If you are like me, you have avoided diving into coding for the black hole that is Views. Every time I started to look at the mass amount of documentation, I went blind. There is no shortage of documentation and examples. Besides looking for how other modules have implemented Views, the following documentation is available.

• Views Developer Group Page
• Offical API
• Help file

Even with all of this documentation, something didn't quite click. Sure, I could do the easy stuff, like expose a new table to views or manipulate an existing view, but when it came it creating a custom handler, I was lost.

So today I'm sharing with you an example of a new custom handler. We had the need to create a modification of the taxonomy term filter that allowed for using multiple vocabularies. We also needed it to be in an exposed filter to be used in an administration screen.

Let's start by first looking at what is different, then at the current filter.

This is the last post in a 4 part series about Views, Views Bulk Operations, Actions and Features. In the first post of the series I walked through the Views Bulk Operations module. In the second post, a high level plan was put into place for the comment moderation feature. We also created the action plan that we followed for the final two posts. In the third post, we implemented several parts of our action plan. This included the view, creating the feature and coding the actions.

This post will finish up the comment moderation feature. Below is the action list. The bold items are addressed in this post.

Create View with 2 page panes.

A client recently had a requirement for what we call a canned search.  A canned search is simply a saved search with specific criteria that can be accessed directly at a URL.  This allows content editors to easily generate a list of various types of content suited to a specific topic without having to specifically link the items together in another manner.

As you might have guessed, Views is the primary engine for this feature.  However, it also uses a couple of other capabilities of Views that demonstrates another side to its already amazing flexibility.   Exposed filters is a well-known feature of Views allows a user to modify search criteria on the fly so that everything does not have to be determined ahead of time when the view is created, but one other less well-known feature is the ability to display those exposed filters separately in a block.  These are the primary builing blocks of our canned search feature.

In my last post, I walked through the high level plan for the Comment Moderation feature. We came up with a summary of tasks. In this post we will be creating the views and actions. Below is the list of the tasks, bolded tasks are being tackled today.
Create View with 2 page panes.

In the last post, I walked through the Views Bulk Operations module.  My initial plan was to write this post about actions, but  after researching how to best write about actions, I found a ton of detailed information about how to make an action. 

• http://drupal.org/node/172152
• http://api.drupal.org/api/function/hook_action_info
• Chapter 3 of Pro Drupal Development.

So instead of walking through Actions in detail, I'm going to walk you through plan for the comments moderation feature.  The next post will have the comment moderation actions and views, and the final post will discuss the integration with other modules.

Requirements for the comment moderation feature are:

Did you ever find a Drupal feature that was so incredibly simple and easy to use that you were sure that everyone else already knew about it? Using Views Bulk Operations (VBO) together with Actions was one of the moments for me. Asking around to my fellow developers, I discovered that the use of the combination of VBO and Actions is common. In this blog series, I am going to walk you through using VBO and Actions to create some kick-ass administration forms. First we will look at the basic concepts around VBO and Actions, then I will show you 2 examples: comment administration and user administration. Both will be made available as a feature.

Part 1: Views Bulk Operations

Views Bulk Operations is a contributed module by kratib. There is a good general description of VBO on the project page:

Participating in the Drupal community is one of the greatest joys of using drupal. Working with the community you can learn from some really smart developers, work on some fun projects, and be feel a great sense of accomplishment when you can make a difference.

At Drupalcamp Boston I had the opportunity to talk about being involved in the drupal community with a focus on themers and designers. There are some unique opportunities for them such as creating some great new core themes.

Below are the slides from this presentation.

Drupalcamp Boston provided an exclamation point to the first sentence of the Design for Drupal movement. Since the movement kicked off at Drupalcon DC designers and themers have been talking more, sharing notes, learning to flex more Drupal muscle, and providing more to help make Drupal even better. At drupalcamp boston this all came together in one place.

Sharing Notes

Lots of ideas were shared at the drupalcamp. The popular session was about using grids, the 960 grid, and the Drupal theme that uses it by Nathan Smith and Todd Nienkerk. Beyond this session there were sessions on rapid prototyping, theme techniques, usability, typography, theming workflows, and so much more.

Tree House Agency is very happy to announce its Platinum-level partnership with Acquia, the world's top provider of Drupal system support services.  The support offerings provided through this relationship complement the custom theme and module development that has propelled Tree House to the forefront of enterprise-level Drupal site solution providers.  

“Tree House Agency has an excellent reputation for its leading design and technology solutions in the Media sector and shares Acquia’s deep commitment to accelerating Drupal adoption and growth. We’re excited to have Tree House Agency join the Acquia Partner program as a platinum member,” said Tom Erickson, Acquia CEO.