Drupal Friendly URL Setup: A Step-by-Step Guide for Optimizing Your Site URLs

15 October, 2013 | Drupal Development | 32 seen

Update: This article covers details on how to enable and configure the Pathauto module for the Drupal 7 site. For Drupal 8, please see: How To Setup Pretty URLs For Drupal 8

Setting up Drupal-friendly URLs is one of the most essential tasks for Drupal users, as these URLs play a critical role in both human readability and search engine optimization (SEO). In the latest versions of Drupal, some of the friendly URL features are enabled by default, but there may still be instances where you need to configure them further.

The default Drupal URL format is structured like node/21, which is functional but not ideal for human readability or SEO. To convert this URL to something like /my-awesome-title, you will need to download and enable two modules: Pathauto and Token.

Once you have installed both modules, navigate to the URL patterns settings at admin/config/search/path/patterns. From here, you can start customizing your Drupal-friendly URLs to match the desired format.

By properly configuring Drupal-friendly URLs, you can improve the overall user experience on your website and enhance its visibility to search engines.

…

The Importance of Monitoring Germany's Economy for Forecasting EU's Future

15 October, 2013 | Macroeconomics | 20 seen

Germany is the largest economy in the European Union, accounting for more than 3 trillion USD GDP nominal.

This gives us a clear indication that if we can forecast the German economy, we can also forecast the economy of the European Union and even the Euro Zone.

Understanding the economic landscape of Germany is crucial, as it is a dominant player in the EU, with a significant impact on the overall economic health of the region.

The chart above showcases the GDP nominal of Germany compared to the European Union in 2012.

As seen in the chart, Germany accounted for more than 20% of the total EU GDP in that year, which is a significant portion. This highlights the importance of understanding the German economy and its future projections, as they can serve as a predictor for the EU as a whole.

According to the DIW, the German economy is expected to expand by 0.4% in 2013 and 1.7% in 2014. This predicts relative stability for both Germany and the EU. However, it is important to note that the German economy is not immune to external factors such as the ongoing global economic uncertainty.

The chart below provides a visual…

The Boycott Debate: Should Georgia Participate in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics?

15 October, 2013 | Living in Georgia | 15 seen

In Georgia, the question of whether or not to boycott the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi is a hot topic.

Some are calling for a boycott in response to the Russia-Georgia war of 2008 and Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. Others argue that it is important to normalize relationships with Russia.

Recently, Georgian students staged protests in seven cities, calling for Georgia's participation in the Sochi games. The Prime Minister of Georgia, Bidzina Ivanishvili, has also weighed in on the debate, stating that the decision will depend on whether or not the participation would be seen as a humiliation for Georgia.

In my opinion, with only 3-9 athletes expected to participate from Georgia, a boycott would bring more international attention to the country's disputes with Russia. By boycotting, Georgia would have the opportunity to once again bring attention to their disputes on a global stage.

If Georgia does decide to participate, the athletes should aim to win gold medals, to show their strength and dominance. However, with such a small representation, the impact of their participation may be limited.

In…

Statistics about passengers served at Georgia's airports (2012)

15 October, 2013 | Airports | 7 seen

Georgia is a country located in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia, known for its stunning natural beauty and rich cultural heritage.

The country has a well-developed transportation infrastructure, which includes a number of modern airports that serve both domestic and international destinations. These airports play a crucial role in connecting Georgia to the rest of the world, facilitating tourism, trade, and business. With the increasing demand for air travel in the region, Georgia's airports have undergone significant upgrades and expansions in recent years, ensuring a comfortable and seamless experience for passengers.

From the capital city of Tbilisi to the coastal city of Batumi, Georgia's airports offer a range of services and facilities to meet the needs of travelers.

Recently I expressed my joy about Kutaisi Airport. Today I found interesting statistics on the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency's webpage. Statistics about numbers of passengers served in Georgian airports 2010-2012.

Right now - there are 4 airports in Georgia, which we have data for:

Let's start with the total number of passengers served in all Georgian…

Ukraine's Debt Crisis: A Closer Look at the Possibility of Default (2014)

14 October, 2013 | Emerging Markets | 11 seen

Ukraine is a country located in Eastern Europe that gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Despite its large land area and rich natural resources, Ukraine's economy has struggled since its independence, and the country has been facing various financial challenges in recent years. One of the biggest challenges Ukraine has faced is the possibility of default.

A default is defined as a situation where a borrower is unable to repay its debt. The possibility of default in Ukraine has been a matter of concern for many years, and has been the subject of numerous articles and discussions.

In 2013, former President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, warned that Ukraine could default in the same year if the government failed to resume borrowing from the International Monetary Fund. This warning was based on the fact that Ukraine was facing massive debt repayments and had limited access to external funds.

In the same year, the Bloomberg agency stated that Ukraine was the next country after Greece to default in debt repayments due to the poor state of its economy. The analysts cited the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as doubting Ukraine's ability to repay…

How To Create an Upcoming Posts Page in Drupal Using Views

14 October, 2013 | Drupal Development | 4 seen

In this Drupal Development tutorial, I will walk you through the process of creating an "Upcoming Posts" page in Drupal using the Views module.

Future posts are an essential aspect of maintaining a well-organized blog, and this tutorial aims to provide an easy solution for filtering future posts in the Drupal admin panel.

By default, Drupal does not come equipped with the "Upcoming Posts" feature, making it challenging to filter future posts in the content admin panel. However, with the help of the Views module, it is possible to achieve this.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to display future posts using Drupal Views:

With this guide, you can now…

Georgia's Parliament: Moving Back to Tbilisi?

14 October, 2013 | Living in Georgia | 9 seen

In 2012, the Parliament of Georgia was relocated from Tbilisi to Kutaisi by then-president Mikheil Saakashvili.

The move was meant to give a boost to the city of Kutaisi. However, after the Parliament elections in 2012, which were won by the Georgian Dream coalition, plans were made to move the Parliament back to Tbilisi due to communication issues with other government institutions and high travel expenses.

As an impartial observer, I have always seen the potential benefits of moving the Parliament to Kutaisi. The city has also gained a new Parliament building and an international airport, which seemed like positive developments.

The Georgian Parliament building now is located in Tbilisi, the capital city of Georgia. It was previously located in Kutaisi, but was relocated back to Tbilisi after the 2012 Parliament elections.

Exploring the Economic Journey of Georgia: Historical GDP and Future Forecasts (2012)

14 October, 2013 | Macroeconomics | 26 seen

Georgia is a country located in the South Caucasus region and has a rich and diverse history. The Georgian economy has gone through its ups and downs in the past few decades, and in this article, we will take a closer look at its historical GDP and project what the future might look like.

To start, let's examine the historical GDP of Georgia by nominal values.

The chart shows that Georgia, like many other former Soviet republics, experienced a decline in its economy in the 1990s. This decline can be attributed to several factors such as the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the war in Abkhazia in 1992-1993, and the Russian economic crisis in 1999.

However, the Georgian economy began to recover in the mid-2000s with the start of the Rose Revolution and the increase in international aid after the 2008 war. The Georgian economy continued to grow at a steady pace from 2010 to 2012.

Next, let's take a look at the historical GDP per capita of Georgia.

The chart shows that Georgia's GDP per capita has gradually increased over the years, reaching its highest point in 2018.

According…

2013 Georgian Presidential Election: Understanding the Candidates

13 October, 2013 | Living in Georgia | 9 seen

Georgia's presidential elections are set to take place on October 27th, 2013, and three main candidates have emerged as frontrunners. Giorgi Margvelashvili, David Bakradze, and Nino Burjanadze, each with their own political backgrounds and experiences, are the main contenders for the presidency.

As a foreigner living in Georgia, it can be difficult to keep up with the intricacies of Georgian politics, but it's important to have a basic understanding of the candidates and the role of the president in Georgian politics.

Giorgi Margvelashvili, the first candidate, is a philosopher by education and a former rector of the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs. He was named as the presidential candidate for the Georgian Dream coalition on May 11, 2013. Margvelashvili is not a member of any political party and has a background in education and philosophy.

David Bakradze, the second candidate, is a Georgian politician and diplomat who served as the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia from 2008 to 2012. Bakradze has held a number of positions in the past, including Minister for Conflict Issues, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the President of Georgia's special…

Drupal 7: How to Show a Custom Image When No Image is Provided

13 October, 2013 | Drupal Development | 24 seen

In Drupal 7, managing images can be quite challenging, especially when the default image is not provided. The platform provides an option to display a default image under "manage fields," but this approach can be limiting as the same default image will be displayed wherever the image field is used.

To overcome this limitation, you can follow these steps:

With these steps, you can have complete control over the image display, and the custom default image will only be shown when no images have been added to the image field.

{% if image_field is empty %} <img src="path/to/your/default/image.jpg" alt="Default Image"…

Autumn in Borjomi

13 October, 2013 | Living in Georgia | 27 seen

Borjomi altogether with Samtskhe - Javakheti region are among my Top destinations in Republic of Georgia. I have spent here countless days and nights. One of the best times to head here definitely is Summer, when temperature in nations capital Tbilisi rises above +40 Celsius, a lazy rest on the rocks in Borjomula river is like a safe haven. See Borjomi trip.

You can explore Borjomi either doing rafting on Mtkvari river (See: Rafting in Georgia - Khertvisi - Aspindza - Borjomi) or just by heading here by local transport called - marshrutka. See Tbilisi - Borjomi Transfer by Marshrutka (Minibus). 

Borjomi is a paradise for hikers, there are many cool hiking routes available in Borjomi National park.

Borjomi is great for photography as well and Fall is one of the best times to head here for photography, in this article I have submitted some historical photos from my travels to Borjomi from Autumn 2013 (October 11).

Reconstruction works in Borjomi

Bridge in Borjomi

Construction works in Borjomi

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Borjomi Mineral Water Park

Borjomi …

How to Set Up Google Analytics for Your Drupal Website

12 October, 2013 | Drupal Development | 15 seen

Google Analytics is an essential tool for tracking and analyzing the performance of your Drupal website.

By using this tool, you can gather data on your website's traffic, user behavior, and overall performance. This information can be invaluable for making informed decisions about the direction of your website and improving its user experience.

In this article, we'll walk you through the process of setting up Google Analytics for your Drupal website.

Step 1: Get a Google Analytics Tracking ID The first step is to set up a Google Analytics account for your website. Go to www.google.com/analytics and sign up for a free account. Once you have created your account, you'll be given a unique tracking ID, which you'll need in the next step.

Step 2: Install the Google Analytics Drupal Module The next step is to install the Google Analytics module for Drupal 8. To do this, go to the Drupal.org website and search for the Google Analytics module. Download and install the module on your Drupal site.

Step 3: Enable the Google Analytics Module After installing the module, go to the modules page in your Drupal backend and enable the Google Analytics…

How to Automatically Publish Future Posts in Drupal with Views Module

11 October, 2013 | Drupal Development | 10 seen

Drupal is a popular content management system that allows users to easily create and manage their websites. One of the features that Drupal offers is the ability to schedule posts for future publication.

This can be especially useful for bloggers and content creators who want to plan and publish their content in a systematic way. However, if you are using Drupal, you may find that scheduling posts can be a time-consuming process.

In this article, we will explain how you can use the Views module to automate the process of scheduling posts in Drupal.

One of the reasons why someone may want to schedule posts in advance is to plan their content publishing schedule. For example, if you write 10 articles in one night, you may want to have them published in the next 10 days. Scheduling posts in advance can also be useful if you are traveling or if you want to maintain a consistent blogging schedule.

However, scheduling posts manually can be a time-consuming task, especially if you have many articles to publish. This is why you may want to consider using the Views module to automate the process. The Views module is a powerful tool that allows you to…

Blog Contest: My Experience of Writing 16 Posts in 7 Days

11 October, 2013 | Blogging | 5 seen

On October 3rd, 2013 I embarked on a personal challenge of blogging for 365 days in a row. The goal was to create a consistent and meaningful presence online, to engage with my audience and to hone my writing skills.

I started the contest with a lot of excitement, eager to see the results of my efforts.

The first week of blogging proved to be an interesting experience. I managed to write 16 posts in 7 days, averaging 2.38 posts per day. I was pleased with my progress and felt proud of myself for sticking to my schedule. However, I soon realized that I had set the bar too low for myself and that I needed to step up my game.

To keep up with my ambitious goal, I decided to implement a system that would allow me to publish posts in the future. This would give me the flexibility to work ahead, in case I faced any unexpected challenges or obstacles along the way. The system also allowed me to schedule posts for specific times, ensuring that my blog would have a consistent flow of content, even when I was not able to write.

The system I created was simple and straightforward. I created a calendar that I could easily update and schedule my posts on. I…

IMF Predicts 12.4% Economic Growth for Turkmenistan in 2013

10 October, 2013 | Macroeconomics | 6 seen

Turkmenistan is a country that has managed to defy the odds and experience steady economic growth, even during the global financial crisis of 2009. The country is renowned for having the fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world and is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

According to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Turkmenistan’s economy is projected to grow by 12.4% in 2013 and 10.4% in 2014. This growth is not limited to Turkmenistan as neighboring countries like Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are also showing significant growth in their respective economies.

The country’s GDP has been consistently growing since the 1990s, with some fluctuations along the way. However, the overall trend has been upward and Turkmenistan has become one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

Turkmenistan has been able to maintain its growth rate due to its abundant natural resources, particularly natural gas. The country has been able to leverage its rich reserves of natural gas to attract foreign investment and drive economic growth. In recent years, Turkmenistan has focused on diversifying its economy, investing in…