There are many new features in Drupal 7. For many one of the most notable enhancements will be the changes to the Views module. First of all, in Drupal 7 Views requires the Chaos Tools Suite in order to function properly. There are also changes to the process of creating views and to the interface. I have spent a little time working with Views on D7 and I think that the changes are a nice step forward in terms of usability.

As you can see in the image below when you create a new view you are presented with a host of very basic options that allow you to create a basic view very fast. For the example I set it up to display a page that lists links to the Page content type. I have also chosen to create a block along with the page view.

You can choose to either save the view as you created it (by selecting the Save & exit button) or you can continue to add further customization to the view (by selecting the Continue & edit button). Of course, you can always come back and edit things later. You can see what the customization screen looks like below. You''ll notice that there is now an option to clone a particular display in the upper right hand portion of the screen. There is also a nice preview pane at the bottom.

Note: Click to view the full size image.

I am still in the early stages of utilizing the new Views interface and features. So far I like it and think that that the new screen that you see when first adding a new view will help less experienced users of Drupal to get started very quickly. What do you think of this new approach to Views in Drupal 7?

Copyright 2011, Robert Safuto, Some Rights Reserved. Please visit Learn By The Drop to comment, subscribe or explore additional content not available via the RSS Feed.

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