Apologies & Explanations

Now, this is written in the hopes that even website novices will not be driven screaming from their offer to build a website for their affiliate group, but instead will find fertile ground in which a fertile mind can create a content-managed website using the Drupal system. We may have missed that target, but we'll keep revising things until we stop getting reports of dire consequences to life and property. Let us know if we've helped, too, though, lest we be convinced that we're getting no complaints because no one is reading these pages, either.

We are not going to try to explain everything here. There are so many places where folks with a lot more experience have done that. In particular, the Drupal users and contributors from around the world have done that. There is no excuse, for anyone who wants to learn how to build a Drupal website, to not visit, bookmark, revisit, study and digest the magnificent work found here. A whole series of tutorials can be found at ThemeShark.Com, the producer of the theme used on the Oregon Republican site. There are also lots of YouTube video tutorials, some better than others. A short look at a Google search for such tutorials will give you more general instruction than we could ever hope to include here. We encourage you to use any and all such tutorial information you need, since we (a) certainly should not reinvent the wheel, and (b) certainly can't solve every problem or meet every need.

For the advanced website person, I'm sure this will be unnecessary. Just kidding. There's always something new to learn, and odds are somebody has already found a way around the insurmountable problem you've just run into. So, search and learn.

As for our material, please feel free to skip over the stuff that aims too low for you, to the meatier parts, and please send us advice on how to do better for everyone. This is a first time for us, too, after all, and there are lots of folks that know more than we do about the whole process.

Really, we are serious about that. The goal of this process is make GREAT Drupal web sites available to any GOP group that wants one, without spending an arm and a leg, and without requiring each group to learn by themselves. If you are willing to share your experiences with us, many others will benefit.

Jargon

You will encounter a lot of jargon in these pages, and it's impossible to write this without either using the jargon, or making it a cure for insomnia. There is also no good reason not to use the already-published sea of helps on the web, and to write a new glossary. So, may we suggest that Google is your friend: type "define:" followed by the term you find unintelligible, and see what you find. As a few examples, here are some Google links for some of the jargon you will encounter, with some basic definitions from us and Sandy A.:

Drupal is one of most popular content management system frameworks currently available on the net. "Content management" means that the website content is manageable by mere mortals with a computer, rather than by the website masters. That means more user participation, faster website creation, and more flexibility. That, in fact, is why you are reading this page.

Drupal modules are component pieces that perform distinct functions on a Drupal-built site. In your home, you have a water heater, a dishwasher, etc. Drupal modules are like that, for your Drupal website.

Drupal themes are the design structures around which a website is built. Your home might be a ranch, a split level, a condominium, a colonial, or a mansion. It might have have the look of a Spanish hacienda, a French villa, a Louisiana plantation, or a Greek temple. But inside, the same stuff works: you still have a water heater, dishwasher, etc. Drupal themes provide the basic layout of a website, and the basic design structure, in which modules provide function.

DNS "Domain Name System" Everything on the net is actually known by a special number sequence, called an IP. For us humans, it's nicer to remember a name. DNS is the part of the web where computers go to translate the names we know into the IP address the computers actually use.

IP "Internet Protocol" The foundational protocol that defines different systems by unique address, and provides a way of exchanging information between them. Over time, the "IP" has come to refer to the unique public numerical address given to each publicly-visible system. IPv4 refers to an address that consists of 4 numbers, each ranging from 0 to 255, which are usually represented by stringing those numbers together, separated by decimal points. As the net has grown, those 4 numbers have proved to be insufficient, and the public addressing will soon be replaced by 6 numbers (IPv6).

FTP "File Transfer Protocol" A method for moving files around the web, from computer to computer. You will use this to move files onto and off of your website.

HTTP "HyperText Transfer Protocol" A method for "marking" text -- with formatting, images, links and other things -- so that all these fascinating web pages appear.

HTTPS "HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure" Just like HTTP, only encrypted so nobody can spy on it as it goes by.

URL "Uniform Resource Locator" The official complete and unique name for the location on the website of any given page.

PHP "Hypertext Preprocessor" ("HP" was already taken, you see). This is a programming language designed to run on servers, and follow instructions to create web pages for immediate delivery to a brower request from some remote system.

Please do contribute jargon with links and descriptions that you think should be included here.

Collaboration

Production of this tutorial has been a collaborative effort, and we try to give credit to folks who have questioned, commented on, and corrected this work. Thanks to:
Sandy Abercrombie of Jackson County, Oregon. The first guinea pig. Honor should always be given to the first into battle, right?