Journey to the Center of Drupal: How I learned to build Drupal sites the ‘right way’ in 1001 easy steps
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This document is a presentation on building Drupal sites the "right way" given by Julia Kulla-Mader. The presentation covers what Drupal is, why to use Drupal, what not to do when building Drupal sites, and 10 steps for building Drupal sites the right way. Drupal is an open source content management system written in PHP. It emphasizes security, customizability, a lightweight core, and a large community of users and developers. The presentation warns against overcustomizing designs and trying to do too many things with one site. It provides 10 recommendations for properly planning, staffing, training on, and developing Drupal sites.
Journey to the Center of Drupal: How I learned to build Drupal sites the ‘right way’ in 1001 easy steps
- 1. Journey to the Center of Drupal: How I learned to build Drupal sites the ‘right way’ in 1001 easy steps Julia Kulla-Mader Triangle NC Drupal @TriDUG
- 2. Julia Kulla-Mader Drupal.org member for 2 years and 31 weeks
- 3. Agenda 1. What is Drupal? 2. Why use Drupal? 3. What Not to Do 4. Building Drupal Sites the “Right Way”
- 4. What is Drupal? • Open Source Content Management System • Written in PHP • Drupal is an English rendering of the Dutch word “druppel”, which means “drop” (as in “a water droplet”)
- 5. Part I: Why Use Drupal
- 6. Trustworthy • Security • Customizable Permissions
- 7. Small, Modular and Useful • Lightweight core code • 4,000+ Modules
- 8. Lots of Smart, Helpful People • 1,400+ at last Drupalcon • Active support forms • Used by major businesses & nonprofits • Acquia
- 9. Part II: What Not to Do
- 10. Hello Frankenstein • There’s a module for that! • CRM + E-Commerce = Pain
- 11. Hacking Core & Other Misadventures
- 12. Highly, Highly Customized Design = Pain
- 13. Part III: Building Drupal Sites the “Right Way”
- 14. 1. State Your Goals From the Start
- 15. 2. Work with a Stakeholder Group to Develop a Work Plan
- 16. 3. Develop a Communications Plan
- 17. 4. Introduce Non-Technical Staff to Drupal Early
- 18. 4. Assess In-House Technical Skill Early
- 19. 5. Get Drupal Technical Training Early • Watch Lullabot or Lynda.com videos and/or go to a workshop • Purchase Using Drupal and/or Pro Drupal Development • Listen to Drupal podcasts
- 20. 6. Build a Drupal Support Network • Join the Triangle NC Meetup group • Ask questions at groups.drupal.org • Tweet Drupal questions • Ask questions in #drupal-support in IRC • Have someone to call when problems arise
- 21. 7. Hire Experts for Complex Tasks
- 22. 8. Think Carefully Before 3rd Party/Drupal Integration
- 23. 9. Prioritize Content Migration • Add content to your Drupal site during the development process • Use content export and import modules to move content from development to live sites (Node Export, Deployment) • If you are migrating from an existing CMS, heavily test your content migration modules during the first phase of the project
- 24. 10. Evaluate Modules Before Starting Development • Review modules at drupalmodules.com • Check to see how many times a module has been downloaded on Drupal.org • Read through the module’s issue queue on Drupal.org before installing it • Don’t put untested modules on a production site
- 25. Part IV: What Comes Next?
- 26. What Comes Next?: You 1. Download Acquia Drupal distribution 2. Buy “Using Drupal” 3. Join Triangle Drupal 4. Fill out Julia’s survey if you have built a Drupal site before http://bit.ly/drupalsuccess
- 27. Thank you for listening