May 25 2011
A better Drupal content list
The built-in Drupal content list is pretty simple. You get two filters — one for node type and the other for status — and a handy bulk update control.
When we show a client new to Drupal the content list they quickly come to realize this page isn’t very friendly. There really isn’t much you can do to enhance this page. Take it or leave it.
There are several alternatives, like the excellent Content Management Filter module. You get loads of helpful filters and you can set the total number of rows to view in the results set:
The Content Management Filter Drupal module
You can also setup the Views and Views Bulk Operations modules to add in the bulk control from the content list to content listings you create as views. It’s pretty flexible.
But I wanted a drop-in solution that was a bit sexier than the Content Management Filter — complex filters are so 1999 — and easier to install and setup. So I created the Content Finder module:
The Drupal Content Finder module
The module is designed to be dead simple. You get just a single text box. That is it. For ease of use, the module always remembers the last sort and search you did. The content list will look exactly the way you left it when you return, be that five minutes later or five days.
You can also use specific filters in the search box — each called an “axis” — for type, status, created, createdafter, and createdbefore. Examples:
- A search for at returns all nodes with “at” in the title.
- A search for type:page returns all nodes of type “page”.
- A search for status:published at returns all published nodes with “at” in the title.
- A search for createdafter:4/8/2011 returns all nodes created after April 8th, 2011.
- A search for status:published createdafter:4/8/2011 at returns all published nodes with “at” in the title related after April 8th, 2011.
Content Finder is by no means as good as the Content Management Filter module. But it’s a start. We already have a great patch in the queue for adding in auto-suggest for search axes as you type, and more enhancements are on their way.
Check it out and let me know what you think.