Begining Drupal 7 pptx

this print for content only—size & color not accurate

  CYAN

  MAGENTA

  YELLOW

  BLACK

  PANTONE 123 C

BOOKS FOR PROFESSIONALS BY PROFESSIONALS®

Todd Tomlinson

US $49.99

Shelve in:

PHP

User level:

Beginner–Intermediate

THE APRESS ROADMAP

Pro

Drupal

Building Online

Communities with Drupal,

phpBB, and WordPress

Beginning

Drupal 7

Foundation

Drupal 7

www.apress.com

SOURCE CODE ONLINE

Companion eBook

See last page for details

on $10 eBook version

ISBN 978-1-4302-2859-2

9 781430 228592

5 49 9 9

Beginning Drupal 7

Dear Reader,

Drupal is one of the fastest-growing web development frameworks. It’s extremely

powerful, capable of hosting high-traffic, high-security sites like whitehouse.gov as

well as small business sites and storefronts. And now Drupal 7 offers even more

powerful solutions with a more intuitive and easy-to-use interface. Whether you

are designing a small site for a business, a non-profit, or just for fun, or if you are

developing a larger site and want to try out Drupal 7, Beginning Drupal 7 will help

you get started. You’ll learn:

• How to configure the different elements of a Drupal 7 site

• How to make your site truly interactive

• How to customize the look of your site using themes

• How to securely administer your Drupal 7 site

In my 35-year career in the IT industry there have been very few technologies

that have excited me as much as Drupal. I decided to write this book because

my clients frequently ask how they could quickly get up to speed on the Drupal

platform so that they could begin building rich and sometimes complex solu￾tions. To address the need, I’ve taken all of my experiences of helping dozens of

clients through the Drupal learning process and have embedded that knowledge

and experience into this book.

I hope you’ll walk with me as I take you through the journey of learning how

to build rich and powerful web sites using Drupal 7. You’ll learn everything from

installing Drupal to managing your site once you’ve completed it. If you stick

with me along the path you’ll walk away with enough experience under your belt

to quickly and easily create functionally rich and beautifully designed Drupal 7

sites on your own.

Todd Tomlinson

Tomlinson Drupal 7

Companion

eBook

Available

Beginning

Drupal 7

7.5 x 9.25 spine = 0.75" 336 page count (PPI: 444)

THE EXPERT’S VOICE® IN OPEN SOURCE

Todd Tomlinson

An easy to follow reference to help the novice

or professional quickly and effectively learn

the Drupal platform

Beginning

Beginning Drupal 7

■ ■ ■

TODD TOMLINSON

ii

Beginning Drupal 7

Copyright © 2010 by Todd Tomlinson

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any

means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information

storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the

publisher.

ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4302-2859-2

ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4302-2860-8

Printed and bound in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Trademarked names may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every

occurrence of a trademarked name, we use the names only in an editorial fashion and to the

benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark.

President and Publisher: Paul Manning

Lead Editors: Michelle Lowman, Brian MacDonald

Technical Reviewers: Steve Edwards, Todd Kelsey

Editorial Board: Clay Andres, Steve Anglin, Mark Beckner, Ewan Buckingham, Gary Cornell,

Jonathan Gennick, Jonathan Hassell, Michelle Lowman, Matthew Moodie, Duncan Parkes,

Jeffrey Pepper, Frank Pohlmann, Douglas Pundick, Ben Renow-Clarke, Dominic

Shakeshaft, Matt Wade, Tom Welsh

Coordinating Editor: Jim Markham

Copy Editor: Tracy Brown Collins

Compositor: Kimberly Burton

Indexer: BIM Indexing & Proofreading Services

Artist: April Milne

Cover Designer: Anna Ishchenko

Distributed to the book trade worldwide by Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., 233 Spring Street, 6th

Floor, New York, NY 10013. Phone 1-800-SPRINGER, fax 201-348-4505, e-mail

[email protected], or visit www.springeronline.com.

For information on translations, please e-mail [email protected], or visit www.apress.com.

Apress and friends of ED books may be purchased in bulk for academic, corporate, or promotional

use. eBook versions and licenses are also available for most titles. For more information, reference

our Special Bulk Sales–eBook Licensing web page at www.apress.com/info/bulksales.

The information in this book is distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranty. Although every

precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author(s) nor Apress shall

have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be

caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this work.

iii

There are so many people to thank for making this book possible, including two very special people who

had a huge influence on my life and my desire to write. This book is dedicated to them.

Grant Wiley (1925-1996), president of Sportland Distributing, gave me the opportunity to enter the world

of information technology back in 1976. If it weren’t for Grant’s support and encouragement, I might be

still slinging boxes in a warehouse somewhere. He took a chance by asking me to read through the IBM

manuals so that I could take over the responsibility for the newly installed IBM System/32. Grant taught

me everything about business that you don’t learn in business school, concepts that I’ve carried with me

and applied while consulting for dozens of the largest companies in the world.

I also want to thank my 98-year-old grandmother, Gladys Tomlinson, who at 96 published her first book.

Thank you, Grandma, for all you’ve done for me over the years, and for the influence that you have had

on my life.

iv

Contents at a Glance

■About the Author ................................................................................................................... xv

■About the Technical Reviewer.............................................................................................. xvi

■Acknowledgements............................................................................................................. xvii

■Introduction........................................................................................................................ xviii

■Chapter 1: Introduction to Drupal............................................................................................1

■Chapter 2: Creating and Managing Content............................................................................ 9

■Chapter 3: Creating and Managing Users............................................................................. 25

■Chapter 4: Taxonomy ........................................................................................................... 37

■Chapter 5: Creating Menus....................................................................................................51

■Chapter 6: Installing Themes................................................................................................ 59

■Chapter 7: Drupal Blocks...................................................................................................... 71

■Chapter 8: Drupal Modules................................................................................................... 83

■Chapter 9: Enabling Interactive Capabilities ........................................................................ 97

■Chapter 10: Content Types ................................................................................................. 119

■Chapter 11: Views .............................................................................................................. 151

■Chapter 12: Panels ............................................................................................................. 175

■Chapter 13: Theming...........................................................................................................197

■Chapter 14: Administering Your Drupal Site ...................................................................... 215

■Chapter 15: Putting It All Together..................................................................................... 229

■Chapter 16: Case Study ...................................................................................................... 239

■Appendix A: Installing Drupal............................................................................................. 257

■Appendix B: Additional Resources ..................................................................................... 267

■Appendix C: Social Networking .......................................................................................... 271

■Appendix D: E-commerce................................................................................................... 283

■Index .................................................................................................................................. 295

v

Contents

■About the Author ................................................................................................... xv

■About the Technical Reviewer.............................................................................. xvi

■Acknowledgements ............................................................................................. xvii

■Introduction........................................................................................................ xviii

■Chapter 1: Introduction to Drupal............................................................................1

Content Management Systems..........................................................................................1

Drupal....................................................................................................................................................... 2

Drupal Core............................................................................................................................................... 2

Contributed Modules ................................................................................................................................ 3

Drupal Themes ......................................................................................................................................... 5

Creating Content................................................................................................................5

Summary ...........................................................................................................................8

■Chapter 2: Creating and Managing Content.............................................................9

Understanding the Basics..................................................................................................9

Creating Content in Drupal...............................................................................................10

Teasers and Full Nodes .......................................................................................................................... 12

Editing Content ................................................................................................................12

Other Content Options......................................................................................................14

Menu Settings ........................................................................................................................................ 14

Revision Information............................................................................................................................... 16

URL Path Settings................................................................................................................................... 17

Comment Settings .................................................................................................................................. 18

■ CONTENTS

CONTENTS

vi

Authoring Information............................................................................................................................. 20

Publishing Options.................................................................................................................................. 20

Deleting Content ..............................................................................................................21

Finding Content................................................................................................................22

Summary .........................................................................................................................23

■Chapter 3: Creating and Managing Users..............................................................25

Users, Roles, and Permissions ........................................................................................25

User Accounts..................................................................................................................26

Configuring User Account Settings..................................................................................26

Creating Roles..................................................................................................................28

Assigning Permissions.....................................................................................................29

Creating User Accounts ...................................................................................................31

User Generated Accounts ................................................................................................34

Resetting User’s Passwords ............................................................................................35

Summary .........................................................................................................................35

■Chapter 4: Taxonomy.............................................................................................37

Taxonomy Overview.........................................................................................................37

Creating Vocabularies......................................................................................................38

Assigning a Taxonomy Vocabulary to a Content Type .....................................................42

Selecting a Taxonomy Term when Creating Content.......................................................45

Creating Human- and Search-Engine-Friendly Lists .......................................................47

Hierarchical Terms...........................................................................................................48

Assigning More Than One Vocabulary .............................................................................50

Summary .........................................................................................................................50

■Chapter 5: Creating Menus....................................................................................51

Ordering From the Menu..................................................................................................51

■ CONTENTS

vii

Adding an Item to a Menu................................................................................................53

Adding a Content Item to a Menu ........................................................................................................... 53

Adding a Menu Item for an External Page .............................................................................................. 54

Creating a New Menu ......................................................................................................56

Summary .........................................................................................................................58

■Chapter 6: Installing Themes.................................................................................59

How a Drupal Theme Works ............................................................................................61

Finding a New Theme......................................................................................................62

Installing a Theme ...........................................................................................................64

The Administration Theme...............................................................................................67

Configuration Options ......................................................................................................68

Summary .........................................................................................................................69

■Chapter 7: Drupal Blocks.......................................................................................71

Blocks, Blocks, and More Blocks.....................................................................................71

Making Blocks Appear on Pages .....................................................................................71

Finding the List of Available Blocks.................................................................................72

Re-Arranging Blocks........................................................................................................74

Reassigning and Deactivating Blocks..............................................................................74

Configuring Blocks...........................................................................................................74

Using Blocks from Contributed Modules..........................................................................77

Creating Custom Blocks...................................................................................................79

Summary .........................................................................................................................81

■Chapter 8: Drupal Modules....................................................................................83

Contributed Modules........................................................................................................83

How to Download, Install, and Configure a Module.........................................................84

Configuring Modules and Setting Permissions................................................................87

■ CONTENTS

CONTENTS

viii

Enabling Other Modules...................................................................................................89

Disabling a Module................................................................................................................................. 89

Upgrading a Module ............................................................................................................................... 90

Uninstalling a Module............................................................................................................................. 91

The Top Eleven Modules..................................................................................................92

Content Construction Kit (CCK) ............................................................................................................... 92

Views ...................................................................................................................................................... 92

Panels..................................................................................................................................................... 92

Imagecache ............................................................................................................................................ 93

Nicemenus.............................................................................................................................................. 93

Nodequeues............................................................................................................................................ 93

WYSIWYG................................................................................................................................................ 93

Pathauto ................................................................................................................................................. 94

Webform................................................................................................................................................. 94

Backup and Migrate ............................................................................................................................... 94

Ubercart.................................................................................................................................................. 94

Summary .........................................................................................................................95

■Chapter 9: Enabling Interactive Capabilities .........................................................97

Blogging...........................................................................................................................97

Enabling Blogs........................................................................................................................................ 97

Creating a Blog Entry.............................................................................................................................. 98

Displaying Blog Entries........................................................................................................................... 99

Adding a List of the Most Recent Blog Entries ..................................................................................... 100

Forums...........................................................................................................................101

Setting Up Your First Forum ................................................................................................................. 102

Polls ...............................................................................................................................108

Creating Your First Poll......................................................................................................................... 109

■ CONTENTS

ix

Web Forms.....................................................................................................................112

Creating a Webform.............................................................................................................................. 112

Summary .......................................................................................................................117

■Chapter 10: Content Types...................................................................................119

The Basic Page and Article Content Types ....................................................................119

Defining a Custom Content Type ...................................................................................120

Creating a Custom Content Type ...................................................................................121

Customizing Your Form ........................................................................................................................ 128

Other Field Types...........................................................................................................136

Radio Buttons ....................................................................................................................................... 137

Check Boxes......................................................................................................................................... 139

Select Lists ........................................................................................................................................... 142

File Uploads.......................................................................................................................................... 142

Text Area .............................................................................................................................................. 144

Numeric Fields and Other Field Types.................................................................................................. 146

Formatting the Output of a Custom Content Type .........................................................146

Summary .......................................................................................................................149

■Chapter 11: Views................................................................................................151

Installing the Views Module...........................................................................................151

Creating Your First View ................................................................................................152

Views Settings...................................................................................................................................... 154

Basic Settings....................................................................................................................................... 154

Advanced Settings................................................................................................................................ 157

Style Settings ....................................................................................................................................... 158

Exposed Form....................................................................................................................................... 160

Fields .................................................................................................................................................... 161

Relationships........................................................................................................................................ 162

■ CONTENTS

CONTENTS

x

Arguments ............................................................................................................................................ 162

Sort Criteria .......................................................................................................................................... 162

Filters.................................................................................................................................................... 163

Live Preview ......................................................................................................................................... 164

Exposing a View as a Page................................................................................................................... 165

Creating Tabular Views..................................................................................................168

Creating RSS Feeds with Views.....................................................................................172

Summary .......................................................................................................................173

■Chapter 12: Panels ..............................................................................................175

Available Layouts...........................................................................................................178

Is It a Page, a Page, or Is It a Page? ..............................................................................178

Creating a Panel Page....................................................................................................178

Modifying an Existing Panel Page ........................................................................................................ 188

Using the Flexible Layout Option ...................................................................................192

Adding Other Things to Panel Panes..............................................................................196

Summary .......................................................................................................................196

■Chapter 13: Theming ...........................................................................................197

Picking the Starting Point ..............................................................................................197

Before You Get Started ..................................................................................................198

The Standard Drupal Theme Files ........................................................................................................ 198

Configuring the Genesis Theme.....................................................................................200

Modifying the Base Theme ............................................................................................203

Creating a Horizontal Menu ...........................................................................................207

Theming the Footer........................................................................................................210

Theming Nodes..............................................................................................................210

Theming Blocks .............................................................................................................212

■ CONTENTS

xi

Changing Sitename and Logo........................................................................................213

A Tool for Helping You Theme Your Site ........................................................................213

Summary .......................................................................................................................214

■Chapter 14: Administering Your Drupal Site .......................................................215

Backing Up Your Site .....................................................................................................215

Restoring a Backup .............................................................................................................................. 218

Backing Up the File System.................................................................................................................. 218

Checking the Log Files...................................................................................................219

Recent Log Entries................................................................................................................................ 220

“Page Not Found” Errors...................................................................................................................... 221

Status Report.................................................................................................................222

Checking for Updates.....................................................................................................223

Approving Requests for User Accounts .........................................................................225

Summary .......................................................................................................................227

■Chapter 15: Putting It All Together......................................................................229

Now What? ....................................................................................................................229

Look At Other Drupal-Based Sites for Ideas ......................................................................................... 229

Keep Tabs on Drupal and Contributed Modules ................................................................................... 230

Get Involved in Your Local Drupal Users Group .................................................................................... 230

A Methodology for Building Your Site on Drupal............................................................231

Summary .......................................................................................................................237

■Chapter 16: Case Study .......................................................................................239

Defining and Designing the Site ....................................................................................239

Target Audience ................................................................................................................................... 239

Identifying the Content and Functionality Required by Visitors............................................................ 240

Defining the Site’s Structure..........................................................................................241

Defining the Custom Content Types and Taxonomy Structure ......................................242

■ CONTENTS

CONTENTS

xii

Defining the Navigational Structure...............................................................................242

Installing Drupal.............................................................................................................243

Visual Design .................................................................................................................243

Download and Install Contributed Modules ...................................................................244

Creating User Roles and Setting Permissions ...............................................................245

Creating the Taxonomy Vocabulary and Terms .............................................................245

Creating the Custom Content Types ..............................................................................245

Creating Views...............................................................................................................247

Setting Up the Contact Us Feature.................................................................................248

Creating an About Us Page ............................................................................................249

Setting Up the Forums ...................................................................................................249

Setting Up the Feed Aggregator.....................................................................................249

Creating the Menu Items ...............................................................................................249

Wrapping Up the Pages .................................................................................................250

Testing the Site..............................................................................................................251

Deploying to Production.................................................................................................254

Create User Accounts ....................................................................................................256

Summary .......................................................................................................................256

■Appendix A: Installing Drupal..............................................................................257

The Foundation Required to Install Drupal.....................................................................257

Setting Up the Server.....................................................................................................258

Installing Drupal.............................................................................................................258

Downloading Drupal ............................................................................................................................. 259

Decompressing the Drupal Installation Package.................................................................................. 259

Moving the Drupal Distribution to the Root Directory of Your Web Server ........................................... 259

Creating the settings.php File............................................................................................................... 259

■ CONTENTS

xiii

Creating the Drupal Database............................................................................................................... 260

Creating a User Account....................................................................................................................... 260

Configuring Drupal.........................................................................................................262

Summary .......................................................................................................................265

■Appendix B: Additional Resources.......................................................................267

Drupal Modules..............................................................................................................267

Drupal Themes...............................................................................................................267

Drupal Documentation ...................................................................................................267

Where to Go When you Have Problems..........................................................................268

How to Backup Your Drupal Site....................................................................................269

Where to Host Your Drupal Site .....................................................................................269

Where to go to Learn HTML and CSS.............................................................................269

Video Tutorials ...............................................................................................................269

Drupal Podcasts.............................................................................................................269

■Appendix C: Social Networking ...........................................................................271

Expanding Your Reach by Sharing.................................................................................271

Integrating Your Site with Social Networking Sites.......................................................273

Integrating Drupal with Facebook ........................................................................................................ 273

Integrating Drupal with Twitter ............................................................................................................ 274

Integrating Drupal with Flickr............................................................................................................... 274

Integrating with YouTube ..................................................................................................................... 275

Displaying Status Updates from Several Social Networking Sites ....................................................... 275

Creating a Social Networking Website on Drupal ..........................................................275

The Organic Groups Module ..........................................................................................278

Setting Up Organic Groups ................................................................................................................... 278

Setting Up Content Types ..................................................................................................................... 278

Configure the Organic Groups Module.................................................................................................. 278