🚀 My Journey with Drupal: From No Coding to Full Websites

Powerful combination of Views + Blocks allowed me to build dynamic sites without writing code

When I first started learning web development, I didn’t know how to write code at all. I had no idea what PHP was. The only thing I knew was how to build static HTML/CSS websites in Dreamweaver.

Everything changed when I discovered Drupal.

🔍 First Impressions of Drupal: Complicated? No—Comprehensive!

My first time installing Drupal was version 7.x. I remember logging into the admin dashboard and thinking:

“What is this? It looks so complicated!”

But soon, I realized Drupal is a structured and modular CMS that can power many types of websites, and it’s even more flexible than WordPress.

The two key tools that made everything possible for me were:

✅ Views

✅ Blocks

These two allowed me to build almost anything without writing a single line of code.

🔧 What is Views?

Views is a powerful query and display builder for Drupal. You can use it to pull data from the database, filter it, sort it, group it, paginate it, and display it in any format you want—all through a visual UI.

Examples include:

• Latest articles list
• Related content by category
• Featured blocks showing certain fields
• Calendars, lists, carousels, cards, etc.

No SQL required!

🧱 What is a Block?

Blocks are content containers that can be placed anywhere on your page layout:

• Sidebar
• Header banner
• Footer call-to-action
• Inline on content pages

Just make a View into a Block, then assign it to a region, and you’re done.

💡 Real Use Cases

Some examples I’ve built:

• Top of homepage: Latest event slider using Views filtered by content type event, sorted by newest, limited to 5 items, displayed with a slider theme.
• Sidebar: Today’s news summary filtered by current date.
• Below articles: "Related articles" using taxonomy term matching, excluding the current node.
• Product category pages: Filter products by URL arguments via Contextual Filters.

I did all this without knowing PHP or custom modules!

✨ My Conclusion

Drupal isn’t just for developers—it’s a fantastic platform for content architects and site designers.

If you:

• Can create content types
• Use fields for structured data
• Use Views + Blocks for queries and display
• Style content with CSS

You can build a fully dynamic website with Drupal.

🔮 Epilogue: From Beginner to Trainer

Over time, I went from knowing only HTML/CSS to mastering Views, Blocks, multilingual setups, Composer, Drush, and now even integrating AI for development support.

Drupal is a system that grows with you. It won’t limit you—it will guide you into deeper understanding and more powerful tools.

If you’re like me and don’t know how to code, start with Views + Blocks. It may just open a new door to the world of web development.