A Step-by-Step Guide to Installing Panels in Drupal

If you want to change the look and feel of your Drupal website and customize it as per your taste, Panels are the way to go. This tool gives you greater control over when building your website.

For this who are new to Drupal and looking for a beginner’s guide, this article is for you. In this article, learn how to install Panels in Drupal step-by-step and how to use it.

Install the Necessary Modules

The proper functioning of Panels rely on certain modules. You must install these before you can start using Module. Some of the modules necessary are cTools, Layout plugin, Page Manager, and the Panels module itself.

To install cTools, here are the steps to follow:

• To install the cTools module (also known as Chaos tool suite), go to its project page and download the relevant version.
• Download the compressed package by clicking on the “Download.tar.gz” button.
• Head back to the admin panel and install the module you just downloaded.

Similarly, you’re required to install other necessary modules including Panels.

It’s necessary to install these modules from the Extend tool after you’ve uploaded them.

Creating a Custom Page with Panels

Once the modules are installed, you can move ahead with creating pages with the Panels module.

In most cases, people use Panels to design landing pages which requires heavy customization. The Panels module will help you customize the pages.

Here are the steps you need to follow:

• Add a page by navigating into Structure from the tool bar menu and clicking on Pages.
• Next, tap on the “+ Add page” button.
• Provide the Administrative title, administrative description, and path for the page. It’s important that you make these descriptions SEO-optimized for better rankings.
• Next, from the Variant Type dropdown, select “Panels” as the option and click on Next button.
• On the next page, you’d have to select a builder platform. You may leave it as Standard.
• For the next step, select a page layout. You have the option of selecting a single layout to all the way to a three-column layout. Select the one that meets your requirements.
• Next, you’d have to add the Content blocks. Click on “Finish” button after you’ve finished adding the blocks.

That’s it. Now you have a page created in Drupal with Panels module. One thing you need to ensure is that the page you created should only be accessed by the path with which you created and should only be edited using the “Structure” tool.

You won’t be able to see it like other pages and pieces of content. These will always reside in the Pages section.

So that’s how you create pages using the Panels module.