How can I improve as a site builder for dealing with errors I don't know how to handle? As a relatively new Site Builder, I understand some of what is going on under the hood. But when things go wrong .…

Without an intimate knowledge of module code and inner workings, the error messages often simply tell me something went wrong.

Furthermore, I don’t know if a particular message occurred from the action I just executed, or if I have simply not been to a specific page in a while (or never before), in which case any number of actions could have broken it.

In any case, I have no idea what messages like this one mean:

'Notice: Undefined index: var_name in _some_method_some_where() (line 35 .…'


This are the steps I typically perform (my workflow) to resolve an error:


Check the module's issue queue for known bugs –  Occasionally I find a known problem.
Google the error – Normally this doesn’t help as the same error could happen for so many reasons, but occasionally it leads me to a fix.
Ask a developer if possible – They often have no idea about my problems …
Ignore the error and keep working.
If my site is really broken, I try to reset (ugh) or give up on the module altogether and do something else (sigh).


As a site builder, I really don't want to dive into the code every time.

How can I improve my workflow? Like what other steps, resources, approaches, etc would you recommend to a site builder when such kind of things go wrong?
I'm not really aware of a way to improve your workflow. In general I would recommend limiting your usage to modules that have hundreds or thousands of Downloads by site builders, but that is not a silver bullet. And, sometimes you need to use that -dev module that has only 5 downloads because it will save you tons of time in development work on your project.

Everyone typically builds up a listing modules they are familiar with, comfortable with and trust -- build that list for yourself.

Something you didnt mention and I think is a larger problem than what you've outlined is testing module updates to an existing site that is using tried/tested modules previously. I'm more scared of things breaking during a large update (even amongst stable modules) -- then of experimenting with modules earlier in my site building process.