I have to give it up to all of you. I do not know how you all manage to ever get a site to work using Drupal. I have spent over a year playing with Drupal and just about every other CMS that is even somewhat popular. I believe that Drupal is capable of doing everything I have in mind. The problem is, I am incapable of setting Drupal up to do so. I mean you add a module, then you have to figure out how it effects all your other modules. What other modules you have to use to display and use the functionality of the module you just added. Configure user roles and permissions. Configure the taxonomy. There are probably 15 steps in middle, I missed, just to get that one box of information to display and work correctly.
I thought my site would be easy. I have reduced it to a log in page as the home page, some type of calander with some kind of event management/w registrations, a user file management area, and a forum.
So far I have only been able to get the basic homepage that installs with a fresh Drupal installation and the forum up, since it is just a tick. That is as far as I have gotten in a year with the book from O'Reilly Using Drupal. It makes it even that much more confusing. Not the book itself. Drupal just is not for a beginner in web design with very little experience. The way it works even with instruction just goes outside my ability to put it together.
This past years experience, with all the CMS's I have tried not just Drupal, has made me just want to hide in a corner and yell Dreamweaver save me, but I am tired of updating an entire page just to add an event or something to the site.
Richard
Comments
We're doing a pretty comprehensive overview at the Drupal summit
Come on out tomorrow for the morning session on intro to Drupal. We'll leave plenty of time for Q/A to clear up any questions you might have.
Yes. You should definitely
Yes. You should definitely come to the summit before throwing in the towel. www.swdrupalsummit.com
I'll co-sign that: Go to SW Drupal Summit
I'm still a beginner myself and I've struggled with the learning curve too. And I've met other people who have as well. But I went to Drupal Camp Austin in November and being able to immerse myself in Drupal for a couple of days REALLY helped.
I can't make it to SW Drupal Summit (stupid "job"!), but YOU should go. You won't regret it and you'll get a chance to get a LOT of help with your specific questions from the MANY knowledgeable people there. Everyone I met was GREAT! It's actually one of the reasons I continue to struggle with Drupal! So many great people willing to help.
GO!!
the benefit of these get-togethers
Richard-
Even if you can't make it out for the whole thing, consider a day.. Or heck just loiter over breaks and meet folks: a large benefit of attending these events is to network with others.
I learn best hands-on and by example. A simple discussion and walk-through together with an expert might be just the thing for you, and coming to SWSummit and HDUG meetups would be the place to meet Drupal folks down there in Houston.
-Bronius
SW Drupal Summit
Thank you for the kind words and inspiration to pull the books out and give it another try. Will not be able to make the SW Drupal Summit. I can not attend anything during the week. I leave for work around 6:30 AM a return home usually around 7:00 PM or so. Website Development is not related to my work in any fashion, so no work related reasons to attend the summit instead of work. My wife would fork me in the eye if I took personal days for it, instead of using them for a family event of some sort. An HDUG meetup might be a consideration depending on the day and time.
Thanks,
Richard