Articles

Drupal theming next steps: Overriding HTML output

Megan McDermott — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Soon after you've started out with Drupal theming, you'll probably find that you need to change some of the HTML code it generates. But how do you do that? This article will break down the process of overriding Drupal's HTML code (or "Overriding themable output"), using template files and theme functions.

Complete Guide to Pre-Installed Fonts in Linux, Mac, and Windows

Megan McDermott — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:01:04 +0000

Web fonts are gaining in popularity now, but they can still be a bit of a challenge to use. Copyright issues often require the use of a third-party font service, which can be risky and expensive.The good news is that all major operating systems come with a variety of fonts that you can use to create your font stacks.

How to create a simple Drupal 7 theme from scratch

Megan McDermott — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 11:30:50 +0000

Drupal theming can seem complicated and overwhelming. Even basic starter themes are filled with confusing PHP and convoluted CSS. What's a designer to do? Never fear, it is completely possible to create your own theme from scratch. This article will demonstrate a step-by-step process for creating your own Drupal theme, including a .info file, page template, regions, and CSS.

CSS3 selectors simplified, Part 1: Simple selectors and attribute selectors

Megan McDermott — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:55:32 +0000

CSS 3 has introduced a variety of new selectors that can be used to access elements in a web page. While some of these were available in CSS 2.1, the range of new options can be confusing. How can you make sense of it all? Read on!

Divitis: What it is and how to avoid it (Updated!)

Megan McDermott — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 14:38:40 +0000

When developing your website in HTML, you might be tempted to use the <div> tag to sovle problems. Things not lining up in every browser? Maybe another containing <div> would help. Don't know how to select that particular element? Wrap a <div> around it!

Context Layouts, Panels, and Composite Layouts in Drupal: What's the difference?

Megan McDermott — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 18:10:42 +0000

If you're attempting to create a complex page layouts in Drupal, you may be confronted with a choice between several modules: Context Layouts, Panels, and Composite Layouts. These modules may seem a bit confusing at first.

SSH: Managing file permissions using CHMOD

Megan McDermott — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:00:00 +0000

When installing scripts on your website you will often be asked to change the permissions, or CHMOD (change mode). The instructions for doing this often include cryptic sets of numbers, such as chmod 775 There are actually two ways of setting permissions using chmod, using numbers or words. Use whichever method works best for you.

CSS fundamentals: Data types (colours, lengths, URLs)

Megan McDermott — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:52:03 +0000

All CSS properties have a specified type of value they can accept. Values may be keywords, lengths, colours, numbers, or url's. This article will explain some of the specifics of CSS values, including how colours are specified, what units of measurement are allowed, and how URL are specified.

CSS fundamentals: Selectors

Megan McDermott — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:50:37 +0000

In CSS, Selectors are used to select HTML elements for styling. There are many different ways to select elements. This article will cover the most basic types of selectors: element selectors, classes, and ID's as well as the concepts of grouping and descendent selectors.

CSS Fundamentals

Megan McDermott — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:19:28 +0000

This series of articles will explain how CSS works in simple language. It will not describe individual properties in detail, or tell you how to attain a specific layout. However, it will explain why those properties work the way they do. This includes:

CSS fundamentals: The absolute basics

Megan McDermott — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:01:11 +0000

This article will begin a series on CSS fundamentals. To begin, we need to understand what CSS is and how to use it. This article will include a definition of CSS, an overview of what a CSS rule looks like, and a summary of the methods available to use CSS in your web pages.

Choosing your web building software

Megan McDermott — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:29:15 +0000

To build a website you need several types of software: a code editor, an FTP client, a graphics editor, and a selection of web browsers are the basics. This article will describe these tools and suggest popular software to try. In most cases, there are many alternatives available. It's a good idea to try several of them and see what works best for you.

How to create a Drupal 6 theme from scratch

Megan McDermott — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:38:09 +0000

Drupal theming can seem complicated and overwhelming. Even basic starter themes are filled with confusing PHP and convoluted CSS. What's a designer to do? Never fear, there is a simple way to create your own theme from scratch. This article will demonstrate a step-by-step process for creating your own Drupal theme, including a .info file, page template, regions, and CSS.

How to centre a div, and other CSS centring tricks

Megan McDermott — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:13:03 +0000

If you're just starting out with CSS, there are several problems that may be a mystery to you. Centring a div is one of these problems. In fact, there are several things you might want to centre with CSS. This article will cover centring a containing div, centring images and tables, centring a div vertically, and centring a background image.

SSH: It's really not that scary

Megan McDermott — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:50:31 +0000

For a long time, I avoided using ssh. As a designer, I thought it would be too complicated and difficult to learn. As it turns out, I was wrong! For the most part, ssh (and the shell commands needed to perform tasks) isn't that difficult to do. Being able to use SSH will make it easier and faster for you to perform many common tasks on your web server. Even if you're on a shared hosting account, you may be able to access your website using SSH (check with your hosting provider to find out).