So, you’re going with Drupal, eh? Let me be the first to pat you on the back! You’re joining the likes of The White House, National Association of Realtors, Forrester Research and Harvard, all of whom have web sites built in Drupal. This open source content management system is a developer favorite because of its robust and flexible capabilities for managing large amounts of content.

As with all things, the first step you probably took was a Google search to learn the basics of Drupal. But that quick search may bring up some overwhelming results as a lot of the information out there is actually for the thousands and thousands of Drupal developers who have made this content management system what it is today.

But you’re not a developer, and no one expects you to be! (That’s what we’re here for.) You’re what we call a content administrator. And we’ve put together some of the Drupal basics you’ll need, without all that developer mumbo jumbo.

CONTENT TYPES

There are three main types of content on a Drupal site – Basic Pages, Articles, and Webforms. Each type has its own set of fields and purposes:

• Basic page – Just what it sounds like, a basic page. This content type will usually have fields like a main header, sub header and body content and is used for most of the pages on your site (like About Us, Products, or Services).
• Articles – These can be used for blog entries or news items. They have fewer fields than a basic page and include special fields like author and date.
• Webforms – This content type is for the forms on your site, like Contact Us.

MENUS

Every site needs some form of navigation. The menus let you take the different pieces of content on your web site and organize them in an outline. The main menu, for example could be made up of a few basic pages like About Us, Products, and Services, and a webform for your Contact Us page.

BLOCKS

Blocks are smaller chunks of content that might show on a page but wouldn’t be part of the content type. For example, you might have a callout on all the pages of your site. If this callout is a block, you can edit it once and the changes will show on every page.

CONTENT + MENUS + BLOCKS = YOUR WEB SITE!

When you take these different pieces and add them together, they make up your web site! Look at the example Drupal web site below and see if you can identify the different elements:

BASIC PAGE CONTENT

Although we call it a basic page, not everything on the page is part of the basic page content. Notice in the image below that the basic page content only takes up the center of the page…

MENUS

That’s because the rest of the information on the page is either a menu or a block. There are three menus on this page—the main menu on the top left, the secondary menu below that and a utility menu in the upper right corner.

BLOCKS

Finally, the callout on the right is a block. It would be edited separately from the basic page content in the center, and the changes would be carried over to any other pages on the site that include the block.

There you have it, now you understand content types, menus and blocks! The basics of Drupal are easy to grasp, and once you log in and start updating, you’ll love the ease and flexibility of it. Of course, if you ever need more than content updates, our Drupal developers would love to work on your web site!

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REALTOR^® University and the National Association of REALTORS^® partnered with Sandstorm’s Drupal development team to build their first ever master’s degree program. The web site was developed through a combination of marketing messaging, copywriting, tagline development, user interface design and implementation of the Drupal 7 CMS. Featured on the homepage are rotating graphics emphasizing the core advantages the university offers. We are so excited to announce this launch!

2011 has been an award-winning year for Sandstorm Design! Earlier this year we were recognized by BtoB Magazine as a Top B2B Interactive Agency. Today, we’ve been recognized again—This time as a top Chicago Web Developer for 2011 by Crain’s Chicago Business. Not only does this mean we’re in the printed newspaper, but we’ll also be included in the Book of Lists for 2011.

Our developers work closely with the design team to create powerful results. And when it comes to content management systems, our Drupal 7 developers build robust and flexible web sites customized to your needs. We love the work we do, and are so honored to be included as a top Chicago Web Development firm!

Our Chicago web design firm is looking for an expert PHP and MySQL web developer with Drupal experience to join our team. As a Web Developer at Sandstorm you’ll work closely with our team of information architects and creatives to build impactful user experiences in Drupal and other frameworks. You’ll also contribute to strategic discussions about websites, mobile deployments and other technology decisions.

You’ll take the lead on Drupal development projects and oversee back-end development for multiple Drupal websites, as well as develop and maintain internal Drupal processes and best practices. Working closely with our Front-end Developer, you will build and deploy high quality Drupal sites, while maintaining knowledge of Drupal-contributed modules and developing custom modules when needed. You’ll also assist in monitoring and troubleshooting deployed websites, and help with other web development projects not built in Drupal.

Required skills include 5+ years programming experience, as well as experience building, deploying and maintaining Drupal websites and building custom Drupal modules. You should have expert understanding of XHTML/PHP/MySQL, and familiarity with Javascript and jQuery. The right candidate will have excellent organization, time management and communication skills, and the ability to write programming specifications and documentation. Must be a collaborative team player, but also self-directed when required. You should have an understanding of web services/APIs, familiarity with version control systems (SVN, GIT, etc), and working knowledge of Apache / LAMP stacks. Education requirement is a BS in Computer Science or relevant experience. Understanding of OOP and MVC, and Action Script 3.0 / Flash skills are a plus.

Sandstorm Design creates powerful brand experiences with our unique blend of strategic marketing, web design and usability services. Located on Chicago’s north side, we help companies identify, craft, and clearly communicate their marketing messages in a creative, intuitive and strategic way. We’re a creative bunch with a witty sense of humor. Why it’s awesome to work here: paid day off and free lunch for your birthday, you don’t have to dress up, you get all the traditional perks of a big company (401K, healthcare benefits, etc.) without the politics, free snacks (and COFFEE) all day! Lots of growth potential.

If you think you’d be a great addition to our team, please send your cover letter, resume and salary requirements to jobs@sandstormdesign.com. Please include “Chicago PHP/MySQL Developer” in the subject line.

Local candidates only. No phone calls please. No recruiters.

This time a month ago, Sandstorm Design was attending the Drupal conference in Chicago. Since then, our team of Drupal 7 developers have been sharing with the rest of the company the key takeaways from the conference.

Over sandwiches and soda, our Technology and Usability Director Michael Hartman talked to the team about new possibilities Drupal 7 features open up and how we can use them to continue to provide exceptional content management solutions. We were inspired enough to keep discussing Drupal long after the last bite had been eaten. In fact, we’re still talking Drupal this and Drupal that. And the conversation isn’t likely to end anytime soon!

It has been an amazing week for our development team at DrupalCon Chicago 2011. We absorbed Dries Buytaert’s keynote, mingled with other Drupal 7 developers, danced to a song about Drupal (not kidding!), and attended session after session on topics like theming, design, user experience, implementation and configuration. We had a blast and learned a lot!

We’re so proud that Chicago got to host the Drupal conference this year. And we’re so grateful to all those who made DrupalCon Chicago a success. Most of all, we’re looking forward to the future of Drupal, which is only looking brighter and brighter!

Check out our pictures from DrupalCon Chicago!

Sandstorm Design is seeking a Front End / User Interface Developer to join our team! This person will be responsible for front-end/presentation layer and UI development for web site and web application projects.

We’re looking for someone with a passion for building user-friendly experiences and creating elegant and dynamic UIs for the web. Required skills include 2-4 years experience with HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and JQuery (XML and AJAX a plus!) and 2-4 years experience developing web pages and front-end solutions from provided wireframes and designs. The successful candidate will have a strong understanding of web standards and web browser peculiarities, the ability to create cross-browser and cross-platform compliant pages, proficiency in Adobe CS3-4 Creative Suite (Photoshop and Illustrator) and knowledge of Drupal development, WordPress and other open source tools and frameworks.

Any experience in the following will be a bonus: Flash/Action Script, PHP, Ruby on Rails and/or ASP.NET, Facebook and other social media integration, SQL, MySQL or other databases, Apache and/or Microsoft IIS.

We work in a team environment, so we need someone with a demonstrated ability to work both as a member of a team and independently. We’re looking for someone with a commitment to excellence, usability, coding standards and an intense attention to detail. The successful candidate will need to be flexible in day-to-day activities and embrace change as required, working both independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment with many projects, priorities and opportunities.

Sandstorm Design offers competitive salary, health insurance, paid vacations, paid holidays (including your birthday!) and a fun and creative atmosphere.

Please send your resume, cover letter and links to work samples to jobs@sandstormdesign.com. No phone calls please.