Drupal

Richard Korts
Richard Korts used Ask the Experts™
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I'd like a reference to let me learn Drupal quickly (like in a day or two; at least basics).

Books and/or on-line tutorials.

I am an experienced php / MySQL programmer; know CSS, JavaScript, Ajax, a little Jquery & of course HTML.

I have built a number of database driven websites the "hard way"; custom coded php / MySQL / JavaScript.

Thanks
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Peter Hart
Commented:
well I would go for Joomla or Wordpress  not Drupal.
but if you have to try these:
you should have a look at the following

http://drupal.org/handbooks
drupal handbook - good for answering faqs

http://groups.drupal.org/drupal-dojo
drupaldojo - videos / tutorials

if you know some php and are willing to spend a little cash then i'd definitely recommend the following book:
http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Drupal-Development-John-VanDyk/dp/1590597559
Commented:
I was a hand coder for so long, I feel your pain. Drupal changed a lot of that for me, but it is definitely a different paradigm -- "The Drupal Way" as it is called.

I'd recommend any of the Packt Publishing books and any of the Apress books (Pro Drupal Development, as above [for D6], Pro Drupal 7 Development [an updated version of the D6 one], and The Definitive Guide to Drupal 7. Well worth the money, although it's not going to break the bank.

Also, there are a lot of video tutorials out there. Some are free, some are not. I like Learn By The Drop (http://learnbythedrop.com/ -- I learned quite a bit from him back when I was starting), and Drupal Therapy (http://www.drupaltherapy.com/screencasts ). If you like the video learning process then going the paid route I'd probably go with Drupalize.me by Lullabot, which has a monthly fee. All of these will have the basics covered in some way, shape or form, and some will be more advanced.

There is a lot, lot, lot of information out there, but putting it all in perspective is crucial. Things like "don't hack core," "just implement hook_something_something," and "Why The #$*@# Isn't This Working???!?" will start to make sense as you become a Drupalista.

I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised at what can be accomplished in a short time with Drupal...provided you follow The Drupal Way (really, look it up). :)

Mike
Richard KortsBusiness Owner / Chief Developer

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Commented:
Thanks to you both.<br /><br />To chilternPC: <br /><br />I have been trying to learn Joomla for about a week; I have a hard time getting to first base. You might want to look at my question on that subject: <br /><br />http://www.experts-exchang<wbr />e.com/Soft<wbr />ware/Serve<wbr />r_Software<wbr />/Content_M<wbr />anagement/<wbr />WebBased_C<wbr />MS/Joomla/<wbr />Q_27979895<wbr />.html.<br /><br />That question deals with a specific example of what I'm trying to do.<br /><br />I was under the impression from some things I read that Drupal would be more capable & I would be able to get it based on my background.
Peter Hart

Commented:
I'll havea look at the other question - if you find Joomla nd Drupal tricky (it took me a long time) then Wordpress is a lot easier
if you want to create tempaltes for any of these buy Artisteer this product generates templates for any of these CMs systems using WYSIWYG. very easy.

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