Posted by dale386 on July 31, 2008 at 12:06pm
Hi there,
I am putting together a website for a college newspaper. I am set on using Drupal as my CMS, but it appears that many newspaper-related modules have not been updated for Drupal 6 -- most notably, Panels. Is there a way to use these modules on Drupal 6, or should I base my site on Drupal 5. I'm a relatively advanced developer but am new to Drupal - I apologize if I have overlooked something.
Thanks!
Comments
I think you should go in for
I think you should go in for Drupal 6 since you are familiar with coding.
New features in Drupal 6 http://www.masteringdrupal.com/screencast/new-features-drupal-6 is a neat screen cast.
We have used Drupal 6 for our corporate website and are planning to use Drupal 6 for our other new projects as well.
Checkout: http://drupal.org/node/287645 for a short write up on our website.
Netlink Technologies Ltd
http://shyamala-drupal.blogspot.com/
Shyamala
Unimity Solutions
D6 v. D5
There are several important modules not yet available in D6, panels among them but also civicrm and ubercart. D6 modules are still being groomed, for example there is a bug in the pager for Views.
D6 works for "new" sites but if I were looking for the downhill path, I would look for an installation profile or a site to model and that probably means D5.
We went wih D5
We're developing a system for our newspapers and went with D5 because Panels (which we use heavily) and other key modules weren't ready for D6.
At this point, I'd go with D5
D6 still lacks some key modules like Panels and Imagefield or Asset (Image module simply does not do the job as it comes to image handling for newspaper needs). So I'd advice D5, but I'd also install D6 and learn all the ups and downs of upgrading so as to port to D6 smoothly when all necessary modules are ready.
==========================
http://www.westki.info
I guess it depends. If you
I guess it depends. If you still have to migrate all the data from the system you formerly used, have to make sketches, think about the look, feel and functionality and get all the basics running drupal 6 might be an option. Upgrading from D5 to D6 if you have a lot of modules installed isn't done in an hour, so bear that in mind as well. But if you want it to be ready before september, using D6 is risky because you might be stuck waiting for modules. If you do go for D5, try to choose as many modules that are D6-ready as possible so you know you'll have an upgrade path.
D5, definately
I'd definately go for Drupal 5 at this point. If you're going to build any kind of 'official' web site, you don't want to be using modules that are not in a stable release yet. Many modules do exist for D6, but even such a central contrib module as CCK is still at release-candidate level. And - as you say - some modules useful for newspapers are nowhere near a stable release.
(This will of course change with time.)
Consider using D6 if (1) you don't need a very stable site, (2) you only use stable release modules or very few RC level modules, or (3) you don't plan on launching the site for another 6-12 months or so.
Otherwise, use D5 and keep an eye on your options for upgrading in the future.
That's my humble opinion (and it's pretty much the summary of the Swedish Drupal community's discussion on this topic as well).
Good luck!
//Johan Falk, Sweden