal than that
> would be a good book for me.  Let me know what you all think about that,
> please.
> Then, I'd ask for instructions/tutorial pages/handbook pages for a
> non-technical
> end-user.
> Thanks,
> Bruce
>
> *Mitch Wander <Mitch at MyTroops.com>* wrote:
>
> Bruce,
>
> Assuming paper books (old style) are an option, here are two choices.
>
> If you're trying to quickly build a Drupal site from start to usable for
> site visitors try:
> Drupal: Creating Blogs, Forums, Portals, and Community Websites
> by David Mercer
>
> If you know PHP and want to take advantage of Drupal's inner workings try:
> Pro Drupal Development
> by John VanDyk and Matt Westgate
>
> Best regards,
>
> Mitch
> --
> [ Drupal support list | http://lists.drupal.org/ ]
>
>
>
> --
> [ Drupal support list | http://lists.drupal.org/ ]
>



-- 
Jean Gazis
www.jeangazis.com
www.boxofrain.us

"Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it." - André
Gide
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