Even though the title of this article says that Drupal is a content management system, it goes way beyond the typical features of a standard CMS. Drupal is so incredibly flexible that the title content management framework is more fitting. Since I’ll be doing a series of articles on Drupal, I’ll focus on one aspect starting off with nodes – core pieces of a content base.
Nodes
At first reading about a node, just the name might sound vague and confusing. Don’t let that fool you, nodes are your best friend when using Drupal. Think of a node as a grouping of data pieces such as news items, blog posts, pictures or songs. A node without any extensions has a few basic things – creation date, title, text body and author. You can assign taxonomy or categories as well by default.
Content Types
When understanding Drupal, it’s very important to grasp the idea of generalized foundations in which many different types of applications can be built on. This is why at the core of a node, it’s very simple and basic. But when you add on more fields such as file uploads, date fields, link fields, you can see how nodes suddenly become much more. Content types are more like ‘node types’ – this is where you define what makes these nodes special, and what fields and attributes they have.
Extending Nodes
This can be as easy as downloading CCK modules, copying them into the modules folder and checking the box so Drupal recognizes them. CCK stands for content creation kit, and pretty much any field you will need has already been created. Fields are not limited to only one item, you can customize the field in your Content Type settings and do things like require the field to be filled in, or allow the end user to upload as many images as they like.
Display
Displaying the data that nodes contain is incredibly easy using the built in features of Drupal. The default install will list items on the home page that have been marked as ‘promoted to the front page’. Using Views, you can build pages simply by clicking a few things to choose which nodes you’d like displayed. Choose layout, items to show, paging controls, filter and order. Set a page path and Drupal does the rest.
What if don’t like how that is displayed? You can do theme overrides and template files to show the data in alternative formats. Since Drupal is open-source and the community is so large and helpful, building your own custom module to display the data is not far out of reach for mid level php programmers.
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Archive for August, 2011
The Drupal Content Management System and Nodes
2011 -
08.05
Holly Mann – The Real Deal!
2011 -
08.05
Yes another article about Holly Mann, I’m sure you are rolling your eyes right now saying “GIVE IT UP ALREADY, BEEN THERE DONE THAT!” But I don’t care because she is actually the real thing. I’ve bought everything from ProActiv to Russ Dalbey. I’m the person that the internet and late night television marketer loves. If you are selling – I’m buying!
But lately I’ve been very discouraged that absolutely NOT ONE of these purchases I’ve made has actually amounted to any substantial gain. Whether it is getting the tightest buns of steel you could imagine, losing 30 pounds in 30 days or making a fortune on real estate, nothing is ever as it is presented before you buy. Well, I bought Honest Riches 2 and it was so different than the rest of the ebooks of that nature. Holly spoke to me like a regular person, the book was written for either a beginner or a veteran.
Since my purchase I’ve been on her forum and gotten a few tips from other people who are interested in online marketing, some who know what they are talking about and others who have just started. You can never find anything negative about Holly, everything seems to be so positive. How can anyone say anything negative about her when she puts herself out there, all over the internet for anyone to see. She posts pictures of herself and her son and makes no apologies for the fact that she is making money. Isn’t that what we all want to do? Make money? Isn’t that why we all are here, trying to do better for ourselves and our family? I’m sure you can’t disagree…
Most of you are probably wondering why I am so ‘pro-Holly’, there must be an ulterior motive. I’ll tell you why…she actually responded to me. I purchased her book, sent her an email and she replied. When I’ve sent questions or called other companies that were similar I usually got a reply about a week later and from someone who ‘worked for the company’. Never a personal reply. And she went into more detail then I had even asked for. That sold me, I am a Holly Mann fan forever!
Is there something that you would like me to compare her to? Well, The Rich Jerk is something I bought before her and although his book was informative (although rather cheeky) it dulls in comparison.
That’s all I have to say in this article, it’s just plain and simple! I will continue my reviews because I’ve bought so many different items I think that instead of them sitting in my closet, and more recently, stored on my USB key, I will spread the word for all to hear my success and failure as a result of my impulse purchases!!
….and yes, for you haters out there, I have tried some of her techniques already and they are working!
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Just Launched – The WordPress Popup Engine
2011 -
08.01
Do you have a WordPress blog? If so you are already 90% to earning more from your blog. We have created a powerful, yet simple plugin which you simply must use. If you don’t you are literally LOSING tons of leads, sales and revenues. Why miss out on a perfectly good revenue stream when you can use a powerful plugin.
The WordPress Popup Engine Plugin utilizes cutting edge DHTML technology to easily deploy customizable popup windows. The WordPress Popup Plugin gives you the options to fully control how your popup will appear to your visitors and provides you with a full array of customizability features so you decide the look and feel of the popup window.
What this plugin will do for you:
* Simple, easy and quick installation of the WordPress Popup Engine Plugin
* A powerful marketing specifically designed to harness otherwise unused traffic
* Automatic updates – every time a new update comes out you will be automatically notified to download a new version
* Option to select which of your visitors (new, returning or both) see the pop
* Define whether the popup is displayed as a stealth popunder or a more visible popup
* A built-in delay mechanism, so your visitors have a chance to browse your website before the popup appears
* Define where your popup appears within your WordPress site. You can set the popup to appear on the home page, a specific page or post or on multiple pages (up to 5)
* Customized popup dimensions – You can customize the exact height and width you want your popup to be or you can set it to open at the same size as the parent window
* The WordPress Popup Engine Plugin includes various appearance effects which allow you to define how the popup will appear to the visitor. Effects include: Drop Down, Fade In, Lightbox and more!
* Popup Content Manager – You can set your popup to open a specific URL, this is great for affiliate links such as Clickbank Hoplinks. You can direct visitors to products AUTOMATICALLY!
All this for one low price and best of all you get a lifetime upgrade subscription!