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Note: Links have been omitted from this page.
Be aware that OSTraining offers students in this course $15 for 6 months of video support. It's the best resource I know of -- David McMurrey.
ETWR 2479 Web-Based Content Management Systems is a solo- or team-based course in which you practice using a web CMS (like Wikipedia, Drupal, Joomla) to develop information for the public. In this course, you will install and configure a web CMS; create, format, and link pages within it; add blogs and forums to it; set permissions for visitors. The course will conclude with either solo projects by individual students or with a team project in which team members plan the format and style of a web CMS using existing text. A free Internet account will be provided along with recorded tutorials.
Drupal job postings at indeed.com. Sign up to get email updates for the latest Drupal jobs in Austin, TX.
Note:
Take a look at the interesting things you'll be doing in this course: building your Drupal site.
| Instructor |
David McMurrey |
| Class meetings |
Online class |
| Office & hours |
Tuesday and Thursday: Northridge Campus 4225 12:00pm-3:30pm (Always call 512.223.4804 to ensure I'm there.)
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| Phone |
512.223.4804 (Northridge Campus) |
| E-mail |
davidm@austincc.edu |
Introductions & startup. Let's find out who we are and what this class is all about.
| Startup activities |
Watch an overview of the course, read about policies, and see the grading plan at course startup there. Be sure and read the course policies. (Password: ACCstudent)
Fill out the questionnaire there. Your information will be kept confidential.
Write the personal memo. Introduce yourself to your instructor and the rest of the class. This memo will be password-protected; only our class can see these memos; the password is the "handle" you specified when you filled out the questionnaire.
See the personal memos and read about the rest of the class.
| due—Feb. 19 |
| Web CMS tasks |
For the next week, explore the world of web CMS applications, get settled in your Internet account, and install the Web CMS application we are usimg:
Explore web CMS applications
Get an overview of Drupal
To indicate that you have explored content management, web CMS, Drupal, and other similar applications, post your observations in the Open forum. Make at least three entries. In each one, provide the title of the page, the URL (without the http://), and a sentence on what is interesting or useful about the article.
Discuss what you'd create with Drupal
Do some brainstorming about how you imagine you might use Drupal to build web sites. Describe the sites and the functions you would include in the Open forum.
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due—Feb. 19
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Getting access to the class Drupal site. To get started, go to our class Drupal site and request an account.
| Study resources & setup |
Setting up an account for Drupal. As you do the activities in this next unit, here are two best resources:
OSTraining will be one of your best resources. Go to sign-up page, and purchase the $15.00 plan for 6 months for Video Support. Use Drupal 7 Why Should You Use Drupal? and The Beginners Guide to Drupal 7.
Note: lynda.com offers two potentially useful training videos; https://www.lynda.com/search?q=Drupal+7 for $25/month. We will be using Drupal 7.x, whichever is the current. If you use the lynda.com tutorials, see these notes: Notes for lynda.com Drupal 7 videos.
Note: Acquia can install Dev Desktop on your computer for free. It also has a Cloud function for free. However, if you want to be on the Internet so that people can visit, you must pay a subscription cost.
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| Drupal for basic users |
Getting to know Drupal as a user. For the next week, we'll get familiar with Drupal by performing a number of basic tasks.
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Installing Drupal. When technical writers—both experienced and in-training—see the non-writing techie things they may have to do, they sometimes respond by exclaiming, "But I just wanna write!" You have to embrace these things that turn out to be fairly minor and realize that they make you part of the team that develops the products.
Installation tasks. Actually, before you install Drupal, you need to become familiar with cPanel.
| Activities |
Go to using cPanel. cPanel is a nice handy interface that shields you from the command line which you would have to access with putty.exe. You use File Manager in cPanel to create web pages. You use the cPanel home page to access MySQL Databases where you set up a database for Drupal to use.
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Go to installing Drupal and follow the steps there.
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due—Mar. 5
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Brainstorming and planning the final project. Let's have a discussion whether you do a group Drupal project or do individual Drupal projects for the final activity in this course. Use the Open Forum and enter your preferences and opinions.
| Final project discussion |
Post your ideas about whether to have individual or group projects in the Open Forum. |
due—Mar. 12 |
Announcing your final project. Post a description of your Drupal project to the Open Forum.
| Final project announce |
Post a description of your Drupal project to the Open Forum. |
due—Mar. 12 |
Start working on your final project. As you work through the practice sets starting next week, nothing keeps you from also starting work on your own Drupal final project.
Build your practice Drupal site—Set 1. Now the real fun begins! Create and design your own Drupal test site. This part of the course will get you ready to build your own Drupal site and, more importantly, give a good basic knowledge of Drupal. There will be four "sets" of Drupal tasks to perform, one per week; you'll get a grade for each. If you have problems, post a note to the Open Forum. (When you start building your Drupal project, you can delete anything that you set up in any of the sets that doesn't apply.)
Neat Drupal tricks. Things like these below can really save you time!
| Time-savers |
- To get often-used menu (for example, Blocks) on your quick-access bar, click the circled plus sign next to a menu name. Seven is the maximum.
- If you just want to go quickly to a different admin location, Ctrl+click or Cmd+click on the menu item you want to go to. It will open a new window to your same Drupal site.
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Build your practice Drupal site—Set 2. Continue building your Drupal test site.
Build your practice Drupal site—Set 3. Continue building your Drupal test site.
Build your practice Drupal site—Set 4. Conclude this phase of learning to build a Drupal website.
Backing up, updating, and restoring your Drupal site. It's time to learn this very important procedure!
Continue working on your final Drupal project.
| Preliminary due date |
Send your instructor the URL to the preliminary draft of your Drupal project by e-mail. You'll get a review in 2 to 3 days and can revise accordingly. |
due—May 7 |
| Final project |
Send your instructor the URL to your final project. |
due—May 14 |
Inviting visitors to your final project. Invite visitors to come and contribute to your Drupal project site.
| Visitor invitation |
Post a link to your Drupal project in the Open Forum. As a visitor to other Drupal sites in this course, make at least three total posts (blog entry, blog comment, forum entry, forum comment, basic page, article, or vote in a poll). This is for a grade; posts over three will be awarded extra points in the final grade. |
due—Apr. 30 |
Submitting the preliminary draft of your final project. Send your instructor a link to your Drupal project for a prelimindary review.
| Final project preliminary |
Send your instructor the URL to the preliminary draft of your Drupal project by e-mail. You'll get a review in 2 to 3 days and can revise accordingly. |
due—May 7 |
Sending in your final final final project. This is it!
| Final project |
Send your instructor the URL to your final project. |
due—May 14 |
Informal course evaluation. Help me improve this course.
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