Content modeling consists of identifying and constructing the different building blocks of data that compose the information on your site; what kinds of content you need, the structure of that content, and how they relate to each other. Drupal is an incredibly flexible tool for building rich content models. Thanks in large part to things like the entity system and the wide variety of field types available, Drupal can support a wide range of content models, from simple to complex. Before you start site building it's important to consider your content as a whole and work out a model that will guide you through the content building process.
Example tasks
- Understand why developing a content model is important
- Learn about Drupal tools that support the implementation of a content model
- Create a content model plan for a Drupal site
Confidence
Content modeling itself isn't a Drupal-specific practice. Thankfully the Entity and Field subsystems allow for quite complicated modeling and are stable at this point in the Drupal development cycle. Keep an eye out for contributed modules that support more advanced types of data.
Drupalize.Me resources
Entities
TopicEntities are the fundamental building blocks that make up any Drupal site. Having a good understanding of the Entity system is an important part of ensuring the data model of your Drupal site is set up properly.
Fields and the Field API
TopicFields are the building blocks of Drupal's powerful content modeling system. The Field API allows for the development of custom field types to suit almost any data display and collection needs.
Taxonomy
TopicTaxonomy in Drupal provides a way to classify your site’s content. Taxonomy vocabularies are created with terms within those vocabularies.
External resources
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Content Modelling: A Master Skill (alistapart.com)
- While not Drupal-specific, this article does a great job explaining what a content model is, why you should care, and how you can go about developing one.
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Deblobbing your chunks: Building a flexible content model (lullabot.com)
- This blog post does an excellent job explaining why it's important to consider content reuse when developing your content model.
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Developing Drupal Sites: Plan or Perish (palantir.net)
- A high level walk through of the types of things you should take into consideration when working towards your content model.
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8 Pitfalls To Avoid When Developing Content Models In Drupal (4sitestudios.com)
- A quick list of common mistakes people new to Drupal often make when developing their content model.