mindgraffiti

I’m working with Drupal right now. I am taking Drupal 6.1 out for a test drive. So far it looks pretty good. Skinning 6.1 looks like it will be easier than 5.5.

Since Monday, I have had a crash course in:

• PHP5 and why it’s better than PHP4;
• Reading PHP and knowing what the functions do
• mySQL5 and why I want it instead of mySQL4;
• executing a few commands for basic mySQL tasks
• Shell access and using the command line
• Symlinks and what makes them so useful

I also discovered the woeful restrictions on shell access by our hosting company.

My philosophy is, the best way to learn how something works is to break it and then attempt to fix it again. Besides, it’s better that I break it first. That way I know what to expect when turning it loose for our customers to use.

I have so many burning questions about how Drupal works, and so little time to break it. What happens if I rename a theme folder while it’s in use by a site? How do I arrange a “test site” or pre-production version of the site, and set up a live site at the same time? Can I have to completely separate Drupal installations on subdomains? I want to reserve ‘test.clientwebsite.com’ as a subdomain for every site that has Drupal, so I can install and review modules without worry. Is that possible? How do you set up a new instance of Drupal without a domain to hook it to? Will it break my symlinks if I rename the site folders? The multi-site install that I have set up looks pretty good, but where can I find some high-level Drupal vets who can critique it and tell me what a better practice might be? Why isn’t the FCK Editor module installed in the default version of Drupal? Is it really a security risk to allow your clients to upload files? If they do it on Facebook, why not elsewhere?

Perhaps when I look back, some of these questions will seem stupid or silly. At least it will give me a perspective on where I started from, and where I plan on going.

My CSS skills are certainly being put to the test. It’s easy to build your own code, difficult to read and understand the thinking behind everyone else’s code. I have had plenty of practice with CSS 2, but some of the concepts behind the Garland theme are astounding. Just trying to track down where all the hooks are located within the various php pages is a monumental task.

Despite the sink-or-swim situation, I am really enjoying the challenge. I have learned the rudiments of Drupal’s admin interface and the structure/vocabulary that powers it; I have successfully managed to make a multi-site installation with a single Drupal core; I have installed a few modules without trouble; I have skinned Drupal with one of our custom designs (and based it on the Garland theme - no time for custom PHPTemplating right now!);

If our test client likes it, then demand for a content management system by the rest of our state associations is going to spread like wildfire. We get 3-5 new web sites a week during busy season, just through word of mouth.

While the state associations are slow to pick up a web site, I imagine this will be just what they need to get excited about one. Remember, they still don’t know how powerful the web can be, as a service. Online forms instead of paper forms for membership applications, junior membership applications, scholarship applications, show entries and signing up to receive catalogs by mail. Just those normal demands would save them tons in paper and mailing costs a year. Add to that the ability to pay membership dues, show entry fees, and make donations to junior events, and we’re working miracles for them in terms of personnel.

That doesn’t even count the news traveling faster- state association newsletters, show results, president messages, general announcements, and organizing subcommittee communications would be convenient, since it’s broadcast on the web site, subscribed to via an RSS feed, or pushed through as a direct e-mail.

Yep, now that the updates have slowed down and busy season is cooling off, we’re dreaming big dreams here.