imRodMartin - My Blog

Drupal Camp Florida - Ultimate Guide to Media

Rod — Sat, 18 Feb 2023 13:15:19 +0000

Drupal Camp Florida - Ultimate Guide to Media Rod Sat, 02/18/2023 - 08:15

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Drupal

I'm here in Florida at Drupal Camp Florida 2023! This is always a really great event!

I'm presenting the Ultimate Guide to Media - https://www.fldrupal.camp/session/ultimate-guide-configuring-media-modu….

The slides are attached below.

Update:

Drupal Camp Florida was terrific. I met one of my Drupal heroes - Ofer Shall - https://www.drupal.org/u/shaal / https://github.com/shaal. I've blogged and made videos about him - and I finally met him. He is such a gracious guy - he spent a bunch of time with me showing me how to speed up my repo for Drupal training.

This is what the community is all about.

I could go on and on about my interactions with people at DCFL this year. Those who watch my training and interact with me on that level find it hard to believe I'm actually kind of introverted at events. I've gotten better at it - but it's not my "cup of tea" at all.

It was easy at this Drupal Camp. People weren't cloistered in their own groups that made you feel weird trying to join the conversation. Oh for sure - many there have friendships going back years and were excited to see each other but the vibe was open and generous.

My only regret was that I had to leave on Saturday night for something back home. Next year I'll definitely schedule the full conference and a day or two extra.

Ultimate Guide to Media in Drupal.pdf

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Dillsboro Coffee Co - December 2022 Update

Rod — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 18:52:53 +0000

Dillsboro Coffee Co - December 2022 Update Rod Tue, 12/20/2022 - 13:52

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Dillsboro Coffee Company

I'm learning a LOT about working with contractors and companies in a small town :)

The main room where people will order their coffee is now gutted.
The room on the east side of the building where people will sit and we'll do meetings and trainings is barely started.
We've decided to remove the bathroom on the main floor and build it out on the back "veranda". This will give us 78 square feet more space in the seating area.
The supply room is pretty much done.
The offices upstairs are waiting on drywall.

We're still waiting for heat in the building. Our furnace guys were amazing (https://www.yellowpages.com/cross-plains-in/mip/stutlers-service-106280…) but we're waiting on the gas company to run a line to the building. They're saying Tuesday after Christmas. (it's only going to be 0 F on Christmas Day).

Still - we're encouraged - feeling like we're "on track".

December 8th Open House

Main area of the shop looking toward the front

This room will seat about 20 once this wall is removed

Coffee Shop Website

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The Ultimate Guide to Media in Drupal - NedCamp 2022

Rod — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 18:16:00 +0000

The Ultimate Guide to Media in Drupal - NedCamp 2022 Rod Tue, 11/15/2022 - 13:16

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Drupal

I'm excited to be presenting at NedCamp 2022 the "Ultimate Guide to the Media Manager in Drupal 9" (https://nedcamp.org/sessions/2022/ultimate-guide-media-manager-drupal-9).

This 45 minute session will be a whirlwind - but here are the slides and you can see the entire course at OSTraining: https://ostraining.com/courses/the-ultimate-guide-to-the-media-module-in-drupal/

Video below!

Ultimate Guide to Media in Drupal.pdf

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Absolute Beginner's Guide to Drupal Slides from NedCamp 2022

Rod — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 17:18:14 +0000

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Drupal Slides from NedCamp 2022 Rod Tue, 11/15/2022 - 12:18

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Drupal

I'm pretty excited to be sharing a couple of sessions at NedCamp 2022 (https://nedcamp.org) for OSTraining (https://ostraining.com)

The challenge - teach Drupal in 45 minutes but leave room for questions!

Well... here are the slides at least :)

Absolute Beginners Guide to Drupal - NedCamp.pdf

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Drupal Site Building Workflow

Rod — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 21:50:41 +0000

Drupal Site Building Workflow Rod Thu, 10/27/2022 - 17:50

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Drupal

I produced an 83 lesson Drupal 9 course over at OSTraining that has one resource that people really seem to appreciate. It's called the Site Building Workflow. It's basically a "best practice" workflow I based the class on.

Well, here it is... (right click to download)

Copyright Notice: This image is the copyright of OSTraining LLC. You may download and use for personal use. You may not re-produce or use the image in any publication without the express permission of OSTraining, LLC.

We're Doing Something New!

rodmartin — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 15:41:44 +0000

We're Doing Something New! rodmartin Mon, 10/03/2022 - 11:41

Monday, October 3, 2022

Dillsboro Coffee Company

We made Dillsboro, IN our home 18 years ago (where did THAT time go?) and we're probably not leaving any time soon.

We had the opportunity presented to us to move our businesses into a building rent free as long as we renovated it and maintained a business in there (crazy right? - it's even more than that - but that's for another post).

I started renovating it this weekend - and other than bumping my head on a ceiling fan blade it's going well!

Here's what's moving in: https://navigatetomorrow.com, https://812studios.com, https://dillsborocoffee.co - yep - we're opening a coffee shop in Dillsboro!

Progress reports to come!

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Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership

rodmartin — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 00:01:05 +0000

Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership rodmartin Wed, 09/21/2022 - 20:01

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Leadership

At a glance, "Leadership" seems to be a vast and complex topic. Its been the foundation of thousands of studies, hundreds of thousands of articles and more than a few hours in classrooms from MBA's to Seminaries. Opinions on what leadership is, how to exercise it and how to "fix" it abound.

I recently finished reading "My Share of the Task: A Memoir" by General Stanely McChrystal (link to book at the bottom of this post). Towards the end of the book, he summarized the lessons on leadership he had learned from his years in the military - most recently as the commander of all allied forces in Afghanistan.

This isn't a "political" post - I'm not commenting on the on-going war, the military, the US involvement over there... this is a post on his comments regarding leadership - a topic I have studied for almost 30 years.

In his words:

"Leadership" was the single biggest reason organizations succeeded or failed. It dwarfed numbers, technology, ideology, and historical forces in determining the outcome of events. Take the best battalion and the worst. "Switch just two people - the battalion commander and command sergeant major from the best battalion with those of the worst, and within ninety days the relative effectiveness of the battalions will have switched as well".

(I would provide page numbers, but e-readers make that seemingly impossible).

I spent the final year of my Masters program as the TA for Dr. Howard Hendricks. One of his favorite sayings was "Everything rises and falls on leadership." He was right.

Leadership is the art of influencing others. Here are the main thoughts from General McChrystal's book:

Leaders take us where we'd otherwise not go.
Leaders can call to the best in us.
Leaders are empathetic.
Leaders are not necessarily popular.
The best leaders are genuine.
Leaders can be found at any rank and at any age.
Physical appearance, poise, outward self-confidence can be confused with leadership - for a time.
Leaders walk a fine line between self-confidence and humility.
People are born; leaders are made.
Leaders are people, and people constantly change.
Leaders make mistakes and the higher the leader, the most costly they usually are.
There are few secrets to leadership - more than anything it requires self-discipline.
In the end, leadership is a choice.

Really great read.

(Link to the book on Amazon - not an affiliate link)

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What I've Learned After 160,000 Miles on a Motorcycle

Rod — Tue, 06 Sep 2022 16:51:05 +0000

What I've Learned After 160,000 Miles on a Motorcycle Rod Tue, 09/06/2022 - 12:51

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Living Intentionally

One Friday morning last month I decided to ride to Nashville, TN for lunch. It's 260 miles so I made it right around 1:00 pm. I love Nashville and the ride there and back on the coutry roads was incredibly relaxing.

On my way back I added up the miles I’ve ridden on a motorcycle… around 160,000 (about 260,000 km). Not a lot by some standards but a ton more than people who buy a bike and leave it in their garage.

A few thoughts:

There is nothing like the open road on a bike. Nothing.
I love the Goldwing (just my preference… HD riders are fine people too! :) )
If you appear approachable, people everywhere will ask where you’re heading, strike up a conversation and wish you well… and I love that.
People are generally decent.
Some are not.
Even when gas is $3.79 a gallon, you can go over 200 miles for under $20.
I love long stretches of straight road… the Goldwing is so perfectly balanced you can ride for miles with no hands.
Bluetooth in my helmet means I’ve had some amazing phone conversations with friends I don’t always get to talk to.
In light of # 8… Secure your phone well to your bike. There’s nothing like dropping your phone on a bridge in mid-conversation with someone and the last words they hear are… "Oh crap".
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. No matter how strong you are you can’t lift a 900 pound bike out of a ditch when it’s upside down by yourself. People are always willing to help (see #4).

I’d love to think that I’ll get another hundred thousand miles in before I can’t ride anymore… But then there’s always a Can-Am Spider.

Improve the Search Engine Optimization on Your Drupal Website

Rod — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 18:31:59 +0000

Improve the Search Engine Optimization on Your Drupal Website Rod Sat, 08/20/2022 - 14:31

Saturday, August 20, 2022

Drupal

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is one of the most important factors in getting your website found by Google and other search engines. While there's no substitute for great content, the SEO Checklist module will really help you ensure your site is ready to be found! https://drupal.org/project/seo_checklist

To learn more about Drupal, visit https://ostraining.com

Bye Bye Bartik - Drupal Gets a New Default Theme!

Rod — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 18:36:28 +0000

Bye Bye Bartik - Drupal Gets a New Default Theme! Rod Tue, 08/02/2022 - 14:36

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Drupal

For at least the past decade, when you installed Drupal you started off with Bartik as your default theme. Rock solid and functional, Bartik was the theme that thousands of our students used to learn Drupal.

Well, as of Drupal 9.4 that's all changed. In this video I introduce you to Olivero and Claro, the new default theme and administration theme in Drupal 9.

Mentioned in this video: Gin Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loIyIH3oyy8 / https://drupal.org/project/gin

Visit https://ostraining.com for more Drupal training!

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