New lynda.com video course: Drupal 7 Advanced Training

published by tgeller on Tue, 2012-06-26 16:24
Screenshot: Drupal 7 Advanced Training, lynda.com

It's been a busy few months since ending my time at Acquia last October. I've returned to freelancing, bettered by having worked with some of the best people in the business: It was a pleasure to see them at DrupalCon Denver, and I've been enjoying our continued (albeit changed) good relationship.

One result of leaving is that it gave me time to create a long-overdue course for lynda.com: Drupal 7 Advanced Training. My other courses aim to teach specific skills, such as creating a store with Drupal and using Drupal to display complex data. Drupal 7 Advanced Training is a general tutorial for those who already have basic Drupal skills.

It's intended as a follow-up to the course that's proven by far my most popular: Drupal 7 Essential Training. As usual, the new course gives away a few videos, while a free 7-day pass provides full access.

Here's the intro video:

Enjoy!

Blog category: 
Drupal Planet

Comments

nada cat (not verified)

Sun, 2012-07-08 12:51

Thank you for the video! I have watched most of your essential and advanced drupal videos. They are all I need to get basics of drupal cms- however, I still find drupal frustrating as a designer . So I watched the drupal theming video(not by you). The essential training info would be essential for content and it's management, but I am now spending time instead to first looking at Photoshop to drupal guides that I found online using the grid system for designers via 960 theme. I am currently trying to learn how to go about doing this combining all the info I have learned but not really going anywhere yet. (Maybe tomorrow. LOL) I would love it if you can consider similar videos for designers that like to imagine a visual of an website first. It seems like an huge help for the visually excited... umm... or oriented. But perhaps I am doing exactly what I am supposed to do by looking into what inspires me after the videos??? I just wish you had done this in the videos as it's difficult for me to figure out as new user and it seems like relatively easy task /idea to grasp if someone made a video about it. thanks - and much meows.

tgeller

Sun, 2012-07-08 13:30

Hi, Nada! Thanks so much for writing. Believe me, I'd love to do at least one video series for lynda.com about designing on Drupal... but the fact is, I'm not qualified, and don't feel confident that I could become qualified enough to do a good job. It's a whole study unto itself, and not one I have any talent for. The good news is that Drupal design tools are getting better, so people who *are* good at design have fewer and fewer technical barriers to translating their visions to the page. That's why I included the section on "Changing your site's design without coding" -- sort of as an overview of the state of the art. So -- sorry I can't do the design course, but I trust others will pick up the ball. Best of luck with your site!

nada cat (not verified)

Sun, 2012-07-08 13:47

Thanks for your response!!! You are SO qualified. Us visually inclined are NOT looking for ideas and ways to DESIGN (I have so much visual design and ideas I can't sleep at night!!!) - rather, how to implement our already made visuals into the drupal site. Grid system will work just fine. .... just give us a grid and we'll work it. LOL.. Even a short video on background images, implementing jquery carousel in drupal, lightboxes (ways to overcome grid limitations)- would be VERY VERY helpful. The design tools are never enough for us designers- we want to animate and put up exactly what we create- even to the level of oil paintings animated via egde.... :) Having said that, I think I will go back to html, css, java script- and leave drupal for areas that I REALLY REALLY need a cms. It's just too limiting visually as of now to be satisfying . and I gave it a good go for few weeks.

tgeller

Sun, 2012-07-08 13:52

Thanks again for writing. You're right that it's not necessary that I be a *designer* to teach... but it's bigger than that. Every time I try to do something in CSS, I realize how little I know! I only know a *bit* about grid systems... lynda.com students deserve better than I could offer. Regarding grids, I know that there are some grid-based Drupal base themes, including both Fusion and Omega (which I have videos about in Drupal 7 Advanced Training). Maybe start with those? Good luck!

nada cat (not verified)

Sun, 2012-07-08 14:03

Gosh- if YOU aren't confident with it ... then how am I supposed to feel!!?? LOL... Yes, I will try re-watching the fusion bit of your video tomorrow , but plan to start (finally) create one site sans drupal except for the webshop and maybe the gallery because I don't think it will get done otherwise... what to do! :(.....

Lyn Rodger (not verified)

Fri, 2012-08-10 09:50

I'm designing my first Drupal site and am thrilled with all the clear instruction you give at lynda.com. The possibilities are rather overwhelming, so it's great to be walked through the steps in a logical manner. Thank you! My site is for a condo community assoc with several sub associations and committees and will rely heavily on Organic Groups. The new OG 7.x-2.x, which is in development, is said to be quite different from the previous one (which you use in your tutorials). I've put that 7.x-2.x-dev module into my site believing that's the one I should learn. Much of what you teach looks the same. Do you have any words of wisdom on the differences? Thanks again.

tgeller

Fri, 2012-08-10 10:00

Hi, Lyn. Generally speaking, version numbers for Drupal projects go like this: 7.x (works with Drupal 7) / 2.x = (the module was re-architected, based on what was learned with 1.x) So all 2.x versions should work more or less like each other. So the question is: Should you use the -dev version? Well.... Each developer defines "-dev" differently. For some, it means you absolutely shouldn't run it on a production site. For others -- especially after a module's been out for a while -- it means that's the first place you'll find fixes, and it should be fine to run on a production site. For something as mature as OG, I'd consider using the -dev version, but would watch closely for problems. I'd also recommend browsing the Issue Queue for known problems with the -dev version. Good luck!

Lyn Rodger (not verified)

Fri, 2012-08-10 10:38

Many thanks for your prompt response. Since this is a pro bono site, I don't have time/cost constraints and can try new things. My goal is to make this site both useful and easy to use for people with limited computer skills. I misspoke when I said -dev, I've actually added the -beta1 version which is closer to being stable, Will check the Issue Queue, especially if I run into problems. Thanks again.

Add new comment