Drupal for Education and E-Learning by Robertson, James G. -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Drupal for Education and E-Learning

Table of Contents Drupal for Education and E-Learning Credits About the Author About the Reviewers www.PacktPub.com

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Preface

What this book covers What you need for this book Who this book is for Conventions Reader feedback Customer support

Errata Piracy Questions

1. Introducing Drupal

What is Drupal? Drupal – a short historical overview What Drupal can do for you Drupal terminology Taking notes Summary

2. Installing Drupal

Assumptions The domain The web host

Web server PHP version MySQL version

FTP and shell access to your web host A local testing environment

Setting up a local environment using MAMP (Mac only) Setting up a local environment using XAMPP (Windows only) Configuring your local environment for Drupal

PHP configuration MySQL configuration

The most effective way versus the easy way Installing Drupal – the quick version Installing Drupal – the detailed version Enabling core modules Assigning rights to the authenticated user role Summary

3. Getting Started

The core installation

Core user functionality

My Account Add content

Log out Administrative functionality

Dashboard Content Structure Appearance People Modules Configuration Reports Help

Next steps – building the foundation Installing modules and themes

Files Directories Core modules and themes The sites directory Steps for adding modules and themes

Step 1 – downloading Step 2 – decompressing Step 3 – uploading Step 4 – enabling

Configuring modules and themes

Modules Themes

Modules and themes – a summary

Creating roles Creating content types

Step 1 – creating the content type

The Name and Description sections The Submission form settings page The Publishing options page The Display settings page The Comment settings page The Menu settings page

Step 2 – adding fields Step 3 – assigning taxonomies

Adding a taxonomy to a content type

Step 4 – assigning permissions The result Creating content types – summary

Creating views

Step 1 – adding a view

Step 1 (a) – describing the view Step 1 (b) – selecting the type of data and filter Step 1 (c) – selecting a display type Step 1 (d) – setting display type options Step 1 (e) – setting the display format

Step 2 – editing the view

Step 2 (a) – adding fields

Configuring fields

Step 2 (b) – adding/editing filters Step 2 (c) – adding/editing contextual filters (optional) Step 2 (d) – editing display format (optional) Step 2 (e) – setting additional configuration options (optional)

Step 3 – defining multiple display types (optional)

Step 3 (a) – overriding the default values (optional)

Saving your view

Creating views – a summary

Summary

4. Creating a Teacher Blog

Installing the text editor

Uploading and enabling CKEditor Setting the proper text formats Assigning user rights via roles

Understanding roles and how they work

Creating content types for the teacher blog

The blog post content type

Adding fields and assigning a taxonomy Assigning permissions Hey! Why not use the blog module?

Creating the assignment content type

Getting started – installing modules The assignment content type Adding fields Ordering fields Assigning a taxonomy Assigning permissions

Sample users and testing

Adding new users Section summary

Adding sample content Views for the teacher blog and assignments

The teacher blog view

Adding a view Editing the view

Adding fields to the view Adding filters Adding contextual filters Setting the display format Setting additional configuration options

The assignment view

Editing the default values

Adding filters Adding a title and header Editing the calendar display

Setting the path and menu

Summary

5. Enrolling Students

Understanding roles and assigning rights Assigning rights

Rights for the student role

Creating student accounts

Method 1 – students creating their own accounts

Student sign-in Promoting new members into the student role Retrieving the confirmation e-mail

Method 2 – creating the student accounts

Customizing the registration process

The Account Settings page

The ANONYMOUS USERS section The ADMINISTRATOR ROLE section The REGISTRATION AND CANCELLATION section The PERSONALIZATION section

Signatures Pictures

The E-mails section

Additional modules for creating user accounts Summary

6. Creating the Student Blog

Setting up the student blog

Assigning permissions Cloning the teacher blog

Getting interactive

Seeing who's discussing what

Enabling and cloning the backlinks view Editing the page display Removing the page display Editing the block display Enabling the block

Seeing it work Summary

7. Bookmarks

Assign rights to use bookmarks Using bookmarks in the classroom Sharing a bookmark

Bookmark to blog

Learning goals Bookmarks and media literacy Bookmarks as part of the ongoing student research

Learning goals

Summary

8. Podcasting and Images

Getting Started with Podcasts The AudioField module

Installing and Enabling the AudioField module

Configuring the Audio module

The players

Assigning rights to the AudioField module Creating the podcast content type

Adding an audio field to the podcast content type Assigning rights to the podcast content type

Adjusting the existing views

Editing the student_blog view Editing the teacher_blog view Editing the conversations view Uploading an audio file

Using Podcasts in the Class

Creating podcasts – notes on hardware and software Software Hardware Everyday uses of podcasts Using podcasts as a tool in project-based learning

Ideas for podcasting projects Some general examples

iTunes or not Images and image galleries

Configuring your site to use images

Step 1 – creating an image style (optional) Step 2 – creating gallery taxonomies Step 3 – creating the image content type Step 4 – edit the display (optional) Step 5 – assigning permissions to create and edit images Step 6 – creating galleries

Adding the title field Adding the sort criteria Adding content relationship Changing the contextual filter to taxonomy term

Step 7 – adjusting views (optional)

Creating images

Summary

9. Video

Setting up the video content type

Installing the embedded media field module

Creating the video content type

Step 1 – creating the content type Step 2 – adding the Video field

Configuring the field

Configuring the Video settings Configuring the Field settings

Ordering the fields

Step 3 – assigning a taxonomy Step 4 – assigning permissions

Embedding videos

Embedding from an external site Embedding from the local site

Adjusting the student and teacher blogs Hardware and software to create videos

Hardware

Cameras and video capturing equipment Microphones and audio quality Lighting equipment and editing stations Copying videos from YouTube/Google video

Software to create and edit videos

Desktop software Online tools

Using videos in the classroom

Student projects Teaching with video

Drupal as a video hosting and processing platform Summary

10. Forums and Blogs

Installing the Forum module Configuring forums

Containers and forums

Displaying multiple content types in a forum Assigning permissions to forums The relationship between forums and blogs

Forums

Strengths Concerns

Blogs

Strengths Concerns

Forums versus blogs

Summary

11. Social Networks and Extending the User Profile

Identifying the goals of user profiles Using the core User module

Customizing the core profile

Adding a last name Adding a birthday

Managing your profile fields Adding content to a profile created using the core User module

Moving beyond the core profile module

When to look beyond the profile module

Extending profiles using the field group and field permissions modules Building the profile

Adding fields to the profile Creating field groups Adding fields to the field groups Assigning permissions to view and edit fields Assigning rights to view profiles

Creating an extended profile Additional options for social networking and user profiles Summary

12. Supporting Multiple Classes

Installing and configuring Organic Groups Useful links for Organic Groups

Administrative links

Adjusting your site to work with Organic Groups

Creating group types

Creating the Class content type

The Organic Groups fieldset

Creating the Club content type

Assigning permissions to group nodes

Class nodes Club nodes

Setting the options for content types

Assigning OG fields to group and content types

Adding fields Setting field names and visibility OG fields in action

Editing OG roles and permissions

Navigation links

Finding groups and navigating group content Blocks and views created by OG and OG extras Creating a menu for groups

Creating and using groups

Creating a group Enabling group-specific blocks Adding users/Managing subscriptions Creating additional group managers

Adding group-specific taxonomies

Creating content in a group

Summary

13. Tracking Student Progress

Getting an overview of student work

Using the core Tracker module Replacing the Tracker module with Views

Using code snippets to track student progress

Enabling PHP snippets Embedding a PHP snippet in a page

Explaining the snippet

Using Views and PHP snippets together

Creating the view

Adjusting the display

Adding fields Adding an argument Adjusting the page settings

Embedding the snippet

Explaining the snippet

Tracking responses to specific assignments

Editing the argument

Restricting access How it works

Private communication with students

Getting started Configuring Node access user reference Using Node access user reference

Summary

14. Theming and User Interface Design

Basic principles

Keeping it as simple as possible Hiding unnecessary options

Setting the home page Menus, blocks, and primary links

Main menu Creating customized menus

Adding new menus Enabling blocks Adding menu items into the menu

Populating the main menu

Adding a post directly to a menu Adding a new menu item Blocks and block-placement FAQ

What is a block? How is it different from a menu? What is a region? What else can I do with a block? Can I make a block visible to specific roles or on specific pages?

Changing settings via the admin menu

The Site information page

Theme settings Enabling themes Global theme settings

Toggling the display Logo image settings Shortcut icon settings Theme-specific settings

Looking under the hood

Drupal's theme structure CSS files tpl.php files

Custom tpl.php files

CSS and JavaScript aggregation Additional resources

Summary

15. Backup, Maintenance, and Upgrades

Setting up cron jobs Backup and maintenance overview Backing up the codebase Automating backups using backup and migrate

Configuring the database and file backup options

Modifying the default profile Scheduling database and file backups

Summary – using backup and migrate to automate backup and maintenance

Caring for your database

Automating table optimization using DB maintenance Using phpMyAdmin as a maintenance and backup tool

Optimizing tables using phpMyAdmin

Manually backing up the database

Backing up the database via phpMyAdmin Backing up your database via the command line

Command-line database backups – the short version Command-line database backups – the full explanation

Command-line backups of core codebase, contributed modules, and files

The master backup

Details on the command line

Backing up the contributed modules and themes File backups Putting it all together What should I backup and when should I do it? Verifying that your backup works

Before we begin – web space for testing your backup Creating the backup database

Recreating the database via phpMyAdmin Recreating the database via the command line

Uploading the backup codebase Editing the settings.php file

The test site Disaster recovery Updating your site Upgrading core

Upgrading core – the short version Upgrading core – the detailed version Preparing the upgraded site

Preparing the codebase – additional notes Bringing the upgrade live

Upgrading contributed modules Upgrading your theme Summary

16. Working Effectively in the Drupal Community

Getting started Researching on Drupal.org

Searching effectively Handbooks Browsing the issue queue

Asking questions

Support forums The Support mailing list Groups.drupal.org Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

Giving support Summary

Index

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