Drupal For Dummies [Paperback]

Lynn Beighley (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470556110 | ISBN-13: 978-0470556115 | Publication Date: December 29, 2009 | Edition: 1

Learn to set up, manage, and administer a Drupal Web site

Drupal offers unparalleled flexibility for content-managed Web sites, but most Drupal books are written for expert developers. Drupal For Dummies shows you the fast, fun and easy way to get going with Drupal, set up a site, apply templates, use modules, and more, even if you have no programming experience.

Drupal For Dummies shows you how to take advantage of everything in Drupal that is ready to use, demystifying what may appear to be a complex set of tools.

• Drupal is a free, open source modular framework and content management system designed for content-managed Web sites
• Learn how to download Drupal, install the LAMP stack, and set up a site; no programming experience required
• Organize and create your site's content; apply templates, and get your first site up and running
• Use modules and third-party templates
• Follow plain-English instructions for site management, including making changes across the site and managing user access and privileges

Drupal For Dummies is designed to help the non-programmer who simply wants to turbocharge a blog or is responsible for administering a content-managed site.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Drop in and check out Drupal, the free, flexible framework for building and managing Web sites

Even if you've never built a Web site and the only thing you've programmed is your DVR, you really can set up a site with Drupal. This book shows you how to find and install the right version of Drupal, how to plan your site, and how to manage it. You can even beef it up with data from other sites, a storefront, an image gallery, and much more!

• Start here — find the free software and get simple solutions on things like setting up a database and installing Drupal on a Web host

• Who's in charge — manage an administrator account, establish rules, and control site users

• What's on your site — create, manage, and edit your content, and decide whether to allow comments

• Where's your region? — work with themes and regions and manage menus

• Open forum — create a site with a blog and forum and set up appropriate security

• Stay current — keep Drupal up to date, monitor activity on your site, and locate new modules and themes to use

• Cover your bases — maintain your database, back it up, and know how to restore it

• Move up — see how Drupal can build a robust site that interacts with other sites and how to set up an online store

Open the book and find:

• What Drupal is and what it's not

• Tools you need to install Drupal

• How to decide on rules and settings for your site

• Tips for telling your story quickly

• Advice on choosing, changing, and configuring themes

• All about modules

• How to use reports

• Secrets of good site security

About the Author

Lynn Beighley is a Web designer, Web developer, and the author of several books and training courses. She creates Web applications of every imaginable type and has used Drupal for several years, valuing its capacity for quickly publishing robust, manageable, multi-user sites.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (December 29, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470556110
• ISBN-13: 978-0470556115
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #484,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Concise and well-organized, January 10, 2010

By 

Randy Lent (Salinas, CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Drupal For Dummies (Paperback)

Drupal for Dummies is an excellent introduction to Drupal. Ms. Beighley's writing style is refreshingly clear and concise. This is the third book on Drupal that I have read in the past few weeks, and I wish it had been my first. While I cannot judge this book from the perspective of someone with no previous exposure to Drupal, I did find it to be well-written and an excellent review of material I have read elsewhere. I was pleased that the author includes instructions on backing up a Drupal website, as this information was lacking in the first Drupal book I read. (See my review of Sams Teach Yourself Drupal in 24 Hours)

I have installed Drupal on my desktop computer using first BitNami, and then WAMP, and ran into complications that sent me to the Drupal forums for solutions. At one point in reading Drupal for Dummies, I thought the book to be perhaps a little too optimistic, but then Ms. Beighley did point out that the reader may need to seek help elsewhere to overcome difficulties with installing Drupal. For a localhost installation, the author recommends XAMPP. I wonder if I could have avoided problems if I had tried XAMPP first.

I should disclose that I did not do the hands-on exercises in the book. I read Drupal for Dummies after working through several chapters of Using Drupal so I didn't feel the need to repeat procedures that I had already done. I did, however, read all of the exercises in Drupal for Dummies and found them to be very well presented.

A book cannot be both concise (and cheap) and comprehensive. Drupal for Dummies is concise. If you decide that you are serious about pursuing web development with Drupal, Drupal for Dummies will not be the only Drupal book you will buy, but it is an excellent introduction and a real bargain.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From know-nothing to complete site!, February 5, 2010

By 

Kevin Marshall (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Drupal For Dummies (Paperback)

Drupal for Dummies is a great introduction to one of the most powerful and popular PHP based frameworks/systems out there!

This book really helps a non-programmer or non-web developer go from having an idea about a web site to ACTUALLY having a real, functioning, and useful web site. And it does it in a very clear, clean, and plain-English sort of way.

I really recommend this book to anyone that's been 'too scared' to dive into web development or anyone that thinks doing 'real' websites is too technical and hard.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots 'o web literacy required, June 21, 2010

By 

Video Maker (Bethel, CT USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Drupal For Dummies (Paperback)

Well, maybe no coding is required, but to actually get a Drupal site up and running requires a healthy amount of web literacy. Check out the table of contents. I'm an experienced web applications developer and realized right away that installing Drupal successfully was not for the faint of heart. Do you know the distinction between a local machine and a remote host? Have you ever edited an Apache configuration file? Do you have any idea of what an Apache web server is?

The author guides you down the installation of Drupal on a very particular web provider at a particular point in time and took screen shots. She tells you that other installs will be different and will require some know how and maybe a call to the help desk. Well duh? If you do not know what the words mean in her book then you will be spending a lot of time reading FAQ's and asking for help. Installing the database? Setting up users and access rights? That sounds pretty advanced to me!

Still - I gave it 4 stars because the book is a good overview and quick start for those with enough web savvy to conceptually understand what is going on. She also has lots of good tips for dealing with spam and user authentication. I'm not returning the book!