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I regularly scan every header that passes through the Drupal.org Post-installation forum, which is a catch-all category for all kinds of Drupal questions related to general site creation. I manage this through the glorious assistance of Google Reader and the forum's RSS feed.

The rate of posting has been growing and growing, and not long ago I thought it'd soon reach 100 posts a day – a rate that'd make it hard to follow, even just skimming headers. Fortunately, it's perhaps leveling off, though there are still dozens of posts a day, even close to 100 on some. 

What I'm looking for in headers is, of course, questions that seem to address my own questions, or that appear to be questions I can answer. On some days, nothing jumps out as interesting. On most days, a good handful of items invite closer reading. And once in a while, dozens of post will command attention at once. Many recent days have been interesting like that.

Some of the really common posts include:

"Help, I'm locked out!"

This could be a busy forum of its own. The answer for those newbie admins who've logged out and don't see a login block is, of course, to head to /users.

"How do I make a page?"

Not a page from a single node, but rather a "node list page" - a page listing several nodes, whether full nodes or teasers. The Drupal way to do that is unclear to many a newbie. Many forum participants offer great responses; my own humble contribution is usually the following links to resources:

• http://drupal.org/node/176252
• http://www.drupalace.com/node_list_pages
• http://www.drupalace.com/EDAM/placing_content

Other stuff

What are the best modules for some given purpose, and what are the best ways to handle adding images to nodes – those are another common question categories. And beyond that, it's all over the map – questions about everything and anything, sometimes calling forlornly for notice, sometimes shining in the spotlight of attention and great answers.

No real news here; I just felt like commenting on my near-daily forum checks. If there's a point, it's this: Head to the forums yourself, and learn lots. Better yet, answer any and all questions you can! There's just no better way to force yourself into Drupal enlightenment.