Should you fully learn one CMS or partially a few.

[barrykins]

Well being a designer, I don't know to much about the developing but I am actively getting more into programming then designing. I always see forum post about what CMS fits my needs, What CMS for "this" for "that".

Do developers often learn many different CMS', or specialize in one like Drupal(the one I've decided to focus my energy in fully understanding)?

[ChrisWiegman]

That depends on what you're doing as a designers. Often designers, working with a developer, can create a design that could be used on any CMS. It is up to a good developer (often who specializes in one product) to code the design for the software in question.

[awasson]

Yup, I agree with Chris's post above mine. The designer should be able to be technology agnostic and it's up to the developer to know their stuff.

That said, I used to be that way on the development side and would work in whatever came my way, .NET, PHP, CFM, JSP, etc. I thought I could continue that trend into the world of modern CMS's but I can't. I chose Drupal as my platform of choice and although I've been using it almost exclusively for 5 years and know it very well, I learn a new trick, technique or method with every project I do with it. The new CMS's can be quite complex.

[barrykins]

Thank-you for the responds. It clears my path a little bit.

Though I am a confident designer, I'm always trying to further my knowledge of web. Therefore I'm diving into the world of web development. The reason I was asking was to know if I should attempt to learn many languages and CMS's or focus on one(Drupal being the choice). I have a bit of experience with HTML/CSS and tempered around with PHP.

Also, am I wrong to want to excel in Development and Designing?

So with the input from both of you, I've decided to focus on PHP and Drupal.

[awasson]

....

Also, am I wrong to want to excel in Development and Designing?

So with the input from both of you, I've decided to focus on PHP and Drupal.

I think it's great to want to excel in both Dev and Design. My design skills are pretty poor compared to any of the designers I work with so I concentrate on code and development but I know one or two designers who can manage both quite well. They are few and far between but so valuable.

Post back to this forum if you run into any Drupal/PHP problems and I'll try to help out as best I can

[barrykins]

I think it's great to want to excel in both Dev and Design. My design skills are pretty poor compared to any of the designers I work with so I concentrate on code and development but I know one or two designers who can manage both quite well. They are few and far between but so valuable.

Post back to this forum if you run into any Drupal/PHP problems and I'll try to help out as best I can

Thank-you so much, rarely do I ever here of a someone(personally) who does Design and Dev but I felt as though it's not impossible and would make me 10x better.

Thank-you for future help with Drupal/PHP also! I've been all self taught and its pretty difficult when your completely lost. I have one book on PHP I've been reading but do you know of any good books for Drupal?

[awasson]

Yup, I know of two good books:

Using Drupal by O'Reily
This book gives you a real foundation for how to build sites using Drupal, Content Creation Kit module and the Views module as well as setting permissions, setting up a decent administration section and handling common things like comments, user accounts, photo galleries, blogs, job applications, etc... A definite good book to get started with.

Pro Drupal Development by APress
This book is heavy on development, code, php, configuration, etc.. and gets into the guts of the Drupal system.

[cronik239]

I think everybodys different. I'm learning to code wordpress themes and getting real good at it. I can't imagine trying to learn Joomla and Drupal anytime soon until I have wordpress mastered.

[liquidair]

I as a web design would go for the more the better, to know a CMS inside out is not always necessary, best to know a few as depending on the job a different CMS maybe needed, if you need more knowledge in one you can alway then invest the time.

Dave.