David Slack - Web developer

Subscribe to RSS - website

website

About David Slack - Web developer

Hi, My name is David Slack and I'm a Web Developer. I've been creating, updating, designing and developing websites for over 15 years and I'm using this website to show what I'm up to at the moment.

I'm going to add some bits that are useful to me to the site and some of it may be helpful to others so have a look through the Information section to see if there is any useful stuff. Also, if you have anything that might be useful to me (or others) don't hesitate to contact me or leave a comment on the relevant page.

Documenting the Mundane

Documenting the Mundane is a side scrolling website made with a bespoke CMS. The CMS is created using PHP and has no database with it. 

Drupal theme - Editing the files

Info

The first file we want to edit is the .info file so open the file in your editor. This file controls all the settings of the Theme and without it Drupal will not see your theme. Here are some of the things you can add:

Drupal theme - Create Folders and Files

First thing we need to do is create the folders for the theme in the correct places then create the files that are needed. So lets start with the main folder. There are a few places to put your theme but we will use the standard so as not to mess up any updates and make the theme easily movable.

We will use the design for Dodgey Daves Discount Emporium so make sure you have the Fireworks png to hand.

Creating a Drupal theme

So, we have a design in Fireworks and a website created with Drupal how do we bring the two together? We create a theme (called template in some systems) using our design and add it to our website.

What is a theme?

In Drupal, a theme is a group of files and folders all added together in one main folder to change the look and feel of a website. There are some files that are needed and some that are useful but in the end they create the look and feel for the whole site. Using a theme you can theme each page, each part of the site, just the home page or many other things.

cPanel and WHM

cPanel and WHM is the industry leader for turning standalone servers into a fully automated point-and-click hosting platform. It's a fully webbrowser based front end for your server.

Once you have installed centOS and have SSH access you can install cPanel with WHM and and that is it, your server is ready to use. 

Follow this guide to install

OR

To begin your installation, use the following commands:

CMS (Drupal 6) Website

So you've chosen to use Drupal as your CMS of choice for your new website? Read on to find out how to create a basic CMS website. From here we will go on to add user profiles, blogs and other social aspects like Facebook, MySpace or twitter. We will then go on to add translation to the site and finally add eCommerce.

Design

How do you go about designing a perfect website? Well, I can't answer that, but follow along and I can give you a few pointers and maybe stop you doing something stupid!

First things first, tables are for data, not for layout! Get it out of your head now, before you start. We wont use any tables for layout or design.

What we will be doing is designing a basic website for a client who sells 'stuff' but more importantly the client will be writing content to share. The site is 'Dodgy Dave's Discount'

The order I create a website is:

Starting a website - The client

The first thing to do with any website is to get a client and find out what they want!

The client may be a friend, family, yourself, a business or whoever, but try to treat your client like a client and try to keep business and personal separate if you can to save a falling out later.

Creating a website

Creating a website is fraught with problems! Whether your a salesman, Graphic Designer, programmer or whatever there are many things you know and many you don't (you don't know you don't know them until you find you don't know).

Here are my musings on what to do. There are other ways and bits I've missed so feel free to comment and let me know

SATandCABLE

SATandCABLE is a company in Merseyside specialising in household entertainment. The site was created using Drupal 5 and later upgraded to Drupal 6.

29 North

The 29North website was designed using Fireworks and Illustrator and created using php and mySQL.

Latest content

There are lots of developers out there with varying degrees of experience and expertise, some mid level, some junior and some senior. Some...
First thoughts are Symfony is ace!Only been using Symfony for 1 project but the amount of coding it has saved has been worth the time spent...
The Lost and Found website was built by myself (David Slack) and designed by Arm & Eye.The site was created to promote a bar and...

Social networks

Contact me here or catch me on one of
the social networks below


What I'm listening to

My blog

Wednesday, 2 August, 2017 - 06:56
There are lots of developers out there with varying degrees of experience and expertise, some mid level, some junior and some senior. Some developers...
Tuesday, 5 March, 2013 - 09:49
First thoughts are Symfony is ace!Only been using Symfony for 1 project but the amount of coding it has saved has been worth the time spent learning...
Monday, 3 December, 2012 - 10:07
As a web developer and web designer I need to take into account everything on a site from SEO, marketing, usability across devices, the look and feel...

Try this on your mobile

Use your QR reader to read this

You should be able to use this right from the screen

Latest tweets

Calendar

M T W T F S S
 
 
 
 
1
 
2
 
3
 
4
 
5
 
6
 
7
 
8
 
9
 
10
 
11
 
12
 
13
 
14
 
15
 
16
 
17
 
18
 
19
 
20
 
21
 
22
 
23
 
24
 
25
 
26
 
27
 
28
 
29
 
30
 
31
 

You are here

Back to top

Copyright David Slack - Web developer