Drupal is a very powerful Content Management System, but this has it's drawbacks. It's not always the easiest or most intuitive system to use. There are a couple of tools that can make this easier.

Administration menu module

This module provides a drop-down menu bar at the top of the screen that allows you access to the administration features in Druapl. I like it because it's pretty unobtrusive, and means that I can navigate through several layers of admin features without having to click each level and wait for the page to load (I often forget where the different features are, so seeing a preview on the drop-down saves me loads of time and frustration).

The module is available to all ox4.org sites. You can install it by going to site building > modules > list then checking the box next to the administration menu option (don't forget to save you configuration).

Once you've installed it, you can change the preferences by going to site configuration > administration menu.

Admin module

This is a similar tool to the admin menu. It gives a little icon in the corner of the screen ...

... that opens a list of admin features.

Whilst the features that are opened up are more obtrusive that the admin menu, it have the advantage of given a description of what each function does.

The module is available to all ox4.org sites. You can install it by going to site building > modules > list then checking the box next to the admin option (don't forget to save you configuration).

Once you've installed it, you can change the preferences by going to site configuration > administration tools > settings. The admin module works best with the Rubik theme (see below).

Tip: If you use admin and the admin menu, set the admin tool to appear at the botton of your screen - otherwise the admin menu gets in the way of the admin tool.

Rubik admin theme

Rubik is a theme designed for the admin sections of your site (not for the content as viewed by normal site visitors). It adds lots of user friendly icons, help tips, and more.

The theme is available to all ox4.org sites. You can enable it by going to site configuration > administration tools > administration theme.