Dojo Lesson #1 -- FormAPI and CCK

You're truly "keeping the iron hot" Josh :) Thanks for the initiative.

What comes to mind...

Regarding "good documentation". My experience with learning suggests, that there is no "one way" to write a "bloody good tutorial", but rather, that everyone has their own idea and perception, what makes a good tutorial. I for one like it abstract and brief, others like it as verbatim as possible, others like a lot of pictures, and so it goes on.

The reason I mentioned the above is the following. May I suggest/ask the teachers/experts of this class, to keep an eye on patterns of the above crystallizing during the lesson, and then suggest groups of people to work together, and create a specified "tutorial". Maybe we should think before hand of what types (as briefly outlined above) we want to focus on (obviously I will be working on a "Cheat Sheet"-style tutorial, while there will definitely be a need for Drupal Terminology for Dummies {no insult intended, just a popular style of writing}).

Maybe we could also use this class/lesson to interactively review the official documentation, and attempt to tie together existing resources spread across the web. As well as collect suggestions for improvement, and organize teams (which could then turn into a Documentation Writing Class, linked to this one).

How do other Dojo members expect a web based lesson to be executed? Is everyone happy with using IRC? Also, please keep in mind, that we are all learning, not only about Drupal, but how to teach and transfer knowledge, so please be lenient with those willing to take on the role of a "teacher".

This is a great experiment, and the more activity that is arising, the more excited I'm becoming. Once we get going, we might want to ask other Drupal Groups to merge with the Dojo, for attention and productivity focus (e.g. Documentation Group).

By the way, I love the pic created by Squidster, would make great for a poster.

Bright Regards

JasonMR
(Student of Lifestyle-Design - Real ID)

Heh, thanks for including my little sketch. I did a couple more variations over the evening - if you have the time, check them out at
http://www.squidgystudios.com/drupal/drupalsketches_1.jpg
http://www.squidgystudios.com/drupal/drupalsketches_2.jpg
http://www.squidgystudios.com/drupal/drupalsketches_3.jpg

which process into:
http://www.squidgystudios.com/drupal/dojo_poster.jpg
http://www.squidgystudios.com/drupal/dojo_button.jpg
http://www.squidgystudios.com/drupal/dojo_button2.jpg

...but I don't do IRC. Never have. Anyone who has read my blog will know that I'm not anxious to install any new software on my system... unless there's a very lightweight, highly trusted, installer-less IRC client for Windows XP, that is. Any suggestions for this bloatware- and installer-averse Windows user?

(I can fire up a Debian linux box, if that's a better way to do IRC)

Michael Curry
Exodus Development | Drupal and other developer info

As mentioned in IRC, here is some possibly good software to do live screencasting: Spy X.

• http://www.silvernetworks.net/spy/
• http://macupdate.com/info.php/id/10652#descContainer_link

I've tested it and can confirm that this DOES work. It may be a good thing to not cast the full screen, but just a box, to make things faster AND legible.

(This is OS X only software, though it generates regular HTML pages, it runs its own webserver. josh_k uses OS X, so that's not a problem at all, though it may be for other eh... 'Drupal Masters'.)

Here is a thought.

Can we build the structure of this on Angie's lesson plan with the goal being refining the docs.

Something like this:

1) Identify the bullet points in Angie's Plan we are going to cover in IRC

2) Publish a forum thread with all relevant docs that exist in the current state from drupal.org and api.drupal.org and any existing tutorials from peoples sites we can garner through google.

3) Pick a project,or projets from our pool that will cover those topics.

4) Do them realtime, learning as we go. Paying close attention to how the docs explain something as compared to how we learn it.

5) Final products of the projects AND updated docs to benefit the community.

This process allows for those who come behind or can't make the IRC to get the full benefit of our work. It allows for us to invent and recreate if we find areas that ned new code or patches. It also improves documentation as we go along.

AND it is a set structure we can repeat for any system in drupal. So we can systematically tackle this entire CMS as we go.

Input?

Tresler Designs

I've been busy with regular work the past couple days, but wanted to thank everyone for their energy and enthusiasm. I think we'll try using a skypecast for free audio (supports up to 100 users) and maybe one of these screen-sharers if I can get one working. Remember a big part of this is creating condensed, valuable documentation for people who want to go at their own pace too. Hopefully we can work out a collaborative way of doing this.

I'll try to set something up for that in advance. At the very least I'll post an outline of what I plan to cover with some links for people who want to get a start ahead of time.

Thanks again!

http://www.chapterthreellc.com | http://www.outlandishjosh.com

I've been spamming this thread a bit about screen conferencing and I apoligize if it is excessive. If anyone has a better solution, please do chime in, but it seems like a lot of people are racking their brains trying to figure out how to get on IRC. If everyone just logs into WebHuddle, the chat can be conducted there with a separate channel for Q&A all built in, that is, if the powers that be deem it a worthy realm for conducting the meeting.

We have an open WebHuddle session. https://www.webavant.com:8443 > join meeting > enter host's email address: webhuddle@webavant.com > enter key: test. Please stay logged in as long as you can to help test. Feel free to chat, but I'll be away from the keyboard for a bit, so you'll be limited to seeing only my chat window, which may not update very frequently depending on activity in the #drupal-dojo chat cannel. Feel free to start up your own meeting too.

I'm gonna have to back out on the lesson tonight. Some stuff has come up that conflicts. Anyway, I'll be watching and will work through the material once docs get posted, and hopefully I'll make it to the next one. By the way, did the signups go away? (I'm not trying to be obvious, I just had signed up and didn't know if that list still existed somewhere. If so, take me name off. :) )