Drupal Presentation Creation & Repair with Manus
This skill guides Manus in creating and repairing brand-compliant Drupal presentations. It is based on the experience of building and fixing an 88-slide deck and contains the specific workflows, asset paths, layout techniques, and troubleshooting steps required for success.
Core Principle: Avoid Common Pitfalls
Building presentations with code is fragile. This skill is designed to avoid common errors that lead to poor quality output. The most common errors are:
- •Stretched Images: Using
background-size: 100% 100%on GUI blocks or other images with fixed aspect ratios. - •Missing Images: Referencing incorrect or non-existent image paths, especially after migrating from other systems (e.g., CDN URLs).
- •Off-Center Text: Text not being properly centered within GUI block frames or other layout elements.
- •Empty GUI Blocks: Using a GUI block as a side-panel decoration without placing content (an image or text) inside it.
This skill provides specific techniques to prevent and fix these issues.
Workflow
1. Initialization & Outline
Always start with slide_initialize. This creates the project structure and slide_state.json file that all other slide tools depend on.
- •
project_dir: A new, dedicated directory for the presentation. - •
outline: Define all slides upfront. Each slide needs a uniqueid,page_title, andsummary. - •
style_instruction: Provide a clear aesthetic direction, color palette, and typography. Refer to/colors/PALETTES.mdand the brand guidelines for correct values.
2. Asset Gathering & Planning
Before writing slides, identify the visual assets needed. Do not search for new assets unless explicitly requested. All required assets are in this repository.
- •Review the Asset Catalog: Read the
references/asset_catalog.mdfile to understand the available assets and their locations. - •Plan Image Usage: For each slide in the outline, decide which photo, logo, or GUI block to use. This prevents missing images and ensures variety.
3. Slide Authoring (slide_edit)
Author slides one by one using slide_edit. This is the most critical step.
- •Use Proven Layouts: Refer to
references/layout_techniques.mdfor battle-tested HTML/CSS patterns for common layouts (e.g., title slides, text-with-image, logo grids). - •Image-in-Frame Technique: For placing images inside GUI blocks, use the
position: relativeandposition: absoluteoverlay method described in the layout techniques. - •CSS Best Practices: Use flexbox and grid for layout. Avoid absolute positioning for major page elements. Use
object-fit: containfor images to prevent stretching.
4. Iterative Review & Repair
After authoring a few slides, or if the user reports issues, use a systematic repair process.
- •Read the slide HTML to understand the current code.
- •Identify the issue by comparing the code to the techniques in this skill (e.g., is it using
background-size: 100% 100%?). - •Rewrite the slide using the correct layout pattern from
references/layout_techniques.md. - •Verify all image paths are correct and point to files in the
assetsdirectories.
5. Final Presentation
Once all slides are authored and reviewed, use slide_present to deliver the final deck to the user.
Key Reference Files
This skill relies on the following reference files. Read them as needed.
- •
references/asset_catalog.md: A guide to the visual assets available in this repository. - •
references/layout_techniques.md: A cookbook of proven HTML/CSS patterns for common slide layouts. - •
references/common_pitfalls.md: A troubleshooting guide for the most frequent errors and their solutions.