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Last year we had the best selling training at DrupalCon Denver, and this year it's shaping up to look the same. Claim space for you and your team now to take advantage of early bird pricing and get $70 off the ticket price.

This training is going to be awesome, and if you have some Drupal you want to learn, we want you to be there to get one-on-one help from a dozen Drupal experts. Plus, receive a free 4-month membership at BuildAModule, saving you even more.

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10 NEW videos added in "Advanced Site Building in Drupal 7"

Making another backup (Backup 5) - 1:26

Before we get too much further, let's take a quick break and capture our work in a backup. Whew! Okay, now we can can keep going in confidence.

(FREE!) The limitations of the default blocks listing page and what the Context module does - 2:03

Anyone who's worked on a large scale Drupal project has felt the frustration of the default blocks system in Drupal. The blocks listing page is one of those places where the blocks system breaks down pretty fast. If you haven't sailed that ship before, then here we give you a preview of coming attractions and explain how the Context module helps out.

Overview of the modules that come in the Context package and installing Context - 1:25

Context is a bundle of a few modules, in this video we explain what they are and which ones we're going to use throughout this series.

(FREE!) How the Context module works and how to create a context - 4:00

Now that you've got a bit of background with the Context module, we explain the details of creating a context, and what a context is actually made of. Understanding the concepts here will also prove useful as we get into Panels, which has it's own very similar contextual system.

Why it might make sense to use Context for positioning all blocks - 1:04

Once you start using Context, the next logical step might be to standardize on it, and in this video we explain why.

How to use Context instead of the default blocks configuration page - 5:34

In this video we switch over from using the default blocks listings tool to using Context to position our blocks. From here on out in this series we'll be using Context for positioning our blocks, but for simpler projects or for projects using Panels exclusively, this might not be necessary.

Creating a backup before diving into Panels (Backup 6) - 0:36

Panels is coming up, but because there's a lot of configuration involved that can be inadvertently borked, we're doing a quick backup.

Why we're looking at so many ways of doing the same thing - 1:11

Man, it seems like we're just doing the same thing over and over, but this is the perfect opportunity to see where the different layout-oriented modules overlap in functionality. So while our site is developing slowly, you'll be able to dive right into your next project knowing exactly what tools you have at your fingertips and it will go much faster.

About your responsibilities as a site builder, and thinking in terms of boxes - 2:54

Now that you have a taste of what it's like to be a site builder, we take a step back and look at another way of describing what you're doing that might help you both get a sense of the depth of your work and the edges that define it.

Why Panels is so powerful and potentially intimidating - 1:17

The Panels module brings together configuration that's typically scattered throughout Drupal into a single interface. This makes it both powerful and novel and complicated. Once you play with Panels a bit, it will quickly become second nature, but in this video we explain why it's just fine to feel overwhelmed initially.

Come to our DrupalCon Training!

We'll be doing a training this year at DrupalCon, and it will be pretty dang awesome. We'll have numerous skilled trainers, you'll get 4 months of BuildAModule free, and of course you'll learn a ton. The registration page isn't up yet, but if you're interested, be sure to save May 20th as training day.

Get free access on March 15th!

For the Drupal Global Training Day, we're giving away free access to BuildAModule. Just go to this page sometime that day to claim a free 24-hour pass. We'll open it up a bit before and after so you don't have to worry about what time zone you're in.

10 NEW videos added in "Advanced Site Building in Drupal 7"

How to add a fivestar field and configure voting tags - 4:04

Since our content type is going to need several fivestar fields, we're also going to need to configure some extra 'voting tags'. In this video we talk about the reasoning behind this step and make it happen.

Adding our additional fivestar fields and why site building can sometimes feel tedious - 4:37

As we set up our additional fivestar fields, you might start to feel a bit like a click-monkey. This is a feeling you're going to run into more and more as you build your site building skills. To combat this, it helps to step back and remind ourselves about the power we wield through our sometimes repetitive clicky tasks.

How to put field labels inline and hide the text below a fivestar rating - 2:43

In this video we do a couple configuration ninja tricks to get our fivestart rating field looking right.

Creating a backup and why things are going to start getting interesting (Backup 3) - 1:07

Up until this point we haven't had a lot of choices for how we go about setting things up (besides of course our question about how to split up content into different content types). Now that all changes, and in this video we talk about how.

(FREE!) An overview of the two methods to group fields in a display: view modes and the views module - 3:23

Before we get into the practical implementation of the various methods for positioning and displaying specific fields on a page, we're going to do a quick overview of the methods so you know what we're about to get into.

(FREE!) The 4 more common methods of positioning content on a page - 2:26

This is a pretty important video to watch if you're just starting to figure out how to lay out information on your site. Here we give you a quick overview of 4 of the most common methods for positioning content once we have it grouped into the fields that we want to display.

Quick recap of the 4 methods of positioning content - 0:58

If the previous video seemed a bit too long or you need a refresher for what we're going to be tackling in our next videos, this video should do the trick.

How to choose the correct view mode for a particular context - 3:16

We're going to be bumping into the idea of 'context' numerous times throughout this series. Most of the time, what we mean is a place or group of places where the conditions are similar enough that we can safely re-use configuration like a view mode, an image style or view. In this video, we talk about the idea of context in a bit more detail and how it relates to view modes.

Overview of the Display Suite modules and which ones we should enable - 2:33

As we start to dive into the awesome Display Suite, we take a look at the numerous modules that come bundled in the Display Suite package and enable that ones we'll be using throughout this series.

How to enable editing view modes and adding a custom view mode with Display Suite - 2:07

One of the hugely useful features of Display Suite is that it gives us the ability to edit our view modes and add new ones. In this video we show you how to enable the manipulation of a view mode and we add a custom view mode for our sidebar product display.

Do you want to hear me speak at DrupalCon?

If you're interested in hearing me speak, the DrupalCon organizers have asked for intelligent comments on the talk proposals. If you're going to be heading to DrupalCon, and either of these talks sound up your alley, please add a comment on the DrupalCon site by clicking the links:

Powering a Lean Startup With Drupal - In this session I'll be talking about how you can leverage Drupal to build up the resources you need to launch a startup. I draw from my own experiences moving from employeeship to freelancing to running BuildAModule, and so if you're interested in a bit of backstory on BuildAModule and what ideas you might be able to apply to your own project, post a comment!

Laying it All Out With Panels, Display Suite, Views and Panels - An hour session isn't long enough to cover all of these awesome modules fully, but in this session I'll talk about how they overlap and some specific ways to apply each one to various layout problems. This is some of the best of what the "Advanced Site Building" video series is going to cover in the upcoming months. If you're interested, please leave a comment!

10 New Advanced Drupal Site Building Videos!

How to use the Coffee module

The Coffee module is a nice, quick way to rapidly navigate to any menu page in Drupal using just a couple keystrokes. We're going to use it throughout this series, so here we install it and give you a quick tour.

How the Navigate module works

Even though we're not going to use it in this video series, Navigate is still a useful module that bundles several features of various administration modules together. In this video we give a quick tour of its features.

How the Backup and Migrate module works and creating our first backup (Backup 1)

Creating regular backups is essential during development and once your site goes live. The Backup and Migrate module helps you do this quickly and reliably. In this video we talk a bit about how the module works and get it installed. The 'Backup 1' in the title of this video indicates that you can restore from the first backup in the resource pack to begin from this video in the series.

How to restore a Backup and Migrate backup

Now that we have our first backup, it's time to give it a test t make sure we know it's working properly. This will also show you how to restore a backup if you begin mid-way through this video series.

How Backup and Migrate works with cron and cache tables

We just created a backup using the default Backup and Migrate settings, but in this video we talk a little bit about what's going on behind the scenes and how we can created regular backups by using a cron job.

How the Module Filter module works

At some point, your module listing page is going to get ugly and really difficult to scan. The Module Filter module enables you to quickly narrow down the types of modules that are listed, and it also adds some utilities for making sure you don't accidentally turn on and off modules.

How the Module Instructions module works

Modules typically come with a useful README file in the module directory, but because it's hidden away in the directory, it's not always the first place you look when getting help. The Module Instructions module reveals links to it on the module page, making it much more accessible, and in this video we look at how it works.

About the Admin module and why we're waiting to install it

Since we're on the subject of useful administration modules, it makes sense to mention a popular additional called Admin. We'll be revisiting Admin when we start digging into working with Context later on, but for now we'll explain why we're satisfied with the Administration Menu module and Coffee for now.

How to set up some basic visual branding

Before jumping into site building a project, it helps to set up a little branding so you know what site you're working on (imaging juggling a dozen projects at a time and they all look the same) and to give it some of the feel that the final product will have. In this video we upload a custom logo and set a grey color scheme. Easy peasy!

A quick summary of our work and backing up (Backup 2)

Having already mentioned how important it is to make regular backups, we're putting our advice into practice while also giving you a way to jump into the series from this point without rolling through all the configuration manually up to this point.

In the coming weeks, we're going to begin releasing videos in our new upcoming collection, "Advanced Site Building". These videos are going to be jam-packed with practical techniques using some of Drupal's most challenging and powerful modules. As we focus on building a corporate site with a couple of key features, we'll look at several ways to lay out content on a page using these tools, exploring which tools are the best fit for different situations. We'll take it even further as we dive into importing existing content into a site, how to configure spam-catching tools, how to re-write virtually any content to prepare for theming and design. As we begin the process of building out our site, we'll also uncover numerous useful administration tools to allow you to build your site more rapidly.

Some of nearly 20 key modules we'll be covering include:

• Views
• Panels
• Display Suite
• Context
• Views Slideshow
• Feeds
• Admin
• Fivestar
• Entity Reference
• And lots, lots more!

This collection is being built as an answer to the many questions we get regularly about how to both use these tools and decide which tools are right for each context.

This week we're releasing a short introductory teaser to the series, and new videos will start being released to members over the next couple of weeks. Enjoy!

View the Advanced Site Building teaser

Free NEW video of the week

What we've accomplished with our CMS, compared to other CMS's like Drupal

Before we dive into our last stretch of videos, we're going to talk briefly about what we've accomplished so far with our CMS - and it's been a lot! Even though we've added significant functionality to our site, we're also just scratching the surface when it comes to the features that a more mature CMS like Drupal has to offer.

A few new videos on what we've accomplished so far with our CMS

How this split file and database structure relates to Drupal

Everything we've done so far to build our custom CMS leads us straight to Drupal's doorstep. By splitting out some of our pages to use the database, and some to use files, we're mirroring exactly what's going on in Drupal behind the scenes. In this video we explain how.

Challenge your new PHP skills with these CMS enhancements

There's quite a few things we can do to improve our CMS, and in this video we talk about a few challenges that you should be able to tackle given the PHP skills that you've been building throughout this series.

Why there's no need to be scared of OOP (Object Oriented Programming)

Our last group of videos has to do with Object Oriented Programming, and for many who are new to coding, the concept can be a bit abstract and difficult to put into practice. But for the most part, OOP is just another way of looking at exactly what you've been doing so far with functions and variables, even though the components have different names.

Why are we doing so much CRUD?!

So if you've been following along with the new video announcements over the last couple of months, it might sound like we're beating this CRUD concept into the ground. But, bear with me, because CRUD is really the foundational basis of any CMS and so it provides a great example to iterate through and create more and more refined versions of. Any PHP code written can be improved, and you really start to learn and hone your skills when you can stick with a single example for a while and continue to improve it. We're sticking with CRUD because so much of what you learn will be transferrable to coding for Drupal, and understanding what's going on under the hood.

This is the home stretch, we're almost ready to wrap this up and dive into a new collection. But, before we do there's still a few important concepts to explore.

New FREE PHP video of the week

How to create a generalized record listing function

The first step in building out our generalized CRUD system (aren't we done with CRUD yet?!) is creating a way to review our records, so in this step we take a tour of a record listing function we could use to display virtually any type of data just by passing it a few settings. Kind of cool!

New PHP videos on generalizing add, edit and delete forms

Overview of the functions in our generalized CRUD script

In this video we take a look at the functions that make up our generalized CRUD script.

How to build a generalized CRUD edit and add form function

After taking a look at the record display function, we peek at the function that handles rendering the add and edit forms.

How to build a generalized CRUD form validation function

No add and edit form function would be complete without a corresponding validation script. In this video, we walk through the validation code.

How to create a generalized CRUD form processing script

Once we have all the other pieces in place, we take all the data that we've gathered and validated and do something practical with it! This time, when we process the data, we'll do so in a way that we can use to handle nearly any other kind of data we need to insert into the database as well.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who's helped make this the best year yet for BuildAModule. We've seen some amazing uses of our video library out in the wild, and we've made some significant improvements to the site and additions to the library. Just a few highlights:

• The BuildAModule library was used as a significant part of the curriculum for a university course
• Numerous free trainings were delivered all over the world throughout the year, including the Philippines, Australia, Berkley and Sacramento, California and Iowa
• Over 200 videos on learning important PHP skills were added (we now have over 800 videos!)
• A faster, sleeker, more intuitive interface was launched for the site
• We added site-wide licensing for universities and other large institutions

We've gotten tons of great feedback and suggestions over the course of the year from you, our viewers, and they have been much appreciated. We've incorporated a bunch of the most common requests into the new site's interface, and this next year we'll be tackling many of the video topics that have been requested. We have a great year planned, and look forward to your feedback along the way.

Have a great New Year! But just because it's a holiday doesn't mean we're skipping out on some new videos. :)

New FREE PHP video of the week

Why generalizing CRUD functionality makes so much sense

After looking at the differences between our product and user CRUD scripts and seeing a ton in common, it's clear that if we can capture the differences into a smaller package, that there's a lot we can re-use between them. In this short video we talk about why this makes a lot of sense.

New PHP videos on generalizing CRUD functionality

Comparing the code in our user and product CRUD scripts

In this video we look at the differences between our two CRUD scripts and see that there's actually a lot in common between them.

Reviewing changes in our product rendering code, and how the WHERE IN SQL syntax works

Now that we're pulling our products from the database, we need to update our code a bit, including using some new SQL syntax. We walk through those updates in this video.

Setting up the next steps and a demo of our generalized CRUD script

In this video, we verify that our updated, generalized CRUD forms work the same way as our previous code.

How to distill CRUD configuration options into an array

We've talked about using arrays to organize configuration or differences between implementations of scripts that have common functionality. In this video we walk through the aspects of our generalized CRUD code that are different from one implementation to another.