With the recipes in this book, you can take full advantage of the vast collection of community-contributed modules that make the Drupal web framework useful and unique. You'll get the information you need about how to combine modules in interesting ways (with a minimum of code-wrangling) to develop a variety of community-driven websites. Each chapter describes a case study and outlines specific requirements for one of several projects included in the book -- a wiki, publishing workflow site, photo gallery, product review site, online store, user group site, and more. With Using Drupal, you will:

• Get an overview of Drupal concepts and key modules introduced in each chapter, with a bird's-eye view of each module's specialty and how it works

• Explore various solutions within Drupal that meet the requirements for the project, with details about which modules are selected and why

• Learn how to configure modules, with step-by-step recipes for building the precise functionality the project requires

• Get information on additional modules that will make the project even more powerful

• Be able to access the modules used in the chapter, along with other resources

Newcomers will find a thorough introduction to the framework, while experienced Drupal developers will learn best practices for building powerful websites. With Using Drupal, you'll find concrete and creative solutions for developing the exact community website you have in mind.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 31 Ratings

Good introductory, but to do anything really useful, you'll need more - 2009-10-21
Reviewer Rating:
After learning XHTML, CSS, PHP and MySQL over the last year, I determined that I really needed to learn a content management system if I was going to take any of my ideas, or the sites I manage, into the modern age. Drupal had been recommended to me by a friend that had used it to develop a fairly extensive travel website.

I found Using Drupal to be a great introduction to Drupal. Like most Open Source software, I found the documentation on the [...] site to be very confusing. It was difficult to find a real entry point in anything posted there. Using Drupal provided that entry point, getting the user up and running and running through most of the basic functionality of Drupal, as well as giving some ideas for expanding into more complex ideas. That said, there are limitations to the book. One of the main drawbacks is that many of the modules that the book uses are very basic in nature or the book doesn't delve that deeply into them. A prime example is the chapter on event registration. While it is functional at a basic level, it is not really usable in the real world as the actual registration consists solely of having a user (who has signed up for an account) click an 'attending' link. That doesn't allow much flexibility for how many guests they might bring, options for food selection, purchasing tickets, etc. The book does mention that there are some other modules that have more functionality, but a look at them seems that most aren't that far along in development, at least for Drupal 6.

A couple of technical notes. If you download the source files and run the older version of Drupal that comes with it, most everything will look as it does in the book. If you use the most recent version, certain things don't look or work exactly the same way. I decided to use the source version, however I ran into problems with the Amazon module (had to update it to the most recent version) and the language translation (known bug with Drupal 6.4). They weren't show stoppers, but it did add some frustration.

I've order a couple of the more advanced drupal books on building your own modules and themeing in order to get the functionality I need for my site.

So in summery, this is an excellent introduction to Drupal, but it doesn't cover any of the more advanced topics. If you are looking to start Drupal, buy this book, but realize you've got a few more you need to read if you want a truly modern website.

Good start, but not really what I was looking for... - 2009-08-10
Reviewer Rating:
I took a series of classes in web design and a small part of one of the classes was an introduction to Drupal. It was a very enlightening experience, and I have wanted to do a lot more in it. The class, however, didn't give enough basics for me to feel I had a foundational understanding of the software, and even with this book, I'm afraid that's still true. I don't know that that's really the book's fault -- its stated purpose is more functional to get you going quickly than it is to give you a good understanding of the overall structure. So it helped, but not in the direction that I'm really wanting to go. The best part of it was to point me to the [...] website, where I found oodles of resources to teach me what I wanted to know.

As a result, I found [...], where video podcasts have shown me in minutes what I spent several hours trying to find in this book.

I learned that my main interest is actually in themes, not modules, which is really more what this book covers. Still, it's a well organized book, and I like that it is very project oriented.

great reference and case studies - 2009-06-07
Reviewer Rating:
This is one book I'm not going to let go of even if newer versions of Drupal come out. I consider it a reference book. Both newbies and experienced developers will find this handy.

The book shows actual website types and goals and shows solutions and examples throughout the book on how to solve and develop them.

It's also nice to read a book written by people I've been listening to online via their lullabot podcast. Kudos to you all !

Easy to follow for folks who don't know PHP or databases - 2009-07-02
Reviewer Rating:
The only computer language I know is FORTRAN IV, but I found this book very instructive in putting up a Drupal website. I used the source code from the website, which I think I would recommend. Occassionally browsing the O'Reilly book website errata and forums links, I found that all problems I encountered were known, solved and quite well documented.

Everything I Needed - 2009-06-07
Reviewer Rating:
Using Drupal is the best How-to I've found for version 6 so far. I have all I could find and this one is the most informative, answered the most questions for me and made the most sense out of what can be a pretty confusing program. Now I know what I'm doing with confidence.
Some of the other books are also good. Some were, obviously,written too quickly just to be the first available with the release of Drupal 6, and it shows. So, no matter what your skill level, total newbie, beginner, intermediate (like me), or the Absolute Ruler of the Drupal Universe, you'll find something useful in Using Drupal... Of course, if you are the Absolute Ruler of the Drupal Universe, you might only find the squirrel on the cover interesting. Everybody else, get it. Just make sure that you don't order it from a defunked seller called Pendulum Books. Amazon.com is still accepting orders and taking peoples money for this seller even though he hasn't sent out a book and several months (check the seller profile). That was just a tip. I didn't buy from PB, I bought directly from Amazon.com.
Happy Drupal(ing)!

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