Drupal Basics

Introduction

Welcome to CU Denver’s Drupal platform! This page is a brief orientation to our specific Drupal instance and how you’ll use it as a web editor.

You don’t need to be technical to work in Drupal. Here you’ll learn the main areas you’ll see after logging in, the terms we use throughout the Web Guide, and how everything fits together, so you can feel confident before you start creating or editing content.

We use plain language first in this guide. When Drupal-specific terms appear, they are included in parentheses for reference.

Create & Edit Safely

As a web editor, you’re working in a controlled environment designed to protect the site. You can safely create and edit content without affecting the overall design or functionality of the website.

Some site-wide settings and layouts are restricted to site administrators. If you don’t see an option, it’s usually because it’s managed by someone else.

Drupal Terminology

This guide uses a few standard terms to describe areas of our Drupal website and its editing tools you’ll use as an editor. These definitions are meant to be simple and consistent, so you know what things are called as you work.

Admin interface

The Administration interface (or Admin interface) is where you manage your web pages and site content.

You access the Admin interface after logging in. It includes menus such as Content (for all User roles) and Structure (for site administrators), and is where you:

• Create and edit pages
• Update menus and site structure (depending on your User role)

In this guide, Admin interface refers to all pages under the administrative area of the site.

(Note: the Admin dashboard is the main landing page of the Admin interface. It may show shortcuts, recent content, or helpful links, depending on your role. Not all tasks start from the dashboard, and you may not use it often. The Admin dashboard is part of the Admin interface, but not the entire Admin interface.)

Content

Content refers to pages and other items that appear on the website, such as:

• Pages
• Articles
• Testimonials
• Other items, depending on your User role

Content is created and managed from Content > Add content in the admin interface.

(Note: In Drupal, content is created using what are called Content types. In this guide, we use the terms content and content type interchangeably.)

Components

Components are building blocks used within pages to structure content.

They allow you to add items such as:

• Hero
• Accordion
• Text
• Other items, depending on your User role

Components give you flexibility while keeping layouts consistent. (Note: Components are built using Paragraphs, a Drupal-specific term you may hear from time to time. But at CU Denver we refer to these as Components.)

Edit mode

Edit mode is how you update content. If you are logged in to Drupal, there are two ways to reach Edit mode:

1. Navigate to the page on the public-facing site and click Edit.
2. Enter the Admin interface, select Content, then search for and click the content you want to edit.

Both methods get you to that content’s Edit mode.

(Note: Edit mode takes you to what Drupal calls the Content editing form, which is the screen where you create or edit content. Fields on the form are grouped into Sections, or groups of related fields on a content editing form, such as Title, Hero, or Components.)

Menus

Navigation menus (or Menus) control how links appear in site navigation, such as a Main menu or Footer. Menus help visitors find content but do not change the content itself.

You can manage Menus through the Admin interface (if you are a Site admin), and you can also edit where a page appears in a Menu while editing a page.

User roles and Permissions

Your User role determines your Permissions, which control what you can see and do in the admin interface.

For example, some editors may be able to create content but not publish it.

CU Denver’s User roles are:

• Admin (administers all websites)
• Site Admin (administers a site within the CU Denver multisite environment)
• Web Approver (creates, edits, publishes, and approves content)
• Web Editor (creates, edits, and publishes content)
• Author (creates, edits, and submits content for approval)