#C12 Drupal Admin Console.

To understand Drupal, we summarise the configuration of the Admin console.

Admin Console.

When you log in to the Drupal administration screen, the menu structure looks like this.To build a website in Drupal, you need to know where to find the functions you need.

When I first started using Drupal, I was puzzled by the fact that the configuration items are not in the same place as where the functions are actually used.

The actual place where pages are created is called Content, but the structure and role of the page needs to be configured in the Content Types section of Site Building.

This separation between where you actually use Drupal and where you configure it can be confusing at first, but once you get used to using it you will find it very useful.

Understanding this difference between where you use Drupal and where you configure Drupal is something I stumbled upon when I first started using Drupal, so I've summarised it in this article.

In this article, we will summarise the Drupal menu structure.

1.Menu Structure.

The main functions used to build a website are

Home > Administration

The functions are concentrated in the following sections. There are a total of eight sections, which are briefly outlined below.

1-1.Content.

The content menu is where the functionality to create the actual pages used is located.

When you open the content menu, there is a sub-menu Content/Blocks/Comments/Files, and when you select Content, a menu appears where you can actually create the page you want to publish. You can create a new page by clicking Add content and selecting the page type.

This is where you write articles and create fixed pages such as guides, etc. This is also where you will use the most at all times when building your website. Blocks, comments and files are also managed here. It is easier to understand if you realise that the name of the content is where you actually manage the content you publish.

Blocks are page elements that can be freely laid out and loaded into the pages you publish. Footers, side menus, etc. are commonly created.

1-2.Structure.

We defined content as the place where you create and manage the content you publish, but the menu for Structure is the menu for setting what to include in the content you publish and in what form.

In the content section, you will create articles, pages and blocks for publishing, but the default articles and fixed pages do not contain the elements you need for the articles you actually want to publish, such as tags, categories, publication date and time, author of the article, etc. Adding and configuring the necessary elements for the published page is done from this Structure menu.

The content type allows you to freely create multiple page formats and article formats by setting the elements required for the page to be published, the block layout allows you to freely configure the header, side menu and footer settings, the taxonomy settings for tags and categories, the list of tags and categories based on the tags and categories, and the view layout allows you to freely configure the page. The site construction menu allows you to configure the actual site according to your objectives, such as Views, which can be freely organised into pages.

The Structure menu items allow you to configure the functions considered necessary for website construction in detail and flexibly according to the purpose, and are the basis of the functions for building websites with Drupal, which is also the biggest advantage of using Drupal, so we hope to have the opportunity to explain them.

1-3.Appearance.

The design of a website built with Drupal is structured using this theme. You can select the theme to be used and perform basic settings for the selected theme from this menu.

I have mentioned several times in previous articles that the theme I use is a Bootstrap 5 theme. Perhaps some of you have read that I use Bootstrap CSS and JavaScript to structure and decorate my pages, but what is a Bootstrap 5 theme?
There is a framework called Bootstrap5, and you can install this Bootstrap5 in Drupal, configure the basic settings and necessary HTML tags in Bootstrap5, and when you create a page, you can use the Bootstrap5 elements prepared from the start without writing any CSS elements such as classes. Bootstrap5 themes are templated themes that allow you to create and publish pages configured with Bootstrap5 elements without writing classes or other CSS elements.
I use Bootstrap5 themes to build my websites. By default, Olivero 10.3.6 (public theme) and Claro 10.3.6 (admin theme) are installed, and I use Bootstrap5 subtheme (public theme) and Claro 10.3.6 (admin theme) to build my website.

1-4.Extend.

Drupal has a core programme, and by extending the necessary functions that the core programme does not have, you can build the website you want.

One of the advantages of Drupal is that the community on the official website is very strong, and modules that are distributed have been tested and certified as stable have been tested according to the Core programme version, PHP version, DB version and dependencies with other modules installed and related to it. The modules that have been certified as stable have been tested according to the Core programme version, PHP version, DB version and dependencies with other installed and relevant modules.

This menu allows you to manage the modules used in this extension.

You can manage the modules that DrupalCore provides by default, as well as modules that you have installed separately and added. Modules that have been installed but are no longer used can be easily uninstalled, such as the module that enables the use of Google reCAPTCHA, which is also managed here.

Unlike WordPress, not 100% of modules can be installed from the GUI of the Admin Console, and new installations need to be installed with Composer. Cron detects and notifies you of updates to modules that have been installed, so you can update them from the Admin console if necessary.

1-5.Configuration.

Apart from the basic settings of the Admin Console and website building functions, the CMS system settings are configured in this menu. The site overview, user settings, language selection and time zone settings, as well as clearing the cache and setting the logs to be retrieved in the performance function of the development items are also configured in this menu.

The most commonly used functions are: clearing the cache when creating or updating a page and the changes are not reflected in the cache; switching to maintenance mode when performing an update, and reverting back to the original mode when it is completed.

Basically, the menu is used to add system functions and settings, so clearing the cache and switching to maintenance mode will be the main use once the settings have been made.

Settings for modules installed in extensions such as reCAPTCHA, meta tags and SMTP need to be configured in this menu.

1-6.People.

This menu allows you to manage the access rights to the website and, in some cases, the rights of users who are allowed to build the website. A list of registered users is displayed, and you can also edit the permissions granted to users, their email addresses and passwords here.

However, it is usually advisable to have a separate user who writes articles, builds and edits the website, apart from the admin user, and to have that user manage the website. I have also taken this approach myself, as it is a desirable way to manage the website for security and emergencies.

This is not done on this website, but it is a function that can be used for membership sites that only allow some users to view the site, or for companies where the site is managed by more than one person, etc. It is one of the excellent features of Drupal Core, as it allows flexible setting of permissions, hierarchy, registration and approval processes. It is also one of the best features of Drupal Core.

1-7.Reports

This menu allows you to view the operational status of Drupal. You can check the current system configuration of the site, update status by Cron, update status, errors and problems, and correct them according to the instructions if they are displayed. You can also check the logs here, including access status, error logs and malicious bot visits. You can also check the registration status of articles as search terms and the progress of translation from this menu.

One of the report items we usually look at is the log situation: when you publish a website, you inevitably receive a variety of accesses. Some of these include unintended and unwanted accesses, which in some cases need to be dealt with.

There are various types of malicious bots, such as those for the purpose of hacking or those that come to write guidance to a site, and to determine what makes them a malicious bot, it is necessary to check the error content, determine the domain using nsLockup and examine the domain using NIC. As a characteristic, multiple errors are made in a short time and access to non-existent directories is displayed as an error, so it is not so difficult to judge.

If a prohibited IP is registered in the preferences, access will cease afterwards, but it may still come. If a large number of malicious bots are coming, please consider installing and setting up a WAF to deal with them.

1-8.Help.

It lists guides on how to use Drupal and its various functions. It is recommended to read through this guide if you have the opportunity, as it provides a concise overview of basic usage.

One problem is that the guide is partly in mixed Japanese and English, which makes it difficult to read. Topics are linked, and depending on the function, there are links to more detailed guides on the official website, as well as PHP structures and explanations for developers.

I myself have only skimmed through the help functions and will look at them in more detail when I have a deeper understanding of Drupal's functions and have more time to use them in practice. I can build a website without having to look at a guide. I am at this level myself, so I would like to deepen my knowledge and master it while actually using it.

2.Summary.

This time, we briefly summarised the menus and functions of Drupal's Admin Console, which is one of Drupal's strengths, and how it separates purpose and functionality into use and settings, which we didn't understand when we started using Drupal and wondered what we needed to do to make our page structure the way we wanted it. I had questions like, ‘What can I do to make the page structure the way I want it to be?’ I looked at the various menus and somehow understood them, and then I actually configured the settings and created the pages with the content, and that's how it is now.

For example, when you create an article in LifeStyle, you need to configure the elements that make up the page, such as tags, categories, contributors, post date and time, images, etc. If you do not understand that the menu where these settings are made is divided into several menus, you will not be able to create and publish articles with the desired page structure in Drupal.
To set up tags and taxonomies, go to the menu| Home > Administration > Structure > Taxonomy | and set up a //vocabulary// called //article content// and a //term// called //old clothing//.
Then, in the | Home > Administration > Structure > Content types | menu, select the //content called //article/// and assign the //vocabulary// of //article content// set in Taxonomy in the //Add field//. This setting will add the element //article content/// to the //content// called //article// and will allow the page to have a //tag// called //old clothes//.
The actual writing and publishing of articles on second-hand clothing is done at | Home > Administration > Content > Content |. Here you create a new article by selecting the content // article, but the tag // article content // that you have just set will be selectable in the field and the tag // second-hand clothing // will be available on the page you have created.

2-1.Supplementary Explanation

I explained the flow in the document, but to add to the confusion, when actually creating the page, by default there is no facility to enter and assign a tag called old clothes to the page to be created. //Tags are provided by default, but only one is used for another purpose.

In order to be able to use the tag ‘vintage clothing’ on a page, the tag is set in the taxonomy menu, and the tag is set to be available in the content type menu in the content type menu where the content can be configured for the article that is creating the page.

This setting makes it possible to use the tag old clothes when creating subsequent pages. This is the basic structure of Drupal, where there are no settings in the page creation area and the settings are done from a dedicated menu, so you can only create pages with the default page structure if you understand the basic structure and rules of Drupal.

The concepts and rules you need to understand when using the highly flexible features of Drupal, as well as the content described above, have been organised and summarised in this overview of the administration menu. The usage and settings of each function will be necessary in the process of actually building the website, so we hope to summarise them in articles in the future.

WordPress allows you to build a website without having to be very aware of the settings made in the core WordPress programme. The main settings depend on the themes and plugins used, so you can build a website without being aware of the core programme settings. Drupal's policy differs from WordPress in that it requires configuration in the core programme to build a site, which is the first conceptual difference between the two that stumped me when I switched from using WordPress to Drupal.

Drupal is no different to WordPress in that it relies on themes and module settings, but it is partial and some settings use the Drupal core programme settings to build the website.

The pros and cons of both ideas are different issues, but the reason why WordPress is easy to form even for beginners is that many of the themes and plug-ins are packaged and distributed with the necessary settings already made for the GUI-oriented default functions, and you can build a website just by using those functions.

Themes and modules distributed with Drupal have more minimal initial settings than those distributed with WordPress, and as we wrote in this article, if you don't do the necessary settings in the core Drupa programme, you may not get the page you want, and this may be the reason why you have installed Drupal and installed the theme, but gave up using it because they could not move on.

Understanding the high degree of configuration flexibility of the Drupal core programme and the concepts and rules for using it is the first key to using Drupal, and we think that if this area could be explained more clearly, the number of people using Drupal would increase.