Using Drupal Views to streamline content

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan @MaximeGK

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

What are views

The views module allows administrators and site designers to create, manage, and display lists of content.

Each list managed by the views module is known as a "view", and the output of a view is known as a "display".

• Content
• Content
• Content
• etc...

Disclaimer: Content must be under same server.

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

Why they are awesome

• Content
• Content
• Content
• etc...

Filters

Sort

Style

Create content once.

Display many times.

=

Update content once.

Automatically updates everywhere.

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

What are our views

• Dynamic View
• Dynamic Content List
• View Panes (View: uOttawa View)

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

Case 1 - Using Views for slides

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Image credit: freepik

How can I obliterate redesign our carousel?

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Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

Custom CSS.

Don’t need to be this fancy.

Native Drupal

engineering.uottawa.ca

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

Why not apply this display everywhere!?

Image credit: freepik

• Relevant
• Customize
• Fresh!
• Cross-promo

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Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

IA strategy

Dynamic Views

(simple info bites� on dept. pages)

Dynamic Content List

(sortable browsing)

Same content, but styled and sorted differently.

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

Steps to create your slides

1. Curate your content types
2. Populate your content group
3. Build and style the view in pane

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

1 - Curate your content types

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Create or re-organize your terms

1. https://yoursite.uottawa.ca/admin/structure/taxonomy/uottawa_content_groups
2. Add term

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Why use Content Group?

Versatility: Content links, news articles, snippets.

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

2- Populate your content group

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Populate your content group

1. When editing content, select Content Groups
2. Organize the order of your nodequeue.
1. https://engineering.uottawa.ca/admin/structure/nodequeue/1/view

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Secret sauce: Reverse admin view (edit queue)

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Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

3 - Build and style the view in pane

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1. In the mini-panel or pane, add content: Dynamic View.
2. Use the settings you want to apply to the view.
1. (Nodes, not content snippet!)
3. Style.
4. Save!

Content Link and News Article.

• News article for our news.
• Content link for other dept./faculties, or external news.

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

4 - Surprise step!

Test your layout:

• Different browsers
• Different resolutions
• Long strings of text

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

Styles tricks

• Image width 50% + image position left
• List items per row = auto-columns!

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• Link-block with images = 💖

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• Simple text links
• Summary hidden for dynamic views,
• Summary shown for DCLs

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

Lessons learned

• Label everything!
• Use nodequeues by order, not date published. This gives more flexibility for publishing.
• Use mini-panels if your layouts are going to change.
• Cloning mini-panels also clones view within, and their settings :) .
• You will have a cleaner website with less duplication the more you use views
• Publishing goes way faster
• New content now requires a checkmark instead of formatting.
• No more multi-posting
• Reduces ROT: redundant, out-of-date, and trivial content

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

Next steps

• Migrate all professors and staff content information to views on the website
• Program specific slides (Open House vs evergreen)
• Explore custom views

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan

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ideahydra.com/presentations

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@MaximeGK

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linkedin.com/in/gauthierkwan

Maxime Gauthier-Kwan