A Padded Cell

10 great modules for Drupal theming and site-building

Megan McDermott — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 20:20:35 +0000

If you're new to Drupal, and even if you're not, you may find the process of putting together a site to be rather baffling. With over 25,000 modules to choose from, it can be challenging to find the one that will solve your particular problem.

How to add Color module support to your Drupal theme

Megan McDermott — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:55:20 +0000

Drupal's Color module (a core module), enables users to change the colours used in a theme through the theme settings. This is a great feature to have if you're developing a theme for widespread distribution, or if you have a large multi-site installation and want individual sites to have different color variations.

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!

Creating a custom home page in Drupal 7 using Views (part one)

Liam McDermott — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 02:11:12 +0000

Having installed Drupal, one of the first questions people ask is, ‘How do I change the home page?’ By default the front page of Drupal has a blog feel, with the latest posts shown in date order, but it does not have to be like this! These two articles will show how a front page can be customized using Views.

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!

Get more sign-ups from Drupal 7: make ‘Create new account’ eye catching

Liam McDermott — Mon, 16 May 2011 15:12:00 +0000

According to our analytics software between 60 and 70 percent of visitors going to the new user registration page on the Webmaster Forums do so by clicking the Create new account link in the user login block.

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.

Goodbye vBulletin, part two: how we got away

Liam McDermott — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:15:10 +0000

The previous article in this series showed our reasons for wanting to move The Webmaster Forums from vBulletin to Drupal. This second part shows how we successfully got away, and the difficulties faced.

SSH: Allowing multiple users to edit the same files and directories (shared folders)

Liam McDermott — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:00:00 +0000

Often multiple users will need to have access to edit, delete and create files and folders on a server. To illustrate this we will use the example of two users who need access to the same files on a Web server.

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: 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).

How to create a multi-column, widgitized footer for Wordpress

Megan McDermott — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 19:14:32 +0000

Multi-column footers are a big trend in web design these days. It's a great way to provide more information and links to visitors without cluttering up the top part of your layout. On content pages, this information appears just when the user has finished reading your article, leading them to find more great content on your site and other ways to interact. This article will show you how to make a 3- 4- or more-column, widgitized footer in Wordpress.

Using Grids in Web Design

Megan McDermott — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:38:19 +0000

Using a grid to define your page layout results in a more attractive, logical layout. A grid is simply a regular series of lines and boxes that define sections of a page. A solid structure makes layout decisions easier and helps create a pleasing layout.

How to automatically include your header, navigation, and footer on every page

Greg Sanderson — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:28:17 +0000

Have you ever wondered how large websites handle those repetitve elements that appear on every page? The navigation menu, header, and footer usually stay the same on every page of a website. But what happens when you want to change something? Do you have to edit every page and change it separately?

PHP offers a wonderful method to resolve this with the include() statement.

The ADDIE model for website design

Megan McDermott — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:41:59 +0000

ADDIE is a 5-step process for web design: analyse, design, develop, implement, and evaluate. Following this process will help to ensure that you cover all aspects of a successful site and make your site as effective as possible.

21 ways to streamline your CSS

Megan McDermott — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:57:18 +0000

These days, CSS development is a complex process. You may be working on sites with large CSS files, multiple developers ,and long development timelines. The more complex your CSS files become, the more difficult it is to work with them. This article will present some tips and tricks for keeping your CSS files organized and easy to work with.

How to Build a Home/Small Business Web Server in no Time

Liam McDermott — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:45:24 +0000

This article goes through a quick and easy process for building a home or small business web server. The finished server will have Web server software, PHP, Perl, Ruby, MySQL, PostgreSQL, quotas, e-mail server software, anti-spam and anti-virus software, and a lot more good stuff. To top it off it will have a Web based GUI to control it all. Read on to learn how.

How to Choose a Great Colour Scheme for Your Site

Megan McDermott — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:52:34 +0000

One of the most important parts of the initial design process is the choice of colour scheme. If your client or topic of interest already has a set of preferred colours, your choice is easy. However, there are many occasions where the choice is entirely up to you. For many people, deciding on the colours can be a difficult task. Armed with a little colour theory, some great online tools, and your own design sense, you can create attractive and unique colour schemes for your website designs. This article will show you how.

3 Ways to Highlight Links to the Current Page with CSS

Megan McDermott — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:44:11 +0000

Good usability suggests that you should always indicate links to the page the user is currently on. In fact, in an ideal case you wouldn’t link to the current page at all. On the other hand, in order to build a site that’s consistent and easy to maintain, navigation menus need to be either included with a separate html file or generated with a scripting language.

How to Design Graphic Mock-ups

Megan McDermott — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 22:22:26 +0000

A typical stage in the web design process for most professionals is the creation of a graphic mock-up. A graphic mock-up or proof allows you to focus on the overall design rather than the logistics of creating the design using CSS. This article will outline the process of creating a graphic mock-up and include several examples for download.

An Introduction to the User Stats Module for Drupal

Liam McDermott — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:50:26 +0000

The User Stats module inserts information on a user into their posts on a site. It is aimed at forum administrators who need to see the post counts, date registered and IP addresses of their users. This article provides an introduction to the User Stats module and shows how it may be used in themes.