Web development and web design have long been siloed into separate skill sets, but for the Drupal theme ninja, both are indispensable. A theme developer understands PHP, $vars manipulation, theme_overrides, and how Drupal content loads dynamically into the page. A themer adds to this an understanding of more traditional design skills, including CSS, grid theory and facility with the necessary graphical tools. Though many come to theming from a design background, there is little reason a developer could not also make the transition. The first requirement is that the Drupal developer shed any unease about design. Once over this hurdle, he or she can leverage their excellent development skills towards curating what Drupal is ostensibly for, the display of content.
This talk will cover the necessary tools and tricks of the trade, of the sophisticated Drupal themer, and how a developer can become one. It will cover the plugins, the theme stack, the necessary files and coding skills. Most importantly, though, it will attempt to demystify the design process and show just how useful development skills are to theming. The overall goal is to understand the overall design of a Drupal site and that we are not just serving information, we, as developers, are serving content, and content is king. We should be like the monks of Ellesmere’s Chaucer, but with better and faster tools to make the web a beautiful, powerful place.
About Drupal Camp Dallas
Drupal Camp Dallas is a two day event for Drupal developers, users, and those who are curious about the open source platform. Admission for the event is $30 and users can register on the website, www.drupalcampdallas.org. Admission to the camp will cover all sessions, food at the event, and the first 50 to register will receive a free DrupalCamp Dallas t-shirt. For more information about the camp, visit http://www.drupalcampdallas.org or call 214.887.8586.
Sponsors include Improving Enterprises, Firehost, Acquia, Volacci, Rocket Genius, Open Circle, CMS Website Services, Koine Media, LevelTen Interactive, and Tarakan Design.
DrupalCamp Dallas is organized by a team of local Drupal users and agency owners: Lee Raney, Jennifer Conley, Tom McCracken, David Hahn, Randall Knutson, Colin Alsheimer, Dustin Currie and Mark Sonnabaum.
About Drupal
Drupal is a popular content management system that blends web content management and social media capabilities with an enormous library of custom extensions. The Drupal framework and supported exentions are all backed by a large network of professional developers and hobbyists. Using the Drupal framework, companies and individuals can easily create engaging, socially interactive websites.