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KEHHOA:     * * My Primary Drupal-user Profile * * (general "about me" section)

  • KEH6XL:  Basics:

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  • KEH7KX:  Website Projects:
    1. KEH4YX:  CommuniDB.   For several years now, as a labor of love, I've been designing & building (codename) http://CommuniDB.com:
      1. KEH4ZE:  CommuniDB is very ambitious; it aims to be “The Next Generation of Wikipedia” (and eventually quite a bit more).
        1. KEH6S8:  in the short-term this is "just" a quality WYSIWYG wiki same vein as Wikipedia (a large, any-topic wiki) but core key improvements (including WYSIWYG HTML, paid authors, private spaces, and a number of other key improvements) using the best CMS technology I can find (including free-or-inexpensive and ideally-open-source).
        2. KEH6RW:  in the long-term this extends into all sorts of exciting Web 3.0 Semantic Web stuff (as "a Wikipedia which understands what you put into it")
      2. KEH525:  Some implementation history of CommuniDB short-term:
        1. KEH53A:  In 2006.01-~05 I built a prototype in Sharepoint. Initially Sharepoint looked good: it was by the biggest name (monopolizer) in computing, Microsoft; and your own site was just $20/mo with shared housing; and the fact that the end-user could build arbitrary tables on the fly was (and is) quite impressive. But that is where it ended. As otherwise I found it too limited, especially with Sharepoint being a proprietary CMS. Including it quickly started to get very expensive (for extra modules, and even to do something simple as port your data to the next version ($10K for upgrader!)). Lastly, it also seemed a bit slow. And finally my hosting company service (which was supposed to be one of the best in Sharepoint) crashed their own Sharepoint server that all and all the earlier shared-hosting Sharepoint customers were on (who didn't get upgraded because of the lack of an upgrader), and since the Sharepoint was in a proprietary format, they lost everyone's data, permanently. So enough with Sharepoint!
        2. KEH53O:  So in 2008.12 I built a more advanced prototype using Zoho's WYSIWYG Wiki which is online today: see http://CytexIT.Wiki.Zoho.com . How was Zoho Wiki? Except for the embedded ads, it was very easy to build, and the WYSIWYG is very cool; but it has serious scalability problems (including inability to fully back it up) and some feature limitations; and it was locked to Zoho as far as fixing any of this, which seem to be a problem, too. So I'm looking elsewhere...
        3. KEH53X:  So now in 2009.01 I've started heavy work (full-time) on the next version of CommuniDB short-term in Drupal:
          1. KEH5R7:  Why & how Drupal for CommuniDB short-term?
            1. KEH6BM:  Back around 2008 summer I searched www.CMSMatrix.Org for the top open-source CMSes which versioned their data (which I argue is essential, especially for scalability).  There were only a few:
              1. KEH6BW:  Drupal.  It stood apart because of it's support.
                1. KEH6C9:  Hosting companies seemed to have a 1-click install of Drupal, which was notable.
                2. KEH6CK:  And while I had never considered the user community my CMS my search, Drupal has proven a pleasant surprise there, too: so much that I sometimes wonder "Are we programming, or socializing? And did I discover a CMS, or another Facebook & Meetup.com?! As I hadn't planned on the clothing-optional hot-tub at my first small group meeting. But, hey, I can dig."
              2. KEH6CS:  TYPO3: it seemed it had even more features, but I found the closest user-group was in Texas! --1/2 the country away.
              3. KEH6D4:  Alfresco -- but seemed complicated, though might look at again.

              So I tended for Drupal. And

            2. KEH5IJ:  Drupal seems it will be a considerable improvement (over prior implementations),
            3. KEHAKE:  indeed Drupal in-general seems the best publically-supported open-source CMS available.
          2. KEH4WJ:  So I became & am reasonably active within a few Drupal Groups, both local groups (Los Angeles County(2), Orange County(0), San Diego County(0), & Southern California(n/a), plus Orange County PHP(1)) plus interest groups (Wiki & Fields in Core) --the "(#)" is the number of in-person meetings I've attended though note it seems the majority of Drupal interaction instead seems to be online.
          3. KEH4W0:  I haven't done any Drupal (PHP) coding yet but I am creating custom Drupal installs by selecting the modules (on Dreamhost, which I highly recommend).  Indeed,
          4. KEH5JL:  Currently I'm doing http://groups.drupal.org/node/18329 (a peer review & ideally collaboration of the Drupal modules for CommuniDB (or for any quality WYSIWYG wiki) -- anyone curious is encouraged to join in there.

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  • KE3FKO:   The web host I recommend: 
    1. KEH559:   DREAMHOST:  use PROMO code 2XtraDomFre4Life to sign up for www.DreamHost.com !<br/>
      KEH56S:  After considerable research, I strongly recommend Dreamhost  KEH57G:  --that is if you’re like me:
      1. KEH58M:  You're okay with (and even may want to be) using the leading Internet server standard: LAMP (indeed the core of LAMP, Apache, has 52.26% of the market as of 2009.01).
      2. KEH59G:  And you want maximal standard features, or at least you want to to have the assurance that, after your huge building & developing a website, "you can get there from here" -- you'll be able to get any of those features (and likely get good support for it, too) if ever you should decide you need it.
      3. KEH59Q:  You want your web host (and a lot of its users) to technical experts, very smart and aware & sensitive of the new technologies & people's new needs, and so constantly improving.
      4. And in appreciation of that, you are going to research (as Google Search) your questions before asking them (and ideally will share your answers with others on wiki else forum), and like to be around other users who do the same.
      5. KEH5A1:  And you want a low price, but still with the assurance of stability that the company is sound & growing.
      6. KEH5AE:  And you don't mind a company with a geeky personality, and notably one that's isn't sterile-corporate, hidden, & legalese-infested.

      KEH55Y:  If so, then you'll LOVE Dreamhost.  As Dreamhost:

      1. KE41OE:  is the seemingly the most advanced out there of any standard LAMP host.
      2. KE41OF:  has a user community which is so sharp & into it that I've never had to ask Dreamhost a technical question -- the ordinary users answer it first.
      3. KE41OG:  is the only webhost I've found which does it's documentation correct: thru a wiki, so they, you, and everyone can fix & improve the documentation.  Learn something?  Put it there.  I know I have in considerable detail, so as I'm learning I'm also contributing to everyone else!  Moreover, it uses MediaWiki, the same technology Wikipedia uses, so one you know one you know the other.
      4. KE41OH:  and for any questions which aren't already answered by the wiki, does much of the rest of it's support properly, too: thru a web forum., which is actually using rather shockingly primitive forum technology (pure ASCII), but the key thing is still there: it's a web forum, and the users are surprisingly helpful.
      5. KE41OI:  and beyond web hosting, also offers storage for your files. Indeed for potentially ALL your files, as it's:
        1. KE41OK:  and not just via FTP, but via the powerful stuff: via WebDAV and even Subversion (which is fairly rare), indeed even unlimited WebDAV & Subversion storage (which is unheard of -- they're they only one)
        2. KE41OJ:  as of this year, they include unlimited storage, and not just like the other web hosters which say "unlimited" provided it's a use they approve), but if say it's used just for backup, they'll charge you just $.10/GB (and no storage costs) which cheaper than even super-cheap Amazon S3.
      6. KE42HN:  You know they specialize: LAMP web hosting is ALL they do, and they're real good at it.  Indeed they're so good they even have their own panel while while most of the web hosts out their have to turn to an outside program (as cPanel) to handle that.   Dreamhost is like In-And-Out Burger of web hosting: they just offer burgers (LAMP web hosting) with cheese (VPS) and without (shared).  They don't even digress into domain parking.
      7. KE43LX:  Dreamhost is one of the oldest web hosts, since 1996.
      8. KE42L2:  Dreamhost is about the 3rd largest web host world-wide in terms of number of websites (not parked domains) hosted there, preceded only by OneAndOne and Yahoo (based on WebHosting.Info's report, and naturally skipping web hosts whose parking ).  If you don't see them advertizing much, it's probably they don't need to: as word of mouth from geeks who know gets them the long-time customers.
      9. KE43QM:  And personality?  Like it or not, I don't think you're going to get any huge webhost (or maybe any webhost) with more personality.  Dreamhost also is known for its business transparency, so even though (as a webhost) no customer is ever there, you still get this remarkable feeling like you know what's going on.  And the  company has a personality and a wacky wacky newsletter which refreshingly personal.  For instance,
        1. KEH5BJ:  their control panel will give you words of encouragement, and make remarks about what you're doing, as you use it
        2. KEH5BR:  if they see something they like in the news, they'll change their main web page to feature it (it's currently splattered all over with pictures of President Obama & Martin Luther King), and even make some seemingly half-cocked sale around it for new customers.
        3. KEH5BY:  Moreover, despite having hundreds of thousands of customers, they still write their terms-of-service themselves, geeky tech terms, with 0 lawyers.

        KEH5CI:  The company feels like it's shamelessly run by a bunch of tech geeks who are determined they aren't going to stop showing their geekiness no matter how big they get.   So amusement and a good laugh once in while is one of the undocumented features, too.

      10. KE42AX:  And price?  "Disgustingly" Cheap -- as low as all competition (but no one I know of has all the above.  Indeed, if you really use even just 2 or 3 of the huge list of features, you'll be paying a fraction of what you would be paying if these services were sold separately -- it's a real steal).
        1. KEH5CU:  Why so cheap?  Maybe because, with all Dreamhost's geekiness (and no free phone support - as, if you just pause to write out your question first, you don't actually need any phone), they then scare off all disrespectful, wasteful users users who want to call their host up to ask dumb questions (questions which they haven't even bothered to write down & Google for first).
      11. KE44X3:  And Dreamhost supports Drupal; indeed http://drupal.org/hosting also lists Dreamhost.
        Is Dreamhost the best Drupal host?  Probably not, probably there's a few web hosts which are slightly more optimized for Drupal, BUT:
        1. KEH5D2:  My gestimate is Dreamhost is still probably just fine for most if not Drupal sites, especially given that Dreamhost is infinitely customizable, so it's not like you won't be able to get the job done with them.  And if and when you ever you need more performance, they also offer VPS servers at likely whatever size you might need.
        2. KEH5DC:  And uniquely with Dreamhost (and what's key for me), you DO get probably the most advanced standard LAMP hosting (plus general file hosting) available anywhere, which gives you maximal tie-ins and options (in case you want to also try or have other web applications besides Drupal, instead of it or working with it), all of which is incredibly important as technology changes and technical demands increase.

      KE45QW:  Kindly USE PROMOTIONAL CODE 2XtraDomFre4Life at www.Dreamhost.com and so:

      1. KEH5DN:  give me credit for the referral (it's the only way I get paid for the review above) plus
      2. KEH5DU:  get yourself 2 extra domain registrations for life! (a $20/year savings) as long as you own the account (This can be very handy: for instance, when you go register YourDomain.com, make sure you reserve say YourDomain.Net and YourDomain.Org , too (so no one can get a similar name) -- and all for free for the life of your account!).

    • History

    Member for
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