The OSTraining Blog - Web Design News and Tutorials

How to Create CSS and Javascript Animations in Drupal 8

There are multiple JavaScript and CSS libraries on the internet. They allow you to animate parts of your site and make them look more attractive.

The Animations module makes it easy to include animations on your Drupal site.

There's a full list of the animations on the module page, but they include such wonderfully named animations as swing, tada, wobble, jello, bounceIn, bounceOut, fadeIn, rollOut, zoomIn, slideInRight and more.

In this tutorial, I'll show how to install and use the required libraries and the Animations module..

How to Create a Voting System in Drupal 8

One of OSTraining’s customers asked how to implement content voting on their site.

In Drupal 7, the popular choice was the Fivestar module, but that's still not ready for Drupal 8.

In this tutorial, I'll show you how to use the Votingapi Widgets module in Drupal 8. This module makes use of a “Rating” field, which you can customize and insert into your content.

Videos to Get you Started with Drupal Development

How do I get started with Drupal development?

That's a common question we get from people who join OSTraining for the first time. They want to know about the skills they will need, and what kind of classes they should take.

In this guide, I'll give you an overview to help you get started with Drupal development.

2 Pagebuilder Plugins Designed for Gutenberg Layouts

WordPress’s new editor Gutenberg provides new flexibility and opportunities for creativity in itself, but there are now plugins available to help improve its performance even more.

The one area where Gutenberg can be frustrating is the columns block. The settings are limited and it can be difficult to get just right. Now there are a few plugins that provide the functionality that has been missing, such as:

Variable column widths
Padding and margin settings
Styling for individual columns.

Build a Mega Menu with Ultimenu and Bootstrap in Drupal 8

One of our customers asked how to build a mega menu in Drupal 8.

Mega menus are menus with multi-column navigation. They are fastly becoming a trend in web design.

The Ultimenu module allows you to insert Drupal blocks into a menu. You can easily use it to build fairly complex menu layouts.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to build a simple mega menu using the Ultimenu module and Bootstrap.

Best Multi-site Management Platforms for Your Agency

There are plenty of reasons why your team might be in a position to manage multiple websites concurrently. In some cases, you have a major network or brand that runs disparate, but connected web properties.

In other cases, it’s because your agency or development business handles the setup, maintenance, and management of websites for numerous clients.

Regardless of the why, you’re probably interested to learn how to actually do it efficiently and effectively.

How to Manage User and Role Permissions in Drupal 8

This tutorial is all about managing users on your Drupal 8 site.

I'll show you how to control who can do what on your site:

Who can create, delete, and edit content?
Who can upload modules and themes?
Who can modify menus and blocks?

You also see how to make user accounts more interesting. You do this by allowing users to add more information about them.

The OSTraining Podcast #32: Josh Strebel on Pagely and NorthStack

Welcome to the OSTraining podcast in 2019.

In this first episode of the year, I talk with Josh Strebel from Pagely. We focus on his new project called NorthStack. Whereas Pagely was the very first "Managed WordPress" service, NorthStack is best described as a "Managed AWS" service.

We talked about NorthStack and what it tells us about the future of WordPress. Is the ecosystem going to splinter as more development moves to Node, Laravel and other platforms? Oh, and I don't let Josh leave without asking about the future of his excellent Pressnomics conference.

The Big Wheel Turns for WordPress and Drupal

"The big wheel keeps on turning
On a simple line day by day
The earth spins on its axis
One man struggle while another relaxes"
"Hymn of the Big Wheel" by Massive Attack

How to Convert Existing Blog Posts to Gutenberg

So you're excited about using WordPress’s new Gutenberg editor.

Gutenberg is a great tool that offers flexibility and easy creative options. But what happens to all the posts and pages you have already created on your WordPress sites? Will your content look the same after you enable Gutenberg? And how easy is it to take advantage of all the new features?

I'll answer those questions in this blog post.

The Gutenberg-Ready Twenty Nineteen WordPress Theme

Since 2011, almost every year, the WordPress team have released a new theme.

However, the team didn't release a theme for 2018 because there were no major WordPress releases.

This year, we're back on track and there's a new default theme, called "Twenty Nineteen". This new theme is needed to take full advantage of this flexibility offered by Gutenberg.

Twenty Nineteen offers significant creative freedom. However, it’s almost a blank slate to begin with, and that can be a little daunting.

Did You See These 5 Really Cool Gutenberg Features?

Text and image blocks may be the most frequently used blocks in Gutenberg, but there are many others that come standard with WordPress new editor.

Previously you would have had to install a plugin or use HTML to get the same results. Let me show you some of the really cool and useful new features in Gutenberg.

Gutenberg Videos Arrive at OSTraining

This week's new video class brings the new Gutenberg editor to the OSTraining library.

"The Beginners Guide to WordPress" is now 100% up-to-date for the new era of WordPress blocks. The new videos talk about Gutenberg in depth, from using your first blocks, to creating your own block library.

Here's an introductory video from the new, Gutenberg-infused, WordPress beginner class. This video introduces some of the cool new block options in Gutenberg. It even shows you how to use the old Classic Editor inside a block!

How to Add Image Blocks in the WordPress Gutenberg Editor

In a previous blog post, we explained that the new Gutenberg editor has moved many key text features into blocks. The same is true with images in Gutenberg.

In the old WordPress editor, you could click "Add media" and use many image and media features from that pop-up screen. That has all changed with Gutenberg.

In this tutorial, I'll walk you through the options for handling images in Gutenberg.

How to Use Text Blocks in the WordPress Gutenberg Editor

Gutenberg comes with a variety of different standard blocks as part of the editor. Many of these standard blocks allow you to add text.

Your first experience with Gutenberg is probably going to involve text blocks. If you just start typing on a new page or post, you have created a "Paragraph" block.

How to Use Columns and Rows for Layouts in Gutenberg

Gutenberg is more than just blocks. It lets you layout a page using columns, thus providing greater flexibility with the look of your page. You can create columns and rows with a variety of different content in both.

As can be expected with such a new release there are some limitations, but it still represents a great step forward. In this tutorial, you will look at using columns in the WordPress Gutenberg editor.

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