Product Description

Drupal is a free, open-source content management system (CMS) for a variety of platforms. It has a robust user community and easy-to-use administration features. Drupal Essential Training covers all the important aspects of installing, configuring, customizing, and maintaining a Drupal-powered website. Instructor Tom Geller explores blogs, discussion forums, member profiles, and other features while demonstrating the steps required to make Drupal perform. He also teaches fundamental concepts and skills along the way, including installation, backups, and updates; security and permissions; flexible page layouts and CSS; menu navigation; and performance monitoring and disaster recovery. He also discusses how to select and install the community-supported modules that further expand Drupal's capabilities, and gives experienced PHP programmers tips on customizing page templates. Example files accompany the course.

Topics Include:

• Understanding the inner workings of Drupal
• Creating stories, pages, blogs, forums, and polls
• Managing users and comments
• Setting and customizing themes
• Exchanging content via RSS
• Stopping comment spam with a CAPTCHA
• Launching a site and joining the Drupal community

Duration: 7 hours
On 1 DVD-ROM

System Requirements

Macintosh Requirements

• OS 10.3.9 or higher
• DVD-ROM drive
• 1024x768 resolution
• 24-bit video support
• QuickTime 7 or higher

Windows Requirements

• XP or Vista
• DVD-ROM Drive
• 1024x768 resolution
• 24-bit video support
• PC sound card/speakers
• QuickTime 7 or higher (included)
• .NET 2.0 or higher (included)

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #249157 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-08
• Binding: CD-ROM

From the Publisher
Each lynda.com CD/DVD course offers hours of training movies that you watch on your computer. The movies are recorded in pixel-perfect quality, and include the authors' narration and movements as they teach the subject matter. Courses include the same project files that the instructors use, so you can follow along at your own pace. lynda.com tutorials are great for visual learners and people who like to learn by doing. Topics include software applications, workflow optimization, tips and techniques, and much more. Play, fast-forward, and rewind for easy learning.

About the Author
Tom Geller became involved in computers in 1976, playing 'Hunt the Wumpus' on a hardwired terminal that spewed tractor-feed paper onto the floor. He later became a computer journalist, first providing shareware reviews to Apple's 'eWorld' online service, and later serving as a reviews editor at MacWEEK. Since returning to freelance writing in 2006 after a five-year hiatus, his work has been published by Apple, Nature Magazine, the IEEE Computer Society, and Chemical Heritage Foundation. He lives in San Francisco.

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Customer Reviews

I Wish I Had Gotten This Sooner
If you learn by seeing things done moreso than by reading about them, I recommend Tom's video highly. Depending on your intent for using Drupal, you might want to pair it with one of the several excellent books that have recently become available:

* If you want an all-around background in developing Web sites in Drupal, try Using Drupal by Angela Byron, Addison Berry, Nathan Haug, Jeff Eaton, James Walker, and Jeff Robbins.
* If you want to create educational sites with Drupal, try Drupal for Education and E-Learning by Bill Fitzgerald.
* If you want to develop audio- or video-rich sites in Drupal, try Drupal Multimedia by Aaron Winborn.

In its respective area, each of those books offers thorough coverage. But as soon as I got a copy of Tom's video lessons, I began to work as if I had a coach over my shoulder -- in other words, much faster than I could by following even the best "how-to" manual.

I am still glad I have the books. But if, as I did, you find yourself moving slower than you would like to with your first Drupal site, get this video. The minute you start playing it, your productivity will increase dramatically.

Oh, and one other benefit -- if you need to teach others why you're using Drupal or how to help you on your chosen Web project, Drupal Essential Training is the perfect teaching tool. Depending on the topic, lessons cover about 2 to a little less than 10 minutes. Most are about 3 to 5 minutes. And within each lesson you can quickly navigate to any step you want. That makes it easy to focus on precisely the area where you need help now. If your project is being done in small fragments of time, that also makes it a lot easier to pick it back up right where you left off.

Drupal Essential Training with Tom Geller
The author, in succinct terms and through detailed on-screen demonstrations, provides a clear, understandable and extremely informed explanation of the how-to's with respect to learning and using Drupal. As a result, I was able to immediately build a Drupal site for a client. I also used the information as a reference anytime I got stuck or had a question for review. For the new Drupal user, I believe this training DVD is superior to the several written texts on Drupal that I have examined to this point. Geller comes at Drupal from a design versus a programmer's background (there is a huge difference!) and makes it easy for those of us who do not know php, perl, C++, etc., to understand and use Drupal effectively. If you want to learn how to use Drupal, this is a great way to do it.

Excellent!
This video will save tons of time. Very easy to follow and well worth the money. Better than any book I've bought on Drupal.