Modules

Theming the $links variable in Drupal nodes

Nik — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:05:47 -0500

This snippet of code gives a brief example of how to rewrite components of the $links variable to make them prettier :) Specifically, here I’m overwriting the link generated by the Forward module. You can see the result below: the little envelope icon labelled “Email”. Normally, this would just say “Forward this page”, which is a bit… well, it could be better. Obviously, it’s nice to be able to change these things to taste.

Creating custom error pages in Drupal

Nik — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 19:28:43 -0500

Currently there are three options for creating error pages in the Drupal system, that I know of. I’m going to show here which I think is the best, for reasons of usability, performance and general webmaster sanity. At the foot of this article, there’s some free code too!

The options:

Drupal’s built-in support for error pages (@ /admin/settings/error-reporting)
Search404.module (404’s only, of course)

Customerror.module (404 & 403)

Drupal’s build in error page support

Protecting your Drupal site with security updates

Nik — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:23:00 -0500

I’ve read a scare story recently concerning a blogger having his site overtaken by hackers. It’s not the first one I’ve come across either. If you’re using a third party web development agency, then I suggest you have a word with them and make sure you’re “protected”.

Speed up Drupal 5 load times with Javascript aggregation

Nik — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:58:15 -0500

Recently released – a Javascript aggregator module for Drupal 5. This function is included in core in Drupal 6, but users of 5.x are left hanging on. Enter, the Javascript Aggregator module.

I put this onto my own site straight away to test it out, as I’m using shared hosting at the moment, and I want to reduce page load times as much as I can. It seems to work just fine. The module requires no core patches, and also includes an interface for file exceptions, as TinyMCE (natch) causes the module to fail.

My Drupal site is slow! What can I do? - Part 2

Nik — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:45:34 -0400

I’ve already covered some issues that you need to be aware of when hosting a Drupal project, in the previous article, My Drupal site is slow! What can I do? – Part 1. In this part, I’ll talk about a few ways you can help cure some of your performance problems without needing lots of low-level administration knowledge.

My Drupal site is slow! What can I do? - Part 1

Nik — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 11:33:49 -0400

A brief search on Google for “slow Drupal site” doesn’t initially fill one with glee, but there are some pointers that can help prevent your Drupal site from coming to a standstill.

Firstly, some comments: if you’re here, you’ve likely got the complaint, “my Drupal site is really slow!” I’ve been where you are, and I totally understand how frustrating it can be! All the power of the Drupal framework at your fingertips and then to have it dashed by poor performance is a real pain.