[/caption]DESCRIPTION
In just 24 sessions of one hour or less, learn how to build powerful, easy-to-maintain websites with Drupal–fast! Using this book’s straightforward, step-by-step approach, you’ll master every skill you’ll need, from organizing sites and using Drupal’s design themes to setting up search, polls, forums, and security. Each lesson builds on what you’ve already learned, giving you a rock-solid foundation for real-world success!Step-by-step instructions carefully walk you through the most common Drupal tasks. Quizzes and Exercises at the end of each chapter help you test your knowledge. By the Way notes present interesting information related to the discussion. Did You Know? tips offer advice or show you easier ways to perform tasks. Watch Out! cautions alert you to possible problems and give you advice on how to avoid them.
Jesse Feiler provides consulting services to small businesses and non-profits through his company, North Country Consulting (northcountryconsulting.com). His recent books include FileMaker Pro 10 In Depth, The Bento Book, How to Do Everything with Web 2.0 Mashups, and iWork ‘09 For Dummies®.
REVIEWS
In 1998, Jesse Feiler wrote Database-Driven Web Sites, one of the first books about the marriage of databases and the web. This relationship between databases and the web has grown and encompassed blogs and Content Management Systems (CMS), culminating in Drupal.Jesse is the author of numerous books on Mac OS X, FileMaker, the web, and various other technologies, such as Bento, mashups, and Facebook. Jesse has worked as a developer and manager for companies such as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (monetary policy and bank supervision), Prodigy (early web browser), Apple (information systems), New York State Department of Health (rabies and lead poisoning), The Johnson Company (office management), and Young & Rubicam (media planning and new product development). He also consults with small business and nonprofits in areas such as publishing, production, web technology, and contact management. Active in the community, Jesse has served on various nonprofit boards, including HB Studio and Mid-Hudson Library System, as well as zoning and planning boards. He has conducted trustee training sessions for Clinton-Essex-Franklin Library System and other groups.
I began to learn Drupal by reading the documentation on the Drupal website ([...]). I found the so-called Drupal "manual" poorly organized and not well-suited for a beginner like me. My first attempt to build a Drupal website was a complete failure, and my first exposure to the open-source world left me shaken. If I were not being paid to learn Drupal, I would have abandoned the attempt the first day. I was ready for a book.
I bought Sams Teach Yourself Drupal in 24 Hours and starting working my way through it. I enjoyed the organized, incremental approach, and I was making good progress...up until Hour 11. In Hour 11, I was not able to add an image to text. It appears that the instructions in that chapter are not correct. For example, on page 179 Mr. Feiler writes "...you do not need a bridge to use IMCE with FCKeditor." However, I was not able to insert an image into text until I installed the IMCE Wysiwyg Bridge module. Then, although I was able to insert an image, as soon as I previewed or saved the page, the image disappeared. I still have not solved the problem, and I am about ready to start over with a new Drupal installation and different modules to see if I can get around this site-breaker. I read the rest of the book, although a lot of it, such as e-commerce, does not apply to my immediate goals, but without the ability to add images to text, this Drupal site is dead in the water.
To be fair, Drupal is a moving target, constantly changing, and it may be that one or more of the relevant modules changed since the author finished his draft. Or, I may have made a mistake in my installation, or in one or more settings.
This book makes extensive use of screen shots. My biggest complaint is that the shrunken size, low resolution and poor contrast make them very hard to read. This is not a problem when a screen shot is used just for orientation, but there are many places where the author instructs the reader to copy one or more settings from a screen shot. I found myself reaching for a magnifying glass.
I found several minor grammatical errors and typos in the text, and on page 347 there are several sentences that are repeated. This left me wondering if SAMS scrimped on the proofreading before the book was printed. I did not find an errata page on either the SAMS website nor the author's website. There were a couple of times that I wished for more information. For example, the book does not explain how to back up a Drupal site and database, and it seems to me that this is a skill that everyone learning Drupal should know.
On the whole this book has a lot of information packed into a modest number of pages for a very reasonable price. The information is well organized, and it appears that the author knows the subject. IMHO Reading this book gives a smoother start to learning Drupal than attempting to read Drupal's on-line documentation. If it were not for my difficulties with Hour 11, and if the book shipped with a magnifying glass, I would probably give it 5 stars.... This book will not be the last book on Drupal that I buy, but I think it is a good place to start.
DETAILS
TITLE: Sams Teach Yourself Drupal in 24 Hours
Author: Jesse Feiler
Language: English
ISBN: 9780672331268
Format: PDF
DRM-free: Without Any Restriction
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