Who Am I?

Michal Minecki

• @mirzu
• drupal.org/user/7710
• github.com/mirzu

Why I'm giving this talk.

• Not a usability expert, and I never will be.
• I'm a developer.
• I like happy clients.
• I see clients that are frustrated by Drupal.
• I see some quick wins.
• Developers turn off the Overlay.

What We'll go over.

• Why Drupal admin can be challenging.
• Quick things to look for.
• Modules that help.
• What the future holds.

Why Drupal can be frustrating.

Wordpress admin

Drupal Admin

Usually goes downhill from there.

Why it's hard to get right.

Drupal is super flexible. . .

So the default admin is hard to peg.

Maybe. . .

Users need to understand too much.

• Menu system?
• Taxonomy?
• Taxonomy Menu?

Our job is to get out of their way.

What's in their way?

• Don't know whats going on.
• Lots of clicks for common tasks
• Can't figure out uncommon tasks
• Your clever solution is impossible to remember

What works?

Elements of a good admin experience.

Lets take a look at WordPress.

Designed for common tasks

Obvious easy to use help.

Statistics are front and center.

Consistency is key.

Whats the easiest way to get it right?

Build the admin as you go.

Start with a solid foundation from day 1.

Think about the admin for each feature.

What to check for.

Did you enable the built in modules?

• Dashboard
• Contextual admin
• Shortcut
• Overlay?

Easy Wins

• Reduce Permissions.
• Remove WYSIWYG Buttons.
• Fill out the Field Help text.
• Setup some Shortcuts for your users
• Reduce Input formats (Better Formats Module)

Modules that help.

total control

total control

• provides a sane default dashboard.
• provides a bunch of great default views.
• super easy to edit, and customize.
• turn on ipe.
• http://drupal.org/project/total_control

admin menu

admin menu

• Cuts down on Clicks.
• Makes things easier to find quickly.
• Customizable.
• http://drupal.org/project/admin_menu

Mobile Friendly Admin

https://drupal.org/node/1993254

WorkBench

Workbench

• Framework for Complex Editorial Workflows.
• Makes unpublished Revisions easier to work with.
• Provides approval workflow.
• Only use it if there is a strong business case.
• http://drupal.org/project/workbench

Advanced Help

Advanced Help

• Framework for contextual help.
• Provides help pages for lots of popular modules.
• Provides contextual links, and a framework to add them.
• Can be weird to work with, and some of the help is written in neck beard.
• http://drupal.org/project/advanced_help

Simple Help

• Lower friction alternative.
• Works like Github, looks for markdown in module files, adds contents to help menu.
• Doesn't provide contextual options.
• http://drupal.org/project/simple_help

Views Bulk Operations.

• Quickly add actions to views.
• Very flexible and easy to use tool.
• http://drupal.org/project/views_bulk_operations

FieldGroup

• Group Fields to help organize content creation.
• https://drupal.org/project/field_group

Publish Button

• Splits the Save button into Publish and Save.
• https://drupal.org/project/publish_button

Linkit

• Easily Link to other parts of your site.
• https://drupal.org/project/LINKIT

Field Validation

• Validate Fields
• https://drupal.org/project/field_validation

Other helpful Modules

For Select Lists

Lots of options need to find one that works for you, here's 2.

Chosen

Hierarchical Select

Selecting Content.

Slideshows, featured content, homepage, landing pages. . . all need a way to select content.

Draggable Views

nodequeue