Drupalize.Me Podcast Episode 46
Blog postFor this week's episode on the podcast, 46: Updating the Drupalize.Me Video Experience, Addi is joined by Joe Shindelar, Justin Harrell, and Amber Matz to discuss the why, what, and h
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In order to print out the pane title and settings form values as class names in our pane template file, we need to thread the pane object and settings array through a theme function so that they will be available to print out in our pane's template file.
In this lesson, we will:
- Walk through the pane theme function
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to implement a theme function for a panel pane.
Additional resources
The code for this plugin and module is located in sites/all/modules/demo_panestyles. See Companion Files to download the Files export, which also contains a demo site for Lessons 8-19 of Building Websites in Drupal 7 with Panels. Log in at /user with username "admin" and password "admin."
Now we have all the code in place for both our custom module and our style plugin. It's time to put it all together into our pane template file.
In this lesson...
- Connect values from settings form to template file
- Utilize values from pane object
- Utilize values from submitted settings form
All the code for the module and plugin is contained in the Resources section of this lesson. It's now your turn to create your own CTools Style Plugin!
Additional resources
The code for this plugin and module is located in sites/all/modules/demo_panestyles. See Companion Files to download the Files export, which also contains a demo site for Lessons 8-19 of Building Websites in Drupal 7 with Panels. Log in at /user with username "admin" and password "admin."
The sole purpose of our custom module is to implement a hook that will tell the CTools API that we have a plugin. Next, in our plugin's ".inc" file, we'll walk through the extensive $plugin array, understanding how the keys and values of this array correspond to functions and parameters inside the plugin.
In this lesson, we will:
- Hook into CTools inside custom module
- Explore
$pluginarray
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to implement the correct hook for CTools and understand how to customize your own $plugin array.
Additional resources
The code for this plugin and module is located in sites/all/modules/demo_panestyles. See Companion Files to download the Files export, which also contains a demo site for Lessons 8-19 of Building Websites in Drupal 7 with Panels. Log in at /user with username "admin" and password "admin."
Before we dive into the code of the module and plugins, let's set up the files and directories in a meaningful structure that's both scalable and one that will ensure that our plugin is disoverable by the CTools API.
In this lesson, we will:
- Create module files and directories
- Create plugin files and directories
By the end of this lesson, you will have all of the files created with a proper structure, ready for editing.
Additional resources
The code for this plugin and module is located in sites/all/modules/demo_panestyles. See Companion Files to download the Files export, which also contains a demo site for Lessons 8-19 of Building Websites in Drupal 7 with Panels. Log in at /user with username "admin" and password "admin."
The selling point of a CTools Style Plugin is the settings form. By providing a settings form to the site editor who can then change the style of the page using a pre-approved set of styles, you can both empower and provide appropriate constraints.
In this lesson, we will:
- Use the Form API
- Build a Styles Settings Form
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to build a settings form for your CTools Style Plugin.
Additional resources
The code for this plugin and module is located in sites/all/modules/demo_panestyles. See Companion Files to download the Files export, which also contains a demo site for Lessons 8-19 of Building Websites in Drupal 7 with Panels. Log in at /user with username "admin" and password "admin."
A CTools Style Plugin allows a developer to provide a settings form and a template file that can be chosen and configured by a site administrator using the Panels "Style" interface.
In this lesson, we will:
- Explore Panels' Style Interface
- Identify Default Panels Styles
- Introduce Demo Style Plugin
By the end of this lesson, you will understand how to access Styles in Panels and why you might want to create your own custom Styles interface for your site's editors to use.
Additional resources
The code for this plugin and module is located in sites/all/modules/demo_panestyles. See Companion Files to download the Files export, which also contains a demo site for Lessons 8-19 of Building Websites in Drupal 7 with Panels. Log in at /user with username "admin" and password "admin."
When I first started learning Drupal, I remember the process of enabling and disabling modules on the Modules page took for-ev-er. My laptop was in serious danger of getting hurled across the room, due to my frustration. Then I discovered drush, and downloading and enabling modules was now performed with ease instead of pain and suffering. Of course there's a lot more you can do with drush than just download and enable modules, this is just one example.
Today, we've got another batch of video tutorials to wrap up our series on Building Websites in Drupal with Panels. This week's lessons focus on other modules related to Panels such as Mini Panels, Panel Nodes, and Panelizer modules.
Panelizer configuration involves several layers of configuration. It can be challenging to find all the corners of configuration to export, without needing to still perform some extra manual steps after deployment. With Strongarm module, we can export the related settings that make Panelizer work, avoiding the need for extra manual steps.
In this lesson, we will:
- Enable Strongarm module
- Create new feature
- Export and Deploy Panelizer settings
By the end of this lesson, you should understand how to export all of Panelizer's settings plus the related settings that support its functionality.
Demo site log in:
- Navigate to /user
- Login with admin/admin
Additional resources
Panel Nodes module comes packaged with Panels and provides a new content type called Panel.
In this lesson...
- Enable Panel Nodes module
- Create a new node using Panel content type
- Build a simple multi-column page
By the end of this lesson, you will understand the basic functionality of Panel Nodes and why you may or may not want to use it to build one-off pages on your site.
Demo site log in:
- Navigate to /user
- Login with admin/admin
Additional resources
You can create your Panels layouts with HTML and CSS that can then be selected in the Panels UI.
In this lesson...
- Create a two-column, 60/40 layout
- Use existing layout to quickly get started
- Apply new layout to custom home page
Demo site log in:
- Navigate to /user
- Login with admin/admin
Additional resources
Creating pages with Panels involves a lot of configuration which can take a lot of time and effort. In order to avoid re-doing all that work on another instance of the site, we can export this configuration into code using Features and deploy it in the usual way (using git or FTP).
In this lesson, we will:
- Export a custom panels page
- Take inventory of all panes
- Create a new Feature to export configuration
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to export a basic panel page configuration that contains a View using Features.
Demo site log in:
- Navigate to /user
- Login with admin/admin
Additional resources
With mini-panels, you can build portable panels components and place them as blocks in regions of your theme.
In this lesson...
- Build a 3-column mini-panel
- Place a menu in each column
- Place the mini-panel in the footer region as a block
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to build a mini-panel and understand how to place it in a region using the block administration page.
Demo site log in:
- Navigate to /user
- Login with admin/admin
Additional resources
Panelizer is a powerful module that allows you to attach panels to any entity and view mode in Drupal. You can create default templates for all content in a content type, for example, or you can create one-off pages with unique layouts and content panes.
In this lesson...
- Walk through Panelizer admin UI
- Panelize Article content
- Set up default Panelizer template
- Override versus Update Default Template
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to configure Panelizer settings, enable Panelizer for a content type, and understand the benefits and limitations of creating one-off pages that override the default template versus updating the default template.
Enabling the Panels In-Place Editor is recommended for this lesson.
Demo site log in:
- Navigate to /user
- Login with admin/admin
Additional resources
Panels provides export code that you can copy and paste into a module or directly import into another instance of the site.
In this lesson, we will:
- Export a panels page using Panels UI
- Import a panels page into another instance of site
By the end of this lesson, you will understand where to find the export code for a panel and be able to simply and quickly import it into another copy of your site.
Demo site log in:
- Navigate to /user
- Login with admin/admin
Podcast 45: Keeping Up with Drupal News
Blog postThis week's podcast, Episode 45: Keeping Up with Drupal News, gets into the why and how of the flow of Drupal community information.
Welcome Betty Tran
Blog postWe're welcoming a new member to the Drupalize.Me team this week! Say hello to Betty Tran.