Kyle Lamble is the latest addition to Sandstorm Design, adding to our stellar Drupal developers. He’ll be supporting our Drupal development team with both front-end and back-end database development. He’s experienced in javascript, PHP, MySQL, ASP.NET, C++ and has even done video game programming. Kyle uses his professional skills in his personal life too, and in his spare time built and maintains the website for the Loosey Goosey Art Zine that he and his friends created. In addition to loving life in front of the computer screen, Kyle is also quite comfortable on the big screen and has acted in several films.

Welcome, Kyle. We’re excited to be working with you!

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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Our Chicago web design firm is looking for an experienced web developer with solid HTML, CSS and jQuery chops to join our team. Our immediate needs are for front-end development and we expect this position to grow into PHP, MySQL, AJAX, etc. You’ll also contribute to strategic discussions about websites, mobile deployments and other technology decisions.

Required skills include 2+ years programming experience with HTML/CSS, JavaScript, and JQuery (XML and AJAX a plus), as well as experience developing web pages and front-end solutions from provided wireframes and designs. You should also have a strong understanding of web standards and web browser peculiarities and the ability to create cross-browser and cross-platform compliant pages. Proficiency in the Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop and Illustrator) is important, and having advanced knowledge of content management systems such as Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, etc. will be key.  Sandstorm is a collaborative environment. So, in addition to doing great work independently, you will a member of a team for most projects. Overall, the ideal candidate should have a strong commitment to excellence, usability, and coding standards, all with 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 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, too.

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

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

Following a year of exceptional growth, Sandstorm Design is excited to announce its move! Don’t worry, we’re still in Chicago—just a couple blocks north of our old address. In the heart of the Ravenswood Corridor, this architecturally inspired space is perfectly suited for the strategy and execution of Drupal web sites, interactive web applications and creative marketing campaigns.

With this relocation, we have expanded space for collaboration and day-to-day activity. This includes an on-site usability lab, ideal for conducting formal and informal usability studies. Our “zen room” is the ideal place to find inner peace.  The new office is distinctly Sandstorm with our giant swirl logo painted at the entrance (It’s 8-foot by 11-foot!), and 4700 feet of exposed ceiling pipe was hand-painted Sandstorm blue to give some added color to this former warehouse space. To see more about this exciting development, check out the Sandstorm Photostream. We even tallied all the numbers from the move, and put together this infographic.

Be sure to update your records, CRM system, and iPhones. Our marketing firm is now located at 4619 N. Ravenswood Suite 300, Chicago, Illinois 60640. Our phone number is the same, 773-348-4200, but all extensions have shifted with an upgrade to a new Shoretel phone system.

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.

It’s easy to love your job when you work for Sandstorm Design, and it’s even easier when the projects that come your way are for organizations that are working to make the world a better place – like The Cradle, an open adoption agency in Chicago. Along with giving them a fresh, new look, we also made their site easy to update by completing development in Drupal so that they can change their content regularly with current news, new waiting families, and new stories of success.  

We loved working with The Cradle and being a part of helping birthparents, adoptive families, and adopted children come together to create their own unique family stories. We are so proud to launch this web site!