Anatomy Of A Drupal |
Posted: October 4, 2013 |
Before we begin today’s lesson on the anatomy of a Drupal Dashboard, I’d like to cover some basic terminology used by Drupal developers. Almost every content management system uses their own unique names to describe the features, functions and content housed within a website. Drupal’s language is no exception, so let’s take a look at the common vocabulary you should familiarize yourself with before trotting around in the user dashboard. Home Icon – This button will return you to the homepage of your site and close any open menu items. Dashboard – By default the dashboard button brings up a list of recent content and users as well as a search form. The dashboard can be customized to include additional information such as recent blog posts or comments. Content- This is the tab that most users will utilize. If you are responsible for updating the website’s content or writing the company blog, this is the tab that should become the most familiar with. The very first item listed within Content is Add Content. You can also use the filters and tabs on this page to locate existing content on your site by status or content type. Additionally, use this tab to perform bulk operations, such as deleting several articles at a time. Structure- This tab contains access to the items of your site that make up the architecture of your website. The items listed here include blocks, content types, menus, and taxonomy, amongst others. If you are not comfortable with Drupal, the configuration of most of these items is best left to a Drupal developer. Appearance- Access to all of your website’s themes is found within the Appearance tab. Both site and admin themes can be enabled, disabled, or configured through this tab. This is also where you would go to install a new theme. People- From this screen you can add new users, delete users, and manage permissions. Here you can manage various roles ( i.e admin, anonymous user etc) and set varying levels of access to each role. Modules- On this tab you can add modules or enable, disable, configure, or set permissions for existing modules. Modules are grouped by type such as Core Modules, SEO Modules, or Developer Modules. Again, until you are familiar with Drupal, it is best to seek the advice of a professional if anything on this page seems foreign to you. Configuration- For the most part, the Configuration tab contains global settings that are applied to your website. There is a whole host of settings within this tab, but some that you may want to explore include Site Information, Regional Settings, and Account Settings. Reports- This tab does exactly what you would assume it does: allows you to run reports. You can see error logs, run reports on the site’s operation status and more. Help- The help section contains common information you may need to solve issues within your site, as well as links to helpful content about how to use your Drupal site. Edit Shortcuts- Notice the tabs on the lighter grey bar? The items below the home icon and “Dashboard”? The Edit Shortcuts tab is where you go to change which tabs you would like to display there. As a default, it is suggested that you at least have “New Content” and “Find Content” displayed there, as those are commonly used. Drupal Geeks is a full service development firm with expertise in Drupal development, design, and support. The geeks are available to assist clients throughout the North America, UK and Japan.
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