The Beard Site

As you might have guessed form the previous post (About Drupal), there is a new website on the way. The Beard Collector site will have musician profiles, videos, music and more. Hopefully we'll be up and running next week. I'll try and put it up before I get to the point of constantly changing it and not being happy with anything, which is inevitable but with any luck, avoidable.
Wish us luck.


Mike

The Beard Collector on Soundcloud

Geek time!: Starting off with Drupal

This is a blog to just point you in the right direction when it comes to developing sites with Drupal.

If you've heard about Drupal you'll have probably heard there is a steep learning curve, but that it is ultimately worth the effort. I think I'm about half way up the curve now, and am starting to see what people are talking about. Thought I'd just note a few things that threw me, and a couple of pointers and the like. I apologise for the structure and flow of what your are about to read...

Here's a little list of the steps I took learning Drupal, they've worked for me: 

• Set up a XAMPP test server (other servers are available) 
• Install Drupal 6 (or 7, look into what modules are available, they're not all there for 7 yet)
• Don't worry too much about Theming yet, it's hard and you won't know how to do it until you realise how the site functions, so...
• Create some nonsense content
• Mess around breaking things 
• Move things about
• Install lots of modules
• Mess about and break it some more

THEN

• Start to read up about it
• Watch some youtube videos
• Mess around some more while reading and watching youtube videos (some great youtube videos out there, and can be great for learning fast)

Once you've done this, have a day off, go for a walk, eat some exotic foods, just do something non-drupal. 

First stumbling block (that's a pun, which you might not appreciate, which makes it an even better pun) is getting your head around the terminology and architecture of Drupal. I won't go mad, you're probably busy, just a couple of bits of infomation...

Some terminology:

• Content Types
• These are what define your content. So if you list bands, then you might have a band content type called Band that has available fields for Band Name, Genre, bio etc. A bit like classes in C# (other languages are available)
• Content
• This is what happens when you fill in the form that the content type creates, so you enter a Band Name, a Genre and a Bio, you save it, and you have a Band.
• Blocks
• Now, I thought blocks were used to place your content, like a Band on the page. Not quite true, it's more for the things like Header, Footer, Sidebar etc. You can place blocks in these predefined areas.. So you might make a menu that lists the bands youve created and put that in the header area. When it comes to viewing the content you've created, then you use Panels and views etc. Anyway, like i say, mess around and watch videos.
• Modules
• Modules add the functionality you need to your site, the UI, admin, database, search and so one. If Drupal was Microsoft Word, then you  might start with being only able to have12pt Font and a white page you can type on. If you want to delete, then you download a module called "delete" and enable it, now you can delete. You'd do this for different fonts, the ability to add headers and footers etc........ I think that analogy works. Anyway, there are loads of modules, look out for how they are maintained, "actively maintained" is the best. If they're not, then there's probably another module that does the same thing but better (not always true)
• To install a module, download it (choose the one that corresponds to your version of Drupal), unzip it and upload it to sites/all/modules, navigate to site building > modules, find your new module and enable it. It'll then usually show up somewhere in the menu system (check documentation to find it).

The community is your friend, and Drupal has a very large community of developers and users, all blogging and using forums. Look for the ones that deal with the specifics of your problems, they are the best, general ones like this are just rubbish. 

Check out the Drupal Documentation...

Here's some more practical advice for starting off:

Get your filing right, don't put the modules you download in the root modules folder, but them in sites/all/modules (create this if not there). Basically, if you don't, then updating is much harder, and you're not supposed to "hack the core", they get really irate about that on forums. The same goes for themes you add or create, put them in sites/all/themes. 

Some modules to find out about first, you'll most likely need them:

• CCK
• So you can make add what ever you like to you content types
• Views
• So you can bring together, relate and list the content you make
• Panels
• So you can layout your content however you like.

Obviously there are lots more modules, and modules that extend the ones above, but these are very powerful and you should really have them in you configuration.

Oh, If you think you know the way to do something, it's probably not the best way, there's probably a better way of doing it, and you'll feel a fool, a FOOL when you realise.

Anyway, this might not have been useful. But it's a start, I'll post some more about this in the future, once I have my head around it a bit more. Just remember, don't worry, it is quite hard, and I feel your pain. 

M

Update: Half Avian, News, things

Album
In a room in North Wales, with a throw for a curtain (should really buy some curtains), the recording for the album "Future Proof" (working title) is taking form. Happy with 10 of the songs, some are just the motar between the bricks, but still. It's difficult to record an album in the spare moments between work, eating and sleeping. It's like trying to sleep but being woken up every few minutes.

The album will be available online via digital download and a physical release is on the cards.

On the record player (spotify/car stereo) this week:

Woods - At Rear House

         This has been on and off for 4 years, such lucid and beautiful songs which should be exhibit A for the case against high production values.

Everything Everything - Man Alive

       Not had this album long, and bought it when not a lot was going on, so no real moments to tie it too on an emotional level. It's a very good album, I do skip some tracks that I'll probably come to like in the future. The vocal is what has probably brought it too peoples attention. I'm less concerned with the voice, but I do enjoy the unorthodox structures and some of the melodies, and some of the songs are great for the harassed car trip to work. It is a good, sometimes beautiful album, but Everything Everything have not joined the ranks of my favourite bands, they must be gutted.

Death Cab For Cutie - Codes and Keys

      I think I'll probably like anything Death Cab do. Not convinced yet on an objective level with this one, but his voice, the little melodic motifs that scatter all their work allow me to love it without thinking to much.

MIKE

Free thing on the internet of the week: Andrew Bird free download

Free Andrew Bird song The Crown Salesmen' from the Break It Yourself 7" from his facebook page.


www.facebook.com/AndrewBirdMusic?sk=app_182222305144028


Enjoy.


Mike