Learning Content Management Systems with Drupal Course Syllabus & Assignment Sheet

Includes: Content Management Systems

Estimated Completion: 60 hours

ISBN: 978-0596515805

Cost: $40.49 - Search to see if you can find this book used.

It is recommended that you purchase additional text/reference books on each subject to further enhance your knowledge and meet your individual learning style. An Amazon store has been setup with recommended books to continue your studies.

General Notes - Before You Start the Book

Important Class Resources

Your instructor provides extensive additional resources for Web design. You should familiarize yourself with and bookmark the following sites:

Lecture notes are available at: http://www.robinsblog.com - This site is updated several times per week. Students should check this site daily for important class announcements and updates.
Class forum - A place to discuss Web development. Please register to use the forum.
Web design tutorials are available at: http://www.tinkertech.net. - Spend some time getting familiar with this site, it is a collection of topics discussed in class over the last several years.
Free Web site hosting for current students is provided at http://www.robinshosting.com.
Resources for learning cPanel

Homework

Homework is not required for this class. However, reading your lessons at home prior to completing them in class makes your classroom time more productive.

Backing up Your Student Files

You should periodically back up your student files to CD. Stations along the windows have CD Burners. Instructions for writing files to a data CD can be found here.

Certificates

Currently certificates are not available for this module.

Files, Samples, and Errata

File management skills are absolutely necessary to create and maintain Web sites. Please download and print this file management information for use in class. If you need a brush up on file management, review the tutorials that I've listed here http://www.tinkertech.net/octWeb03.htm#file.

The official Web site for Drupal is http://drupal.org/. You should find numerous learning resources for Drupal at this site.

The errata for this book can be found at http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596515805/errata/. Source code can be found at http://www.usingdrupal.com/source_code. You may also want to visit the forum at http://www.usingdrupal.com/.

Getting Help

While we encourage you to try and problem solve any errors that you may have with your Web pages, ask for assistance if you cannot figure out the problem within a reasonable amount of time; I do not want you to become frustrated.

Cheat sheets are wonderful when you're learning to code. You will find links to numerous cheat sheets on the class forum.

Chapter Notes

Ask your instructor to review the Drupal Essential Training at Lynda.com.

Complete all exercises in the book unless otherwise noted in the chapter sections below.

You do not need to download Drupal. Drupal can easily be installed on your robinshosting.com account using CPanel and Fantastico. You do not need to install any server software since we will be working on a live server. Follow the directions below for installing Drupal! to your robinshosting.com account.

Visit http://www.robinshosting.com/cpanel and login using your robinshosting.com account username and password.

After logging in, scroll down the page to the Software/Services section and click the Fantastico De Luxe icon.

The menu on the left-hand side of the page lists all of the open source scripts that can be installed using Fantastico. Scroll down to the Content Management section and click Drupal.

Drupal Installation Screen

Click New Installation.

You will need to complete the installation form.

Install in Domain: Do no change

Install in Directory: type a folder name (something like drupal or cms, etc.) or leave blank if you want you entire site to use Drupal

Type your desired administrator username and password

The admin email address should be your own personal email address

Type your name in the admin full name

Leave the remainder of the settings unchanged and click install Drupal.

Note the access url on the next screen and click Finish installation.

Write down your username, password, the full url to the admin area, and the full url to the installation. You can also email these details to your personal email address.

Chapter 1 - Drupal Overview

Read the article How To Choose The Right CMS.

Be sure to check the errata for Using Drupal for any known errors.

Chapter 2 - Drupal Jumpstart

Be sure to check the errata for Using Drupal for any known errors.

Chapter 3 - Job Posting Board

Be sure to check the errata for Using Drupal for any known errors.

Chapter 4 - Product Reviews

Be sure to check the errata for Using Drupal for any known errors.

Chapter 5 - Wiki

Be sure to check the errata for Using Drupal for any known errors.

Chapter 6 - Managing Publishing Workflow

Be sure to check the errata for Using Drupal for any known errors.

Chapter 7 - Photo Gallery

Be sure to check the errata for Using Drupal for any known errors.

Chapter 8 - Multilingual Sites

Be sure to check the errata for Using Drupal for any known errors.

Chapter 9 - Event Management

Be sure to check the errata for Using Drupal for any known errors.

Chapter 10 - Online Store

Be sure to check the errata for Using Drupal for any known errors.

Chapter 11 - Theming Your Site

Be sure to check the errata for Using Drupal for any known errors.

Appendix A - Installing and Upgrading Drupal

Visit http://www.robinshosting.com/cpanel and login using your robinshosting.com account username and password.

After logging in, scroll down the page to the Software/Services section and click the Fantastico De Luxe icon.

The menu on the left-hand side of the page lists all of the open source scripts that can be installed using Fantastico. Scroll down to the Content Management section and click Drupal.

Drupal Installation Screen

Click New Installation.

You will need to complete the installation form.

Install in Domain: Do no change

Install in Directory: type a folder name (something like drupal or cms, etc.) or leave blank if you want you entire site to use Drupal

Type your desired administrator username and password

The admin email address should be your own personal email address

Type your name in the admin full name

Leave the remainder of the settings unchanged and click install Drupal.

Note the access url on the next screen and click Finish installation.

Write down your username, password, the full url to the admin area, and the full url to the installation. You can also email these details to your personal email address.