Posted by Chris Charlton on May 25, 2009 at 10:07pm
Reading blogs and knowledge directly from Drupal.org sites (API, D.O, G.D.O).
59% (19 votes)
Community meetings
6% (2 votes)
Videos & Podcasts
9% (3 votes)
Live classes
6% (2 votes)
Books
16% (5 votes)
I read all the Drupal core code; I read a lot of module code.
3% (1 vote)
Total votes: 32
Comments
Radio buttons and not checkboxes?
I have learned Drupal mostly by doing it. The time to read the "documentation" is equal to the time of just trying it out, for most modules, so it makes more sense to just DO IT to learn. And is part of the reason why so many modules lack documentation... if it's easy to learn, why document? At least the README.txt should say there is no documentation and to learn by trying it, that the interface is small, and where to find the Admin links that might be "hard" to find (named differently). I watch videos online, no DVDs yet. Most videos I know over half the stuff, but seem to be always be a tidbit. I've gone through the PRO Drupal Development book. It's a good reference book for about 1/3rd of the harder things to do in Drupal. Community meetings work for me as well. I doubt a live class would be "fast paced" enough for me compared to reading a book. Videos are slow, too. So, for learning a new module, README.txt is a must FIRST, as I have found some modules have key instructions there that are not repeated elsewheres (Advanced Help makes those easy to read). Reading the project's home Documentation page is awkward as it's so non linear when web based. Would be nice to have it "all" on one monster long web page. The Drupal.org Tutorials span a huge range of levels of documentation. Yes, the blogs at drupal sites you list are good, as I speed read them, a page a minute is not uncommon. I have to wonder what others make of learning from the blogs.
You completely nailed it!
You completely nailed it! Well put, Peter.
--
Christoph Weber | http://dialogconsulting.biz
--
Christoph Weber
I'm looking now for Drupal Intensive Seminar Series
If I can not convince Chris to offer such, then I plan on doing such myself, and finding speakers for those heavy Drupal modules and methods I'm wanting to get trained in. Why? There is a shortcoming with Do-It-Yourself training. Drupal is so powerful and flexible, that there is more than "one" way to implement any desired web function, meaning 3-5 ways.
For example, putting unique data onto one web page via a block that is restricted to display on just the one page, and doing all your data that way, for dozens, hundreds of such blocks, is not, not, a good way. Why? Each page would then have to test for each of several hundred blocks. Slow pages? Sure. And it gets slower with each added block.
So, of the 3 to 5 possible ways, which are "better", or the "best?"
When is a fair or poor method 'faster' to do for an one time implementation?
While beginners need a slow paced, breath before depth lecture, I'm at the Drupal learning stage where a quickly paced lecture by an expert in the subfield would attract my dollars. User
Group meeting lectures are just 60 to 90 minutes. A 3 to 6 hour "intense" seminar in just one highly specialized, and difficult subfield would have me in attendance.
As there are not that many difficult and huge modules that are commonly used, having a "series" of Intensive Seminars, one per each "method", would attract me to I could see having 8 or so specialized seminars.
Menus, all the ins and outs, and "best" or "better" methods.
CCK based "tables" of custom data with Views for displaying them.
Views with Relationships, custom sorting, filtering, and display tables sortable by column.
Sub Theming with Zen and phptemplate overrides.
Massive Importing into CCK tables for multiple display formats in multiple pages, including Books
Bibliography interfacing to Ecommerce, Full Text from Books, Book Reviews, linking to, add via subform.
Taxonomy and Vocabularies for individual modules (e.g Categories).
Auto, auto, auto ... so many things do well with auto, but sometimes not.
Make your own suggestions for an "Intensive Seminar" that runs 3-6 hours, or even 2 days.
re: Drupal Intensive Seminar Series
I too am interested in a seminar/training with total immersion into Drupal as a way to motivate me. Frankly, just reading the books and watching the others isn't enough. I need to get down and dirty into the code. A seminar course I'd like to see should be solving a worthwhile sample problem with real life application:
For example, would a seminar of 3 days be enough to develop a Drupal aggregator of the "the aggregator", namely Twitter?
I'd like to see:
Scrolling RSS feeds from Twitter people I follow who use key words that I select to display on a Drupal page. Set up a different page for subjects I associate with the individual: e.g. Humor, Tech, Sports, Economics, Politics, Money, Funny Stuff, Local Events, Barter (upload pix).
Historical archive dumped to a searchable text file.
Drupal site optimized for page load speed as Peter suggests.
Optimized for SEO.
I'm willing to pay for on-the-job training especially if it can be done as a team effort.
Mike
all the above? (though,
all the above? (though, books are a relatively new resource)
--
mike stewart { twitter: @MediaDoneRight | IRC nick: mike stewart }
Hope Foundry
www.hopefoundry.com
Amazing concept, great class.
I didn't have much choice
Four years ago, there were no books, to speak of, and the documentation was good, but thin. Reading the core Drupal code was the key to figuring it out, and the forums, lists, blogs and IRC were my lifeline.
At first I just downloaded
At first I just downloaded an install and followed the instructions. Then I scoured drupal.org for a bit to solve issues from my trial and error approach... than I got Front End Drupal from Amazon, and my understanding and skills have accelerated 20-fold. I would have to say that I have only began to really understand how all the pieces plug together since reading that book.
I also borrowed a copy of Pro Drupal Development from a buddy, but that was addressing Drupal 5, so I have not given it a serious read.
Download and play
Couple a years ago while in Europe, saw an advertisement about developing a multi-media social networking site in drupal. That peeked my interested. I went to the drupal.org site, downloaded the start playing with it. Find the online documentation and googled a lot. When the pro drupal development version 1 come out, I got that and really thought that was a good book to have. Needless to say, I also get the pro drupal development version 2 as soon as it became available.
Download / Install
I downloaded sometime back in 2003 to 2004. After evaluating its features, I was impressed but saw that it lacked a strong e-commerce application so moved on. I still dabble with it and appreciate its default community-driven features over my favored CMS Joomla.
WEB | PHOTO | WRITE | MARKETING | DESIGN
Off-Road - Automotive - Powersports - Extreme - Outdoors - Action Sports
Learning Drupal
Most of the posts here are quite dated. Has anything changed? Can anyone recommend how a "non-developer" can learn Drupal the best? Now there are many facets, so here is what I wanted to learn:
I not only want to learn how to navigate the back-office better, but how a beginning developer can best learn to create in Drupal. In other words, I would like to someday maybe not create my own module(s) but at least know how to select and install my own modules. Stuff like that.
Any suggestions on where to begin?
thanks in advance, Roman T.
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