By CitizenZed on

Needing to put up a company website pretty quickly. It probably needs only 5 or 6 pages. No idea which version of Drupal to use... but heard someone say that 4.7 is better.

Questions, since I'm only used to working with and altering web pages in a text editor... tweaking SQL code and whatnot:

1> really stupid Can a logo be easily added?

2> The user/name login box I see on most "themes" (if that's what they're called).. can this be removed from a homepage and put only on a specific, interior page?

3> Can one easily add photographic elements to pages with text... i.e. pictures.

4> Can one alter the graphical components of the page design itself

5> Is much PHP knowledge presupposed on the part of a user?

6> Does the hosting environment have to be running anything (program) special to run a drupal site?

n00bish I know.. and I'm reading up and trying to digest as much as possible in advance... but the lingo is a bit foreign.

Comments

grbitz’s picture

grbitz commented

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Depends on what you mean by easily ... you have to use HTML on a standard installation. There are modules that allow WYSIWYG/point-and-click insertion.
4) Yes, through theming. Read the theme handbooks.
5) No.
6) No, PHP, MySQL or PostegreSQL, and a server are all you need.

drubeedoo’s picture

drubeedoo commented
  1. Yes, one can be uploaded in the drupal theme configuration page. Other options include coding it into the html of the chosen template, or use a background style in the stylesheet.
  2. Yes, on the block configuration page, you can specify that a block should only appear on a specific web page (a node in drupal terms).
  3. Easily is a subjective term. Out of the box, no, but there are several modules that allow this to happen. There is no core image functionality, but it's easily added.
  4. Yes, the most basic is by editing style.css, or if you need to do more, you can rework the output HTML in page.tpl.php for your chosen theme, or build your own.
  5. Knowledge of PHP is helpful, but is not required at all. Don't get scared off by "PHP" being banted around in these forums. Unless you want to write modules to integrate specific programs, you don't need to be a PHP programmer.
  6. Yes, there are specific requirements: http://drupal.org/node/270.
trailerparkopera’s picture

trailerparkopera commented

1) Yes...but it depends on your logo (if it's a small one) and how you want it oriented in your header. Some themes do a better job with this than others, and I usually end up customizing it by altering the page template.

2) Yes, but it's not necessarily intuitive. You need to understand how html forms work. There's a thread from a couple weeks ago that mentioned how to do this: http://drupal.org/node/59284

3) Yes...if Image and Img_assist modules are correctly installed.

4) Yes...by altering the node, page templates and the css stylesheets

5) Not on the part of the end user, but some knowledge is required of the developer.

6) As long as you have Apache (with modRewrite), MySQL 4.x, PHP4 or 5 (with the GD image toolkit), and have php and mysql configured to talk to your mailserver and setup with correct permissions, it's pretty easy to install. The hard part is getting the system configured properly to deal with the demands placed on it by various modules.

trailerparkopera’s picture

trailerparkopera commented

I use 4.6 for servers that I want to behave in a resonably predictable fashion. I like
4.7, but still wrestle with things that don't appear to work right yet. So, for fast, easy, versatile, use 4.6 (but who knows what that upgrade path may look like).

grbitz’s picture

grbitz commented

What branch you should use depends on your needs. 4.6 is good for a lot, but if you want to change the menu around a lot, for instance, 4.7 is the way to go.

CitizenZed’s picture

CitizenZed commented

[quote]As long as you have Apache (with modRewrite), MySQL 4.x, PHP4 or 5 (with the GD image toolkit), and have php and mysql configured to talk to your mailserver[/quote]I see in the guide that it's either Apache or ISS...... is the latter sufficient.

I'm not sure what Apache is really.

wpd’s picture

wpd commented

Apache is the most common webserver in the world. http://httpd.apache.org/
Since apache is more common, the drupal is better tested on apache. Also many of the add features may only work on apache because the developers only have access to apache.

White Paper Designs

Heine’s picture

Heine commented

In addition to 2); removing the login block from the frontpage and put it only on an interior page is very easy by standard block controls. It can even be removed entirely; simply provide a link to user and you're nearly done.
--
Tips for posting to the forums.
When your problem is solved, please post a follow-up to the thread you started.

pwolanin’s picture

pwolanin commented

seems like this would make a good start for a "Really Basic Questions" handbook page, though I'm getting the sense that the answers are a little different for 4.6 vs. 4.7. I'll try to re-roll the questions and answers into a handbook page unless someone else wants to give it a try or wants to dissuade me.

-Peter

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Work: BioRAFT

sepeck’s picture

sepeck commented

There are differences but they are not that great.

There is a person on the docs mailling list that is proposing a FAQ section which you may want to coordinate with him. I intend to reply to his email. I like the idea but have a suggestion on the implementation.

Primary differences between 4.6 and 4.7 are getting listed here: http://drupal.org/node/57649

-Steven Peck
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Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide -|- Black Mountain

-Steven Peck
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Test site, always start with a test site.
Drupal Best Practices Guide

CitizenZed’s picture

CitizenZed commented

So, I need those things on the server that's hosting the site.... let's call that "remote"

How about "local"... i mean the desktop where I work on the site prior to putting it online?

profix898’s picture

profix898 commented

You need basic server software running (MySQL, Apache, PHP). An easy start is generally to use a LAMP or WAMP package. A widely used one for Desktops is XAMPP (http://www.apachefriends.org) available for Windows/Linux.

pwolanin’s picture

pwolanin commented

I've gotten this all working on my Mac under OSX, though I actually find it easier to use a remote site for testing. Many (even quite cheap) web hosting services will allow you to have "subdomains". For example: main site is www.example.com, test site on subdomain is test.example.com. At least for the servcies I've tried, these subdomains map to a subdirectory such as ~/public_html/test, and you can just install copies of all your drupal files there and change the settings to use a second database where you load a copy of all your settings and content. This way you can test things in exactly the same server environment where they will finally be used.

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Work: BioRAFT

drubeedoo’s picture

drubeedoo commented

Unless you're going to do heavy development of modules, you don't necessarily need a "local" setup. If most of your work will be to modify style.css or an occasional change to page.tpl.php, you don't have to go to the trouble of installing a local WAMP/LAMP setup.

Instead, you will change the .css/.php files locally and use your favorite ftp program to upload it to your host. Your page content will go into the database on-line via drupal, which is no big deal.

Many "developers" choose to have WAMP/LAMP setups, but if you're looking to get a simple website of 5-6 pages up and running, there is no such requirement.

This assumes you have a web hosting account already, and have some familiarity with .htaccess, so that you can keep users/robots out of your site while its in development. If you don't mind the world seeing your progress, you can even forget about my .htaccess comment.