Skip to:

Initial Setup

Home » Websites — Stanford Sites » User Guide » Initial Setup

Stanford Sites request process:

  1. Login to the Stanford Sites main administration page: sites.stanford.edu/drupal/admin.
  2. The main administration page shows a list of existing sites for all AFS spaces that you have admin access to. It also provides links to request new sites, to request virtual hosts (vanity URLs) for existing sites, or to edit the configurations of existing sites. To create your (one) personal site, find and click the request link, wait (up to an hour) for an email confirming the site is ready, and then follow the "Next Steps — in Drupal" instructions below (the group/department form and options explained in the following steps do not apply.) To create a new group or department site, find and click the button-link, “Create a new instance for a group or department.”
  3. On the next page, fill out and submit the request form.

    Form field explanations:

    Website Short Name
    This name must be entered as lower-case, 25-characters maximum. It will be used in the true-path URL for the site. The Short Name will not display on the website itself (you will be able to edit the displayed title in Drupal after the site is created).
    Brief Description
    This description is for website managers’ and administrators’ reference only; it will not be published on the website itself. It must be 80 characters or less.
    Admin password
    For the user account “admin” you must set a password. Mix upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters to create a strong one. (After your site is installed, you can use the WebAuth module to establish a SUNet ID based account for yourself, which you can then grant administrative privileges to and access via WebLogin.)
    Organization Type
    This field is auto-populated with AFS department and group spaces for which you have administrative privileges. Select the group or department that you want to associate with the website you are creating. Is this list empty for you? Does it appear to be incomplete? Here are a couple of reasons why that may be: 1) If you are creating a website for a department or group that does not already have an AFS directory, you will need to request that service before proceeding. See Stanford AFS Group Request; 2) If you are creating a website for a department or group with an existing website and you need to request administrative privileges, or believe you already have privileges but don’t see your directory listed here, then please submit a HelpSU request explaining your situation.
    PTS Group Owner and Workgroup Owner
    Optional: You can assign ownership privileges to one Stanford PTS Group and/or one Workgroup.
    WebAuth Module
    IT Services recommends selecting “yes” so that you will have the capabilities and convenience associated with WebAuth integration (e.g., automatic creation of user accounts via WebLogin; mapping workgroups to roles for permissions management).
    Version of Drupal
    Stanford Sites is currently running two supported versions of Drupal: 6 and 7. For new sites, Drupal 7 is recommended.
  4. It takes up to an hour for your newly requested site to be installed. When the site is ready, you will receive an email from “Stanford Sites” with the subject "https://sites.stanford.edu/sitename/install.php?profile=stanford site ready"...
  5. Follow the install link in the email to finish installing your site.

Next steps — in Drupal

For the instructions below, references to URL paths are relative to sites.stanford.edu/groupname as a base.

  1. Modules: go to admin/build/modules to review the modules that are available, and to enable additional functionality. IT Services recommends enabling WebAuth (allows people to log in with SUNetID) and Administration Menu (gives you a quick navigation menu along the top).
  2. Users and Roles: go to admin/user/permissions to review what different categories of users can do on your site.
  3. Themes: go to admin/build/themes to enable the “Stanford Basic” theme, and go to admin/build/themes/settings/stanford_basic to adjust its settings (background picture, etc.)
  4. Create content: go to node/add to add new content. Drupal allows you to create different "content types" - Event, News, Blog post, Course, etc. - at admin/content/types.
  5. Menus: go to admin/build/menu to add pages to menus.
  6. Help: go to admin/help to view help text for any enabled modules.

Further Resources

Last modified Mon, 13 Aug, 2012 at 9:40