Drupal Basics

If you're unfamiliar with Drupal, it may be difficult finding your way around the back-end of your website at first. This page provides an overview of how to log in to Drupal and navigate through the admin menu. 

On this page: 

1. Logging in 
2. The Drupal Admin Bar 
   • The Content Menu 
   • The Structure Menu 
   • The People Menu
   • The Help Menu

Logging in

You can log in to Drupal from any device connected to the internet. We advise that you use a recent version of mainstream browsers, such as Chrome, Firefox or Microsoft Edge to log in. 

To reach the login page, you'll need your site's log in link. Typically, these links look something like this: https://www.example.ca/user/login?access=example123.

Once on the page, you need to enter your username and password. If you have misplaced or forgotten your username or password, please contact Upanup support.

Alternative Log In Processes

Your site may have an alternative log in process. This is typically because your site has a Single-Sign On process, which links your website account to another account you hold in your organization. If you have a log in link like the one above, it should redirect you to the log in page for your site. This page may just look different from the standard log in page. 

The Drupal Admin Bar 

Once you're logged in, you'll be able to see the Drupal admin menu bar. This menu bar is used for navigating around the administrative areas of your website, including adding and editing content.

Depending on your user role, there may be a number of options available in your menu bar. We'll go through some areas in this menu bar that you're likely to be using.

The Content Menu 

The first item on in the admin menu is the Content menu. Here you can review existing content, add new content, review stale content, and visit the media library.

By clicking on Content, you'll be taken to a page that lists all the content items on your site. The list will show you:

• The content's title
• The content type 
• Who the original author is
• Whether the content is published or unpublished
• When the content was last updated

You'll also have the Operations column on the right. The main operation is Edit, and clicking it allows you to edit the page. However, if you click the arrow to the right of edit, you'll be shown other operations, including:

• Schedule Transitions
• Delete
• Clone

This list of content is sorted by most recently update, however you can change what it sorts by, by clicking the column header for Title, Content type or Status.

You can filter this list by published status or content type. You may have additional filter options, depending on how your site is set up. Alternatively, you can search this list, if you know the Title, or have an idea of the Title, of the content you are looking for.

If you hover over Content in the menu bar instead of clicking it, you'll get a fly out menu with the following content options in it.

The Structure Menu

The Structure menu is the second option in the admin menu. While there are a number of items in the Structure menu, there are only a few that you are likely to use frequently. If you have a user role with limited access, you may only see a few options under the Structure menu.