eBook Review: Theming Drupal: A First Timer’s Guide

My experience themeing Drupal, like most of my coding skills, have been developed by digging up useful resources online and some trail and error. I have an interest in graphic design, but never really studied it. I can turn out sites which look good, but my “designs” don’t have the polish of a professionally designed site. I own quite a few (dead tree) books on development and project management. Generally I like to read when I am sick of sitting in front of a screen. The only ebooks I consider reading are short ones.

Emma Jane Hogbin offered her Drupal theming ebook Theming Drupal: A First Timer’s Guide to her mailing list subscribers for free. I am not a big fan of vendor mailing lists, most of the time I scan the messages and hit delete before the bottom. In the case of Emma, rumour has it that it is really worthwhile to subscribe to her list - especially if you are a designer interested in themeing Drupal. Emma also offered free copies of her ebook to those who begged, so I subscribed and I begged.

The first thing I noticed about the book was the ducks on the front cover, I’m a sucker for cute animal pics. The ebook is derived from Emma’s training courses and the book she coauthored with Konstantin Kaefer, Front End Drupal. Readers are assumed to have some experience with HTML, CSS and PHP. The book is pitched at designers and programmers who want to get into building themes for Drupal.

The reader is walked through building a complete Drupal theme. The writing is detailed and includes loads of references for obtaining additional information. It covers building a page theme, content type specific themeing and the various base themes available for Druapl. The book is a very useful resource for anyone working on a Drupal theme.

Although I have themed quite a few Drupal sites, Emma’s guide taught me a few things. The book is a good read for anyone who wants to improve their knowledge of Drupal themeing. Now to finish reading Front End Drupal …