Book Reviews – Page 2 – The Coding Pad

I have just finished going through the book Drupal 6 Social Networking, authored by Michael Peacock and published by PacktPub. This is a book that anyone, whatever their level of proficiency in Drupal is, can use and appreciate. Drupal 6 Social Networking shows you how you can use Drupal to create a social networking website where users can register, share information, and interact in various ways.

The one thing I appreciated the most about this book is how newbie-friendly it is. I’m all about newbies on this blog because I know how crippling and confusing it can feel to be new at something, to hear words and wonder what they mean, to know that there’s a secret language there that you don’t get just yet. Michael basically takes you by the hand and walks you through using Drupal in such a way that even if you’ve never heard of Drupal before, you’ll still be able to make good use of this book. He doesn’t rush through the preliminaries, but explains everything from the install process, to the configuration, to what all the options in the admin settings mean, and how to change and configure them.

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I want to preface this review by saying that this is the very first Drupal book I have ever owned, and I’m very excited about it.

I started working with Drupal last year and quickly fell in love with it. I begun building websites and learning as I went from the numerous Drupal tutorials online and the Drupal website documentation, and by experimenting by myself. Because I learn best by seeing things done and doing them myself, I am constantly in search of resources that teach me how to build something, not just theoretical descriptions. Theoretical descriptions are good and have their place, but the best way to learn how to do something is to DO it. I have created a series of tutorials on building a website with drupal from scratch, that are based on Drupal 5. But it’s time to move on to Drupal 6, and as before, the best way to learn is to do.

That is why I am so excited about the book Drupal 6 Site Builder Solutions by Mark Noble. The book tackles learning Drupal by walking you through the process of building a fully functional small business website from start to end. There is no fluff in this book. It starts you from the beginning and goes step by step, explaining the theoretical aspects and the whys along with the hows, which I think is the most appealing thing about it. There are no abstract explanations just for the sake of it, everything fits into the scheme of building the website.

The author starts out by laying out the needs of the new websites, outlining the differences between a traditional static HTML website and a dynamic CMS based website, and then pointing out the advantages AND disadvantages of using Drupal. He then jumps right into the creation of the Good Eatin’ Bistro website. Like I said, no fluff, you start getting your hands dirty and seeing Drupal at work right from the beginning of the book.

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