SBE Guide: Community Site

Site Design
Wireframe
$39.95

For this site recipe you will learn how to enhance Drupal's core modules for a basic community Web site. Features include a member-only forum. In-depth explanation of how to use the NineSixty base theme to create a flexible grid-based layout.

This workbook includes step-by-step instructions that will guide you through the creation of a site with the following features:

  • RSS Aggregation to pull content into the site from off-site sources.
  • User blogs that all executive will have permission to post to.
  • Members-only forum.
  • Hierarchical content for the site's content.
  • Polls.

This workbook focuses on Drupal core modules--with a few enhancements from contributed modules to make your forum private.

Specific theming features for this workbook include:

  • On-the-spot, point-and-click styling (no text editor required).
  • Custom fonts.
  • Multiple nodes promoted to the front page.
  • Working with the NineSixty base theme to create flexible regions which change shape based on what other regions are present.

If code sort of freaks you out, but you're ready to master it and conquer your fears of angle brackets, this is definitely the workbook for you. Wireframes are chopped down into their component parts so that you can "see" which bit of code corresponds to "what" bit of layout. Being able to "see" your design from code alone is an incredible skill to have. I won't say it makes theming Drupal easy as pie (have you ever made a pie? it's not actually that easy), but it sure makes building themes a lot easier.

Things You Should Already Know

This workbook focuses on the basics, but doesn't start at the very beginning. Before purchasing this workbook you should know how to....

This workbook covers Drupal 7 and was the second site taught as part of the Site Building Extravaganza program.

Sample Pages

Want to see a sample of this workbook? No problem! Click here to download sample pages from this site building and theming guide (PDF file). The sample pages include about half of the whole guide. It will give you a really good sense of whether or not this is the workbook for you. But if you have other questions, please get in touch.

Accolades

I just wanted to tell you that I have had a true "Ah-HA" moment, on page 33 of SBE Guide: Community Site. After reading and typing and writing notes and going back again and again, all of a sudden I am looking at the code and I SEE it.

I just couldn't put all the pieces together before. I could see what was what (html, php, conditional statements) but I couldn't get my head around how it related to the site name banner up above. Like, I could see all the moving parts, but not the whole.

Thank you thank you thank you.

Thought I'd share my happiness :)

- Rachel, student in the SBE program