Drupal: two steps forward, one step back

Although my day job involves getting deep down and dirty with websites, I'm far from a webmaster, especially when it comes to Drupal.

Today, I've added a new module that will allow me to simply add related links to the bottom of my blog postings. Good SEO practice and all that.

It sounded easy enough. Plug in a search for 'drupal' and 'related links' into Google and up pops a link for the Links Package module.

Five minutes of playing around with the installation settings and I thought I'd got it sussed. 'Easy,' I thought.

But for some reason I got it into my head that the module would automatically build a database of links on the bottom of stories based on the taxonomy of the story.

But could I find any means for building the initial database? No.

But then I started to write this story and realise that the mechanism by which you build the database is different than I'd expected.

I like Drupal, or the power and flexibility that its modules clearly have, I really do.

It's just that like CCK or Views, the method by which you do things takes a certain approach to looking at a problem. Suss that and it's a doddle.

But I'm still taking time to adjust to that mindset. I don't suppose there is a proper idiots guide tutorial to sussing the way it works?