Introduction to Drupal

Task 1: Watch or listen to the Orientation and Welcome screencast

Listen to the Hello and Welcome message from Heather:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub7XFT-rsRQ

That screencast describes what this course is, and what it isn't. If you haven't already please do take the time to review the Syllabus:
http://p2pu.org/webcraft/document/syllabus-introduction-drupal

Listen to Doug Vann talk about "What is Drupal" and look at some case studies with fellow learners:
http://www.viddler.com/explore/LearnDrupal/videos/1/

I've also drafted an outline of How to Learn Drupal, what you can expect from the iterative process of learning and evaluating Drupal.
http://p2pu.org/webcraft/introduction-drupal/document/how-learn-drupal

As reference, I've included the recording of the online session. The audio wasn't fix-able, so that is why I recorded the screencast.

Orientation Webinar, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtGL_dX6gf8
Orientation Webinar, Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLnT-fx2L7s (Doug talks more about Web Enabled)

Task 2: What is Drupal?

Drupal Dude gives a screencast showing a particular site he created to answer the question: "What is Drupal?" http://www.drupaldude.com/content/what-drupal This is appropriate for people with basic experience in web development, and those who are not familiar with Drupal.

In a similar vein here is an article from Timi Ogunjobi, author of Drupal 6 Site Blueprints, by Packt. It shows how a personal site is assembled in Drupal.
http://www.packtpub.com/article/building-personal-site-using-drupal-6

Take an in-depth look at an existing Drupal site. Look at Drupal sites featured on Dries's site: http://buytaert.net/tag/drupal-sites Check out the success stories on Drupal.org http://drupal.org/success-stories or case studies on Drupal.org: http://drupal.org/cases or the Showcase forum on Drupal.org http://drupal.org/forum/25

Choose one which you think is interesting to you. Are you working in education? music? an intranet? an online community? What do you find interesting about the case study, what would you like to try out?

Why? By doing this exercise, you will get a better idea of what Drupal is and what others have created with Drupal.

Task 3: What are you looking for?

If you're learning Drupal, you most likely will be evaluating Drupal for a particular client or project. Before even touching Drupal, it is best to define a few of the main features you need. If you don't have something currently, consider the case study you focused on. What features were compelling to you?

List the top 3-5 features you need.

Why? By doing this exercise, you will have identified your own learning goals for the upcoming weeks. This will help with your motivation, and give you focus. It will also make it easier for a mentor or colleague on the course to help you.

Task 4: Set up your Sandbox

Doug Vann has created a tutorial to show you how this works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Rync0iQm0c
This tutorial skips a step:  after you click the "Free Trial" button on the WebEnabled home page, you have to find the link labeled "Trial Plan" before you get to the page for creating an account.  See the attached screenshot.

Go to WebEnabled.com http://www.webenabled.com/ and create your account. Set up an Acquia Drupal installation. Post the link to your sandbox.

Why? By doing this exercise, you will have prepared yourself and identified any problems with setting up your working space with a set of ready-to-go components. Please feel free to explore the environment and discover how to create content, or change site settings. We'll delve more into the sandbox next week.

Task 5: Post this in the Week 1 forum

Week 1 Forum: http://p2pu.org/webcraft/node/8692/forums/9454

Here is the outline of what to post online.

• Link to your chosen case study page on Drupal.org (or elsewhere)
• What's confusing or compelling? A sentence describing something that made you wonder: "how'd they do that?!"
• List the top 3-5 features you would like to know how to develop in Drupal.
• Link to your sandbox:
• Respond to others. Look at other's case studies they chose. Is there someone you have something in common with? Can you respond to anyone else's questions?

Why? By doing this you'll be able to learn from others and find out more about what Drupal is capable of. It's also early days in this course, and you'll get to meet others on the course.