- [Voiceover] If you have access to your course's exercise files, you can apply them to bring your site to a specific point in the course. You'll find them in the folder, exercise files. Each one of these folders maps to a lesson in the course. The folders starting with section 3 contain at least two files. The first one is .sql. This is the database file. The second is a compressed archive which ends in .zip. This contains your Drupal files. With these files, you can jump in anywhere in the course without having to build the site from the beginning.
This course uses the development environment Acquia Dev Desktop. Which is available for Mac and Windows. I'll show you how to install it during this course. To begin, find the exercise files you want to install. I'll install section 5, lesson 3. I uncompress the file archive, that's the one ending in .zip, by double clicking it. This may take a while. Now we go back to Acquia Dev Desktop. If you've previously installed a site, you may see it here with the name samoca.dd.
You have two options. One, is to delete this site. The second, is to install your exercise files as a new site under a different name. If you do this, you'll have to designate trusted hosts for that site. I'll show you how to do that in another lesson, but we're just going to delete the site we have now by clicking the minus button. We get a warning and say yes we want to delete it. Now go back to the bottom left corner and click plus. Then click import local Drupal site.
Next to local codebase folder, find the folder that you just uncompressed. I click change, and go to that folder. Inside is the samoca folder. Highlight it and click open. Next, go to the database popup menu. Change it to start with MySQL database dump file. Then browse to the .sql file, that's inside the same folder, and open. Now click ok.
You'll get a warning, but it's ok. Just click yes. This may take a while. Once you've finished the import, click the link next to local site. And there it is. For any exercise file in the course, you can login with the username admin, and the password drupal, all lowercase. This is technically all you need, however, I want to tell you about a few warnings you might see, and show you how to get rid of them. If you find that the screen looks strange, that none of the text, or pictures are styled, it may be because the cache needs clearing.
You can do that by going to configuration. Performance. And clear all caches. You may additionally get a warning as you move about the administrative interface, that says that it was not able to get updates. That's ok. Finally, the version of Drupal that was packed in these exercise files, was current as of the time that we recorded the course. However, if you're going to turn this into a site that's public facing, you should update your Drupal files. You're now ready to jump into the course at any point, and your Drupal site will match what you see on the screen.
Released
3/15/2016This course is the first of the series. No prerequisites are required beyond basic computer skills! These easy-to-follow tutorials show how to install Drupal and other necessary components on a Windows or Mac computer, navigate Drupal's web-based interface, configure the settings of a new Drupal site, create content, and move the site to a server. Every step includes best practices to ensure your website remains streamlined, secure, and up-to-date.
Watch Drupal 8 Essentials 2: Building Out Your Website to find out how to finesse your site with categories, comments, custom styles, and other special features.
- Comparing Drupal to other software
- Getting help with Drupal
- Installing Acquia Dev Desktop on Mac and Windows
- Installing the Drupal database, modules, and themes
- Creating basic content
- Establishing your site's look and feel
- Adjusting security settings
- Adding images and metadata
- Adding a sidebar
- Moving your Drupal website to a server
- Backing up a Drupal site
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Video: How to use the Drupal exercise files