So anyway here are a few things I learnt along the way:

• There are some very simple yet powerful templating rules you can use to style your website. Learning how they work will really help you style specific pages and blocks.
• Looking for some functionality that is missing by default? I bet there’s already a module that does the job. Check out Drupal modules, this excellent website lists and rates thousands of Drupal modules which you can install and use.
• If you do find a module that adds the functionality you need, double check that there aren’t other modules about that do it better. Since Drupal has been around for some time, many modules haven’t been updated in quite a while so they may just be occupying the name space. It’s always best to check before you dive into using one particular module as it may not always be the best route to take.
• Learn how to use the Content Construction Kit (CCK). If you are missing a type of CCK field, look for an additional module; I’m sure there will be one you can install that does the job. You really can make content types do anything you want with CCK.
• Learn how to use the Views module. I really can’t express this point enough. The Views module is without a doubt one of the most powerful additions to any CMS I’ve ever come across. With it you can take any content and display it however you like on a page. The layout is a little intimidating at first, but once you get your head round it you will have a dynamic site up and running in no time at all.
• Install the ImageCache module. It ties in with both CCK and Views allowing you to upload and display images on your site however you need to. If you add a new image preset the module will automatically iterate over old images so you never have to go in and manually adjust images if you change your site design / functionality.
• One thing I missed from Drupal was the ability to add parent / child nodes. Luckily theres a module called Node Hierarchy that will add this functionality. It even handles the breadcrumbs and Views for you. Note: Make sure you don’t have ‘Taxonomy breadcrumb’ enabled with Node Hierarchy as the breadcrumbs won’t work. I learnt that the hard way!

Hopefully other budding Drupal users found the tips helpful. I’m still a Drupal novice, but now I know the basics the site possibilities are endless.

Screencasts

• Lynda.com: I can’t stress enough how useful Lynda.com has been while learning Drupal (or any other piece of software for that matter). It has 3 superb sets of screencasts available that will take you from a complete beginner a fairly competent Drupal developer. They aren’t free but they are well worth the money!
• Learn by the Drop: Another set of brilliant screencasts that you can use to get up to speed on how to use Drupal. The site contains both premium and free videos for the ‘want to be’ Drupal developer.

Websites

• Stack Overflow: Now I know this is a bit of a catch-all site as it can be used for any programming language, but you will often find many questions you have, have already been answered on Stack Overflow. The Drupal specific questions are available here.
• Drupal Snippets: Drupal Snippets is a whole site dedicated to…. erm… snippets for Druplal. I must admit I’ve yet to use the site, but I bookmarked it as soon as I found it as I’m sure it will come in extremely useful after learning the basics.

Modules

• CCK: Download and install this module and developing dynamic websites in Drupal becomes so (so!) much easier. CCK (Content Construction Kit) is a module that expands Drupals native Custom Content Types functionality opening a whole world of possibilities for your site and users. In essence CCK makes it easier to ‘push’ data into your site in any way you see fit. It’s even being included into the core of Drupal 7.
• Views: Over the past couple of days I’ve been blown away by the power and versatility of the Views module. Where CCK is used to push data into your site database, Views ‘pulls’ the data back out and display it in any format you like. It’s quite intimidating at first as there are tonnes of options and settings, but once you get your head around it, the Drupal world is your oyster. A free screencast on how to use it is available here.
• Pathauto: Coming from WordPress I’m used to its fantastic permalink functionality, once setup it just works. Drupal doesn’t seem to come bundled with anything similar (please correct me here if I’m wrong!) so installing the Pathauto module will plug that gap. The module automatically generates a path for various content types without you having to worry about it.

Themes

• Zen: If you are a Front End Developer like myself you will be wanting a solid foundation with which to build and style your site. You could just edit one of the bundled themes if that’s your thing, but I prefer to start a fresh. The Zen theme is a fantastic theme with which to base your styling off. One big tip, don’t edit the main Zen folder, create a sub-theme by following these directions (I learnt that the hard way).

So there you go, hopefully fellow Drupal beginners will find the links above useful. Any that I’ve missed off or that you’d recommend? Leave a comment below.