Feb72025
DrupalStructure of Views in Drupal Development

Structure of “Views” in Drupal Development

In this blog, we will learn about the Structure of Views in Drupal Development.

Introduction:

Drupal’s Views module is a powerful tool that allows site builders to create dynamic lists, tables, and blocks of content without writing custom queries. It provides an easy-to-use interface for filtering, sorting, and displaying content from the database.

Views is a built-in module in Drupal 8, 9, and 10 that lets users create custom queries for rendering content in different formats.

It replaces the need to write custom SQL queries by providing a graphical UI.

Key Features of Views:

  • List and display content dynamically.
  • Apply filters, sorting, and relationships.
  • Use different display formats (Grids, Tables, Blocks, Pages, etc.).
  • Enable pagination and contextual filtering.

How to Create a View in Drupal:

Step 1: Create a New View

  1. Navigate to Structure > Views and click Add View.
  2. Provide a View Name.
  3. Select the Content type to display (e.g., Articles, Pages, or Custom Entities).
  4. Choose a display format (e.g., Table, Grid, List, or Unformatted).
  5. Click Save and Edit.

Step 2: Configure Your View

After creating the View, you can customize it by adding:

  • Filters: To display specific content based on taxonomy, user roles, or dates.
  • Sorting: To organize content (e.g., newest first, alphabetical order).
  • Fields: To include only relevant content fields.
  • Page Settings: To define URL paths and add menus.
  • Contextual Filters: To create dynamic views based on user input.

Step 3: Save and Preview Your View:

Once you’ve configured your View, save it and click Preview to see the output. You can make adjustments before making it live.

Advanced Features of Views

  1. Contextual Filters: Contextual filters allow dynamic filtering based on URL parameters. For example, displaying articles by the logged-in user.
  1. Relationships: Use relationships to pull data from related content entities (e.g., displaying an author’s name from a referenced user entity).
  1. Exposed Filters: Allow users to filter content on the front end with search or dropdown options.
  1. Caching in Views: Improve performance by enabling caching in Views settings, reducing the number of queries executed.

Conclusion

Drupal Views is an essential tool for creating dynamic content listings without coding. Whether you’re building a blog, a product listing, or a custom dashboard, Views provides a flexible and powerful way to display data efficiently.

 

Category: Drupal