Think Like a Drupal Developer

Think Like a Drupal DeveloperErik WebbTechnical Consultant, Acquia Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Who am I?• Joined Acquia in April 2010• 30+ clients in almost 2 dozen states• Systems administrator background (RHCE)• LAMP development (10+ years PHP)• Go Jackets! Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Who are you? Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Drupal is hard. Its not just a CMS, its not just a framework, it has the power of both and the simplicity of neither. So where do you get started? Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

How Drupal works1. Lookup URL in aliases, menu router2. Check for cached page3. Check permissions for page4. Run page callback5. Process render array Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

What Drupal Can Do• Managing lots of structured data• Strictly manage access to content and functionality• Providing an organized administration section• Allowing themers great ﬂexibility• Using common page layouts Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Coders vs. Builders• We’re all developers• Good Drupal developers are “lazy” • Eﬃciency beats all • Enjoy your weekends!• Trust the community• Rethink problems, not solutions Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Building vs. Coding• Building • Coding • Flatter learning curve • Steep learning curve • Easier transition for “web • Easier transition for developers” programmers • More maintainable* • Less maintainable* • Dependent on community • Customized to client • Book learnin’ • Blood, sweat, & tears • Faster development • Faster performance* • Reusable solutions • One-oﬀ advantages Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

What to code Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Modifying Forms• hook_form_alter(), hook_form_FORM_ID_alter()• Administrative and user-facing forms• Examples • Making individual ﬁelds required • Changing order of ﬁelds • Adding help text • Additional validation or submission handlers Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Changing Nodes• Structure • Presentation • hook_node_view() • template_preprocess_nod • Add new data e() • Modify existing data • Reformat data • Change data in all places • Combine into pseudo- ﬁelds • NEVER alter data, treat as read-only Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Menu Manipulation• hook_menu_alter()• Change menu properties • Hide links globally • Change title • Change permissions • Override callbacks• Eﬃcient, runs only on cache clear Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

When to code or build Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Content Aggregation• Views • EntityFieldQuery • Graphical setup • Full control* • Community-driven • Low overhead • Built-in caching • Extremely Drupal-speciﬁc • Many display options • No SQL! • Eﬃcient prototyping • Combine with Entity Load Cache* Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Contextual Changes• Context module • hook_boot(), • Flexible API hook_init() • Easily exportable to code • Completely custom • Extendable by non-coders • Performance-focused • Handling condition and reactions Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

ExamplesDrupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Client: Anytime an anonymous user visits a news article, I want to show them a modal with a subscription link. Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Use Context• Wrong way • template_preprocess_node() to add JS in a theme• Right way • Create a modal reaction for Context • Why not use hook_boot()?• Right way • Use pure JavaScript to check for body.logged-in CSS class Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Client: I don’t want anonymous users seeing any content tagged with the “Internal” keyword. Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Nodes are everywhere!• Wrong way • hook_node_access() doesn’t aﬀect the menu• Wrong way • Override ‘access callback’ for URL ‘node/%’• Wrong way • hook_node_view() returns drupal_access_denied()• Right way • hook_node_access_records() changes all node accessing Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Client: I want all checkboxes to be those cool image buttons instead of the normal checks. Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Form altering isn’t always the right way• Wrong way • Use CSS/JS to change input[type=”checkbox”]• Wrong way • Use hook_form_alter() to change the ‘#theme’ property for all checkboxes to your theme function• Right way • Simply create modulename_checkbox() to override all uses of the form element Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Client: I want to incorporate my company-‐wide header/masthead into my Drupal site. Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

iframe? What is this, 1999?• Wrong way • Hard code into an include ﬁle in your theme• Wrong way • Recreate the header using Drupal’s menu system and CSS• Right way • Create a JS include somewhere else• Right way • Use a web service to retrieve the HTML (and cache it!) Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Questions?Ask me - @erikwebb on Twitter Drupalcamp Atlanta 2011

Think Like a Drupal Developer

by Erik Webb

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