Quick links
This is the study guide for the Acquia Certified Site Studio Site Builder Examination.
This guide explains the exam blueprint, breaks down knowledge domains, and helps you get familiar with the nature of questions asked in the exam. It also provides helpful steps to prepare for the exam and links to further resources for study and preparation.
About the exam
The following is the key information about the exam:
- Exam name: Acquia Certified Site Studio Site Builder
- Exam duration: 60 minutes
- Exam length: 40 questions
- Pass/Fail mark: 65%
The purpose of this exam is to validate skills and knowledge of developers, designers and architects in the area of designing, implementing and maintaining a Site Studio DX8 based Drupal website
This exam validates a candidate’s ability to:
- Understand the features and functionality provided by Site Studio.
- Install and Configure Site Studio environment on new or existing websites.
- Build a website using Site Studio style builder, components and website structure design elements.
Steps to certification
Take Acquia Academy courses
We have two courses to get you started on your Site Studio journey.
After taking the courses, build a small website on your own using Site Studio to reinforce the concepts learned in the courses.
Gain practical experience
Completing the courses will not make you ready for taking the certification exam. You need to have some real-life practical experience to attempt the exam. For this purpose, we recommend that you gain the practical experience by working on at least 2-3 real life projects.
Perform self-assessment
Once you decide to take the exam, we recommend that you study the domains and topics covered by the exam and their relative weights. You should also perform a self-assessment of your own areas of strength and weakness vis-a-vis the domains/topics covered by the exam blueprint. This is a recommended starting point for experienced Site Studio users.
Use labs and study guide
Based on your self-assessment, you may need to gain knowledge and experience in some Domains or Topics. The best way to learn Site Studio is by working or experimenting on it. Follow the suggestions given for preparation in the Preparation section and refer to the external resources given in the Study Guide section.
Register for and take the exam
At this stage, you should be ready to take the exam. Follow the instructions for registering for an exam.
Exam domains
| Domain | % of Questions |
|---|---|
| 1.0 Website Settings and Configuration | 20% |
| 2.0 Using the Style Builder | 15% |
| 3.0 Building the Structure of a Site | 20% |
| 4.0 Using and Creating Components | 30% |
| 5.0 Miscellaneous Concepts | 15% |
| TOTAL | 100% |
Note
This exam blueprint includes topics, domains, and test objectives to help guide the test taker. It should not be construed as a comprehensive listing of all of the content of this examination.
Exam domains and topics
| Domain | % of Questions |
|---|---|
| 1 | Website settings and configuration |
| 1.1 | Understands the usage of Base unit size and unit conversion |
| 1.2 | Understands how to add colors to be used in their color palette |
| 1.3 | Demonstrate an understanding on how to add fonts to their website |
| 1.4 | Demonstrate an understanding on how to add and use icon fonts |
| 1.5 | Demonstrate an understanding of how to set up and use the responsive grid settings |
| 1.6 | Demonstrate an understanding of SCSS variables and how to use them |
| 2 | Using the style builder |
| 2.1 | Demonstrate an ability to create a base style that is utilized on the website |
| 2.2 | Demonstrate an ability to create a basic custom style with the interface |
| 2.3 | Demonstrate an ability to create advanced styles with the style tree |
| 2.4 | Demonstrate an ability to create responsive custom styles by using the breakpoint selectors |
| 3 | Building the structure of a website |
| 3.1 | Demonstrate an ability to create and use Content Templates |
| 3.2 | Demonstrate an ability to create master templates |
| 3.3 | Demonstrate the ability to create View templates |
| 3.4 | Demonstrate the ability to use and create menu templates |
| 4 | Using and creating components |
| 4.1 | Demonstrate an ability to use the editing experience with components |
| 4.2 | Demonstrate an ability to create a component layout |
| 4.3 | Demonstrate an ability to create a component form |
| 4.4 | Demonstrate an understanding of creating advanced layout and style options |
| 4.5 | Demonstrate understanding of the usage of component dropzones |
| 5 | Miscellaneous concepts |
| 5.1 | Demonstrate an understanding of how and when to use ‘hide if no data’ |
| 5.2 | Demonstrate a knowledge of how to use an existing select field in components |
| 5.3 | Demonstrate an understanding of reusability across multiple Site Studio enabled websites |
Self-assessment
Experienced Site Studio site builders will likely know their weaknesses more than they know their strengths. You might have judged your own skill levels while reading through the four domains listed above. It is quite natural for you to be more experienced and proficient in one domain than another. Also, within a domain, it is quite likely that you have hands-on experience on some topics but have never touched other areas within the same domain.
How to use self-assessment
We suggest you perform a skills and expertise self-assessment with respect to the domains and topics listed in the blueprint. The blueprint lists test objectives (topics) for each domain. Rank your skills on a scale of 0 to 10 against each test objective (0 for absolutely zero knowledge or exposure and 10 for complete mastery). Use 0 for absolutely zero knowledge or exposure and 10 for complete mastery of the topic.
- Topics with a score of 8+ are your strengths.
- Topics with a score of 5 to 7 will need some preparation.
- Topics with a score below 5 may require a lot of preparation, or guided instruction.
You may use the following table to carry out your own evaluation.
Acquia Site Studio Site Builder self-assessment table
| Domain | Topic | Your Score (1-10) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Website settings and configuration | |
| 1.1 | Understands the usage of Base unit size and unit conversion | |
| 1.2 | Understands how to add colors to be used in their color palette | |
| 1.3 | Demonstrate an understanding of how to add fonts to their website | |
| 1.4 | Demonstrate an understanding of how to add and use icon fonts | |
| 1.5 | Demonstrate an understanding of how to set up and use the responsive grid settings | |
| 1.6 | Demonstrate an understanding of SCSS variables and how to use them | |
| 2 | Using the style builder | |
| 2.1 | Demonstrate an ability to create a base style that is utilized in the website | |
| 2.2 | Demonstrate an ability to create a basic custom style with the interface | |
| 2.3 | Demonstrate an ability to create advanced styles with the style tree | |
| 2.4 | Demonstrate an ability to create responsive custom styles by using the breakpoint selectors | |
| 3 | Building the structure of a website | |
| 3.1 | Demonstrate an ability to create and use Content Templates | |
| 3.2 | Demonstrate an ability to create master templates | |
| 3.3 | Demonstrate the ability to create View templates | |
| 3.4 | Demonstrate the ability to use and create menu templates | |
| 4 | Using and creating components | |
| 4.1 | Demonstrate an ability to use the editing experience with components | |
| 4.2 | Demonstrate an ability to create a component layout | |
| 4.3 | Demonstrate an ability to create a component form | |
| 4.4 | Demonstrate an understanding of creating advanced layout and style options | |
| 4.5 | Demonstrate understanding of the usage of component dropzones | |
| 5 | Miscellaneous concepts | |
| 5.1 | Demonstrate an understanding of how and when to use ‘hide if no data’ | |
| 5.2 | Demonstrate a knowledge of how to use an existing select field in components | |
| 5.3 | Demonstrate an understanding of reusability across multiple Site Studio enabled websites |
Preparation
Once you have a list of topics for which you need preparation, you will possibly face two challenges:
- Find and study documentation and knowledge resources for the topics.
- Find enough practical case studies covering the topics.
Knowledge resources
Customers and Partners can self-register on the appropriate branch of Acquia Academy and take courses in the relevant domain to refresh their knowledge.
Available courses include:
- Acquia Site Studio Product Introduction
- Acquia Site Studio 6.x Site Building
- Planning for a Successful Site Studio Engagement
If you are new to Site Studio, you should start with the Getting started with Site Studio Guide.
To obtain adequate hands-on experience, you may request a Site Studio Sandbox and follow a series of guided Tutorials for a hands-on learning experience.
A list of online resources and documentation for each learning domain appears in the Study Guide section.
If you have questions, you can use the FAQs page to search for an answer.
Study guide
- Website Settings and Configuration
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| 1.1 Understand the usage of Base unit size and unit conversion | Configuring your base unit settings |
| 1.2 Understand colors and how to add colors to be used in color palette | Creating your color palette |
| 1.3 Understand how to add fonts to a website | Set up font libraries and font stacks |
| 1.4 Understand how to use and add icon fonts | Set up icon font libraries |
| 1.5 Understand how to set up and use the grid | Configuring your responsive grid settings |
| 1.6 Understanding of SCSS variables and how to use them | Creating SCSS variables |
- Using the Style Builder
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| 2.1 Understand how to create a base style that is used on a website | Creating base styles |
| 2.2 Demonstrate the ability to create a basic custom style within the Site Studio interface | Creating custom styles |
| 2.3 Demonstrate an ability to create advanced styles with the style tree | Using the style builder |
| 2.4 Demonstrate an ability to create responsive styles by using the breakpoint selectors | Using the style preview |
- Building the Structure of a Website
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| 3.1 Demonstrate an ability to create and use content templates | Content templates |
| 3.2 Demonstrate an ability to create master templates | Master templates |
| 3.3 Demonstrate an ability to create view templates | View templates |
| 3.4 Demonstrate an ability to create menu templates | Menu templates |
- Using and Creating Components
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| 4.1 Demonstrate an ability to use the editing experience with components | What are components? |
| 4.2 Demonstrate an ability to create a component layout | Create a component |
| 4.3 Demonstrate an ability to create a component form | Component form field elements |
| 4.4 Demonstrate an understanding of how to create advanced layout and style options | Reusable component content |
| 4.5 Conceptually understand the usage of component drop zones | Adding drop zones to a component |
- Miscellaneous Topics
| Topic | URL |
|---|---|
| 5.1 Understands how and when to use Hide if no Data | Hide element if no data |
| 5.2 Understands how to use an existing select field in components | Select form element |
| 5.3 Demonstrate an understanding of reusability across multiple Site Studio enabled websites | Sync package export and import |