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One of the first modules you’ll want to install into ANY drupal site is Pathauto. This essential module will convert the somewhat ugly url path of “node/123” into the much more SEO friendly versions of “content/relevant-url-name-here”.
If you’ve been mystified by how this module works then this video may provide the guidance you need.
Note: You’ll need to install the Token module as well, in order for Pathauto to function properly!
Great video, Matt! I’m a beginner/mid-level Drupal user and found this video really helpful. It cleared up most of my questions about pathauto, but left me with a new question. You said install pathauto as one of your first modules - but to not add it until you have all of you content-types created. So what is the scenario if you add a content-type, say a blog later on? I’ve installed pathauto on a localhost site,so I am not worried about getting crawled - but I definitely haven’t created all of my content-types. What kind of workflow do you suggest?
My suggestion is just a general one - words of advice really. Of course you can add/create content types after your site is live and you’ve set up Pathauto. The goal with setting up the site is to get your anticipated content types into place first because there are so many settings you can set for each content type. Here are just some of them - depending on the modules you are using.
From having set up a few sites myself. One of the biggest time expenditures is simply configuration time. Hence the creation of installation profiles and cool modules like Patterns (which I’ll do a video about at some time).
Thank you for the advice Matt! After tinkering with it for a while and watching the tutorial again, Pathauto makes a lot more sense to me. And the installation profiles with Patterns looks like an awesome way to save time on configuring Drupal. I am curious though if it possible to use the Backup and Migrate module to similar effect? It seems like you should be able to backup a site and database, then duplicate and install it fresh… but I’ve never heard of anyone doing it that way.
Anyway, thanks again and I’ll be watching out for your video on Patterns!
Cheers,
Michelle