Building a Drupal site from scratch - part 12 - Working with image styles

| Drupal Development | 3 seen

By default Drupal offers 3 image styles enabled: thumbnail, medium, large:

Image styles can be applied to images we are using in views, and not always 3 default options are enough.

 

In the image above, you can see, we have passed some default image styles in our Featured tours view. What are the options to make the images fit the box? Well, we could use Some CSS techniques, but we can use image styles options from Drupal, right?

So I'm gonna create a new image style, called grid2:

  • Go to admin/config/media/image-styles
  • Click Add style
  • Give it a name, in my case grid2
  • In the next windows after pressing create style, scroll down for the Effect section
  • From the dropdown menu choose and select Scale and crop, and press Add
  • Enter dimensions from your new image style (I'm gonna use 450X220
  • Save
By now we have created a new image-style, so how could we apply this to our view?    Go to the view, containing image field, open image field, in section image style change style to newly created, apply style, and save the view.…

Drupal 7 override page.tpl.php for specific content type

| Drupal Development | 34 seen

<p>Working on project I needed a function to override default page.tpl.php for specific content type. I did use theme_hook function some 2 years ago, and I knew it's achievable in Drupal.</p><p>Doing quick Google search found a Drupal tutorial <a href="https://drupal.org/node/249726">https://drupal.org/node/249726</a>&nbsp;- &nbsp;don't know is it problem with my project, but that didn't work as expected, and after brief investigation I found a solution:&nbsp;<a href="https://drupal.org/node/1089656#comment-4662688">https://drupal.org/nod… a new page.tpl.php for your specific content - for example page--acommodations.tpl.php</p><p>In your template.php file add:</p><blockquote><pre>function YOURTHEME_preprocess_page(&amp;$vars, $hook) {<br> if (isset($vars['node'])) {<br> // If the node type is "accommodation" the template suggestion will be "page--accommodation.tpl.php".<br> $vars['theme_hook_suggestions'][] = 'page__'. $vars['node']-&gt;type;<br> }<br>}</pre…


Motive (TV-series)

| Worth to Watch | 4 seen

<p>Started to watch a new crime series - Motive.</p><p>Plot line:</p><blockquote><p>A feisty Vancouver homicide detective tracks down the most cunning of killers by trying to figure out the motive to the crime.</p></blockquote><p>Time by time I like to watch TV series, and so in Sunday evening I found a new series to watch - Motive.</p><p>After watching first 3 series, I'm ready to continue to watch all season.</p><p>It's interesting that on start of each series is showed who is the killer, and who is the victim, and then latter on - detectives finds a motive.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>At the start of series I didn't quite get is it US or Canada based series - but now I know, it is made in Canada, and series plot line is set on streets of Vancouver.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>IMDB:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2443340/">http://www.imdb.com/title/tt24433…;


Customizing Subpage page.tpl.php Design in Drupal: Tips and Tricks

| Drupal Development | 4 seen

Theming subpages in Drupal is an important aspect of website design that can help you create a professional-looking website that engages your visitors. One way to achieve this is by theming subpages like page.tpl.php in Drupal. 

In this article, we'll take a closer look at what page.tpl.php is, and how you can use it to create custom subpage themes in Drupal. 

Page.tpl.php is a template file in Drupal that controls the overall layout and styling of your website pages. By default, it applies to all pages on your website, but you can also create custom page.tpl.php files for specific subpages. This allows you to create a unique look and feel for different sections of your website.

To theme subpages like page.tpl in Drupal, you'll need to create a new template file and name it according to Drupal's naming convention.

For example, if you want to create a custom template for a subpage that displays blog posts, you would create a new file called page--blog.tpl.php. This file would contain the HTML, CSS, and PHP code needed to create the desired layout and styling for your blog subpage.

Once you've created your custom…


Minimum wage in Baltic states

| Macroeconomics | 8 seen

Minimum wages in the Baltic states are the lowest ones in the European Union. In 2013 minimum wage in Baltic states was $427 in Estonia, $379 in Latvia and $385 in Lithuania.

Update: Minimum Wage Set to Rise in the Baltic States in 2018

Difference between "richest" Estonia and "poorest" Latvia in 2013, in terms of minimum wage, was = $48

 

Estonia has announced to increase its minimum wage by 35 EUR both in 2014 and 2015. In 2014 minimum wage in Estonia will be $474.

Latvia plans to increase its minimum wage to 320 EUR or $427 in 2014

I haven't found any evidence that Lithuania plans to increase its minimum wage in 2014.

In 2014, Lithuania will replace Latvia as "poorest" in terms of minimum wage, making difference with Estonia $89.

By forecasts - Estonia will reach minimum wage $500 mark already in 2015, so my predictions are that both in Latvia and Lithuania minimum wage will be increased as well.

Just by comparison, in relatively close Poland, the minimum wage in 2013 was $491 and is expected to reach $535 by 2014.


Building a Drupal site from scratch - part 10 - Views exposed filters

| Drupal Development | 13 seen

<p>Remember at start of this tutorial <a href="http://reinisfischer.com/building-drupal-site-scratch-part-1-planing">we created a tour types taxonomy</a>, by allowing asign a category for each node from content type tour? Today we gonna add these values to our tours page, by allowing for users to filer tours by their type:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Open your view tour, and under filter settings add filter Tour type:</p><p><img src="http://reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/filtertours.JPG&quot; alt="" width="752" height="563"></p><p>Make sure you check next to Expose this filter. Save your view, now by accessing your view page, you should see something similiar to this:</p><p><img src="http://reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/filtertourview.JPG&quot; alt="" width="826" height="514"></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Which is nice, and does his job as needed (filters on values entered)</p><p>Depending on your mood and needs, you can leave this, or you can expose this filter…


Building a Drupal site from scratch - part 9 - adding menu

| Drupal Development | 9 seen

<p>To add a menu to your Drupal site, you should enable menu module from your modules page:</p><p><img src="http://reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/enablemenu.JPG&quot; alt="" width="1162" height="169"></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>When enabled, head to&nbsp;admin/structure/menu/manage/main-menu and a few menu links:</p><p><img src="http://reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/listmenu.JPG&quot; alt="" width="1143" height="254"></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Depending on your theme structure, you have two options, either programmatically call menu in your theme, or put it on block. Since in this tutorial we are using Bootstrap theme, which has already called function to show menu, when enabled, after adding menu links, they will be visible on Bootstrap theme.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img src="http://reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/menutheme.JPG&quot; alt="" width="1012" height="174"></p>


Population changes in former Soviet Union

| Macroeconomics | 156 seen

15 former Soviet Union republics, then and now.

In 1990 in the Soviet Union lived 287.728 million people. In 2012 in the former republics lived 290.587 million people, which is 0.98% increase. A pretty small increase for 22 years.

 

The thing is, not all former Soviet republics have developed equally in next 22 years, since the collapse of Soviet Union.

Countries with population decrease:

Country 1990 2012  Change mln  % Latvia 2.663 2.025 -0.638 -31.5 Lithuania 3.698 2.986 -0.712 -23.84 Armenia 3.545 2.969 -0.576 -19.4 Estonia 1.569 1.339 -0.23 -17.17 Ukraine 51.89 45.59 -6.3 -13.81 Belarus 10.19 9.464 -0.72 -7.67 Georgia 4.802 4.512 -0.29 -6.42 Moldova 3.696 3.56 -0.136 -3.82 Russia 148.3 143.5 -4.8 -3.34

Countries with population increase:

Country

Building a Drupal site from scratch - part 8 - Theming subtheme CSS

| Drupal Development | 7 seen

<p>In part 2 of series how to build a Drupal site from scratch, I'm talking about how to create a subtheme from Bootstrap theme.</p><p>Today I would like to speak how to actually theme it, because just enabled it comes empty,with all files served from Bootstrap mater theme.</p><p>By default Bootstrap theme is set to be 1200px and wider, this is first thing I would like to change for our customers tourism website we are using in thee Drupal series. I don't mind for ite being 1200px and more wider, just I like to them be 940-980px, to work well on most display's.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In your mytheme/css folder look for style.css file. It's empty, and now let's start overriding it:</p><p>add:</p><blockquote><pre>.container, .navbar-static-top .container, .navbar-fixed-top .container, .navbar-fixed-bottom .container {<br>width: 940px;<br>}</pre></blockquote><pre>&nbsp;</pre><pre>This will make themes default witdth to 940px.</pre><pre>&nbsp;</pre><pre>Actually this is it. Of course you must rewrite…


Drupal views archive page

| Drupal Development | 13 seen

<p>Today I decided to give some face-lift to my blog page. I wanted to add an archive function to filter blog posts by month. If you have views enabled, you can use default view archive, which comes with views.</p><p>Since I already had created a page blog, I didn't see any use to use 2 identical views - archive and blog. So I didn't enabled archive view, instead I fine tuned my existing blog page view:</p><p>Add Contextual filter:&nbsp;<strong>Content: Created year + month</strong>, to your blog page.</p><p><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/contextual-filter.JPG&…; alt="" width="1117" height="528"></p><p>Set&nbsp;<strong>Display all results for the specified field</strong>&nbsp;WHEN THE FILTER VALUE IS NOT IN THE URL</p><p>Override title <strong>Blog %1</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>These settings will allow to pass argument in URL, by not making any harm to your existing blog page.&nbsp;</p><p>Now lets add new block from views. And head to…


Building a Drupal site from scratch - part 7 - Theming views

| Drupal Development | 4 seen

<p>In <a href="http://reinisfischer.com/building-drupal-site-scratch-part-5-custom-fro… 4</a> in tutorial series how to build a Drupal site from scratch, I am showing how to build views. Now let's upgrade them, by adding additional fields and even CSS style.</p><p>Yes, we will add CSS style directly into our views.</p><p>Lets go back to our view tours (if you are new to this series, please read <a href="http://reinisfischer.com/building-drupal-site-scratch-part-4-creating-v… to create a Drupal views</a>)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>In part 4 we have already changed Format for Featured blocks to fields, lets apply the same for page display:</p><p><img src="http://reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/changestyle.JPG&quot; alt="" width="1076" height="434"></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Now lets add some fields to our view:</p><p>By default we already have Title field</p><ul><li>Add Photo field</li><li>Add Body Field</li></ul><div><img src="http://reinisfischer…


Week #5 of blogging 365 days in a row

| Blogging | 1 seen

<p>Fifth week of <a href="http://reinisfischer.com/can-you-blog-365-days-row">blogging 365 days in row</a> has already passed away. I need to confess - without future posting feature, nothing wouldn't work out. There are days, I'm not even looking into my blog, don't speaking of writing a content.</p><p>At the end of October I created a dozen of posts, to publish till middle of November. That was smart, right? When you have an inspiration, write, write, write, but don't publish all together, keep it for rainy days.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>So yes, 5th week was on of those rainy day weeks, and Haven't contributed much content - BUT - <a href="http://reinisfischer.com/30-days-twittering-row">I have started to use Twitter</a>, and have gained already 22 followers (up from 5) when I started.</p><p><img src="http://www.reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/twitter.JPG&quot; alt="" width="539" height="319"></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>During month of November, I'm not using (not looking) any…


Building a Drupal site from scratch - part 6 - Working with blocks

| Drupal Development | 3 seen

<p>In <a href="http://reinisfischer.com/building-drupal-site-scratch-part-4-creating-v… 4</a> of this Drupal tutorial series we created a view with block - Features tours. Now is the right time, to do something with this block. And we gonna put this block on our <a href="http://reinisfischer.com/building-drupal-site-scratch-part-5-custom-fro… access blocks section in your Drupal site, head to structure/block:</p><p><img src="http://reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/featuredtourblock.JPG&quot; alt="" width="1081" height="258"></p><p>Drag this block to Content block area:</p><p><img src="http://reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/dragblocks.JPG&quot; alt="" width="1052" height="260"></p><p>Be sure to click the save button.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>To make this block availiable only on frontpage, click configure and enter settings as bellow:</p><p><img src="http://reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/jutfront.JPG&quot; alt="" width="1037" height…


Building a Drupal site from scratch - part 5 - Custom fronpage

| Drupal Development | 8 seen

<p>By default Drupal comes with frontpage set to display latest 10 nodes from your site:</p><p><img src="http://reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/frontpagedrupal.png&quot; alt="" width="632" height="573"></p><p>Which might be ok, if you are runing some blog, but if you are looking the ways how to change default frontpage, you must take a look under system/site-information. In the section default front page it's set to /node (container of your latest posts)</p><p>I'll show one technique I'm using to setup custom, views powered frontpage:</p><p>In previous parts of this tutorial I have already showed <a href="http://reinisfischer.com/building-drupal-site-scratch-part-4-creating-v… to install views and how to create a view</a>&nbsp;</p><p>This time we gonna enable view frontpage from our views page:</p><p><img src="http://reinisfischer.com/sites/default/files/enablefrontpage.JPG&quot; alt="" width="1174" height="327"></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Go to /admin/…


Building a Drupal site from scratch - part 4 - Creating views

| Drupal Development | 9 seen

<p>Let's move on with our tourism companies website tutorial.</p><p>In part 1 we created a custom content type - Tours, now it's time to make a few views which will contain data from node related to content type - tours.</p><p>Before creating views - we must download a few modules, to get them work:</p><ul><li><a href="https://drupal.org/project/views">Download Views</a></li><li><a href="https://drupal.org/project/ctools">Download Ctools</a></li><li>Extract both to sites/all/modules</li><li>Enable Views, Views UI modules</li></ul><div>A bried explanation from creators of Drupal views:</div><div><ul><li>You like the default front page view, but you find you want to sort it differently.</li><li>You like the default taxonomy/term view, but you find you want to sort it differently; for example, alphabetically.</li><li>You use /tracker, but you want to restrict it to posts of a certain type.</li><li>You like the idea of the 'article' module, but it doesn't…


Latest video

Embedded thumbnail for Tsikhisdziri &amp; Batumi Botanical Garden

Tsikhisdziri & Batumi Botanical Garden

After returning from our amazing trip to Thessaloniki, we decided to extend our holiday a bit longer — this time in beautiful Tsikhisdziri. Huge thanks to Eto for kindly offering her cozy apartments at Bambo Beach, where we enjoyed a full week of relaxation by the sea.During our stay, we explored local gems like Shukura Tsikhisdziri (შუქურა…
Embedded thumbnail for Summer in Latvia 2025

Summer in Latvia 2025

Summer in Latvia movie is out - Join us on our July (2025) journey through Latvia: installing a bathtub in our countryside cottage, setting up a pop-up store at Bangotnes, celebrating a birthday in Vērbeļnieki, traveling via Riga to Jaunpiebalga, Vecpiebalga, Smiltene, and Valka. From sipping sparkling wine with swallows to running 4K morning…
Embedded thumbnail for Chateau Ateni. Gori

Chateau Ateni. Gori

This time (May 2025), our journey takes us to Gori and the enchanting Chateau Ateni - a hidden gem where authentic Georgian cuisine blends seamlessly with avant-garde natural wines, soulful traditional dance, and even the charming surprise of a small chick farm.What makes this trip extra special is sharing it with our Latvian/Georgian friends,…

Living in Georgia

Mziuri Tennis Club in Tbilisi

Our family has been attending Mziuri Tennis Club in Tbilisi since September 2025, after several recommendations from our BIST community. We signed up our 7-year-old for the junior program, which costs 300 GEL per month. After a few months…

12 Rounds Boxing Club in Tbilisi

Sometimes even the most loyal gym-goers need to shake things up—and that's exactly what I did this month. After years of training at the "luxurious Axis Tower gym", I decided to take a short break. Not because I had any complaints about…

Tbilisi Circus: A Historic Landmark with a Surprising Past

Tbilisi Circus is an iconic part of the city's cultural landscape. Having lived in Georgia since 2011, I have passed by the Tbilisi Circus almost every day. However, it wasn’t until I attended a show that I truly appreciated its grandeur…

Foraging for Mushrooms near Tsodoreti Lake: A Day in the Suburbs of Tbilisi

Back in June 2024, I first came across Tsodoreti Lake during one of the Tbilisi Trails races, which turned out to be one of the most challenging runs of my life. While I tackled the 10K trail route, my partner and our kiddo took a gentler…

Frame House

Frame House Upgrades: Big Windows, New Porch, and Apple Trees Planted in Latvia

In mid-April, during our kiddo’s Easter school break, we traveled to Latvia for about 10 days — a trip packed with projects, energy, and transformation. A lot of pre-planning had gone into it before we even arrived: we ordered the windows…

Frame House in Latvia: Outdoor Patio, Inner Walls, and More

As June came to an end, our family embarked on a journey from Tbilisi to Latvia, skipping Renee's school year for the last week and focus on our frame house project. Here's a glimpse into our busy but rewarding time working on the house.We…

Spring Break Project: Building Progress on Our Frame House in Latvia

As the chill of winter slowly gives way to the warmth of spring, it's the perfect time to roll up our sleeves and dive back into the construction of our dream frame house in Latvia. During this Spring break from British International…

Piece of Life

Postcards from Marseille

It’s been nearly two years since our last trip to Marseille, a sun-drenched jewel on France’s southern coast that left an indelible mark on our memories. That summer of 2023, we set out to explore the city’s vibrant beaches and winding old town, arriving and departing through the bustling hub of Marseille St. Charles train station. As I sit…

Christmas Eve at Palolem Beach: Fire Shows, Old Monk

While we just celebrated Orthodox Christmas in Georgia, I can’t help but delve into the memories of our Western Christmas last year (2024), spent on the serene shores of Palolem Beach in Goa, India. That evening was magical in every way, filled with vibrant energy, beautiful scenery, and a new discovery that made the night unforgettable.Palolem…

A Family Guide to Borjomi: Hiking Trails and Sulfur Bath Tips

As summer came to a close, we continued our family's tradition of visiting Borjomi. This year marked yet another memorable trip at the end of August 2024, reaffirming our love for this beautiful Georgian town. Visiting Borjomi at least twice a year has become a cherished routine, a piece of life that we look forward to, blending relaxation,…

Travel guides

Embedded thumbnail for Summer in Latvia 2025

Summer in Latvia 2025

Summer in Latvia movie is out - Join us on our July (2025) journey through Latvia: installing a bathtub in our countryside cottage, setting up a pop-up store at Bangotnes, celebrating a birthday in Vērbeļnieki, traveling via Riga to…

Embedded thumbnail for Birthday in Thessaloniki, Greece

Birthday in Thessaloniki, Greece

Turning 40 is a milestone worth celebrating in style, and what better way than in Thessaloniki — a city that seamlessly blends history, culture, and cuisine. From affordable flights and boutique stays to seafood feasts and hidden beaches,…

Embedded thumbnail for Azeula Fortress, Tbilisi Sea, and Ateni Sioni

Azeula Fortress, Tbilisi Sea, and Ateni Sioni

August ended with yet another packed and memorable weekend in Georgia. This time, our journey took us from the hills near Kojori to the refreshing waters of the Tbilisi Sea, and finally to the historical town of Gori, where we enjoyed a…

Hotel Reviews

Stays & Trails La Maison Hotel Review in Panaji

At the tail end of 2024, just before catching our flight back to Delhi, we decided to book a one-night stay at Stays & Trails La Maison Fontainhas in Panaji, Goa. After weeks staying in Palolem beach, we wanted to wrap up our trip with…

Schuchmann Wines Château: A Long-Awaited Stay in Georgia’s Premier Winery Hotel & Spa

It took us over a decade to finally make it to Schuchmann Wines Château & Spa, and it was well worth the wait! We’ve spent years recommending this stunning winery hotel to visiting friends and business partners, yet somehow, we had…

Hotel Belvedere Prague: A Practical Stay with Easy Access

During our recent trip to Prague in mid-October 2024, we stayed at Hotel Belvedere. My partner attended the MEET Central Europe Translators conference, and we were joined by one of our office employees, so we opted to book two rooms. …

Review: Art Hotel Prague – A Cozy Stay in a Tranquil Part of Prague

During our recent trip to Prague in October 2024, we opted for a one-night stay at the Art Hotel Prague. We arrived at the hotel via Bolt taxi from Václav Havel Airport, which was straightforward and efficient. At about EUR 120 per room…

Toursim objects

Plage des Catalans: A Shrinking Memory in Marseille

Plage des Catalans, a sandy crescent tucked along Marseille’s coastline, holds a special place in my travel tapestry. I first visited this beach in the summer of 2003, a carefree stop during my early adventures in the city. Back then, it felt like a haven—close to the bustling port yet offering a slice of Mediterranean calm. When I returned…

Colva Beach: Golden Sands and Tranquility in Goa

Colva Beach, located in South Goa, is known for its expansive golden sands and tranquil atmosphere. Stretching for several kilometers along the Arabian Sea, the beach offers a peaceful escape from the busier tourist hubs in the region. Its wide shoreline, framed by swaying palm trees, provides plenty of space for visitors to relax, stroll, or…

Charles Bridge: A Timeless Landmark in Prague

The Charles Bridge (Karlův most) in Prague is one of the most iconic and historic landmarks in Europe. Built in the 14th century under the reign of King Charles IV, this Gothic stone bridge spans the Vltava River, connecting Prague's Old Town with the Lesser Town (Malá Strana). Adorned with a series of 30 Baroque statues and surrounded by…

Macroeconomics

Servers and Drupal

Genealogy