Drupal 8 SEO

Chapter 2: Be Efficient "But first, you gotta get speed. Demon speed. Speed's what we need. We need greasy fast speed!" Mickey "Mick" Goldmill ROCKY II   Items Covered   Module Filter SEO Checklist module Coffee module Admin Toolbar module   GETTING GOOD AT DRUPAL and SEO is a lot more fun if it's easy and fast to find the settings pages that you need when you need them. Installing and setting up just a few helper modules can make a big difference in the enjoyment and efficiency of this process. This chapter is about the helper modules that make me more efficient. I install them on most Drupal 8 sites that I work on. Module Filter One of the handiest modules that moved from Contrib into Drupal 8 Core is the Module Filter module. This module adds a filter to the Extend section of Drupal admin. It allows you to quickly find the Core and Contrib modules installed on your site. When you go to Manage > Extend, you'll see a field that says "Enter a part of the module name or description" under it. This easily-missed field saves a lot of time when installing (and uninstalling) modules. If you've recently installed a module but haven't turned it on yet, use the module filter to narrow your choices and find the new module. Begin typing the name of the module into the field and Drupal will display any modules that match. To enable a module, select the checkbox next to it and click the blue Install button. Drupal installs the module and you get the functionality that the module provides. Drupal SEO Checklist Module https://www.drupal.org/project/seo_checklist The Checklist API module is required: https://www.drupal.org/project/checklistapi Credits & Thanks Thank you to Travis Carden (TravisCarden on Drupal.org) for helping me create and maintain the SEO Checklist module. Travis also created the required Checklist API module. About the SEO Checklist Module The Drupal SEO Checklist module uses Drupal SEO best practices to check your website for proper search engine optimization. The SEO Checklist module and this book were designed to work together. While the SEO Checklist module tells you what to do, this book tells you how to do it. Over the course of this book, we'll be going through the SEO checklist module one task at a time, explaining in more detail how to do each task and sometimes even a bit of why each item is needed. As a module, the SEO Checklist does several helpful things that will speed up your work and learning curve. It provides a to-do list with checkboxes of the SEO steps needed to optimize your Drupal 8 site. There are modules to install and tasks to complete, organized by function. Since you own this book, you've got the one-two punch for Drupal SEO. It checks for installed modules and, if it finds them, checks them off for you. It adds a timestamp and username to track task completion. Tip: Remember to click the Save button each time you check off an SEO Checklist to-do item or if an item is checked off for you! ? Install and Enable the SEO Checklist Module 1. Install the SEO Checklist module on your server. (See Chapter 1 for more instructions on installing modules.) 2. Go to the Extend page: Click Manage > Extend (Coffee: "extend") or visit http://yourDrupal8site.dev/admin/modules. 3. Enter "seo checklist" into the module filter field to quickly find the SEO Checklist module. 4. Select the checkbox next to "SEO Checklist" and click the Install button at the bottom of the page. 5. You may get a message stating, "You must enable the Checklist API module to install SEO Checklist. Would you like to continue with the above?" If so, click the Continue button. If necessary, give yourself permissions to use the SEO Checklist module. 1. Click Manage > People > Permissions (Coffee: "perm") or visit http://yourDrupal8site.dev/admin/people/permissions. 2. Select the appropriate checkboxes for "Edit any checklist" "View any checklist" "View the Checklists report" "Edit the SEO checklist" "View the SEO checklist checklist" (Yes, the word checklist appears twice.) 3. Click the Save permissions button at the bottom of the page. Using the SEO Checklist module To use the SEO Checklist module: 1. Go to Manage > Configuration > Search and metadata > SEO Checklist (Coffee: "seo") or visit http://yourDrupal8site.dev/admin/config/search/seo-checklist in your browser. 2. You may see the message, "SEO checklist found X unchecked items.". If you do, it means that there are some tasks already completed. Nice! You're ahead of the game. If this happens, click the Save button near the bottom of the page. 3. Click on the Be efficient tab. You'll notice: A progress bar that shows you how many tasks remain; Timestamps on your saved tasks (if you've done any yet); Commands for Composer, Drupal Console, and Drush; Task links to help you quickly get things done. You'll also notice that the tabs on the SEO Checklist follow the chapters in this book. You can easily follow along and check things off as you go. To make the SEO Checklist even easier to use, be sure to turn on chapter numbers or page numbers. Doing so will add a corresponding page number to each item. When you're ready to do that item, flip to that page in this book for more info and a how-to guide. As you continue on your Drupal 8 SEO journey you can use the SEO Checklist module to make sure you've done all you can to get the most out of your Drupal 8 site. Tip: Many steps throughout this book start with going to an admin page, permissions page, etc. The links on the SEO Checklist are another, even quicker way to get there. The Coffee Module https://www.drupal.org/project/coffee Credits & Thanks Thank you to Michael Mol (michaelmol on Drupal.org) for creating and maintaining the Coffee module. Thank you to Marco (willzyx), maartenverbaarschot, and Alli Price (heylookalive) for your contributions. SEO Training Camp https://dev.acquia.com/blog/drupal-8-module-of-the-week/drupal-8-module-of-the-week-coffee/12/04/2016/10291 About the Coffee Module The Coffee module is the fastest way to get to any admin screen in Drupal. As you SEO your Drupal 8 site, you will spend a lot of time jumping into admin to change a setting or check on updates. You'll have to go through menu navigation if you don't have the Coffee module. That's fine, but sometimes it's hard to remember where every single setting is. With the Coffee module installed, you can type ALT-D on your keyboard (Option-D for macOS) to have a text field pop up. Start typing into this field and the Coffee module will show you the admin menu items that match. Press the Enter key to select the first item or use the arrow keys to select a different item and press the Enter key to go directly to the admin page that you want. Tip: Throughout this book, I'll give you Coffee shortcuts when appropriate. If I say Coffee: "extend", then you'll hit your Coffee shortcut keystroke (Alt-D or Option-D) and type "extend". Now, you're Drupaling like a pro! ? Install and Enable the Coffee Module 1. Install the Coffee module on your server. (See Chapter 1 for more instructions on installing modules.) 2. Go to the Extend page: Click Manage > Extend (Coffee: "extend") or visit http://yourDrupal8site.dev/admin/modules. 3. Select the checkbox next to "Coffee" and click the Install button at the bottom of the page. If necessary, give yourself permissions to use the Coffee module. 1. Click Manage > People > Permissions (Coffee: "perm") or visit...