7 replies to this topic

[Nameless_]

Due to the fact that my cPanel thread has gone way off-topic (from simple cPanel questions to highly nerve-wrecking, grown-men crying problems ... well, OK, I'm exaggerating...but still), I have decided to create a new thread on my most current problem.

Drupal.

Yeah well, so I was browsing the web for information on the best CMS, and I have decided that Wordpress isn't suitable for community sites, only plain old blogging, which isn't what I wanted. So I changed my focus to the two most popular open source CMS softwares, Joomla! and Drupal. (thanks to my friends in the other thread... )

And I like Joomla! at first, but many reports have said that while Joomla! is more newbie user-friendly (newbies like me), Drupal is much more flexible and while it is mainly for developers, it is more better for community sites, while Joomla! is best for management. But since me site will well, at first be based on management, and then changed to community, I thought that it would best to start off with the CMS platform that I will be using after the community is set up.

(It should also be noted that popular sites like the BBC also uses Drupal)

I have tested both of the CMSs and I have realised that Drupal isn't so bad after all, after I get the hang of it, though I must say that both Joomla! and Drupal seem very similar to me... I faced the same problems.

First things first... I couldn't get the Archive thing to work, on both CMS platforms, while it was automatically put there on Wordpress. For Joomla, I got the module ON the front page, but it wouldn't archive my post for me, and so I was just wondering whether it is up to me to archive on everything, like, every single article that I would post when I get started. There is only an "Archive", and then a blank space underneath, and I really don't know how to work that...

But anyway, OK... to Drupal then. Well, I found the archive module on the Drupal.org website, succesfully installed it onto MAMP (by unzipping the folder and moving it into modules in the "htsdocs" folder with the Drupal folder in it, and then I was trying to get it onto my site. But after I found the page that enables you to choose which "block" to fit the module on, and after I press "OK" or something like that (SAVE, I think it was), the whole page went white and blank.

And the whole Drupal site disappeared.

Now I thought that my MAMP thing wasn't working. The servers and stuff, because I've heard that that happened to someone once, and so I restarted the servers and started again. Still nothing. I went onto my Joomla! page, and then my Wordpress page, and it actually worked, but the Drupal foldere didn't.

I was only trying to get the "Archives" module onto the page. I mean, it's already installed and everything, and it's also enable... so I really don't think that this has anything to do with the sudden disappearance of my site. I mean, it's still on and everything, the folders are intact, and the browser could find the page. But it's just blank. On the phpmyadmin on MAMP you can still see the actions that I have taken on the Drupal database... and I really don't know what happened.

I even tried renaming the folders and back again to see if that works.

Nothing.

Does anyone know how to fix this, or do I have to install Drupal and start everything all over again? Argh!!!
(Waits for the expert to arrive and solve all my problems)

Oh, and yeah, I made this thread on CMSs, so we can go off the Drupal topic as long as it's still on other CMSs like Joomla! and Wordpress. And this is only the first of my many questions coming. I just need to sort this main catastrophe out first. The disappearance of my Drupal site!!!

[manish-mohania]

Nameless_, on Sep 30 2009, 06:30 PM, said:

I even tried renaming the folders and back again to see if that works.

Renaming the folder won't help. If you want to uninstall a module, simply delete the folder.

So, in your case, delete :
<drupal-install-folder>/modules/<archive-module-folder>

Also, new modules are installed in the following folder:
<drupal-install-folder>/sites/all/modules

Try installing the archive module in this folder and re-inable it from the admin panel. Also, please insure that you have downloaded the module for your version of drupal.

[manish-mohania]

I have not tried and tested this module on my system, but I found this archive module on net :
http://drupal.org/project/archive

Read documentation for detailed install instructions :

Quote

Installation:
1. Install module like normal
2. Visit admin/settings/archive and configure which node types you want browseable (MUST DO)
3. Add link to /archive somewhere on your site.

Notice from rvalkass:

Things you copy need Quote tags around them.

[rvalkass]

You've hit the WSoD (White Screen of Death) - Drupal's version of Windows' Blue Screen of Death. Basically, something went catastrophically wrong. So catastrophically wrong, in fact, that Drupal couldn't even get an error page to you, or any output at all. While it sounds serious, we all know just how temperamental code can be, and thankfully the fix is an easy one. Delete the folder for the Archive module you installed and then try to get onto your Drupal site again. If that module was a problem, Drupal will notice it has disappeared, assume it was causing issues, and disable it in your site. Fingers crossed and everything will return

Now, to see if we can get that module working right. Make sure you downloaded the right version of the module for your version of Drupal. Most modules have two or three versions out at the moment (for Drupal 6.x and 7.x, and some keep 5.x around). You have most likely downloaded Drupal 6.x, so make sure you have the module download that works with Drupal 6. Redownload it from the Drupal site and try putting it on your site again - it's possible that the download didn't go right. Extract it, and you should get a folder called 'archive'. Put that folder in ./htdocs/your-drupal-folder/sites/all/modules (if the modules folder doesn't exist, create it first). Go back to your Drupal admin panel and enable it again and see what happens. If you get another white screen then report a bug against the module at their site: http://drupal.org/project/archive (you'll need an account on the Drupal site first).

[Nameless_]

manish-mohania, on Oct 1 2009, 12:50 AM, said:

I have not tried and tested this module on my system, but I found this archive module on net :
http://drupal.org/project/archive

OK, thanks I'll check into that...
Hope it works... I actually think that it's the same module that I've downloaded...

rvalkass, on Oct 1 2009, 12:53 AM, said:

You've hit the WSoD (White Screen of Death) - Drupal's version of Windows' Blue Screen of Death. Basically, something went catastrophically wrong. So catastrophically wrong, in fact, that Drupal couldn't even get an error page to you, or any output at all. While it sounds serious, we all know just how temperamental code can be, and thankfully the fix is an easy one. Delete the folder for the Archive module you installed and then try to get onto your Drupal site again. If that module was a problem, Drupal will notice it has disappeared, assume it was causing issues, and disable it in your site. Fingers crossed and everything will return

What!!! The White Screen of Death!? Great... now I'm stuck... Oh... wait, no... It's working! It's working!!! You're a genius!!! OK.
I didn't exactly know that one little single archive module can wreck the whole entire thing. Great. Now I'll just have to be careful. But yeah, now that I've deleted it, I couldn't believe my eyes when it started working again!!! A miracle!!!

OK, I'll download the module and see how things go again...

... around 1 hour later...

Yay!!! I got the module to work, even though it is the exact same one that I downloaded. I thought that that wasn't right so I downloaded the "views.module" ... but I don't know how to work that. OK, great. So now my drupal this is now a blogging platform and my Joomla! thing is NOT. I'm leaning towards Drupal now...

Does anyone know how to create navigational bar on Drupal? I can't seen to find it, and I've created a forum but the only way to go there is through the admin place. And I need a navigational bar for "pages" like Home, Contact and About anyway.

[akira550]

@nameless like you i am also a beginner of drupal.. and didn't use it before.. so drupal was sensitive and you must be carefull
on using it? ok thanks i learned in this topic when i encounter that WSoD also i know how to fix for the author thanks for
posting this topic and for rvalkass thanks for sharing that fix

[manish-mohania]

@Nameless_

yeah !!! sometimes a single faulty module can damage the whole thing. Also, I found that it has a slightly steep learning curve. I had to painfully explore things and go through the documentation a lot, but good thing is that I was able to make things work out

Anyways, for navigational bar, create a menu entry in primary links.

please visit : http://<your-host-name>/<drupal-install-dir>/admin/build/menu
via menu: admin -> Administer -> Site building -> Menus

you will see three types of menus:
1. Navigational Menu

It is this menu, we used to reach this page.

2. Primary Links
3. Secondary Links

These menus, are the links that you see at the top of the page. Appearance and Location of these menus change with the theme but usually they are found at the top. You can however alter the location,appearance by customising the theme. It is better to create a new theme from an existing theme or sub-theme an existing theme.

please, see drupal theme guide for more information on creation/customization of them.

please, visit: http://drupal.org/project/Themes for free themes

[Nameless_]

akira550, on Oct 1 2009, 08:19 AM, said:

@nameless like you i am also a beginner of drupal.. and didn't use it before.. so drupal was sensitive and you must be carefull
on using it? ok thanks i learned in this topic when i encounter that WSoD also i know how to fix for the author thanks for
posting this topic and for rvalkass thanks for sharing that fix

Cool nice... so I'm assuming that you're also building your blog on Drupal as well? Nice, cool!!! Yeah, I think I know what to do now when I see the WSoD... just delete whatever you tried to do before. Nice.

AND Haha, thanks, no worries. Don't worry, I'll be posting lots of questions as I encounter them, so you'll learn on the way too...

manish-mohania, on Oct 1 2009, 01:56 PM, said:

@Nameless_

yeah !!! sometimes a single faulty module can damage the whole thing. Also, I found that it has a slightly steep learning curve. I had to painfully explore things and go through the documentation a lot, but good thing is that I was able to make things work out

Anyways, for navigational bar, create a menu entry in primary links.

please visit : http://<your-host-name>/<drupal-install-dir>/admin/build/menu
via menu: admin -> Administer -> Site building -> Menus

you will see three types of menus:
1. Navigational Menu

It is this menu, we used to reach this page.

2. Primary Links
3. Secondary Links

These menus, are the links that you see at the top of the page. Appearance and Location of these menus change with the theme but usually they are found at the top. You can however alter the location,appearance by customising the theme. It is better to create a new theme from an existing theme or sub-theme an existing theme.

please, see drupal theme guide for more information on creation/customization of them.

please, visit: http://drupal.org/project/Themes for free themes

Cool, thanks!!! You're very helpful. Since I'm using MAMP, I've put localhost:8888 as my "<your-host-name>" and the folder name and I found the page, thanks!!!

Hmm... yeah, well, I couldn't find one single theme that already had that in place, so I was getting worried. But then, I suppose that the default Drupal theme is much more easier to customise and suits me more than the default Joomla! theme, because the Drupal theme doesn't have the table thing that encloses everything and they spread everything out.

OK, great. Now I've got a top navigational bar at the top. The problem is that you know how you have to name the bar? Well, I named the top navigational bar as "Top Menu" and now it shows this ugly "Top Menu" text right next to the actual links and I don't know how to get rid of it, because you HAVE to have a name for the menu thing.

Also...

I also want a navigational bar of the main categories UNDER the banner, that is a two level navigational bar, that most likely will have "children" drop down sub menus as well. Do you know how to make that?

Meanwhile, I just play around with the "Top Menu" and see if I can change that at all...

Thanks for your help!

PS. I still don't get what "Primary Links" and "Secondary Links" are.