Each piece of content placed into a panel has it’s own configuration settings, covering everything from display style to access control. In this lesson we will take a tour through the settings for each pane.
Drupal would like to assume that every page on your website will use the same layout. As it turns out, this is often not the case. The home page of your site, in particular, regularly uses a different layout. In this lesson we will demonstrate how you can use Panels to build a unique home page layout for your site.
Additional resources
In this first series of Panels videos on Drupalize.me you will learn how to use the Panels module to take your Drupal website to the next level. When you reach the limits of what Drupal alone allows you to do with its layouts, adding Panels to your site enables you to create more sophisticated displays of your content. Here are just a few things the Panels module makes easy:
- Divide the display of your content into multiple columns
- Place blocks into the center of your pages
- Use different layouts on the same page, under different circumstances
Because Panels works with the Page Manager module in ctools, you get all the benefits of the page manager, as well as complex control of your layouts. Page manager allows you to take over many of the ‘default’ displays in Drupal, including the display of content (nodes), profiles (users), category listings (taxonomy), and also the edit forms for each of these entities.
Additional resources
In this video Joe looks at using hook_views_data() in order to describe a database table to views such that views is capable of making queries to that table. We’ll talk about describing the table itself, and how to get it to appear in the views UI as an option that can be used as a base table.
Additional resources
Modules Needed
In this video Joe continues the discussion of using hook_views_data() to describe a module's table to the views module. Building on what was covered in the previous chapter we now deal with exposing one of the individual columns from our table as a field that views can use for filters, sorts, and to display.
Additional resources
Modules Needed
In this chapter Joe will take a look at where to get a copy of the databasics code and what it does already. Throughout the rest of this series we will be working towards replacing functionality from the databasics modules with views integration in order to allow for greater flexibility in the ways that our module can be used. We'll talk about each of this pieces of functionality in this chapter.
Additional resources
Databasics module on GitHub
Overview of the Database Layer in Drupal 7
One of the most common things to do with Views is export a view from your site and store it in code as a default View. This is what Features module does when you create a feature with a view in it. In this lesson we'll export our sample site's view and add it to our module with hook_views_default_views().
To get things started, in this lesson we'll create a new module, and use hook_views_api() to let Views know we want to use its API.
There's a reason views is the most popular module on drupal.org and it's pointy-clickly user interface is only a part of that. In this series we cover the ins and outs of writing modules that implement the Views API. Once you’ve realized the power of creating complex lists of nodes, users and other content via the views UI the next logical desire is to allow people to do that with the content provided by your custom module as well. This series will take an in-depth look at exposing your own database tables to the Views module so that users can use them as a place to pull content from including the fields themselves and meta-data about how they can be used to create relationships to other content on your site.
After getting the basics out of the way we’ll also take a look at writing our own custom field handlers to expose our module’s data to views so that it can be sorted, filtered, and queried in new ways. We’ll also look at implementing views plugins to do things like add custom access control options to views and to add new output styles.
Once you understand a bit more about how views works under the hood and how easy it is to tie in to that system you’ll be reimaging your solutions for all sorts of different problems.
In this lesson, we give a brief overview of utilizing a very important feature when it comes to working with Drupal and that's Drupal.org. We show you how to get to the Views API documentation that is now part of Drupal's API documentation and teach you how to use the search function for finding particular function.
Additional resources
In this lesson we bring everything we have learned in this series and just round it out with some tips and tricks now that we have images in our content.
Additional resources
In this lesson we cover the Insert Module along with FileField Sources Module. The Insert Module is a great module when combined with a few others and is setup right. It takes a few configurations but gives you lots of flexibility with your images and placing them into the text area. We also demonstrate how you can use the FileField Sources module to make the insert module that much better when it comes to media management.
Note: not all Drupal modules provide access to images that are uploaded using a different toolkit. Before committing to a specific suite of media management modules, you should create a test site and practice uploading images. Based on your tests you will be able to better evaluate if you have chosen the right tools for your content managers.
Additional resources
In this lesson we cover the IMCE Module and utilizing it to get images into your content. We cover the configurations that are unique to this module such as user upload paths and different per role restrictions when it comes to uploading images. We discuss how this module integrates perfectly with your editors "Image" button and creates a pretty easy work flow for the average web user.
Additional resources
In this lesson we cover using the Media Module and how it works for both methods of getting images into your content. The Media Module has the ability to be a widget for the image field or a button inside your editor. We discuss the pros and cons of these methods and you could get the best out of both with just a little tip.
Additional resources
In this lesson we cover the concepts behind getting media (images) into your site. We describe the two common methods as inline or image field and the advantages/disadvantages of both.
Additional resources
In this lesson we go a little deeper on working with Text Formats and having the ability to create different WYSIWYG editor situations for different users/roles. We also go over the process of using and editor and best practices when doing so.
In this lesson we cover downloading and installing the WYSIWYG module. We show the relationship between the WYSIWYG editor and Drupal Text Formats. We go over the basic settings of the WYSIWYG module, how to download and install an editor, and configurations necessary in Text Formats to make things work properly.
Use this handbook page on Drupal.org to determine which version of TinyMCE is supported with CKEditor: Editors.