Welcome to the Ann Arbor Drupal User Group
We are an open group of Drupal users in Ann Arbor, Michigan willing to freely share knowledge about Drupal.
We meet 7-9pm the last Monday of the month, generally at Bar Louie.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Design help specifics for a new Drupal developer
First time poster also, so hopefully I've done this correctly :) I was at the last AA Drupal meeting, and had asked for input on designing a Drupal site for a customer. I am still having some challenges getting into the "Drupal state", and thus would greatly appreciate some hand holding while I am still learning the basics. I am relatively new to web development, although I have been a desktop developer for over a decade.
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Taxonomy - What is it and what can it do for me?
Our next meeting will address the question, "Taxonomy - What is it and what can it do for me?"
I know our last meeting was just two nights ago. But it is clearly time for a discussion on taxonomy. Let's see if we can't get a discussion going before the meeting and set ourselves up to delve deep into taxonomy at our next meeting.
For simplicity sake, Ontology and Taxonomy are the same thing.
Read moreShow-n-Tell
The next A2-Drupal meeting will be held on the 29Oct07 at 7pm. Let's have an informal Show-n-Tell. I'm looking for a few volunteers. I think 3-4 people would be do-able. Each person would do about 10-15 minutes. This will leave us with lots of time to let conversation wander. Please add a comment below if you are willing to participate. danromanchik? monan?
I really want to see a site that has solved the embeded video issues. Anyone? audiocollective?
What do others want to see?
Read moreLearning jQuery
The book, Learning jQuery, by Jonathan Chaffer and Karl Swedberg (PACKT publishing, ISBN 978-1-847192-50-9) became available recently. Chaffer is the CTO and Swedberg is a developer at Structure Interactive in Grand Rapids. The two have also authored a jQuery Reference Guide also published by PACKT.
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ARB Camp - Saturday, October 27
Someone asked about this yesterday, so I thought I'd post it here.
The first ever Arb Camp - The Intersection of Social Media and Marketing - will take place Saturday, October 27 at the Morris Lawrence Building at WCC.
Read moreEli Neiburger: Implementing Drupal in the case of aadl.org - Ann Arbor District Library
Don't miss this meeting!!!
I'm happy to announce that Eli Neiburger of the Ann Arbor District Library is going to present at this coming Ann Arbor Drupal Users group meeting this Monday night 24Sep07 @ 7pm.
This will be a rare chance to look under the hood of a regionally high profile Drupal site.
We will meet at Ann Arbor Spark our new home.
Read moreApress Discounts on books
I read this - http://groups.drupal.org/node/6033
Our group is already members of the Apress User Group Program so I too got a letter from Apress.
"This week, I received a letter from Apress asking me to "remind your members of their exclusive Apress User Group Program discount of 25% off ALL Apress books!" I scanned the letter which you can view in the attached PDF file."
I also read this comment - http://groups.drupal.org/node/6033#comment-17113
Here is a link to a 46% discount on "Pro Drupal Development"
http://www.bookpool.com/sm/1590597559
Event vs. Date+Calendar
At our last meeting monan and I were discussing the Event and Date+Calendar Modules. I realized I didn't understand what Calendar was. Here is what I think now and what others are saying about this topic.
CCK and Views modules have taken the Drupal community by storm. The ability to rapidly create a CCK content type and Views views of that content type has given power to the user in ways we are still comprehending. The ability to export these new CCK content types and Views views has given the community the ability to replicate features across sites with out replicating all that clicking. Even as a programmer who has created modules before, I find the easy and logic of these modules irresistible.
Many CCK field types have immerged and the Date field type has brought with it the Calendar module. The combination of the Date field and the Calendar module in the presence on the CCK and Views modules could be substituted for the Event module.
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Themeing Class / Free Chapter of Pro Drupal Development
For those of us present last night for Michael's talk on Themeing... Saw this post http://groups.drupal.org/node/5804 and noted that it had a link to the free, downloadable chapter of the Pro Drupal Development book we discussed. Perhaps more importantly, there is a free online class/seminar you can sign up for on themeing taught by the author...
Read moreBasic Theming - 27Aug07 Meeting
27Aug2007
Michael Hofmockel
Converting html/css web design to Drupal PHPTemplate theme.
Another example following the formula from Chapte 8 (The Theme System) from the "Pro Drupal Development" book.
Open Source Web Design - http://www.oswd.org/
Kinda Cloudy - http://www.oswd.org/design/preview/id/3158
- Renamed index.html to page.tpl.php
- install theme in sites/test_site/themes/Kinda_Cloudy
- enable theme in admin
Every page is now the same and we are locked out of admin
CSS does not load yet
Tutorials, How to... and screen captures
Following are links to training resources for beginners and experts alike.
SI505 - http://si505.cms.si.umich.edu/
- Customization and Configuration. Resources for a course at the University of Michigan taught by Paul Resnick.
Drupal Dojo - http://www.drupaldojo.com/
-A very active group sharing knowledge of Drupal. A great place to start!
Drupal
handbooks - http://drupal.org/handbooks
- official Drupal documentation
screenshots - http://drupal.org/image
-Installations, themes and site examples
videocasts - http://drupal.org/node/63155
- module mash-ups and solutions
Ann Arbor Spark provides new home
The Ann Arbor Drupal User Group has a new meeting location! Our next meeting will be at Ann Arbor Spark on 27Aug07 at 7pm. Ann Arbor Spark has generously offered to sponsor our group by providing a regular central meeting location. They have promised us the last Monday of the month into the foreseeable future. This will bring some needed stability.
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Sharing information & RSS
I think a good way to share information/links may be to use a particular tag in delicious, technorati, tags on this site, etc. So basically maybe just establish a convention that everyone tags their stuff to share.
Maybe something like:
a2drupal
A2hosting support and installation notes
A2Hosting has generously offered one free hosting account for our group and a 25% discount (coupon = a2drupal) for group members on all services.
The free account is a Small Biz shared host account. It seemed logical to me to load Drupal and tell the group about my experience.
Read moreJuly Meeting A2Drupal group
We now have agenda and confirmed a meeting space. See comment below. Hope to see everyone there.
The next Ann Arbor Drupal Users group meeting is tentatively scheduled for 30Jul07 and has no agenda (yet). Any body have something they are willing to share? Let's keep the momentum building. I'll post the meeting place when I get confirmation.
This group needs wings!
I am looking to get the Ann Arbor Drupal Users group off the ground. It is clear to me now that Ann Arbor does have enough Drupal programmers to warrant a group of its own. I was especially happy to hear about Drupal being taught at UMich. But...the group is in need of a few things to make it sail.
- Critical Mass - We don't quite have the critical mass, although we have 5 new subscribers since last meeting. I think the tipping point for stability and momentum will be around 35-40 members. So get the word out!
Location?
One of the things that came out of our 31May meeting is the need for a regular location.
Most everyone liked meeting at Wolverine tower with its large room, projector and easy access from the highway. But the lack of wireless available to the Non-UM people was disappointing.
Michael Hess offered space on the UMich campus. The downside to this space is parking and poor highway access.
Personally, I vote for the UMich campus location as wireless will be all important when we have a working meeting.
Read moreCar pool/Bum a ride.
I live in the commerce, mi area and was wondering if anyone lives around this area that I can car pool with to the meetings. I have a 1980 CJ-7 Jeep so it's not very trustworthy for driving for distances. I would be willing to pay for gas, it's just I don't want to drive down there and have my jeep crap out on me.
Read moreAnn Arbor/Jackson joint meeting.
mikejoconnor of the Jackson group has suggested a regular meeting time to simplify things. So let's try a monthly meeting on the last Monday of the month begining in June. The next meeting is 31May and the following meeting will be 25June07 at 7pm. Anyone from Jackson or even Lansing want to host the meeting? Any ideas for agenda?
Read moreAnn Arbor/Jackson meeting - Contributed Module Tour
The next Ann Arbor/Jackson meeting will be held Thursday 31May07 at 7pm. dhovey has reserved space for us in Wolverine Tower located at 3003 South State Street. Wireless is available. Park in the back as that will be the fastest route to the entrace we will be using.
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