to view or not to view, that is the question! - guy bedford - 27/06/2011

Welcome to:

ViewsTo view or not to view?

Is that a question?

27/June/2011 Presenter: Guy Bedford

A DrupalCape Presentation by:Guy Bedford

Views and Drupal• Views and CCK most successful contrib

modules• Views is a major factor in the growth of Drupal


Angry Donuts


“Earl Miles is a permanent member and founder of the Drupal Association. In 2005, Earl found Drupal and thought it was exactly the kind of thing that he wanted for a website he was building in his spare time. Then he found out that Drupal lacked a couple of features here and there; so Earl ignored work for about three weeks and created the Views module, which has been instrumental in Drupal's continued growth.”http://2011.doitwithdrupal.com/speakers/earl-miles

Before views…

• Drupal released in 2001

• Views started in 2005

• What did they do before views?


Before views…


SELECT node.nid AS nid, node.title AS node_title, node_data_field_longteaser.field_longteaser_value AS node_data_field_longteaser_field_longteaser_value, node_data_field_longteaser.field_longteaser_format AS node_data_field_longteaser_field_longteaser_format, node.type AS node_type, node.vid AS node_vid, node_data_field_teaserdescription.field_teaserdescription_value AS node_data_field_teaserdescription_field_teaserdescription_value, node_data_field_longteaser.field_artilcleleadimage_fid AS node_data_field_longteaser_field_artilcleleadimage_fid, node_data_field_longteaser.field_artilcleleadimage_list AS node_data_field_longteaser_field_artilcleleadimage_list, node_data_field_longteaser.field_artilcleleadimage_data AS node_data_field_longteaser_field_artilcleleadimage_data, node_data_field_leadimage.field_leadimage_fid AS node_data_field_leadimage_field_leadimage_fid, node_data_field_leadimage.field_leadimage_list AS node_data_field_leadimage_field_leadimage_list, node_data_field_leadimage.field_leadimage_data AS node_data_field_leadimage_field_leadimage_data, node.created AS node_created FROM node node LEFT JOIN content_field_di_featurecb node_data_field_di_featurecb ON node.vid = node_data_field_di_featurecb.vid LEFT JOIN content_field_frontpage node_data_field_frontpage ON node.vid = node_data_field_frontpage.vid LEFT JOIN content_type_article node_data_field_longteaser ON node.vid = node_data_field_longteaser.vid LEFT JOIN content_field_teaserdescription node_data_field_teaserdescription ON node.vid = node_data_field_teaserdescription.vid LEFT JOIN content_field_leadimage node_data_field_leadimage ON node.vid = node_data_field_leadimage.vid WHERE (node.status <> 0) AND (node.type in ('article', 'news_snippet', 'showcase', 'speaker_presentation')) AND ((node_data_field_di_featurecb.field_di_featurecb_value) != ('Yes, this is a front page feature')) AND ((node_data_field_frontpage.field_frontpage_value) = ('Yes, this should feature in the front page feed')) ORDER BY node_created DESC

Direct SQL Queries / API functions in code

• Requires programming• Need to understand the inner workings of

Drupal• Research APIs and tables• Lots of debugging• Not fun


Let’s try it


Select * from node


Select * from node_revisions


Select * from node left join node_revisions on node.vid = node_revision.vid

Now you know SQL…

SELECT node.title, node_revisions.body

FROM node

LEFT JOIN node_revisions ON node_revisions.vid = node.vid

WHERE node.type = 'news_snippet'

AND node.status = 1

ORDER BY node.created desc

LIMIT 5;


That’s it

• Not quite…– Files, images– CCK fields– Field formatters

• Views hides this all from you….• We then think in terms of ‘abstracted’ tables:

node, taxonomy, user… with all the fields immediately accessible


Views in Action

Interactive examples and methods


Views in Action

• Useful views styles• Contexts• Using views with Progressive Enhancement• Views 3 features in D7• Related content• Views for administration


Views Styles Examples

• Views Slideshow• Views Cloud Carousel

http://www.professorcloud.com/mainsite/carousel.htm

• Dynamic Display Blockhttp://themes.myalbums.biz/content/embedded-content-example

• jCarouselhttp://di.local/video/konstantin-grcic-milan2011

• Suggestions of useful modules?


Contexts

• What’s a context?• How to make category pages with them• What about block contexts?


When views styles aren’t enough – Progressive Enhancement

• Running your own JavaScript with progressive enhancement of views (templating)

– http://coryschires.com/jquery-hover-caption-plugin/

• Using semantic views– http://di.local/articles-news2/results/taxonomy:869?page=1

• Want to learn JavaScript? Endless possibilities…


D7 Views 3 new features

• Exposed Sorts, input required• No Results, header and footer pluggable (nb

URL overloading)• Clone & Reorder displays• Group By• Views OR (module for D6)• Support for other databases


Related Content

• Related content with node reference (preferable)

• Related content by taxonomy• Views 2 snippets:

http://drupal.org/node/578038,

$node = node_load(arg(1)); if(isset($node->taxonomy)) { foreach($node->taxonomy as $term){ $terms[] = $term->tid; } return implode('+', $terms);


Some other useful modules

• View Field (views in views and on content)• Views grouping – row grouping and query

grouping.• Views PHP


Views for Administration

• Much better administration pages with tables and exposed filters

• Drupal node administration isn’t ideal• It doesn’t take long to give your clients custom

admin pages, but saves a lot of time in editing• Bulk Operations with Rules, Views Bonus Pack

(CSV, DOC, XML Export D6)• DI: admin/products, admin/users


Thank you

Questions and Suggestions Welcome


to view or not to view, that is the question! - guy bedford - 27/06/2011

Technology

leadimage node

teaserdescription node

frontpage node

featurecb node

article node

views 27june2011 presenter

drupal views

views drupal